For those of you who think the league tables aren't worth the paper their printed on, what other methos can you use for judging whether or not a uni's any good?
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ultimate mashup
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- 14-04-2011 00:11
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dodgymonkey
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- 14-04-2011 00:14
try www.whatuni.com
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- 14-04-2011 00:43
QAA teaching reports, RAE, opinions of current and former students, course content, whether the courses are professional accredited or not (if relevant)....
People chose universities before 1993 without significant difficulty. -
nulli tertius
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- 14-04-2011 00:47
(Original post by River85)
QAA teaching reports, RAE, opinions of current and former students, course content, whether the courses are professional accredited or not (if relevant)....
People chose universities before 1993 without significant difficulty. -
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- 14-04-2011 00:49
(Original post by River85)
QAA teaching reports, RAE, opinions of current and former students, course content, whether the courses are professional accredited or not (if relevant)....
People chose universities before 1993 without significant difficulty. -
nulli tertius
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- 14-04-2011 00:55
The OP should get a range of opinions -
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- 14-04-2011 01:07
You're suggesting that current students will often be biased and this is often the case. But I think I'm capable of offering an honest and frank opinion about my university and departments (as you're probably aware) including areas others will possibly neglect such as disability support. I don't always use the most glowing of terms when discussing one department in particular but I am, on the whole, reasonably positive. I certainly know that they are opinions people have taken on board and has partly influenced their decision. I don't know how many SGIA applicants I spoke to actually chose Durham in the end )hopefully not many
) but most philosophy applicants did chose Durham and have found my account to be broadly accurate. Obviously accounting forvery recent changes in the departments and for particularly subjective factors (how interesting certain modules are).
I think plenty of former students who can, now they've put their student days behind them and can step back and give a fair but critical overview of what the university is like and how they feel it's helped them develop. -
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- 14-04-2011 09:25
(Original post by River85)
As stated by nulli tertius there are rarely, if ever, unbiased opinions. This is why an applicant needs to try and find a range of opinions and speak to a reasonable number.
You're suggesting that current students will often be biased and this is often the case. But I think I'm capable of offering an honest and frank opinion about my university and departments (as you're probably aware) including areas others will possibly neglect such as disability support. I don't always use the most glowing of terms when discussing one department in particular but I am, on the whole, reasonably positive. I certainly know that they are opinions people have taken on board and has partly influenced their decision. I don't know how many SGIA applicants I spoke to actually chose Durham in the end )hopefully not many
) but most philosophy applicants did chose Durham and have found my account to be broadly accurate. Obviously accounting forvery recent changes in the departments and for particularly subjective factors (how interesting certain modules are).
I think plenty of former students who can, now they've put their student days behind them and can step back and give a fair but critical overview of what the university is like and how they feel it's helped them develop.
Also you have had longer :P to consider your views as you've been a student for a few years -
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- 14-04-2011 09:34
(Original post by ultimate mashup)
For those of you who think the league tables aren't worth the paper their printed on, what other methos can you use for judging whether or not a uni's any good?
2) Research Assessment Exercise scores
3) Alumni, graduate prospects and figures -
69Crazyfists
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- 14-04-2011 09:39
(Original post by therealOG)
1) How often it's mentioned in the news and media concerning research. Of course this depends on how often you follow current affairs and what media you obtain
2) Research Assessment Exercise scores
(I know that's an extreme example, there probably is no university like that, but in theory there could be.) -
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- 14-04-2011 09:41
(Original post by ultimate mashup)
For those of you who think the league tables aren't worth the paper their printed on, what other methos can you use for judging whether or not a uni's any good?
My opinion of league tables is that they're not entirely useless but otoh they're not suitable for the purpose they're frequently used for on TSR...
the 'My university is 12 places above your university - therefore I'm great and you're crap' bragging. -
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- 14-04-2011 09:47
(Original post by 69Crazyfists)
Research doesn't mean squat in terms of whether it's good university to study at. It could be the best research university in the world but the worst teaching university, and in the end, isn't the teaching what you go there for?
(I know that's an extreme example, there probably is no university like that, but in theory there could be.)Last edited by therealOG; 14-04-2011 at 09:50. -
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- 14-04-2011 09:49
Try Unistats. You can see a breakdown of just about everything on there; how they scored in the National Student Survey, which sectors graduates go to work in and in what number, and I believe there are links to QAA reports too (the governing body in charge of maintaining equality across different universities).
The RAE is also worth a look. This will give you probably the most accurate feel for exactly where each university sits in terms of research.
Teaching is more tricky. Your best bet would be to go to open days and actually get a chance to meet members of your prospective department. If you really do want another 'set of results' on this though, you could always look at the number of National Teaching Fellows for particular universities. You can find this on the Higher Education Academy website. -
69Crazyfists
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- 14-04-2011 10:02
(Original post by therealOG)
Exactly. The best research universities in the world are 99.9% of the time the best universities in the world full stop. High quality research trickles down into high quality teaching, and if that isn't the case then it hardly matters - top students are very much capable of independent study and research - isn't that what university is about? And I doubt students aspire to top universities because of the teaching; it's because of the brand name, prestige and reputation that goes with it. -
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- 14-04-2011 10:07
(Original post by 69Crazyfists)
I still don't agree. There are far more important things to be looking for than the research standard.
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