King's or Surrey for computer science?

I'm kind of stuck between these two because I really like both. Some thing's I've been thinking of are the cost of living (london is way more expensive, and a decent amount of money would get you a pretty sub par flat), and future job prospects (my mom says that people wont think as highly of surrey but its pretty high on the rankings i guess its not that prestigious).

Anyway any feedback would be great!
Thanks :biggrin:

Edit: I hope this is the right sub forum >.<

Reply 1

undine_monty

Original post by GUMI

Edit: I hope this is the right sub forum >.<

Surrey is on the underrated universities list on this website. There's way more to it than meets the eye.

I have many reasons why I want to go to Surrey:

1. It's not in London, but very close, just outside of it and its about a 30 min train ride away from London so you're not too far from the bustling city. This was important to me because I've only ever really lived in London my whole life so I don't want to be too far from what's familiar.

2. The site is so beautiful. So much greenery, ponds filled with ducks, trees etc. You don't get that at city universities. It presents an aura of calm and tranquillity. Also they have their Surrey Sports Park which cost about £36 million, one of the uni sports facilities in the country. I really want to get back into sports.

3. They offer training placements. This was really what first drew me into looking more deeply into Surrey. These placements are optional and occur between the 2nd and final year. In these placements, you get to gain invaluable experience which makes you more attractive to potential employers. In a lot of cases, you may be hired at the place you did your placement at so you would've already secured a job for when you finish uni. The uni has over 2,300 placement partners. The training placements are the main reason why Surrey is 1st for graduate employability when compared with other chartered universities in England. The starting salaries are also higher than most.

Even though Surrey isn't in London, I've heard its still a little bit expensive. It was also voted University of the Year by the Times and Sunday Times 2016 and 4th for student satisfaction.

I do really suggest you look at both the prospectuses if you haven't already. I have only given you my opinion on Surrey. Please don't just choose Surrey because of that, its an unbalanced opinion.

You should also check out them on WhatUni. They have details about the universities, the demographics, student reviews along with other important details:

Surrey: http://www.whatuni.com/degrees/university-uk/university-of-surrey-ranking/3765/page.html

King's: http://www.whatuni.com/degrees/university-uk/kings-college-london-university-of-london-ranking/4574/page.html

You could also go on YouTube and see the videos that the universities have put up. Plus browse through the websites.

Hope all goes well :h:

Reply 2

maggie43

Original post by GUMI

Edit: I hope this is the right sub forum >.<

Surrey is beautiful

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

cs00653

I am currently at surrey doing computer science. I love it here and the course is challenging and interesting.
I agree we are less known by employers so you have to take that into account. If you have any questions about the course just ask me !

Reply 4

cathrg26

Original post by GUMI

Edit: I hope this is the right sub forum >.<

I go to Surrey but for a different course. Going to be honest, nightlife is pretty poor, esp. compared to London.

In terms of grad jobs, I think you'll be fine. A placement year is definitely a plus point, not sure what you're thinking of as a career, but there are plenty of placement years on offer for Tech roles (both in an investment bank and also other commercial/financial firms).

Kings is up there on the league tables because of their research. A lot of employers really don't bother keeping up with which uni is more prestigious/better than the other within the top 20 or so, but they'll obviously keep note of Oxbridge/LSE etc. As long as you're bright, enthusiastic and show promise that you've got a capacity to grow they'll take you.

I turned down RGs for Surrey, against my mother's wishes :biggrin:

Reply 5

XxKingSniprxX

Original post by GUMI

Edit: I hope this is the right sub forum >.<

Kings college london> surrey imo.

London nightlife = :heart:

You can check if your entitled to any scholarships/bursaries if your finding it difficult to budget. Also, granted that the first year university halls accommodation will be expensive you need to remember when you move into a student house in your 2nd+ years rent will be significantly lower as your sharing a student house with a couple people and its not as expensive as people make it out in the later on years.

KCL has amazing international reputation and was ranked 16th world rankings last time I checked. For computer science they are both roughly the same KCL was ranked 26th in 2015 for Comp Sci & Surry was ranked 32nd.

It's honestly up to you. Personally I'd choose KCL anyday.