How is Computer Science at Southampton?

Southampton is generally regarded very well for CS, and as I recall the CS department is fairly big and modern (might only be some parts of it though). Southampton is a campus uni, very much in the American style, sprawled out to the north of the actual city of Southampton. You could well spend your entire degree there without having to ever set foot in the city centre itself as there are plenty of nearby grocery stores etc, and some more variety of shops in the Portswood area just south of the university. If you did want to go into the city however, there are regular buses which have subsidised ticket costs, that serve the university.

It's quite a nice university, although the US campus style means it's a lot of footpaths connecting the various buildings and a LOT of the buildings themselves, so if you end up with a lecture in an unfamiliar department it can sometimes be a bit confusing trying to figure out where it is initially...overall I quite liked it there, although perhaps there isn't loads of stuff to do on campus outside of lectures and student society things. The city itself is sort of medium sized and has a fair range of stuff, and it's only about 2 hours (maybe a bit less?) by train to London which has anything you could want otherwise. That said, while I liked the uni well enough, I was not a great fan of the city (although when I was there it was in the middle of a ~6 month strike by the city garbage collection and street cleaners so it was a bit grim).

I'm not familiar with the other two unis for CS specifically or their cities in general so I couldn't say too much about them. Generally they're all well regarded but my impression is for CS (also engineering, which may be relevant as CS and EE are part of the same departmen) Southampton "punches above it's weight" and is a lot better than generic rankings might suggest...? However I don't know how much research the department does in AI or how it fares in the research it does do if it is involved in that.

@Acsel and @Blue_Cow may be able to give some general insight into CS matters in general (what to look for in courses etc), and might have considered those universities previously and have some advice on that front (possibly).

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply. It really paints a good picture of the campus.
My course at Southampton doesn't include a year in industry, but they do recommend 20 weeks of work placements in their course specification. How easy is it to get good placements?

Hi,

I have to choose between York, Southampton and Leeds for my insurance choice. My course is CS with AI, and I'm facing some trouble making the right choice.
Could you tell me about:
-the CS department and facilities
-placements, and
-the overall feel of the city?

Being an international student, it's not possible for me to attend an open day, so I'd like to know more about the entire experience of studying at Southampton.

No idea, I'm not a student on that course or even at Southampton itself anymore

I imagine it will really depend on yourself; how effectively you are able to research and apply to appropriate placements, and how well you do in the course (and what if any self-motivated work you have done outside the course to form some kind of portfolio of programming projects etc) to make yourself an attractive prospect to them. The university might be able to offer advice or suggestions on placement opportunities but it's unlikely they will be much more involved than that.

However, I don't know for sure and the above is just based on the assumption it will be similar to other universities, since typically in the UK placements are organised by the student themselves (even on courses including a placement year formally, you would be the one who has to apply to and arrange the placement, the uni just permit you to do it and then has you write some reflective commentary on the work you've done and give you credit typically).

Great course, a lot of students very interested in the subject. The facilities are amazing, best facilities I've ever seen. Many many opportunities. Most of the teachers are very good, all PhDs, very into their course.