Most overrated and underrated universities in Britain?

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come on man Queen mary is underrated as ppl just pass it over

I don't know. I mean the Barts crew refuse to be paraded under the QM banner and I can't think of many outstanding departments at Queen Mary.

Reply 241

Hazular

I think University of East Anglia is quite underrated. Purely because half of my friends have confused it with the mess that is Anglia Ruskin...
When I went to a summer school in Cambridge I thought it was so boring, so I'd say that was pretty overrated, as well.

Reply 242

Txi

I think this is how it really goes:

" I get a big chip on my shoulder cause a lot of people expressed negative opinions about my Uni, which I all along kind of knew was based mainly on overrated hype, so now I got to ask for ' reasons' "

Reasons huh ? no problem

Very overrated :

Warwick - It hired a bunch of good Math and Econ tutors and marketed itself well, so what ? that does not make it inherently " good".

How long can it last if the rep is based solely on that. What's to stop Brunel from doing the same thing and then are we supposed to believe Brunel would be top 10?

Don't think so..

Durham - The problem with this lot is that they postulate as some sort of 3rd Oxbridge which is a load of c**p and a sham since they are nowhere even near the 3rd oldest nor the 3rd best.

On age alone Edin and St A whips them by about 250 years ...

Quality better than ICL, UCL , LSE ? yeah right , in your dreams.

So that brings us to their real level - vs the Bristols and the Southamptons of the world and I would put them at the bottom of this tier.

OK they got a bit of law, history - again why can't this be easily replicated by anyone ?

Nottingham - Again a Charlatan that postulates as an "ancient". Can someone tell them they got their royal charter in 1948 so don't BS with the 18xx.

Their " repute " relies on bullying foreigners in their various " global campuses" to vote for them.

Nottingham in Ningbo ???

What ? like a global brand like NYU in London ?

HAHAHAHAHA.

Gimme a F'g break, Notts is not even a 400,000 city, NY has 8 million, you fool get that through your thick heads.

LSE - Only 100 years old or so, limited service no sciences or real arts and the tail end of its S Sciences are let's face it ; c**p, stuff like geography.

Yeah geo in a 2 block Uni trapped in an urban jungle. HAHA.

Supposedly the leader in Finance and Econs. Well my view is that they dress up Maths as Econ/ Finance and it has little practical application to the real world of finance.

No real expertise therefore fluff it up with lots of non applied Math, i know I have worked in finance in Singapore for a big 4 UK bank. It's a lot more physical than most academic goons will know.

Also must be compared globally since this is how they tout themselves.

Vs NYU, Vs Chicago, Harvard, Stanford.

No I don't think soo.

I would even take UCLA over LSE anyday.

Newcastle - non descript with nothing unique to offer in a run down part of UK. But the natives are nice not their fault.

Somewhat overrated: Only going to do selected few.

Oxford/ Cambridge - This applies more to Ox then bridge.

Best for old old world subjects - Law, Medicine, Sciences, Latin, Classics, History, English, Economics etc You get the picture.

2 problems; the world is moving on fast and they must compete globally.

What about finance, accounting, Oriental studies? Hispanic studies? Arabic studies? Advanced IT, robotics, engineering ?

Both Oxford and Cambridge don't even have an accounting degree! wtf ?

And both only started their business schools a few years back !

What about IT? Can it match MIT and Stanford with their super duper main frames ?

Robotics? compared with Tokyo U ?

I say sayonara gaijin !

Top in UK yeah sure but top 5 in the world today - no I think that would be hard.

Many names would pose a very strong challenge.

UCL - Top 5 UK definitely but would struggle in my view for top 20-30 world.

Strengths we know.

Weaknesses - accounting, finance, engineering, politics, IR, SEES = weak, no oriental studies.

Compare to other world city U's: according to THES - really better NYU? Chicago ? UCLA ? Zurich ? Tokyo? Beijing ?

Questionable me thinks

Underrated:

Sussex, UEA, Notts Trent

Why ? I save that for the next post.

Watch Oxbridge and UCL scramble to put up a BSc accounting for 2012.

Ha! I am their program director did you all not know ?

Reply 243

LysFromParis

Original post by Txi

Oxford/ Cambridge - This applies more to Ox then bridge.

Best for old old world subjects - Law, Medicine, Sciences, Latin, Classics, History, English, Economics etc You get the picture.

2 problems; the world is moving on fast and they must compete globally.

What about finance, accounting, Oriental studies? Hispanic studies? Arabic studies? Advanced IT, robotics, engineering ?

Both Oxford and Cambridge don't even have an accounting degree! wtf ?

And both only started their business schools a few years back !

What about IT? Can it match MIT and Stanford with their super duper main frames ?

Robotics? compared with Tokyo U ?

I say sayonara gaijin !

Top in UK yeah sure but top 5 in the world today - no I think that would be hard.]

IT is a vocational degree, I suppose you mean Computer Science ? None of the university you cite do IT. There is some uni better than them in the US for that, but Oxford and Cambridge still very good at it, probably among the best in Europe with Edinburgh and Imperial (I'm talking research wise and at postgraduate level).

Reply 244

Txi

I suppose you mean Computer Science ?

OK if you insist.

Reply 245

Jack McGill

What criteria are people using to make decisions about what is overrated/underrated?

Reply 246

FinalMH

Original post by Txi

I suppose you mean Computer Science ?

OK if you insist.

Well he's not insisting, you provided wrong information

Reply 247

Shyney

Original post by Teveth

But it's not even in Warwickshire, let alone Warwick. It sits on the outskirts of Coventry.

It seems strange to name a university after a town that it's not even in.

It's called Warwick because it's named after Warwickshire, which it was initially situated in until fairly recently when the boundaries were re-drawn to include Coventry, and therefore the University of Warwick in the West Midlands. And it also has a bit to do with the fact that they would rather be associated with the town of Warwick than Coventry.

Reply 248

diamonddust

Original post by Hazular

I got someone asking me if UEA was the University of East London... :s-smilie:

Reply 249

nulli tertius

Original post by Shyney

And it also has a bit to do with the fact that they would rather be associated with the town of Warwick than Coventry.

And of course the other HE institution in Coventry was Lanchester Polytechnic.

To have one institution not named after your city might be considered accidental but two?

Reply 250

Txi

Original post by FinalMH

Well he's not insisting, you provided wrong information

ok if you insist.

lol.

Reply 251

LysFromParis

Original post by nulli tertius

And of course the other HE institution in Coventry was Lanchester Polytechnic.

To have one institution not named after your city might be considered accidental but two?

Maybe because there is already a University of Coventry :tongue:

Reply 252

nulli tertius

Original post by LysFromParis

Maybe because there is already a University of Coventry :tongue:

No.

Lanchester Polytechnic subsequently became the University of Coventry.

Between 1970 and 1987 the two HE institutions in Coventry were Warwick University and Lanchester Polytechnic

Reply 253

LysFromParis

Original post by nulli tertius

No.

Lanchester Polytechnic subsequently became the University of Coventry.

Between 1970 and 1987 the two HE institutions in Coventry were Warwick University and Lanchester Polytechnic

Ok my bad I didn't know Lanchester Polytechnic was Coventry University.

Reply 254

Muffinz

Overrated (at least on TSR): RHUL
Underrated: Liverpool

Reply 255

Focus08

Original post by Txi

UCL

Don't forget the underwear bomber

Reply 256

wanderlust.xx

Original post by Muffinz

Overrated (at least on TSR): RHUL
Underrated: Liverpool

This is the first time I've ever heard RHUL mentioned without an explicit thread on it. If anything, RHUL is underrated (especially the teaching, which is great).

Reply 257

lightningfist

Haha, I find it hilarious that you would call Durham the 3rd Oxbridge, in fact I have never heard about that until this thread...

Oh, I have an offer for MMORSE at Warwick, glad to know you have such a high opinion about their Mathematics and Economics tutors!