Manchester Uni Reputation.

Hi everyone,

I am an International student and have applied to University of Manchester (with 1 year industrial experience), Bristol, York, Cambridge and ICL, for BEng in Computer Science and got offers from first 3 only :s-smilie:

I am a little torn choosing one from them or staying back and studying in my own country (India), considering the investment.
Q1> So is it true that Manchester, Bristol , York are considered 2nd Tier universities?

Q2> How do their computer science departments fare compared to one another?

I always thought Manchester to be a great university considering all the 25 noble laureates plus it's history, research output, employer rating, and it's international ranking, but still people consider it to be 2nd Tier.

Also my goals are entrepreneurial in nature ( Start ups, hitting big, the dreams :biggrin:

)

So should I even bother spending the money? :confused:

Thanks for your time. :smile:

Reply 1

Makebelieve15

From an international perspective, Manchester is probably, by some distance, the strongest to Bristol to York.

From a UK point of view, Bristol is stronger than Manchester. However, Manchester is a great place to study CompSci, Alan Turing made the first computer there. There is a strong Asian presence at the university and it has many international students, so it is evident that a degree from Manchester is one of quality.

University of Manchester

Manchester

Reply 2

Origami Bullets

Manchester (& York & Bristol) are second tier, but you have to consider that only Oxford and Cambridge are considered first tier, and second tier universities are still excellent institutions that people would give their eye teeth to get into.

If you were looking at offers from London Met and Edge Hill (to name but a couple of bottom tier universities) then I would be telling you to think very carefully about whether the investment was worth it. However, Manchester has an excellent reputation both nationally and internationally, and so if you can afford it then I would strongly encourage you come here rather than stay in India.

It was Kilburn who built the first stored programme computer in the world at Manchester, called 'Baby'. He did it in Coupland 1 Building, though the computer science building (called Kilburn Building) is separate. Alan Turing also worked at the university (incidentally, also in Coupland 1), but I'm not aware that he worked directly on Baby. Still, Manchester has a great computing pedigree.

Manchester's Careers Service is consistently ranked as being the best in the country, and they have a lot of help available, from the really basic e.g. helping you with your CV, to the Manchester Gold scheme, which links a student with a mentor in industry.

Reply 3

avenger123321

@ Origami Bullets & Makebelieve15

Thanks a lot for your reply.
I was familiar with most of the points you guys stated, that's why I chose Manchester in the first place :biggrin:

except oxbridge being the only Tier 1's.

Like I said before, my goals are entrepreneurial, and launch of Kickstarter in UK was a great news to me, which brings me to my next question, will I meet students sharing the same aspirations and stuff, people really good at the stuff they do, people genuinely interested in CompScience

Considering it's size I know the answer is going to be positive but still I don't want to reach there and find that the whole thing was not worth it.

Thanks Again.

Reply 4

Makebelieve15

Original post by avenger123321

@ Origami Bullets & Makebelieve15

Thanks a lot for your reply.
I was familiar with most of the points you guys stated, that's why I chose Manchester in the first place :biggrin:

Course requirements are AAB for UK candidates and these are among the best grades, only A* can beat it. Therefore, it's highly likely that you'll meet people who are passionate about Computer Science and have the same level of interest as you. I'm sure many will want to go into programming etc. and try and make big money through setting up apps etc. The course won't be short of interested people.

Reply 5

avenger123321

Good to hear that, funny thing is I am an A* grade holder in my country (Physics 87, Math & Chem 95, English 90, CompSci 91 of 100) yet couldn't get into Cambridge :s-smilie:

or ICL, I guess it proves them to be one hell of a universities to get into :biggrin:

.
Anyways thanks a lot for your time and help, I may ask something else later.

Also I'll keep the thread open for more replies.

Thanks again.

Reply 6

MENDACIUM

I would shy away from saying Oxbridge are the only tier 1's. UCL, LSE ect are sometimes above 'oxbridge' on the international rankings, and also dependent on the subject.

But Manchester does seem to have a very good international reputation, more so than most universities in the UK.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 7

Gifted

Original post by avenger123321

Good to hear that, funny thing is I am an A* grade holder in my country (Physics 87, Math & Chem 95, English 90, CompSci 91 of 100) yet couldn't get into Cambridge :s-smilie:

or ICL, I guess it proves them to be one hell of a universities to get into :biggrin:

.
Anyways thanks a lot for your time and help, I may ask something else later.

Also I'll keep the thread open for more replies.

Thanks again.

This is because you didn't clear IITJEE with flying colors. It serves as ur ticket to Cambridge. As u have very good board marks u can give the JEE(main +advanced) and reapply to Cambridge(if u really aspire to go there).
Its quite odd that Cambridge looks at the IITJEE results when we are quite a match with the other entries w/ 90+ in boards.

Reply 8

avenger123321

Sorry for dissapearing.
That's unfortunate considering jee is the bitchiest examination on earth at this level, but I am nt complaining after finding abt 25k pound + tuition/ year, without room nd other expenses. Even if I had got in, I still couldn't have afforded that.
Anyways please someone help me out with this choice, manchester vs bristol for, manchester does great internationally, bristol is at 4th league tables, behind oxbridge nd imperial, though manchester does seems to have a great computing history associated with it, I do not seem to find much abt bristol, both tied at 4th in employer ratings,
So anyone pls provide some facts, that why bristol is so gr8 for cs.
Thanks a lot!

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