Msc AI in Einburgh or Southampton?

Hi guys,

I have been offered MSc Artificial Intelligence for University of Edinburgh intake 2010.

Just wonder how good Edinburgh is for this specific course.

Besides, how is the career prospect after my graduation in Edinburgh?

I have been offered the same course in University of Southampton also so I wonder how good is which uni is better in this field? (in terms of strength and career prospect?)

Finally, is living in Edinburgh expensive? If so, how does it compared to Southampton?

Thanks for all your information guys

hey there. If you dont mind me asking, when did you recieve your offer for informatics? In terms of reasearch I think that edinburgh beats Southhampton (not by much though). Also, Edinburgh has better links with industry, however if you go to either Univeristy your career prospects will still be very good. I dunno about southamoton, but I live in Edinburgh and you have to sort of accept that things are just a tad more expensive since it is the Capital. But dont let that put you off edinburgh, you can still get by on very little and it is very much a matter of taste and how much your budget is.

Another cause of my worries is the Job oppurtunuties in London & Edinburgh. I feel that graduating from UCL would fetch me a better job(read money ), since the oppurtunities in & around London are immense.

@ Constant_Int & nanogen

I agree with you guys about the cost of living in London being high & the University of Edinburgh being the best in Uk for AI(well ahead of UCL) .....but my cause of concern is the availaibility of jobs in Scotland..!!
Since I have never been to Scotland (or for that matter, London), I just wanted to get a clear picture of the job prospects out there...
I personally feel that Job scenario would be somewhat better in London as compared to Scotland (for obvious reasons)....and moreover, why would an employer (in London, or anywhere down south) employ me(if, at all I go to Edinburgh) instead of the guys out there in London(basically frm King's, UCL, Imperial, etc)...?

basically i am having the same worries as UKASPIRANT

will it really affect my career development if i go to edinburgh? if so, how much will it be affected?

i always think that university of edinburgh occasionally organize career fairs and such which will help in getting myself a job...but will the fair really help?

anyone who has experience on this matter pls advise..

First I have to point out that there are no AI graduates from Edinburgh who can come and tell you anything. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by your career development being "affected", but a degree from an ancient university in one of their best subject areas can hardly be bad. The university has a seemingly good and highly proactive careers office who offer you all sorts of support. Of course Edinburgh has graduate career fairs - every university does. Whether it helps or not I have no idea - but a university in London won't be able to help you any more.

Call for all Edinburgh(or any AI) graduates to clarify our doubts...

First I have to point out that there are no AI graduates from Edinburgh who can come and tell you anything.

x

Okay, I am pretty much an Edinburgh graduate (I graduate in June) so I've had experience with grad fairs and the careers office ... not in AI, but as has been said, we don't have anyone who studies AI who is on tsr, so you're stuck with us.

An employer in the UK will not expect you to have gone to university in the same city as their office. Just because you graduate from Edinburgh you are not restricted to living in Edinburgh (or Scotland) for that matter in your working life. You are free to go to England, or elsewhere in the UK (or abroad) with your degree as you would be from any other university in the country.

If you had a job interview in say, London, then yes you would be expected to travel to London for the interview in the same manner as someone from London applying for a job in Edinburgh would be expected to travel to Edinburgh. This is fairly logical. Some graduate recruitment firms also come to different parts of the country as a more local base for interviews, meaning you might be able to get an interview in Edinburgh (or Glasgow or Aberdeen) depending on what you were applying for - if it is a popular and competitive graduate programme then yes, many of them do come outside of London to interview but equally, many do not in which case you'd have to go to wherever in the country they were based. Although I have no idea why you're considering this as a reason not to come to Edinburgh - you can fly between Edinburgh and London for around £40 and come there and back in a day so its hardly difficult!

The careers fair in Edinburgh is as helpful as you make it - I didn't really find it useful because by this point I had already applied for the grad programmes I wanted meaning I just went for a wee wander then came home again. Similarly, I didn't bother going to the postgraduate open day for this reason. But the careers fair in Edinburgh is the same as you'd get at UCL, Oxbridge or elsewhere -- Edinburgh is one of the best universities in the country and employers know this, therefore all of the grad scheme companies etc come because it is in their interests to attract as many top graduates as they possibly can... you are by no means disadvantaged because you're in Scotland rather than being in London!! They come to you and travel around the country for careers fair, they're not just not going to bother recruiting outside of London.

In short, I can confirm for you that I have not experienced any issues or problems relating to applying for graduate programmes outside of Edinburgh - I've applied both in Scotland and England with zero issues what so ever.... it really is not a problem at all and I don't see why you seem to think this is an issue.

I have a choice to either join University of Bristol or University of Edinburgh for Artificial intelligence course. Today which is the best university as per members in this forum.

Also is Edinburg still the top for employment opportunities.

I have a choice to either join University of Bristol or University of Edinburgh for Artificial intelligence course. Today which is the best university as per members in this forum.

Also is Edinburg still the top for employment opportunities.