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How important is university prestige?

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Original post by Princepieman
That's because Imperial CS grads seem to go into the big name tech cos more than any other uni I've seen.

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if you have time check the IB forum there's someone you can help maybe (I don't know how to link you or whatever)


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Napp
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Depends on the course and profession you want. For most it doesnt matter too much so long as you get a 2:1 or higher. that being said Oxbridge is almost unilaterally viewed as better. Several job ads i've seen make the clear distinction in asking for a second from oxbridge but a first from else where.
But for things like Engineering/Medicine/Agriculture etc. other universities will rank higher for the specialization.
not forgetting grad school either.
I completely agree that prestige is important, which is why I'm so worried about my Cambridge rejection... everyone tells me I'll be able to do just as well elsewhere but I just don't know 😔
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Mojo Banjo
So we've just had some important rankings released but tbh no one cares. It's all based on crap like library funding.

University prestige:

Oxford
Cambridge
--------------------
Warwick
LSE
UCL
Imperial
Durham
----------------
St Andrews
Edinburgh
----------------
RG
----------------
Others

To me university prestige is everything. It's even more important than course (apart from very vocational subjects like medicine and dentistry)

It defines what kind of job you get, what kind of friends you make and generally how successful you're gonna be in life.


Bath is ranked more highly than a lot of RG unis. I know a guy who went to Aberystwyth university, then did his Ph.D at Imperial College. Hard work > prestige.
Original post by GradeA*UnderA
It's actually since 2010. Gordon Brown went to Edinburgh and hence broke the cycle.


My bad, I was reading this article http://www.suttontrust.com/newsarchive/half-of-new-cabinet-was-privately-educated/ and I didn't see the part where it said other than Gordon Brown.
Original post by WhisperingTide
Bath is ranked more highly than a lot of RG unis. I know a guy who went to Aberystwyth university, then did his Ph.D at Imperial College. Hard work > prestige.


Why do people keep acting like hard work and prestige aren't related? People at prestigious unis are generally more hard-working that people at worse unis.
Original post by GradeA*UnderA
That CompSci grad salary at Imperial is the highest of all courses at all unis in the UK, interestingly enough


Imperial doesn't offer a Computer Science degree, they offer a Computing degree. This degree is a lot more vocational than most CS degrees in the UK. They pretty much have a 6 month internship integrated right into their degree programme, and this is why a lot of them go straight into 70k jobs. It's not really surprising or interesting, tech pays the most in the US, and that seems to be bleeding over to London now too. Imperial's location really gives it the edge that the other good universities for CS (Cam, Warwick, Manchester, Soton etc.) don't have.

Imperial has real prestige for Computing, almost any employer for tech recognises it straight away and some of them tend to hire only from Imperial (and 2/3 other UK unis).

Thing is that Imperial also has the largest amount of students who go off and startup their own tech companies, and again this is due to their culture and location.

I study Computer Science at Warwick myself, but I know of a few people who study Computing at Imperial, and while they don't go into nearly as much depth as we do on some concepts, they really get opportunities that we can only dream of, as Warwick is basically just a bunch of academics on a field in Coventry. Doesn't mean that I'm at some massive disadvantage tho, I've met software engineers who work at Facebook and Google who graduated from Warwick. They just say that you just have to try harder, you just have to do more things in your free time which make up for not attending Imperial, and all the tech companies don't look down on you.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Computer Geek
Imperial doesn't offer a Computer Science degree, they offer a Computing degree. This degree is a lot more vocational than most CS degrees in the UK. They pretty much have a 6 month internship integrated right into their degree programme, and this is why a lot of them go straight into 70k jobs. It's not really surprising or interesting, tech pays the most in the US, and that seems to be bleeding over to London now too. Imperial's location really gives it the edge that the other good universities for CS (Cam, Warwick, Manchester, Soton etc.) don't have.

Imperial has real prestige for Computing, almost any employer for tech recognises it straight away and some of them tend to hire only from Imperial (and 2/3 other UK unis).

Thing is that Imperial also has the largest amount of students who go off and startup their own tech companies, and again this is due to their culture and location.

I study Computer Science at Warwick myself, but I know of a few people who study Computing at Imperial, and while they don't go into nearly as much depth as we do on some concepts, they really get opportunities that we can only dream of, as Warwick is basically just a bunch of academics on a field in Coventry. Doesn't mean that I'm at some massive disadvantage tho, I've met software engineers who work at Facebook and Google who graduated from Warwick. They just say that you just have to try harder, you just have to do more things in your free time which make up for not attending Imperial, and all the tech companies don't look down on you.


Pretty much this but I'd say everyone has to try hard if they want a top tech job.

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Original post by anonwinner
Why do people keep acting like hard work and prestige aren't related? People at prestigious unis are generally more hard-working that people at worse unis.


Because going to a 'bad' university does not mean you can't work hard.
Original post by INF10
I agree its all course dependent, but also I think WBS and St Andrews probably have better Business Departments than Bath


I just want to point out that neither St Andrews nor Bath have a triple accredited business programme.

You know who has?

University of Bradford
University of Hull

You know who else doesn't?
LSE
King's

Bradford literally better than LSE
Original post by KardasDragon
I just want to point out that neither St Andrews nor Bath have a triple accredited business programme.

You know who has?

University of Bradford
University of Hull

You know who else doesn't?
LSE
King's

Bradford literally better than LSE


lol, since when does triple accreditation make a business programme good?

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Original post by Princepieman
lol, since when does triple accreditation make a business programme good?

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Triple accreditation ensures that you are going to a school, which has one of the best curriculum and it is being reviewed by the authorized people having better knowledge in the field, and it is at par with top end industry requirements.

It also means your degree is recognised across the world, and you look much better in front of employers.

I was sorta kidding with the whole LSE, King's thing. I just wanted to make a point that prestige is overrated because people don't really know what it means. If you're at an interview, you won't have Bradford held against you because it doesn't have a brand name by itself. The triple accreditation makes up hugely for this.
It matters to some extent, but only because around half the universities in the country aren't worth going to. But there's no point comparing universities within the top 20-25. As long as you go to a university that normally requires AAB, you're not at any meaningful disadvantage compared to someone who went to a slightly higher-ranked one.

It's a good idea to try to get into the best university you can, but on a micro level the specific league table ranking is meaningless. I bet a number of people on here haven't even started university - once you're there you'll be so overworked and stressed you won't even care. What you get in your degree is most important component anyway - I'd rather have a 2:1 from Liverpool than a 2:2 from Oxford.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by MaskOfKeaton
It matters to some extent, but only because around half the universities in the country aren't worth going to. But there's no point comparing universities within the top 20-25. As long as you go to a university that normally requires AAB, you're not at any meaningful disadvantage compared to someone who went to a slightly higher-ranked one.

It's a good idea to try to get into the best university you can, but on a micro level the specific league table ranking is meaningless. I bet a number of people on here haven't even started university - once you're there you'll be so overworked and stressed you won't even care. What you get in your degree is most important component anyway - I'd rather have a 2:1 from Liverpool than a 2:2 from Oxford.


I'd rather have a third from Oxford than a first from Liverpool
The university prestige changes based on subject. For example, for law you would see much different groupings.
Original post by anonwinner
I'd rather have a third from Oxford than a first from Liverpool


Oh yeah?

And what university do you go to, hmm?
Are we talking real life, or, on here?
Original post by Abstract_Prism
Oh yeah?

And what university do you go to, hmm?


Why's that important?
The only people who believe prestige of a university doesn't matter, are those who go to a university ending with Metropolitan
Original post by anonwinner
Why's that important?


Saying 'I'd rather get a third from Oxford than a first from Liverpool' makes it sound like you must go to a very prestigious university indeed, to be able to sneer down on everyone like that.

Am I wrong?

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