Looking for opinions.. Meng at UWE or MSc at University of Bristol

Hi there,

I'm faced with a life decision so thought I'd ask on here. I'm about to go into my 3rd year at UWE (university of the West of England 43rd in uni rankings), and my original plan was to graduate and do an MSc at UOB (The University of Bristol, 4th in rankings). I got a very high overall grade, 83% overall so I'm confidant I can get into there if I want to, but at UWE I've been invited to work in quite a prestige group Meng project. I can't reveal too many details as its confidential, but I'll basically be involved in the re design/improvement of a gold medalist Paralympic athletes biometric limb. Only 3 mechanical engineers at UWE are selected to be involved in this project. So basically I can use my high grade of year two to take me into a masters at 4th ranking UOB, or stay at a 43rd ranking uni and come out a designer of a payolympians limb. I guess that would look great on my cv! Any opinions/help would be much appreciated. :smile:

Many thanks,

Lawrence

Original post by eirta

Hi there,

I'm faced with a life decision so thought I'd ask on here. I'm about to go into my 3rd year at UWE (university of the West of England 43rd in uni rankings), and my original plan was to graduate and do an MSc at UOB (The University of Bristol, 4th in rankings). I got a very high overall grade, 83% overall so I'm confidant I can get into there if I want to, but at UWE I've been invited to work in quite a prestige group Meng project. I can't reveal too many details as its confidential, but I'll basically be involved in the re design/improvement of a gold medalist Paralympic athletes biometric limb. Only 3 mechanical engineers at UWE are selected to be involved in this project. So basically I can use my high grade of year two to take me into a masters at 4th ranking UOB, or stay at a 43rd ranking uni and come out a designer of a payolympians limb. I guess that would look great on my cv! Any opinions/help would be much appreciated. :smile:

Many thanks,

Lawrence

Firstly, you've listed the respective rankings of the universities as if they are definitive, but they change every year and vary, sometimes quite wildly, according to the source.

Secondly, what do you actually want? Do you want to do what sounds like a very innovative and interesting project, or to move to another university to complete an MSc?

Reply 2

eirta

OP

Original post by Smack

Firstly, you've listed the respective rankings of the universities as if they are definitive, but they change every year and vary, sometimes quite wildly, according to the source.

Secondly, what do you actually want? Do you want to do what sounds like a very innovative and interesting project, or to move to another university to complete an MSc?

I think this is a very interesting project and definitely something I could get into. But are university rankings important? If it knuckled down to something important and quite big at a lower ranked university, would it be more employable than an average MSc at a significantly higher ranked university? If UWE and UOB were the same in rankings I'd pick the Paralympic project in a heartbeat

(edited 7 years ago)

Original post by eirta

I think this is a very interesting project and definitely something I could get into. But are university rankings important? If it knuckled down to something important and quite big at a lower ranked university, would it be more employable than an average MSc at a significantly higher ranked university? If UWE and UOB were the same in rankings I'd pick the Paralympic project in a heartbeat

Rankings aren't important at all. It's up to you to make yourself employable.

Reply 4

Duncan2012

19

The question of 'BEng+MSc' vs MEng has been asked and answered several times here. Why not do MEng+MSc? You do know that MEng is an undergraduate degree whereas MSc is a postgraduate degree, right?

University rankings for engineering are pretty much irrelevant to employers.

Reply 5

Saliency

17

Original post by Duncan2012

The question of 'BEng+MSc' vs MEng has been asked and answered several times here. Why not do MEng+MSc? You do know that MEng is an undergraduate degree whereas MSc is a postgraduate degree, right?

University rankings for engineering are pretty much irrelevant to employers.

I think the answer to that is that since MEng is classed as a postgraduate degree, you wont be eligible for the SFE postgraduate loan.

Reply 6

Duncan2012

19

Original post by Saliency

I think the answer to that is that since MEng is classed as a postgraduate degree, you wont be eligible for the SFE postgraduate loan.

Source please? MEng is not a postgraduate masters degree.

Reply 7

Saliency

17

Original post by Duncan2012

Source please? MEng is not a postgraduate masters degree.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 8

Duncan2012

19

Original post by Saliency

Thank you. I was going off the .gov website which suggests it is allowable, whereas those links you helpfully posted suggest it's not. Something else for the OP to factor in.

Original post by eirta

Hi there,

I'm faced with a life decision so thought I'd ask on here. I'm about to go into my 3rd year at UWE (university of the West of England 43rd in uni rankings), and my original plan was to graduate and do an MSc at UOB (The University of Bristol, 4th in rankings). I got a very high overall grade, 83% overall so I'm confidant I can get into there if I want to, but at UWE I've been invited to work in quite a prestige group Meng project. I can't reveal too many details as its confidential, but I'll basically be involved in the re design/improvement of a gold medalist Paralympic athletes biometric limb. Only 3 mechanical engineers at UWE are selected to be involved in this project. So basically I can use my high grade of year two to take me into a masters at 4th ranking UOB, or stay at a 43rd ranking uni and come out a designer of a payolympians limb. I guess that would look great on my cv! Any opinions/help would be much appreciated. :smile:

Many thanks,

Lawrence

This is the sort of conversation you can have with staff at UWE, and once you have an offer, staff at UoB. It's a common academic dilemma, that staff will have met themselves and advised plenty of students on before. They will be able to be much more specific about the different options, your potential, transitions to careers etc. Good students get multiple offers, it's a fact of life - same with employees. An early and open conversation and fact gathering can only be a good thing (it might even uncover funding opportunities).

I'm not as sanguine as others about the lack of significance of prestige (as someone who has worked at one of those institutions and studied at the other), but there are nuances, for example, if your project is affiliated to the robotics centre, then that's a joint UoB/UWE venture, so employers may be more interested in you working at the centre. However, it also means you might be able to negotiate involvement in the same, or very similar projects even if you are at UoB.

Reply 10

returnmigrant

21

Do not get worked up about 'rankings'. Its just 'marketing' nonsense. Employers and academics don't give a monkeys about 'which Uni' and neither should you.

Rankings appeal to school leavers because they can play that silly 'mine is better than yours' game. In the real world, you do your postgrad where there are the facilities/staff research interests and/or courses that appeal to you, and where you can get funding. It really is that simple.

Original post by eirta

I think this is a very interesting project and definitely something I could get into. But are university rankings important? If it knuckled down to something important and quite big at a lower ranked university, would it be more employable than an average MSc at a significantly higher ranked university? If UWE and UOB were the same in rankings I'd pick the Paralympic project in a heartbeat

Something that's been missed in this thread so far, where much of the focus has been on the differences in the rankings, is the final year project at UWE and the MSc at Bristol.

When you say "...and come out a designer of a payolympians limb", it sounds like you will receive an offer of employment based on the outcome of the project. Is that correct?

If it is, then from an employment perspective it really wouldn't be a good idea to throw this away so you can complete an MSc at another university. Even if you don't want a career within bionic limb design, once you have actual professional experience, it's easier to move around to other organisations that might be more inline with where you want to go.

If it isn't, then don't count your chickens before they hatch. Most final year projects don't lead on to employment and don't bear much on employment opportunities.

What MSc(s) would be consider doing at Bristol? As part of your MSc you will have to complete a project/thesis too. Possibly even similar to one that you may do at UWE, although possibly not, as the MSc project/thesis is generally completed over the summer, whereas some MEng final year projects can be performed over the duration of the academic year, offering more time.

But you won't be more employable with the Bristol MSc on your CV, unless the MSc is in a specific area and you are looking to move into that area. The respective rankings are not relevant. What's relevant is how relevant the education is to the career, and what you gain from said education.

Reply 12

user 42005

18

Original post by returnmigrant

Do not get worked up about 'rankings'. Its just 'marketing' nonsense. Employers and academics don't give a monkeys about 'which Uni' and neither should you.

.

This is factually incorrect, depending on the industry.

Looking for opinions.. Meng at UWE or MSc at University of Bristol

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