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Computer Science, AI - Lancaster vs Sheffield

Hello guys,

I want to study Computer Science and I have a big interest in Artificial Intelligence and I don't know which uni to choose.
I have been offered a place in Lancaster - Computer Science with Mathematics and Sheffield - Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science.

I am not sure wheter to choose Lancaster's more math based programme or Sheffield's, which from what I understand is more concentrated on AI, but with fewer math classes and more programming.

I like Sheffield and would have already chosen Sheffield, but I am not sure if their programme covers the math needed for research in AI. It seems to be more practice and less theory oriented. It has fewer optional courses and they are in the field of Psychology and Philosophy.

I have studied programming in my high school - web, oop, embedded, etc, I know the fundamentals, so I am not looking for that.

Lancaster on the other hand has less AI courses, and more optional courses - mainly mathematical, and math allows you to understand things - like reading research papers for example.

Travel time and location don't really bother me, since I've never been to the UK before.

Can you tell me what are the pros and cons of studying in Lancaster or Sheffield?
Have you faced a similar dilemma?
If you've studied in these universities, than can you apply to optional modules, not specifically mentioned in your course programme?

All feedback will be appreciated :smile:

Thanks!

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

finnianF

Hey im in the same position as you between cs and maths at lancaster and cs (ai) at sheffield. What did you end up choosing and how did it go?

Reply 2

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by finnianF

Hey im in the same position as you between cs and maths at lancaster and cs (ai) at sheffield. What did you end up choosing and how did it go?

Hi there,

I am a 4th year Mathematics student at Lancaster so if you have any questions about that aspect of the course or the university in general, I am happy to help.

I thought I would mention that on our website we have a chat to current students page and one of those students is called Gail. She studied MSci in Mathematics and Computer Science at Lancaster and has now gone on to do a PhD in AI ethics so she may be a great person to direct any questions to about the AI content within the course.
Ask a Student - Lancaster University

Amy (Lancaster Student Ambassador) 🙂

Reply 3

University of Sheffield Students

Official Rep

Original post by finnianF

Hey im in the same position as you between cs and maths at lancaster and cs (ai) at sheffield. What did you end up choosing and how did it go?

Hi,

I am a third year Maths and Philosophy student at the University of Sheffield.

I have really enjoyed the last three years in Sheffield, and would recommend it as a place to study.

Have you been to open days at either university?

If you wanted to chat to someone studying at Sheffield, there is a chat to us function where you can talk to current students. https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/study/chat

Please let me know if you have any questions about studying at Sheffield.

Lizzie (BSc Mathematics and Philosophy - University of Sheffield)

Reply 4

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by finnianF

Hey im in the same position as you between cs and maths at lancaster and cs (ai) at sheffield. What did you end up choosing and how did it go?

Hi @FinnianF,
I'm currently in my 3rd year studying at Lancaster. Besides the difference in the computer science courses, there's also a difference in the general universities, for instance Lancaster is Campus based and Sheffield is a city universities. Its totally down to personal preference on which style of university you might prefer. However, the city of Lancaster is beautiful and historic and only a short bus ride away from the university, there's a good range of shops, cafes and bars but its certainly smaller than Sheffield.
If you have anymore questions on Lancaster, i'd be more than happy to answer them!
-Jasmine (Lancaster Student Ambassador)

Reply 5

oscartiger

Original post by finnianF

Hey im in the same position as you between cs and maths at lancaster and cs (ai) at sheffield. What did you end up choosing and how did it go?

Data Science BSc student at Lancaster here.

I chose Lancaster over Sheffield not due to the city, but the course. I spent a lot of time weighing up my options, and Lancaster provides a pretty heavy maths grounding, as well as compsci. You can also specialise in the third year, with highly sought after options such as computer vision, Bayesian inference and Deep Learning. In Sheffield, they take a (self described) sociological approach to Data Science, learning far less maths and more on how to operate the tools in Data Science (more of a data analytics approach). For comparison, I will have completed ~10 math modules at Lancaster when I graduate, whilst at Sheffield there are no core math modules. I thought: do I want to have a concrete understanding of Data Science, allowing me to develop my own machine learning models commercially / go into research, or do I want to just know the techniques and be able to work a slightly better than average office job. To make this not seem completely one-sided however, the Sheffield course seems to have quite a bit of python in the first year, more than Lancaster where we focus on C++/# mostly but then again if you're good at C then python is a breeze.

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