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Most overrated and underrated universities in Britain?
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Original post by tillytots
Most overrated: King's college
Most Underrated: UEA (not that i'm biased or anything :P)
This is just judging on how I've seen them though and not on reputation.
Most Underrated: UEA (not that i'm biased or anything :P)
This is just judging on how I've seen them though and not on reputation.
LOL it's the other way round
Overrated: Warwick possibly. There are other places that have been overhyped but I don't understand the fuss about this university in particular. And before anyone assumes that I must be bitter, allow me to state that I haven't been turned down because I didn't apply in the first place. My five choices were too precious to waste on Warwick. 
Underrated: Too many. Some ex-polys, some Russell Group members, some 1994 Group members. Depends on the course.
Underrated: Too many. Some ex-polys, some Russell Group members, some 1994 Group members. Depends on the course.
I'd like to see some reasons for why people think these universities are overrated. I guess peoples' definitions of "overrated" differ, but I honestly don't know how people can form these opinions if they've only studied at one or two universities, apart from through reputation and hearsay. Or is it a case of childish "my university is better than yours" arguments.
And what exactly is the beef with Warwick, anyway? It always comes up in these discussions.
And what exactly is the beef with Warwick, anyway? It always comes up in these discussions.
It would be interesting to see how well informed posters are when making these claims. It's not actually that hard to sort out the best institutions. The Research Assessment Exercise is THE authoritative assessment of research quality in the UK. It's about every 5 years.
To take examples: UCL, LSE and Warwick are consistently (ie every time in the last 2-3 decades) in the top ten performing Universities. Stating they are overrated, as some posters have, is simply rather ill informed.
It's also why these are amongst the most competitive Universities in terms of U/G applicants
To take examples: UCL, LSE and Warwick are consistently (ie every time in the last 2-3 decades) in the top ten performing Universities. Stating they are overrated, as some posters have, is simply rather ill informed.
It's also why these are amongst the most competitive Universities in terms of U/G applicants
I think hull is fairly underrated, mostly because of the cities reputation. Might be bias though as that's where i am studying... 
These threads are always full of students spouting uninformed opinions.
I don't have enough knowledge of the curriculums and research output of all universities to state a view that any are overrated or underrated as institutions. However after reading TSR for a while, I think there is one thing which is overrated, which is TSR members claims on the advantage of going to a particular institution over another, once you get past Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial etc.
I think on TSR a lot of people would see the unis like Manchester, Exeter, Leeds, Bristol, Bath, York, Nottingham as giving employment advantages over the likes of Essex, UEA, Sussex, Surrey, Loughborough, Royal Holloway etc. In my experience of working I haven't really seen any evidence of that.
The misnomer often brought up is "if you had two identical candidates, and candidate A went to Bristol, and candidate B went to Loughborough, who would you take, you'd take the Bristol one". In practice, no two candidates are the same, and if the Loughborough candidate was marginally better, they'd get the job.
I don't have enough knowledge of the curriculums and research output of all universities to state a view that any are overrated or underrated as institutions. However after reading TSR for a while, I think there is one thing which is overrated, which is TSR members claims on the advantage of going to a particular institution over another, once you get past Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial etc.
I think on TSR a lot of people would see the unis like Manchester, Exeter, Leeds, Bristol, Bath, York, Nottingham as giving employment advantages over the likes of Essex, UEA, Sussex, Surrey, Loughborough, Royal Holloway etc. In my experience of working I haven't really seen any evidence of that.
The misnomer often brought up is "if you had two identical candidates, and candidate A went to Bristol, and candidate B went to Loughborough, who would you take, you'd take the Bristol one". In practice, no two candidates are the same, and if the Loughborough candidate was marginally better, they'd get the job.
Original post by wactm
Most Overated: Oxbridge
Why do you say that?
Bristol University is a held in high esteem without excelling e.g being top 3 at any particualar subject. This gives me the impression its overrated.
Underrated = Scottish unis than English people don't apply for e.g. Strathclyde, Dundee
Some english ex polys have very strong courses e.g. Northumbria, Nottingham Trent
Underrated = Scottish unis than English people don't apply for e.g. Strathclyde, Dundee
Some english ex polys have very strong courses e.g. Northumbria, Nottingham Trent
Original post by MarkNoble
It would be interesting to see how well informed posters are when making these claims. It's not actually that hard to sort out the best institutions. The Research Assessment Exercise is THE authoritative assessment of research quality in the UK. It's about every 5 years.
To take examples: UCL, LSE and Warwick are consistently (ie every time in the last 2-3 decades) in the top ten performing Universities. Stating they are overrated, as some posters have, is simply rather ill informed.
It's also why these are amongst the most competitive Universities in terms of U/G applicants
To take examples: UCL, LSE and Warwick are consistently (ie every time in the last 2-3 decades) in the top ten performing Universities. Stating they are overrated, as some posters have, is simply rather ill informed.
It's also why these are amongst the most competitive Universities in terms of U/G applicants
I agree, I always use the RAE rather than newspaper league tables as it is a much more accurate guide. In economics for instance, Essex has been a top scoring institution on the RAE for about 4 RAE's running, over two decades, but most TSR type students don't rate it because it doesn't feature highly on the newspaper league tables where they have criteria like average spend per student, average student feedback score etc.
However even the RAE is fallible because to an extent it reflects which institutions focus on the type of research the RAE is interested in. It is possible to 'play the game' a bit and make sure you get a good RAE score. So it is a good guide overall ie unis who get RAE scores are doing something right, but there will be others who produce good research which isn't the type the RAE focuses on, who get lower scores, so are hidden down the rankings a bit.
Original post by MagicNMedicine
I agree, I always use the RAE rather than newspaper league tables as it is a much more accurate guide. In economics for instance, Essex has been a top scoring institution on the RAE for about 4 RAE's running, over two decades, but most TSR type students don't rate it because it doesn't feature highly on the newspaper league tables where they have criteria like average spend per student, average student feedback score etc.
However even the RAE is fallible because to an extent it reflects which institutions focus on the type of research the RAE is interested in. It is possible to 'play the game' a bit and make sure you get a good RAE score. So it is a good guide overall ie unis who get RAE scores are doing something right, but there will be others who produce good research which isn't the type the RAE focuses on, who get lower scores, so are hidden down the rankings a bit.
However even the RAE is fallible because to an extent it reflects which institutions focus on the type of research the RAE is interested in. It is possible to 'play the game' a bit and make sure you get a good RAE score. So it is a good guide overall ie unis who get RAE scores are doing something right, but there will be others who produce good research which isn't the type the RAE focuses on, who get lower scores, so are hidden down the rankings a bit.
The RAE has been subject to a lot of criticism in how reliable its results are.
Original post by im so academic
Why do you say that?
Not going to question why so many here say Warwick is overrated?
I reckon St. Andrew's is very overrated by many people, no offence to anyone that goes there - it's a fantastic uni but held in too high esteem especially by foreigners etc. who think its amazing just because a member of the royal family went there
Not sure about Oxbridge, there must be reasons the two are always at the top of every leaderboard and also world leaderboards although I've heard very mixed views about the two
Most Underrated unis are perhaps those found in areas people don't like, for example many people in my current year dislike anywhere north because its...north
Not sure about Oxbridge, there must be reasons the two are always at the top of every leaderboard and also world leaderboards although I've heard very mixed views about the two
Most Underrated unis are perhaps those found in areas people don't like, for example many people in my current year dislike anywhere north because its...north
Original post by Philbert
I'd like to see some reasons for why people think these universities are overrated. I guess peoples' definitions of "overrated" differ, but I honestly don't know how people can form these opinions if they've only studied at one or two universities, apart from through reputation and hearsay. Or is it a case of childish "my university is better than yours" arguments.
And what exactly is the beef with Warwick, anyway? It always comes up in these discussions.
And what exactly is the beef with Warwick, anyway? It always comes up in these discussions.
Cos Warwick people are insufferable :P e.g. constantly bringing up league tables at the pub when no one gives a crap lol
Most underrated- Cardiff, Goldsmiths.
That has absolutely nothing to do with them being my uni's of choice at all!
That has absolutely nothing to do with them being my uni's of choice at all!
Original post by im so academic
Why do you say that?
do you actually know what it's like at oxbridge? i always see you on threads related to oxbridge. i'm not having a go, it's a genuine question. :]
Original post by Salazar
Original post by Salazar
Not going to question why so many here say Warwick is overrated?
It is, in a way.
I see Warwick being seen as a top university, but rarely the likes of Bristol/Edinburgh/St Andrews which are on par, if not, better than Warwick.
Overrated: London Met
Underrated: Oxbridge
Underrated: Oxbridge
Original post by ChaoticSkills
man why does it matter, just get a good degree, then **** off somewhere. People place too much emphasis on the uni that they want to attend.
Not everyones going to go to Oxford, Cambridge, Kings college, university rankings are irrelevant for anything outside of the top 20. If you get a good degree, thats a 2.1 who really gives a crap? not everyones going to end up in a job that pays 40k+ a year.
Not everyones going to go to Oxford, Cambridge, Kings college, university rankings are irrelevant for anything outside of the top 20. If you get a good degree, thats a 2.1 who really gives a crap? not everyones going to end up in a job that pays 40k+ a year.
Well most probably because if you get a 2.1 from Oxbridge and another person gets a 2.1 from say Liverpool and they're both in the same course - which one would you consider for a job?
Original post by spurswilts
Bristol University is a held in high esteem without excelling e.g being top 3 at any particualar subject. This gives me the impression its overrated.
Underrated = Scottish unis than English people don't apply for e.g. Strathclyde, Dundee
Some english ex polys have very strong courses e.g. Northumbria, Nottingham Trent
Underrated = Scottish unis than English people don't apply for e.g. Strathclyde, Dundee
Some english ex polys have very strong courses e.g. Northumbria, Nottingham Trent
Actually, it's apparently joint top for geography, or so I've heard
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