Want to choose a really good university. Confused!

Guys, I've applied for five universities through UCAS of which the first three have offered me a place (The rest are pending). The course I've applied for is B.Eng in Aerospace Engineering (Sep '14).

1. Sheffield Hallam University
2. Swansea University
3. University of Hertfordshire
4. University of West England
5. Kingston University

Can anyone please help me about choosing a good one out of these..?

6. None of the above

Original post by thenumber2goose

6. None of the above

bit rude...

Reply 3

username570910

Original post by nohomo

bit rude...

I know, i'm such a bitch

Reply 4

mjohnson29

Original post by melwyncarlo

Out of those Swansea is the best, and with their new engineering campus they'll probably rise up the tables in the coming years.
Check out one of the league tables though to give you am idea of how they compare to each other:
http://www.theguardian.com/education/table/2013/jun/04/university-guide-engineering-mechanical-
If you still can't decide then try http://unistats.direct.gov.uk
They give you a really thorough breakdown of each course and how they compare. I think you can compare a few at a time too and get PDF reports.

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Reply 5

mjohnson29

Also http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Aeronautical%20%26%20Manufacturing%20Engineering

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Reply 6

PineapplePol

That league table isn't very helpful though because it gives a high rating to having difficult entry standards and doing lots of research. A uni scoring highly on those isn't necessarily a great place for an undergraduate. They should ditch the entry standards box (which mainly benefits Oxbridge and Imperial) and concentrate on undergraduate satisfaction with the course and job prospects. I found unistats much more useful. It measures the things that matter.

Reply 7

mjohnson29

Original post by PineapplePol

Can't see how research is a bad thing to base leagues on (especially for engineering and the sciences)?
You cant deny that the better the research a university does the better its reputation and the more desirable its graduates become to engineering companies. Also research brings huge money to some engineering departments which they spend on resources,equipment and teaching. Its a win win both to your education, employability and even possibilities of joining in that research.
As for grades, a university would not ask for AAA if it was really bad the same as Oxbridge would not ask for EEE, it should be pretty obvious that if a university is asking for higher grades then on the whole it must be a better course to justify the grades. If a uni has really low grades they're obviously struggling to attract applicants.

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Reply 8

ElChapo

As long as the degree you study is accredited by the appropriate engineering council you'll be fine. Reputation wise, Swansea is probably the best though.

Reply 9

PineapplePol

My mum is friends with a uni professor who decided to increase the grade requirements of their university to get it higher up the league table and see if it attracted more applicants. It worked.
Years ago the standard Oxbridge requirement was 2Es (and a large score in the entrance exam).
Scottish unis ask for lower grades than English ones because they accept 5 highers. They aren't of inferior quality.

Reply 10

Smack

Volunteer Team

Original post by mjohnson29

You cant deny that the better the research a university does the better its reputation and the more desirable its graduates become to engineering companies.

I can. Firms hire people, not university departments. And that's assuming that said firms actually care about university research; often, they don't. Most firms are far more concerned with hiring graduates that have the ability to work on and solve real life industrial problems that the company faces than they are about the research output of the university they graduated from.