How important is sandwich year?

if you perform well in your sandwich year they company that you worked for a likely to offer you a job, if not a job a good reference, obviously a job is the more ideal, but a reference is also useful. That is the only real reason for having a sandwich year, to help aid the transition into work, if you are not to bothered about that, or have got good references already, it may not be for you

I just want I just wanted to know how important a sandwich year is? does experience actually help you after you graduate?
Reason I ask is because I applied for two courses One is a mid ranked Uni that is offering a sandwich year as part of the course,the other is a higher ranked uni and is not offering a sandwich year as part of the course.
Because of this I'm not sure which to go for. Ultimately if the sandwich year is much more helpful I would go for it even though its lower ranked than the other. Else I would opt to go for the higher uni which does not offer a sandwich year.

What would u recommend?



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What unis have you applied for? And to study what?

Sandwich years are good. You will find out what a job in your area is about. Lectures are pointless.

Which unis are you considering? If the difference between them is not that great, than the Sandwich year is a good option, but it depends on how well you master the theoretical notions before starting your work experience, so being better, academically is also very important.

Getting a job in the current economic climate will be hard. Whether you get your degree from a high ranked Uni or a mid ranked Uni, will not matter in the eyes of an Employer. Experience is crucial when applying for a job so i would personally go for the Mid ranked Uni with Sandwich year.

yeah your right about it being hard to find a job and the experience will count in that sense it's better to have the mid rank uni, but wouldnt people look down after a few years (when economy gets better) on the uni you went?

considering between kings London and city uni according to the league table there is big gap so thats why im confused on what to do? Even though people saying the experience is much more important

hmm im sure you will need the knowledge from lectures before you can go and work... So i take it you encourage taking the sandwich year

If you're worried about employment, I'd look at the university tables and sort the unis after the Computer Science and Prospects categories. I can't tell you how much that year in industry will help, but King's has higher prospects for employment. Not saying experience isn't important, but it's necessary to know all the facts before deciding.

Well you will be surprised dude. The real world and university are completely different.

Also you can go to the higher uni and take a placement year if you wish. Just postpone your studies for a year. No harm done. You will just have to notify the university. I have many friends who do this at other unis.

City is a good university, my friend is earning £25k on a placement year doing forensics science at one of the big four accountancy firms.

Experience is the only way you can get a job. My cv looks much better with my practical experience.

Of course not. No one 'looks down' on someone for not going to the best uni.
By then you'll probably have a job thanks to your industry experience anyway.

The higher uni dont provide the experience i phoned them and asked, they said once i graduate i can go an find myself a placement.. And true on what you said about real world and university.

You could always just take a year out. It won't count towards your degree but it's still a year in industry. Lots of companies offer industrial placement programmes and you just need to apply for them and take an intercalated year at King's.

Alternatively, you could just go to KCL and and not do a placement year. A summer internship also gives you the chance of getting some experience and then receiving an offer for a graduate job after.