This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

How prestigious is the maths degree at UCL?

Compared with Cam, War, Bath and maybe Oxford- how does the UCL maths degree rank? Its an AAA standard offer degree (although what that actually means now is debatable).

Reply 1

Kapa

ill rank them in order from best to least best if that makes sense:

cam, ox, ucl/war, bath

Reply 2

The Orientalist

10

Kapa

ill rank them in order from best to least best if that makes sense:

cam, ox, ucl/war, bath

I really don't think UCL is ranked that high for maths, but I agree with the cam, ox, war as the three best unis for maths. But UCL is definitely not right at the top, imprerial's maths dep is considered better than UCL's and so are a couple of others, but it's definitely in the top 10. I didn't get this info from thin air, I asked quite a number of lecturers from different unis, checked out what some 3rd-4th year maths students thought, and asked some teachers. I myself cannot claim anything as I will only start my first year this september, but I think the opinion on the people I have mentioned is the best, unlike league tables (however these people can have buyest opinions but overall there were strong similarities in their "rankings")

Reply 3

cjsk

does anyone have an opinion on where imperial sits?

Reply 4

Wiseguy.

love2learn7

Compared with Cam, War, Bath and maybe Oxford- how does the UCL maths degree rank? Its an AAA standard offer degree (although what that actually means now is debatable).

Very prestigous, but one of the most difficult.

Reply 5

The Orientalist

10

cjsk

does anyone have an opinion on where imperial sits?

Near Warwick I would think

Reply 6

-Aimee-

13

I'm desperately hoping to go there and do maths in 2007, and the reason is because it's widely recognised. Google TQI (teaching quality information), that will give you an indication of the courses at UCL comparing to other universities :biggrin:

Best of luck :smile:

Reply 7

Turdburger

16

UCL is a great uni!

Better than Warwick IMHO (who wants to live in coventry for 3 years! :p:

)

Id apply there myself if it werent in London (too big for my personal liking)

Reply 8

The Orientalist

10

Heartbreaker

Better than Warwick IMHO (who wants to live in coventry for 3 years! :tongue:

God I'm sick of seeing that...I've never been to Coventry but I can't believe it's THAT bad! Have you actually visited the city?? Anyway, Warwick's very high reputation for maths (considered as being better than UCL's or Imperial's, only Oxford and Cambridge are considered as being better than Warwick for maths) can on its own can be a reason to go there. At least, it has been a good enough reason for me, I rejected Imperial for Warwick.

Reply 9

cjsk

The Orientalist

God I'm sick of seeing that...I've never been to Coventry but I can't believe it's THAT bad! Have you actually visited the city?? Anyway, Warwick's very high reputation for maths (considered as being better than UCL's or Imperial's, only Oxford and Cambridge are considered as being better than Warwick for maths) can on its own can be a reason to go there. At least, it has been a good enough reason for me, I rejected Imperial for Warwick.

when i went to visit warwick, i realized just how far away from civilization it is.. it's alright if you like the countryside, but it would be hell for people like me that feel comfortable in large cities.. a place like cambridge would be better (i'm talking about the city here) because it wouldn't be extremely small, the uni is integrated into the city, and it's not too far away from london, by train.. i suppose you have to find a balance between the academic/reputation side of it and the kinda life you'd be living while at the uni..

Reply 10

FWoodhouse

5

The Orientalist

God I'm sick of seeing that...I've never been to Coventry but I can't believe it's THAT bad! Have you actually visited the city?? Anyway, Warwick's very high reputation for maths (considered as being better than UCL's or Imperial's, only Oxford and Cambridge are considered as being better than Warwick for maths) can on its own can be a reason to go there. At least, it has been a good enough reason for me, I rejected Imperial for Warwick.

Reputation should always be viewed with suspicion. I went for Imperial rather than Warwick as my insurance because it seemed to have a better course. There seems to be somewhat of an avalanche effect with Warwick - people are just repeating that it's great because they heard someone else say it. I should imagine Warwick and Imperial both have strengths and weaknesses academically, and it's impossible to know what those are without studying at both, so I preferred to decide based on the location and my impression of the course structure. Insulated campus versus the heart of London.

Reply 11

The Orientalist

10

FWoodhouse

people are just repeating that it's great because they heard someone else say it.

Not my case...Even though I haven't started uni yet, and should logically have no clue about these things, I do have pretty good ideas of a uni's rep for maths by doing my own little research (not the 1 hour of looking at league tables) as well as asking many people who actually make maths advance, not some 17 year old who's in love with warwick and says out of thin air that Warwick is better. Before doing so, I had no clue which maths departement is better (I may sound like a prestige whore but face it, everyone want to aim for the most prestigious uni/dep) and I wouldn't have thought that Warwick's maths dep was that good, I would have rejected it for a far less prestigious uni. I doubt that after I graduate, my opinion concerning Warwick will change but I will of course have a MUCH better idea on the reputation of the different maths dep in the UK. Logically, I don't actually know the course content for these two different unis (even though I had a fairly quick look at the lecture notes and exams of Warwick's but not Imperial's), but the "prestige" I'm talking about is not the one associated to difficulty of the course, but the one concerning the quality of the research of a departement.

To be honest, I chose Warwick over Imperial because I didn't want to live in London, too expensive, and I didn't want to be in a purely scientific university which is male dominated (in that case I could have just stayed in my home country i.e EPFL which shares many similar caracteristics with it) that would be a nightmare for me. Departement wise, I think there is very little difference in prestige between the two. However, I do have the feeling that maths isn't one of Imperial's strongest points (even though it's very very good) compared to the immense reputation of for example, its computer science dep or engineering dep. However, this is just my personal opinion. However, I'm sure this is probably as unjustified as saying that Oxford's maths dep isn't really good (I've heard this many times before on different forums).

EDIT: I just want to point out your remark concerning the "avalanch effect": most of the time I would think, they are created for a reason. When you were a kid, you've heard many many times about Oxbridge's reputation, how good it was etc., people have said so for ages without actually going there or having any evidence of this, they've just heard many people say so and assume it's true. I'm sure even you're decision to choose Imperial was based on this: you've heard how prestigious it was and I'm sure that definitely influenced your choice...

Reply 12

ssmoose

13

A professor from Bath uni told me that he rates Warwick as 3rd after Oxford/Cambridge then ICL, UCL and Bath as about equal. I think the Bath bit may have been biased.

Reply 13

billydisco

OP

3

ssmoose

A professor from Bath uni told me that he rates Warwick as 3rd after Oxford/Cambridge then ICL, UCL and Bath as about equal. I think the Bath bit may have been biased.

christ i would have thought he would have put Bath ahead of UCL

Reply 14

meef cheese

10

love2learn7

Compared with Cam, War, Bath and maybe Oxford- how does the UCL maths degree rank? Its an AAA standard offer degree (although what that actually means now is debatable).

UCL made me an AAB offer...

Reply 15

Turdburger

16

I grew up in Staffs, so not too far from Coventry, and have been there yes. Though having said that people, including me, are a little unfair on it.

Also, the Bath prof may be too biased, after all it must be at least decent if it has AAA as its standard offer.

Reply 16

davem7

The Orientalist

God I'm sick of seeing that...I've never been to Coventry but I can't believe it's THAT bad! Have you actually visited the city?? Anyway, Warwick's very high reputation for maths (considered as being better than UCL's or Imperial's, only Oxford and Cambridge are considered as being better than Warwick for maths) can on its own can be a reason to go there. At least, it has been a good enough reason for me, I rejected Imperial for Warwick.

Yes, it does get somewhat tiresome after a while. You must realise that the university campus is very big, and lies about four miles to the south of Coventry. You don't even need to visit the city if you don't want to, but for the odd shopping spree it really isn't bad. Like all cities, there are places you don't really want to be visiting in the dark, but on the whole it's not too bad. Plus, it's about an hour's journey to the Bull Ring in Birmingham (best shopping ever), or 20 minutes to Leamington.

Obviously things like the campus will affect decisions, but I think it's one of the best (and prettiest) campuses around. In fact, I spent about two hours today in the nature reserve next to Gibbet Hill photographing the local wildlife. But that's just a personal view.

In terms of the reputation, I'm a bit biased considering I'm a 4th year mathematician :p:

Personally I rate Warwick as being a little below Oxford, but I do rate Cambridge as being better than Warwick. I have to disagree with the people who say the reputation isn't earnt; we have some absolutely amazing people here. If you haven't done already, come and visit the maths department at an open day in the Spring, and really have a good look around. The new building is absolutely great :smile:

Reply 17

ssmoose

13

Applying To (2007 entry) :
Cambridge (Homerton): Natural Sciences
Durham (University C): Natural Sciences
Durham (University C): Maths
Imperial: Chemistry
Edinburgh: Maths
York: Maths

Mate, you need to decide what yoiu want to apply for.

Reply 18

np_desi

ssmoose

Mate, you need to decide what yoiu want to apply for.

lol

Reply 19

Turdburger

16

I want to do at least a fair amount of maths but would prefer to do this as a part of a natsci course with some other subjects. However, no-one does natsci (well UCL, Newcastle and Bath do but dont fancy UCL, im not staying at home at N'castle and Bath is too far away for me.)

So ive put down Maths as my other choices.

The chemistry at Imperial is if half way through Year 13 i think im failing maths I can put that as my insurance lol. (all my other courses need an a in maths)

Still a fair enough point you make though :smile:

its hard trying to balance my PS

How prestigious is the maths degree at UCL?

Related discussions

Articles for you