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University Prestige Vs Good University

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Reply 80
Original post by Smack
For which companies (or sectors if you are not happy saying which companies), and why is this not then reflected in employment statistics?

Shell, BP, Deutsche Bank (its actually like an Imperial alumni association!), ARM, IBM, Ferrari, McLaren, Morgan Stanley that's just off the top of my head....



Original post by Smack
See above.


You havent replied to this above. Do soton students get a 'wow' from recruiters?
Reply 81
Original post by Extricated
Shame you're going to oxford then, since asians are the smartest.


Failure to understand sarcasm or the link to the OP.
Original post by 04ghicks
Failure to understand sarcasm or the link to the OP.


indeed.
Reply 83
Original post by chira07
I am in the same situation as OP, choosing between Imperial and Soton for Aero Engineering and also on course to get A*A*A*A.

The problem is that I want to do a course that includes spacecraft engineering and while Southampton is great for this, Imperial does no spacecraft at all. Also Imperial is expensive to live in and I've heard a lot about the course being poorly organised.

I want to do a PhD after university and then go into research. Will there be a long term difference between a (probably 2:1) degree from Imperial and a (probably 2:1 or 1:1) degree from Southampton?


Go for Soton if you prefer the course. There's not much difference, it's not like choosing between Imperial and London Met. For PhDs I don't think uni matters anyway (somebody correct me if I'm wrong). i think it'd be stupid to throw away your chance of studying spacecraft engineering if that's what you want to do.
Some courses do tend to attract certain ethnic groups and International students from specific countries.

I'm doing Act Sci and about 50% our course is made up of Chinese students, about 25% British Asian and 25% black/white British. This is not an exaggeration.

I think engineering attracts a similar demographic. Although this is a good thing for you, because it shows people are willing to spend a lot of money on these degrees. You don't see a lot of international students on arts/ humanities courses. There is a reason for this.
Original post by london12
My god what nonsense.....??


It's not nonsense at all.


Errr yes, because 70% of Imperial's engineering graduates are chinese and lack communication skills working in Britain (where the statistics are collected from...)


I'm afraid your English has defeated me.


Why do you think for Computing (which is dept of engineering, but doesnt have as many chinese students as the pure engineering depts) the percentage is not far off 90%?


I'm not interested in computing.


It was in 2008.


Source.


Got anything to show which suggests otherwise?


Well they don't do their corporate training programmes there...


I also know from people who work out in the carribean that Shell and BP scramble for Imperial grads. It's usually Imperial and Cambridge they go for more than usual.


I know from people who work for them in the UK (including a cousin who used to manage Shell's gas terminal at St Fergus) you are talking rubbish.


There were lots in the London office...


No **** that there'd be a lot of grads from a London university in their London offices.


BP has two executive directors who went to Imperial, Iain Conn and John Mazoni.


So?

Shell, BP, Deutsche Bank (its actually like an Imperial alumni association!), ARM, IBM, Ferrari, McLaren, Morgan Stanley that's just off the top of my head....


That's more than four companies. It's also funny how you're just listing off the most well known brands in several sectors. I'm calling bull****. I was suspicious at first when you were talking about people working for Shell in the Caribbean, and more suspicious now that you're here for careers advice (according to your profile) despite (allegedly) having worked for all those companies. Welcome to my ignore list.

You havent replied to this above. Do soton students get a 'wow' from recruiters?


I don't know nor do I care.
Reply 86
Original post by Smack
It's not nonsense at all.

Yes it is, unless companies spend millions on graduates to not have any respect for them.....


Original post by Smack
I'm afraid your English has defeated me.

Computing-has-less-chinese-students-than-engineering

Did that defeat you?


Original post by Smack
I'm not interested in computing.

Well it's part of Imperial's engineering faculty- so yes you are.


Original post by Smack
Source.

How about the head of shell internship recruitment who i knew in person !?!?


Original post by Smack
Well they don't do their corporate training programmes there...

and that means Shell don't specifically target Imperial graduates....? How about visiting the campus about 6-8 times a year, does that count?


Original post by Smack
I know from people who work for them in the UK (including a cousin who used to manage Shell's gas terminal at St Fergus) you are talking rubbish.

I worked at Shell in their head office, guess who has a better idea? :wink:

You'd be surprised how much they don't tell the St Fergus guys..... :rolleyes:


Original post by Smack
No **** that there'd be a lot of grads from a London university in their London offices.

Errr not really.... strangely most Imperial students dont live in london during the summer holidays.....


Original post by Smack
So?

Show me some top Shell or BP executive directors who went to Soton.....


Original post by Smack
That's more than four companies. It's also funny how you're just listing off the most well known brands in several sectors. I'm calling bull****. I was suspicious at first when you were talking about people working for Shell in the Caribbean, and more suspicious now that you're here for careers advice (according to your profile) despite (allegedly) having worked for all those companies. Welcome to my ignore list.

Oh so because i named more than 4 you can't handle it? lol

Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are better known than Goldman Sachs?
McLaren are better known than Mercedes?
ARM: My old lecturer used to know Steve (whoever founded ARM?) from Cambridge and ARM take a lot of Imperial grads.

Ferrari:

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/college.asp?P=5659
The power behind Ferrari cheered their team to victory in the 2004 F1 Constructors Championship in Hungary last month. The Ferrari F1 team, consisting of Imperial graduates from the department of aeronautics, are pictured at the celebration party at headquarters in Maranello, Italy.


I really hope you have put me on ignore, otherwise you're going to be embarassed at looking such a tit!
(edited 13 years ago)
Hm, I doubt their reached their positions due to their studies at Imperial, because there are years in between. Otherwise, if it's true, than the UK has a big problem with it's educational system.

Don't give me negative rep, but an argument contradicting that.
(edited 13 years ago)
Reply 88
Original post by london12
Yes it is, unless companies spend millions on graduates to not have any respect for them.....



Computing-has-less-chinese-students-than-engineering

Did that defeat you?



Well it's part of Imperial's engineering faculty- so yes you are.



How about the head of shell internship recruitment who i knew in person !?!?



and that means Shell don't specifically target Imperial graduates....? How about visiting the campus about 6-8 times a year, does that count?



I worked at Shell in their head office, guess who has a better idea? :wink:

You'd be surprised how much they don't tell the St Fergus guys..... :rolleyes:



Errr not really.... strangely most Imperial students dont live in london during the summer holidays.....



Show me some top Shell or BP executive directors who went to Soton.....



Oh so because i named more than 4 you can't handle it? lol

Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are better known than Goldman Sachs?
McLaren are better known than Mercedes?
ARM: My old lecturer used to know Steve (whoever founded ARM?) from Cambridge and ARM take a lot of Imperial grads.

Ferrari:

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/college.asp?P=5659


I really hope you have put me on ignore, otherwise you're going to be embarassed at looking such a tit!


I agree with you fully.
This is funny. I did originally put him on ignore but then his post has been quoted and it contains a huge amount of stupidity that I will have to correct.

Firstly, the big companies thousands of pounds to train their graduates. This is because graduates themselves aren't worth much to a company until they have been given specific training. It was only recently, as in the last ten years, that they even started recruiting graduates again - hence why there are big gaps in the ages of people working in the petroleum industry. Lots of the experienced personnel are close to retirement, and the industry is desperate to recruit more.

Now I'm not sure what Chinese students have to do with anything, nor Imperial's computing department...

Now if you know the head of Shell's internship recruitment, that's good for you. I'm not sure what this changes, though.

Shell visit campuses all over Scotland multiple times per year, too. Shell has partnerships with Scottish universities for internships. As does BP. The person with the highest marks each year from my uni gets a prize from BP, too.

You most certainly didn't work at the head office of Shell. You are so full of **** that it is actually quite funny. You claim to have worked in all these internships yet you are back on here for careers advice? People working for BP and Shell in the Caribbean? They don't tell the St Fergus guys anything?

For someone who has allegedly worked in Shell, you appear to know **** all about the petroleum industry!
Reply 90
Original post by Smack
This is funny. I did originally put him on ignore but then his post has been quoted and it contains a huge amount of stupidity that I will have to correct.

Firstly, the big companies thousands of pounds to train their graduates. This is because graduates themselves aren't worth much to a company until they have been given specific training. It was only recently, as in the last ten years, that they even started recruiting graduates again - hence why there are big gaps in the ages of people working in the petroleum industry. Lots of the experienced personnel are close to retirement, and the industry is desperate to recruit more.

Now I'm not sure what Chinese students have to do with anything, nor Imperial's computing department...

Now if you know the head of Shell's internship recruitment, that's good for you. I'm not sure what this changes, though.

Shell visit campuses all over Scotland multiple times per year, too. Shell has partnerships with Scottish universities for internships. As does BP. The person with the highest marks each year from my uni gets a prize from BP, too.

You most certainly didn't work at the head office of Shell. You are so full of **** that it is actually quite funny. You claim to have worked in all these internships yet you are back on here for careers advice? People working for BP and Shell in the Caribbean? They don't tell the St Fergus guys anything?

For someone who has allegedly worked in Shell, you appear to know **** all about the petroleum industry!


I agree with this. However Smack you must agree, that even if it's not fair or whatever, to a certain extent graduate recruiters are likely to target more graduates from ICL than Soton. Not saying there is a difference academically between graduates from the two institutions I'm merely saying that there is a small recruitment bias. It exists within all sectors. For e.g. I read a post/discussion a few weeks back where it was proved that Warwick Math graduates were targeted more than Oxford, might have been Cambridge, not sure, but my point is clear though.
Original post by nunugab
I agree with this. However Smack you must agree, that even if it's not fair or whatever, to a certain extent graduate recruiters are likely to target more graduates from ICL than Soton. Not saying there is a difference academically between graduates from the two institutions I'm merely saying that there is a small recruitment bias. It exists within all sectors. For e.g. I read a post/discussion a few weeks back where it was proved that Warwick Math graduates were targeted more than Oxford, might have been Cambridge, not sure, but my point is clear though.


I absolutely agree that some recruiters prefer graduates from elite universities over the rest.

What I disagree with is that his exists within all sectors. Absolutely nothing I have heard suggests it exists within oil & gas and energy - the sectors that I am interested in and have an internship offer in.

Now I think anyone would have to be really stupid to believe that london12 has done even a fraction of the things he has said he has done. What he is saying completely contradicts everything that I have heard from people that I know in real life who actually work for some of the companies he has listed. Some of the things he has said plainly reveals his bull****ing. He goes extremely off-track by talking about computing, and it's also pretty obvious when he just lists off some of the most well know brands in certain sectors. But this is the internet I suppose, where everyone is a millionaire investment banker oil baron Oxbridge/ICL/LSE graduate who personally knows the head of internships. (What's funny is that he doesn't realise that Shell employs over 100,000 people and has offices all over the world - there is no such thing as a 'head of internships' because each location is responsible for their own intern recruitment.)

About the board of directors at Shell and BP (this isn't aimed at you), it's pretty ****ing funny how he's all like "Show me some top Shell or BP executive directors who went to Soton....." [sic] You just have to look at their websites to see that their board of directors primarily came from the boards of other companies first. Out of those that actually listed their education background, only one actually went to Imperial (although someone else was chairman of them, I think). Most appeared to have done their degrees in Europe or America. And the previous CEO of BP studied at Aston.

Of course, not that being on the board of directors has anything to do with this thread, which is, as far as I am aware, about finding employment as an engineer.

If you look at the graduate profiles from BP and Shell then they are most definitely not disproportionately biased towards Imperial. This is also what I observed when I visited both of their offices, from talking to their staff at recruitment days, and from talking to friends and family who work there.

Now hopefully this thread can get back on topic now...
Reply 92
Original post by Smack
You most certainly didn't work at the head office of Shell. You are so full of **** that it is actually quite funny.

Technically not at the head office, because that's now in Holland. I was at the London head office next to waterloo, on york street....

It must be such a bad thing jealousy. The more you deny I worked there the funnier it is because I actually did!


Original post by Smack
You claim to have worked in all these internships yet you are back on here for careers advice?

If you believe everything you read on here..... :wink:


Original post by Smack
For someone who has allegedly worked in Shell, you appear to know **** all about the petroleum industry!

Where did i say I know about the petroleum industry? I said i know that Imperial and Cambridge are recruited by Shell and BP FAR more than the other engineering universities. I also said i worked at Shell...

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