Durham, Kings College London or St. Andrews to study Computer Science?

influxious

Which would you pick to study and why? :biggrin:

(e.g. course spec, social factors, environment, etc.)

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 1

Inverse

I remember you from the King's thread, my answer would be King's unsurprisingly haha.

Firstly, in real-world terms it's one of the best universities you can go to in the UK for CS (research scores don't really matter for this course and that's what brings King's down in the league tables a little bit for the subject) and employment prospects are very high for postgraduates.

Secondly, London is the only city in the UK which I can stand; I hate the rest of it and want to get out of this country as soon as possible.

I'm not too concerned about nightlife, I'd much rather go to a bar with a cigar than go to a club, but that's just me. Travel may be more expensive in London but everything's nearby and easy to access.

Reply 2

Blewweh

Funny, I applied to two of those for CompSci. :smile:

Choosing Durham if I get the grades. The town is so beautiful, the CompSci department is small but dedicated which I loved since I am passionate in the subject, and I have family up that end of the country but it's still far away from home. :9 (I live in Brighton.)

Good luck choosing, I did my work exp at Kings but I didn't actually visit the CompSci department so olol I can't say much for the others. :biggrin:

;; I didn't wanna live in London. X:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

influxious

Original post by Inverse

Haha biased much :smile:

I see where you're coming from but Kings is no. 25 for Computer Science in the Guardians tables while St. Anderws is no. 2 (under Cambridge)! Student satisfaction is a lot lower for Kings plus student:staff ratio is 16.6, while St. Andy's is 8.1! Kings does have that branding factor and it's a lot more recognised worldwide but I'm just a little bit worried that I won't enjoy it :frown:

Have you ever been to one of the open days for Kings?

Reply 4

influxious

Original post by Blewweh

Funny, I applied to two of those for CompSci.

Choosing Durham if I get the grades. The town is so beautiful, the CompSci department is small but dedicated which I loved since I am passionate in the subject, and I have family up that end of the country but it's still far away from home. :9 (I live in Brighton.)

Good luck choosing, I did my work exp at Kings but I didn't actually visit the CompSci department so olol I can't say much for the others. ;; I didn't wanna live in London. X:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Durham looks nice but it's quite far up north though in England! Seems pretty cold :redface:

I live in Singapore where 22 degrees celcius is chilly so I'm quite scared to brace the cold weather of the U.K!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

d_jukes

I'd say either Durham or St Andrews. I've applied for both. Durham is very high on overall league tables, as is St Andrews. However, St Andrews is higher than Durham by quite some margin in Computer Science league tables but then Durham is hardly bad. Also factor in the fact that St Andrews is a four year course for the same degree gained in three years at and English university!

Aswell, regards to your comment about Durham being up north...... St Andrews is much further up north than Durham!! X

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 6

influxious

Original post by d_jukes

I don't mind staying in university for a little while longer, it's all good with me :smile:

Haha I'm aware of that but Durham is currently -2 degrees celcius while St. Andrews is 10! I'm not used to cold climates so I'm a little bit scared about that! :colondollar:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 7

St Andrews CompSci

The weather is indeed better in St Andrews than Durham :smile:

If the four year degree is a worry, then some of our students do take the second-year direct entry option, allowing you to graduate with a BSc in three years. The drawback of this is that you lose some of the flexibility of the Scottish degree structure.

Reply 8

Blewweh

Original post by influxious

Durham looks nice but it's quite far up north though in England! Seems pretty cold :redface:

I live in Singapore where 22 degrees celcius is chilly so I'm quite scared to brace the cold weather of the U.K!

Haha it is pretty cold. (:
22 degrees is a decent Summer's day in the UK.. OTL;;

Reply 9

St Andrews CompSci

Original post by influxious

Durham looks nice but it's quite far up north though in England! Seems pretty cold :redface:

I live in Singapore where 22 degrees celcius is chilly so I'm quite scared to brace the cold weather of the U.K!

I am originally from Singapore but now live and work in St Andrews. You will get used to the weather! But if you are anything like me, you will still miss the food...