Masters at Birkbeck vs Goldsmiths (MSc Data Science)

Which programme has the higher academic standard, staff, programme structure etc.

I'm a potential international student which means I will definitely be working so Birkbeck would be a good option in terms of the programme being structured for individuals who work.

On the other hand, Goldsmiths has electives dedicated to Deep Learning which I really want to pursue. Not sure of the their part-time structured version of the course.

Also, from what I can gather, Goldsmiths is mostly known for their creative courses and Birkbeck has a stronger history/reputation with technology courses compared to Goldsmiths.

Any help would be much appreciated.

I’m not sure about this specific course. However, Birkbeck seems to be doing really well nowadays and they’re getting better every year; I’m constantly reading good news about their university performance which makes me think that they’re definitely headed in the right direction.

Goldsmiths, as you said, seems to have a knack for the creative industries esp. media and communications. Based solely on general reputation, I would say the two universities are comparable. Yet, I, for one, would be more inclined to choose Birkbeck for anything not art related.

As for you being an international student, it is worth noting that if you require a Tier 4 Visa you should know that the legal limit on students who work was 20hrs/week when I was in the UK last year.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi Thabied,

Like most of our degree programmes, our MSc Data Science is taught in the evenings so that you have the freedom to work or do your own thing during the day. If you already have an undergraduate qualification in computer science, you might also be interested in our MSc Advanced Computing Technologies.

For both programmes we regularly run optional modules on machine learning and neural networks, so I'd suggest looking at the course structure for both on our website and getting in touch with the department if you have any specific questions about the course modules.

If you haven't yet, I'd definitely recommend speaking to some of our Computer Science student ambassadors on Unibuddy (unibuddy.co/pwa/birkbeck-university), as they can tell you more about their experience of the department and studying at Birkbeck.


If you have any questions about Birkbeck or studying in London, please let me know.

-Peter

Which programme has the higher academic standard, staff, programme structure etc.

I'm a potential international student which means I will definitely be working so Birkbeck would be a good option in terms of the programme being structured for individuals who work.

On the other hand, Goldsmiths has electives dedicated to Deep Learning which I really want to pursue. Not sure of the their part-time structured version of the course.

Also, from what I can gather, Goldsmiths is mostly known for their creative courses and Birkbeck has a stronger history/reputation with technology courses compared to Goldsmiths.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi Peter

Thanks for the response. From what I can gather I do think Birkbeck is more suitable for me. Thanks for the Unibuddy link I will definitely check it out.

I'm sure you're aware of the 20 hour work-week limit for international students. Do you have any advice with regards to this? Does Birkbeck offer jobs for students perhaps?

Thanks for the help

We don't offer jobs specifically for students, other than our paid student ambassador roles. But our careers service is free and available to all Birkbeck students and includes our in-house recruitment agency, Birkbeck Talent (www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/careers-service), aimed at helping students find jobs while they're studying with us and after they graduate.

Birkbeck Talent also recently partnered up with Student Circus (https://studentcircus.com/), which finds jobs exclusively for international students in the UK.

I'd also suggest taking a look at our Working in the UK, as it has a lot of information for international students looking to work while they study with us:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/international/working-graduates

-Peter

We don't offer jobs specifically for students, other than our paid student ambassador roles. But our careers service is free and available to all Birkbeck students and includes our in-house recruitment agency, Birkbeck Talent (www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/careers-service), aimed at helping students find jobs while they're studying with us and after they graduate.

Birkbeck Talent also recently partnered up with Student Circus (https://studentcircus.com/), which finds jobs exclusively for international students in the UK.

I'd also suggest taking a look at our Working in the UK, as it has a lot of information for international students looking to work while they study with us:

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/international/working-graduates

-Peter