What University is best for Physics?

Excluding Oxbridge, what are the top ten universities for Physics? Where do Warwick and Imperial rate? And if you could put the uni's in order from 1st to 10th in your opinion., that would be great. By top for Physics I mean when you take everything into account, eg teaching, facilities, etc etc. I am particularly interested in how good Imperial and Warwick are?

Excluding Oxbridge, what are the top ten universities for Physics? Where do Warwick and Imperial rate? And if you could put the uni's in order from 1st to 10th in your opinion., that would be great. By top for Physics I mean when you take everything into account, eg teaching, facilities, etc etc. I am particularly interested in how good Imperial and Warwick are?

Why are you excluding Oxbridge?

It's very, very subjective so it would be hard for anyone to give a top ten list that meant anything. Of the two you mention I would say Imperial edge it (I study physics at Warwick) but not by much. And Warwick certainly place in the top ten. Really, though, provided you're looking at universities in that top ten, you should choose on the basis of where you think you will enjoy most.

Well this is basically my situation. I want to go into Investment Banking after I have graduated. There are 6 Unis that IB's recruit from. Inner circle: Oxbridge, Imperial. Outer circle: Warwick, UCL, LSE. I want to give myself the best possible chance to get into IB so logically I should pick Imperial. However, from what I can gather the workload at Imperial is stupidly ridiculous (40-80 hours p/w to get a 2.1) and the social life is dreadful and depressing at best.

The actual physics is going to be very similar so the questions I have for you are:

-How many hours does the average Warwick Physics student have to do to get a 2.1?
-Are you worked into the ground similar to Imperial or is the workload bearable?
-Do you get enough free time to socialize and enjoy yourself?
-Is it difficult to get a 2.1?
-How many students roughly achieve 2.1 or higher?
-Would you say the physics is well taught at Warwick?
-What are the facilities like in physics department?
-Are the lecturers willing to help you understand things and are they supportive?
And if you have anything else to add, please do.

I am sorry to bombard you with so many questions but this is really important for me. Because I am willing to forgo the slight advantage that Imperial would give me when going for IB jobs if I would have a much better time at Warwick and the physics is just as interesting. However, if Warwick workload, social life is similar to Imperials and the physics not as interesting, then I will go to Imperial.

Do you think it would be worth coming to Warwick?

-How many hours does the average Warwick Physics student have to do to get a 2.1?
-Are you worked into the ground similar to Imperial or is the workload bearable?
-Do you get enough free time to socialize and enjoy yourself?
-Is it difficult to get a 2.1?
-How many students roughly achieve 2.1 or higher?
-Would you say the physics is well taught at Warwick?
-What are the facilities like in physics department?
-Are the lecturers willing to help you understand things and are they supportive?
And if you have anything else to add, please do.

Do you think it would be worth coming to Warwick?

One thing that is worth noting is that Warwick is a very large focus for banking jobs, and if you want to get into it often they will come to you (as in put events on at the university) compared to many other universities. That's traditionally for the maths and business students, but they also pitch fairly heavily at physicists.

- It's difficult to quantify it, really. In the first two terms this year, I had between 19 and 25 hours contact time, plus assessments etc. which took another six or so. Then comes writing up notes (which not everyone does) and laboratory preparation and catch up.

- Most people cope with the workload, but we certainly are pushed hard. Warwick has shorter terms than most universities and it shows in how much they cram in. It can often be a shock for people coming up from A-level - everyone at Warwick is used to just coasting by as top or near-top of the class. That all changes when everyone's like that and you find yourself in the middle of the pack.

- Yes, we can socialize. At Warwick nearly everyone (especially those studying the sciences) is a member of some society or sports club. There are an awful lot to choose from so there's always something of interest. Workloads don't often get in the way of this, although some weeks you can feel like you're snowed under. And I definitely couldn't be a member of more than one club.

- It entirely depends on the student. With motivation and hard work, it is fairly easy to get a 2.1. Getting a first is near-impossible though.

- I think unistats should tell you the actual figure, but I believe the university aims for an average grade of ~60% so roughly half. But do bear in mind that everyone is used to being top of the school, so it's a battle to get even there.

- At all universities there are good and bad lecturers and good and bad courses. There are a lot of things that could do with correcting (such as modules with far too much content for what they're worth and laboratory work shifting focus in marking so much in the second year without warning) but overall it's pretty good. By comparison with UCL its more interesting and broader reaching, if somewhat more difficult.

- The facilities at any top university will be good. More labs than you could ever dream of and always enough equipment.

- The lecturers are happy to answer e-mails with any questions (which I do do fairly frequently come exams) and will also see you in office hours (which I haven't) or after the lecture briefly. Most seem happy to help.

Overall, Warwick does get some stick from current students about being more difficult than it's similarly ranked competitors because it has illusions of greatness. And that's true to some extent. But many people do do well and have a better social life relative to Imperial. So if you think you'd like to study at Warwick campus, then I would recommend it.