What's so good about a Russell Group university?
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Original post by sparkledust123
That's very true, it's all quite frustrating when you think about it. why can't all unis offer equal opportunities.
Because hiring is done by humans who bring all their prejudices into the job with them. Some people won't care much about the uni you went to, but might be very fussy about degree subject. Some people might not touch anyone with less than a 2.1. Some people will absolutely want to see some form of paid work experience, while others might be willing to accept voluntary experience.
Not every hiring process will care which uni you went to, but some will know which unis are respected in their field, some will have potentially out of date ideas about prestige, some might be interested in current league table position, and some will definitely use Russel Group as shorthand for good.
It does vary between fields, but if you work in a culture where people care about the uni you went to, you may get the idea that you only want to employ applicants with a certain uni on their CV.
Equally, some people may feel biased towards the uni they went to, and some unis may offer better opportunities for networking than others.
However, most employers will care more about the rest of your CV than the uni you went to- so building your CV with relevant work experience is probably the most important thing you can do to make yourself as employable as possible.
But some employers will always have weird biases about stuff like uni prestige.
Original post by Traore
No idea..
- Usually more challenging course
- Better research -> influences the course syllabus in latter years, more cutting edge topics to cover
- Better students (higher entry requirements in general)
- Top employer links (e.g. just this weekend gone by, I was picked out by a quant hedge fund at a hackathon they sponsored on campus)
- Better societies on average (more motivated students)
- "prestige"
Cons:
- Very independent.. basically you're on your own for sorting out your work. Support is basically up to you to go and get, no one's gonna really notice if you're struggling
- Not always a friendly environment, can feel like just another student sometimes
- Relationships with lecturers may not be strong
- If you're not used to it; lots of rich kids. can be cliquey sometimes
Pros can be applied to good non-RGs like St As and Bath too, and maybe to a lesser extent for some of the lower level RGs.
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You get to be snobby towards those from former polytechs
Jk
Some employers tend to prefer graduates from Russel groups, I remember a teacher saying they didn't select some applicants due to their university not being high in the rankings.
Jk
Some employers tend to prefer graduates from Russel groups, I remember a teacher saying they didn't select some applicants due to their university not being high in the rankings.
Original post by ScottishBrexitor
You get to be snobby towards those from former polytechs
Jk
Some employers tend to prefer graduates from Russel groups, I remember a teacher saying they didn't select some applicants due to their university not being high in the rankings.
Jk
Some employers tend to prefer graduates from Russel groups, I remember a teacher saying they didn't select some applicants due to their university not being high in the rankings.
There was another thread about the RG on here recently, and using one of the largest recruitment website there was only something like 0.07% (rounding up) of jobs requested RG degrees. Any many of those jobs were actually just posts from recruiters who could "sell" the RG thing to employers.
As someone who went to a RG and non-RG uni, anecdotally I found the non-RG uni to be much better in pretty much most departments. That said the RG uni I went to was QUB, which isn't widely regarded as a top university (despite being in the RG).
Original post by jestersnow
There was another thread about the RG on here recently, and using one of the largest recruitment website there was only something like 0.07% (rounding up) of jobs requested RG degrees. Any many of those jobs were actually just posts from recruiters who could "sell" the RG thing to employers.
As someone who went to a RG and non-RG uni, anecdotally I found the non-RG uni to be much better in pretty much most departments. That said the RG uni I went to was QUB, which isn't widely regarded as a top university (despite being in the RG).
As someone who went to a RG and non-RG uni, anecdotally I found the non-RG uni to be much better in pretty much most departments. That said the RG uni I went to was QUB, which isn't widely regarded as a top university (despite being in the RG).
Most top employers for entry level positions will not explicitly say RG.. If they were to say anything, they would say "top tier university" or "excellent academic background" but most don't say anything just so they can pump up application numbers.
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Original post by Princepieman
Most top employers for entry level positions will not explicitly say RG.. If they were to say anything, they would say "top tier university" or "excellent academic background" but most don't say anything just so they can pump up application numbers.
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You could be right, and it depends on what you study. As you know in CS/Tech it's more about what you can do and your demonstrable experience rather than whether you explicitly went to XYZ (though there are exceptions). I also understand that for some degrees (e.g. Law) where you studied does matter a bit more.
(edited 6 years ago)
All the fuss about better unis having the better prospects...
I went to a non-RG uni ranked 70th and still got myself a placement year on a competitive programme in a large international firm.
I'd say it's more about what you make of your university experience which matters.
I went to a non-RG uni ranked 70th and still got myself a placement year on a competitive programme in a large international firm.
I'd say it's more about what you make of your university experience which matters.
(edited 6 years ago)
Went to Hertfordshire university for my first year undergraduate then transferred to Manchester University for second year. Honestly, the teaching quality and assessments were crazy similar. Obvs, older universities with the Russel Group label have been around longer thus have had more research than the newer universities which is why they are deemed more prestigious.
This is a very good point. However, employers don't really have a quick and easy way to sort applicants based on their actual ability. They could go back to A level results but many would not bother given they are several years old. So it makes sense for them to favour RG graduates as they are more likely to be cleverer.
Therefore you run a big risk in going to a lower-ranked university when you could do better. You might still be brilliant but you won't have a badge that proves it.
Therefore you run a big risk in going to a lower-ranked university when you could do better. You might still be brilliant but you won't have a badge that proves it.
Original post by chazwomaq
This is a very good point. However, employers don't really have a quick and easy way to sort applicants based on their actual ability. They could go back to A level results but many would not bother given they are several years old. So it makes sense for them to favour RG graduates as they are more likely to be cleverer.
Therefore you run a big risk in going to a lower-ranked university when you could do better. You might still be brilliant but you won't have a badge that proves it.
Therefore you run a big risk in going to a lower-ranked university when you could do better. You might still be brilliant but you won't have a badge that proves it.
Again this depends on the subject. Some amazing engineers and computer science professionals get great jobs despite not going to big uni's because what they can do or what they have made is so impressive that it's more important than their degree. I totally get that doesn't go for all degrees though.
Yeah, I think we agree.
I don't think it's hard work that makes the difference. I think it's your general intelligence.
Absolutely nobody is in a position to say one way or the other because nobody is simultaneously in both RG and non-RG positions at the same time.
I'm kind of close - undergrad at Oxbridge, postgrad at RGs, now teach at ex-poly!
But the one thing that is really important is people choosing their applications. My advice is don't go for a easier university because you think it won't make a difference once you graduate. You may well be hamstringing yourself and failing to show employers your true potential.
I don't think it's hard work that makes the difference. I think it's your general intelligence.
Absolutely nobody is in a position to say one way or the other because nobody is simultaneously in both RG and non-RG positions at the same time.
I'm kind of close - undergrad at Oxbridge, postgrad at RGs, now teach at ex-poly!
I guess at a more fundamentally basic level, if you have the option to go to an RG then you don't have much to worry about, whether you actually go or not. There's really no point worrying about what could have been, no matter what you choose. Life goes on
But the one thing that is really important is people choosing their applications. My advice is don't go for a easier university because you think it won't make a difference once you graduate. You may well be hamstringing yourself and failing to show employers your true potential.
Original post by Traore
No idea..
They are good, they carry out evidence based research and are highly respected
Original post by Princepieman
- Usually more challenging course
- Better research -> influences the course syllabus in latter years, more cutting edge topics to cover
- Better students (higher entry requirements in general)
- Top employer links (e.g. just this weekend gone by, I was picked out by a quant hedge fund at a hackathon they sponsored on campus)
- Better societies on average (more motivated students)
- "prestige"
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- Better research -> influences the course syllabus in latter years, more cutting edge topics to cover
- Better students (higher entry requirements in general)
- Top employer links (e.g. just this weekend gone by, I was picked out by a quant hedge fund at a hackathon they sponsored on campus)
- Better societies on average (more motivated students)
- "prestige"
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Sorry to be off topic Princepieman, how much programming experience did you have coming into uni to participate at a hackathon? Or could I learn starting September and be ready for one?
At the same time, however, there are plenty of Non-Russell Group universities who have similar entry standards and employability rates. Look at somewhere such as Royal Holloway: not a part of the Russell Group by virtue of its smaller size, but has very good employability rates and the research it conducts is at a very high level of quality. It is part of the University of London and was a member of the 1994 group when it existed.
Russell Group Universities are only so because they selected themselves to be. Going to one is certainly something to be proud of and is sought after by graduate recruiters; however, it certainly isn't the be all and end all.
Russell Group Universities are only so because they selected themselves to be. Going to one is certainly something to be proud of and is sought after by graduate recruiters; however, it certainly isn't the be all and end all.
Original post by 0xFFFFail
Sorry to be off topic Princepieman, how much programming experience did you have coming into uni to participate at a hackathon? Or could I learn starting September and be ready for one?
I mean I've done a year of CS already and fiddle around with stuff in my spare time so I know the basics pretty well but realistically you don't need much experience. For example my first one here was a game dev one and me and my team knew 0 but still made a flappy bird-esque game.
Hackathons are great for learning about a new technology/paradigm rapidly, you may not have a complete thing by the end but just getting stuck into build something is valuable experience for future endeavours.
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Original post by Princepieman
I mean I've done a year of CS already and fiddle around with stuff in my spare time so I know the basics pretty well but realistically you don't need much experience. For example my first one here was a game dev one and me and my team knew 0 but still made a flappy bird-esque game.
Hackathons are great for learning about a new technology/paradigm rapidly, you may not have a complete thing by the end but just getting stuck into build something is valuable experience for future endeavours.
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Hackathons are great for learning about a new technology/paradigm rapidly, you may not have a complete thing by the end but just getting stuck into build something is valuable experience for future endeavours.
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That's great to hear thanks
I've been coding for a few years now and have made some cool projects but I'm imagining a competitive hackathon would be between loads of people who've been coding since they've been walking or something lmao
Original post by Traore
No idea..
The research and the label. Otherwise they're pretty much the same as non-RG unis.
Original post by 0xFFFFail
That's great to hear thanks I've been coding for a few years now and have made some cool projects but I'm imagining a competitive hackathon would be between loads of people who've been coding since they've been walking or something lmao
I've been coding for a few years now and have made some cool projects but I'm imagining a competitive hackathon would be between loads of people who've been coding since they've been walking or something lmaoYou'll get a wide diversity of people participate. If a hackathon was anything like I went to a couple of weeks back, those new to certain programming/software engineering concepts will gain a lot from those who live and breathe coding. The latter are generally really happy to share their knowledge with those less experienced. So no matter your programming level you'll always feel included.
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