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Is University of Nottingham reputation likely to go down for Economics?

I'm considering putting the University of Nottingham as my firm for Economics, but I'm slightly scared that in 3-5 years' time, it may become a mid-low target for Economics. This is because of the other courses it offers which have low entry requirements and go into clearing each year. I understand Nottingham is mainly known for its Law/Economics/Medicine and vet med programme.
I hear Nottingham's economics degree programme is very good- it's up there with Bristol and Bath but not quite as good as Oxbridge/UCL/LSE. Despite this, I can't help but think that Nottingham now will only go downhill due to so many students who go there (I believe they have the most students of any other uni(?)) and eventually Nottingham will not be considered as a semi-target or not valued by firms.
There's already evidence of this as I hear in the 90's Nottingham was consistently in the top 10 in the country, and around 2010, Nottingham was just one place below Warwick for Economics, whereas this year it has slipped three places to twelfth in TCUG. I worry there will be more of this in the near future.
Am I right in thinking this or am I mistaken?

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Reply 2
Bump!!!
Original post by luisfigo128
I'm considering putting the University of Nottingham as my firm for Economics, but I'm slightly scared that in 3-5 years' time, it may become a mid-low target for Economics. This is because of the other courses it offers which have low entry requirements and go into clearing each year. I understand Nottingham is mainly known for its Law/Economics/Medicine and vet med programme.
I hear Nottingham's economics degree programme is very good- it's up there with Bristol and Bath but not quite as good as Oxbridge/UCL/LSE. Despite this, I can't help but think that Nottingham now will only go downhill due to so many students who go there (I believe they have the most students of any other uni(?)) and eventually Nottingham will not be considered as a semi-target or not valued by firms.
There's already evidence of this as I hear in the 90's Nottingham was consistently in the top 10 in the country, and around 2010, Nottingham was just one place below Warwick for Economics, whereas this year it has slipped three places to twelfth in TCUG. I worry there will be more of this in the near future.
Am I right in thinking this or am I mistaken?

lot of alums in IB are from the same uni's so I doubt hiring from uni's like nottingham is going to change considering with time more notts alums would be in higher positions, same goes for other unis like Warwick etc
Notts is less than bristol bath durham imo. But above exeter and kings for sure.
Reply 5
Original post by Ferrari08
Notts is less than bristol bath durham imo. But above exeter and kings for sure.

Well, Notts have the same requirements as all of them so I would consider the course to be the same surely. What universities are you looking to go to?

Original post by alexr19i8
lot of alums in IB are from the same uni's so I doubt hiring from uni's like nottingham is going to change considering with time more notts alums would be in higher positions, same goes for other unis like Warwick etc

That is true, but I don't think reputation lies on that factor. Doesn't it rely on the overall uni rep, and like @Ferrari08 says, he considers Bristol/Bath/Durham above Nottingham simply due to the fact that their other courses are a lot more competitive than other courses taught at Nottingham (I think) so in other people's eyes Nottingham is an average uni, apart from the law departments/maths departments, and I'm worried their other departments might pull the overall reputation down. Universities like Bristol or Bath are competitive for pretty much all their courses so I doubt they'll have any problems in the future.
Original post by luisfigo128
Well, Notts have the same requirements as all of them so I would consider the course to be the same surely. What universities are you looking to go to?


That is true, but I don't think reputation lies on that factor. Doesn't it rely on the overall uni rep, and like @Ferrari08 says, he considers Bristol/Bath/Durham above Nottingham simply due to the fact that their other courses are a lot more competitive than other courses taught at Nottingham (I think) so in other people's eyes Nottingham is an average uni, apart from the law departments/maths departments, and I'm worried their other departments might pull the overall reputation down. Universities like Bristol or Bath are competitive for pretty much all their courses so I doubt they'll have any problems in the future.

I have got durham so far and waiting on ucl and lse for econ. The reason I think this is because on last years results day people with aab got into notts for econ but both durham and bath weren't in clearing for econ and for Bristol you needed aaa. Exactly overall uni rep has influenced this I think.
Reply 7
Original post by Ferrari08
I have got durham so far and waiting on ucl and lse for econ. The reason I think this is because on last years results day people with aab got into notts for econ but both durham and bath weren't in clearing for econ and for Bristol you needed aaa. Exactly overall uni rep has influenced this I think.

Wow, congrats. Anyways, I don't know what I will do now
Original post by luisfigo128
Well, Notts have the same requirements as all of them so I would consider the course to be the same surely. What universities are you looking to go to?


That is true, but I don't think reputation lies on that factor. Doesn't it rely on the overall uni rep, and like @Ferrari08 says, he considers Bristol/Bath/Durham above Nottingham simply due to the fact that their other courses are a lot more competitive than other courses taught at Nottingham (I think) so in other people's eyes Nottingham is an average uni, apart from the law departments/maths departments, and I'm worried their other departments might pull the overall reputation down. Universities like Bristol or Bath are competitive for pretty much all their courses so I doubt they'll have any problems in the future.

No matter the rankings, the IBs will always prefer Oxbridge,UCL,LSE,LBS,Imperial,Durham,Warwick,Nottingham and even Loughborough more recently. If we're speaking on university rankings in terms of how they're perceived in the world of finance, then these uni's are more targeted. I'd even go as far as to say Nottingham is above Bristol and Bath in Finance. If you look at LinkedIn etc most of the new analysts and summer analysts come mostly from the universities mentioned above.
Original post by luisfigo128
I'm considering putting the University of Nottingham as my firm for Economics, but I'm slightly scared that in 3-5 years' time, it may become a mid-low target for Economics. This is because of the other courses it offers which have low entry requirements and go into clearing each year. I understand Nottingham is mainly known for its Law/Economics/Medicine and vet med programme.
I hear Nottingham's economics degree programme is very good- it's up there with Bristol and Bath but not quite as good as Oxbridge/UCL/LSE. Despite this, I can't help but think that Nottingham now will only go downhill due to so many students who go there (I believe they have the most students of any other uni(?)) and eventually Nottingham will not be considered as a semi-target or not valued by firms.
There's already evidence of this as I hear in the 90's Nottingham was consistently in the top 10 in the country, and around 2010, Nottingham was just one place below Warwick for Economics, whereas this year it has slipped three places to twelfth in TCUG. I worry there will be more of this in the near future.
Am I right in thinking this or am I mistaken?


Unlikely, Nottingham has a large economics department with several courses however the Economics BSc's are very reputable.

The department brings in a lot of expertise due to its high research output in the field of economics. (including a Nottingham researcher going on to win an Econ Nobel prize, albeit nearly 20 years ago).

league tables always fluctuate but they are not really a reflection of department prestige. League tables measure a composite of data however a lot of it measures things that dont affect exit prospects or reputation. Now ive no doubt Oxbridge, LSE, UCL will remain more prestigious but I doubt many other economics departments are more prestigious although some maybe on very similar footing.
I think you're generally reading a bit too much into this, in terms of economics and finance the general tiers are:

Tier 1 (targets) - Oxbridge, LSE, UCL Warwick and Imperial (Imperial only for finance not Econ)

Tier 2 (upper semi-targets) - Nottingham, Bristol, Durham, Bath

Tier 3 (lower semi-targets) - kings (doesn't specialise in Econ/Fin), Manchester, Exeter, Edinburgh, St Andrews.

The rest are all non-targets, can still make it in but harder.

So all the ones you're speaking about a very very similar so going to any of them isn't gonna make much difference at all, banks and economic institutions care far more about your work experience/internships and how well you perform in their own assessments then the specific uni, especially when all the unis you've mentioned are so close.

In terms of Nottingham specifically, I'd probably say Bath and Bristol have ever so slightly more rigorous economics undergrad degrees but you're really splitting hairs at this point. So I'd generally say Bristol > Bath > Nottingham > Durham but as I said it's very close.

In terms of placing students into banks at graduate level, Nottingham probably has the best placement record, followed by Bath then Bristol then Durham. In terms of actual economics departments (so including postgrad rep) Nottingham is definitely the best, then Bristol, then Bath then Durham. Durham is actually surprisingly not that fantastic for economics but the prestige helps it. At overall department level Durham isn't even close to a top10 but it's undergrad program is decent enough but not better than those in its tier.

FYI I'm pretty sure Manchester university has the highest student population. Hopefully this helps a bit
If you're referring to investment banking recruiting, don't worry. HR isn't so rigorously checking the specific quality of your institution every year. The idea of targets and semi-targets is largely based on a broad reputation. Nottingham is still a pretty big funnel into IB (obviously less so than targets but still), thus it has a lot of alumni in top firms which further perpetuates its semi-target status. It's rep isn't going anywhere.
Original post by alexr19i8
No matter the rankings, the IBs will always prefer Oxbridge,UCL,LSE,LBS,Imperial,Durham,Warwick,Nottingham and even Loughborough more recently. If we're speaking on university rankings in terms of how they're perceived in the world of finance, then these uni's are more targeted. I'd even go as far as to say Nottingham is above Bristol and Bath in Finance. If you look at LinkedIn etc most of the new analysts and summer analysts come mostly from the universities mentioned above.


Original post by mnot
Unlikely, Nottingham has a large economics department with several courses however the Economics BSc's are very reputable.

The department brings in a lot of expertise due to its high research output in the field of economics. (including a Nottingham researcher going on to win an Econ Nobel prize, albeit nearly 20 years ago).

league tables always fluctuate but they are not really a reflection of department prestige. League tables measure a composite of data however a lot of it measures things that dont affect exit prospects or reputation. Now ive no doubt Oxbridge, LSE, UCL will remain more prestigious but I doubt many other economics departments are more prestigious although some maybe on very similar footing.


Original post by BenRyan99
I think you're generally reading a bit too much into this, in terms of economics and finance the general tiers are:

Tier 1 (targets) - Oxbridge, LSE, UCL Warwick and Imperial (Imperial only for finance not Econ)

Tier 2 (upper semi-targets) - Nottingham, Bristol, Durham, Bath

Tier 3 (lower semi-targets) - kings (doesn't specialise in Econ/Fin), Manchester, Exeter, Edinburgh, St Andrews.

The rest are all non-targets, can still make it in but harder.

So all the ones you're speaking about a very very similar so going to any of them isn't gonna make much difference at all, banks and economic institutions care far more about your work experience/internships and how well you perform in their own assessments then the specific uni, especially when all the unis you've mentioned are so close.

In terms of Nottingham specifically, I'd probably say Bath and Bristol have ever so slightly more rigorous economics undergrad degrees but you're really splitting hairs at this point. So I'd generally say Bristol > Bath > Nottingham > Durham but as I said it's very close.

In terms of placing students into banks at graduate level, Nottingham probably has the best placement record, followed by Bath then Bristol then Durham. In terms of actual economics departments (so including postgrad rep) Nottingham is definitely the best, then Bristol, then Bath then Durham. Durham is actually surprisingly not that fantastic for economics but the prestige helps it. At overall department level Durham isn't even close to a top10 but it's undergrad program is decent enough but not better than those in its tier.

FYI I'm pretty sure Manchester university has the highest student population. Hopefully this helps a bit


Original post by anonuser99
If you're referring to investment banking recruiting, don't worry. HR isn't so rigorously checking the specific quality of your institution every year. The idea of targets and semi-targets is largely based on a broad reputation. Nottingham is still a pretty big funnel into IB (obviously less so than targets but still), thus it has a lot of alumni in top firms which further perpetuates its semi-target status. It's rep isn't going anywhere.

Wow, thank you guys for making me understand this. It's really going to help me make my final decision. Thank you :smile:
Here is a ranking of which unis investment banks recruit from.

https://www.efinancialcareers.co.uk/news/finance/the-top-universities-for-the-analyst-class-for-2015-at-goldman-sachs-j-p-morgan-and-morgan-stanley#.V5DeRYOEhe0.mailto

Nott's doesn't even appear in the top 10 for any, so I would stay away from it.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by Srtebti2344
Here is a ranking of which unis investment banks recruit from.

https://www.efinancialcareers.co.uk/news/finance/the-top-universities-for-the-analyst-class-for-2015-at-goldman-sachs-j-p-morgan-and-morgan-stanley#.V5DeRYOEhe0.mailto

Nott's doesn't even appear in the top 10 for any, so I would stay away from it.

Wait... what. Are you serious?
Original post by Srtebti2344
Here is a ranking of which unis investment banks recruit from.

https://www.efinancialcareers.co.uk/news/finance/the-top-universities-for-the-analyst-class-for-2015-at-goldman-sachs-j-p-morgan-and-morgan-stanley#.V5DeRYOEhe0.mailto

Nott's doesn't even appear in the top 10 for any, so I would stay away from it.

wait a minute... I'd much rather listen to the people who spoke before you because they are much more experienced when it comes to economics and university decisions. All your threads are on medicine
Original post by luisfigo128
wait a minute... I'd much rather listen to the people who spoke before you because they are much more experienced when it comes to economics and university decisions. All your threads are on medicine

I wouldn't pay much attention to him, dw Nottingham is a solid university for economics and finance. Yes it's below the elite ones, I don't think anybody is arguing differently but it's just outside the top5 and on par with Bristol, Durham and Bath. The link that he used is firstly using old data and secondly only has data from the 3 top banks (GS, JPM and MS) so definitely isn't representative of all investment banks. It also only looks at two job roles with an IB so again, not very representative of banks. Also there's a fair chance you might not even want to work in a bank once you've started your degree, our preferences are dynamic and change over time after all.

If you can get into the elites then great, if you can't then the upper semi-targets are still great for careers in Economics, finance and consulting. Once you achieve this, I'd recommend working on adding things to your CV like relevant work experience (at banks, Economic and Financial institutions, consultancies, public sector, wealth management firms, etc) as these will help you stand out as thousands of students go to good unis, have good grades and many have work experiences too so you should try to be as competitive as possible.
Original post by Srtebti2344
Here is a ranking of which unis investment banks recruit from.

https://www.efinancialcareers.co.uk/news/finance/the-top-universities-for-the-analyst-class-for-2015-at-goldman-sachs-j-p-morgan-and-morgan-stanley#.V5DeRYOEhe0.mailto

Nott's doesn't even appear in the top 10 for any, so I would stay away from it.

If you remove the universities not in the UK like Bocconi etc then Nottingham does make that top 10. Plus, most of CASS recruits in IB come from a Master's level because their BSc is no where near as highly acclaimed.
Original post by BenRyan99
I wouldn't pay much attention to him, dw Nottingham is a solid university for economics and finance. Yes it's below the elite ones, I don't think anybody is arguing differently but it's just outside the top5 and on par with Bristol, Durham and Bath. The link that he used is firstly using old data and secondly only has data from the 3 top banks (GS, JPM and MS) so definitely isn't representative of all investment banks. It also only looks at two job roles with an IB so again, not very representative of banks. Also there's a fair chance you might not even want to work in a bank once you've started your degree, our preferences are dynamic and change over time after all.

If you can get into the elites then great, if you can't then the upper semi-targets are still great for careers in Economics, finance and consulting. Once you achieve this, I'd recommend working on adding things to your CV like relevant work experience (at banks, Economic and Financial institutions, consultancies, public sector, wealth management firms, etc) as these will help you stand out as thousands of students go to good unis, have good grades and many have work experiences too so you should try to be as competitive as possible.

Hi I have applied to finance, accounting and management at the Uni of Nottingham, would I stand a chance of getting into any IB jobs? I am not sure if it is even regarded as a subject that IB would take on? I am not sure on IB but was just asking in case I do change my mind.
Original post by Chelsea2018
Hi I have applied to finance, accounting and management at the Uni of Nottingham, would I stand a chance of getting into any IB jobs? I am not sure if it is even regarded as a subject that IB would take on? I am not sure on IB but was just asking in case I do change my mind.

Yes you stand a chance. IB is a job in financial services... why would finance not be a relevant degree...

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