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Lower ranking universities are only so because of the students not the institutions

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Original post by rhaegar442
Well you're just proving the point really. If you go to an average uni then aim for an average job then you'll do fine.

Obviously you're right, there's whole host of other things that they look at and you can enter the next "tier" of jobs if you excel elsewhere


I don't mean average job, I just mean not high paying, not finance or law. From the interviews and applications I've had for research in the sciences, (in academia not industry), they've cared more about my knowledge on a niche topic than my overall academic performance. They cared about my relevant A levels more than the others one I did, they cared more about my module choices, my choice of projects in my undergrad and my lab skills. They cared about the books I read, the skills I had. Maybe this isn't the norm for other fields, but I've never tried to get into IB.
Original post by rhaegar442
You'd always be less successful than if you'd actually gone to a top uni.


That is clearly nonsense.

In some fields you are likely to do better, yes, in others it would make no difference.

It depends on the career. Do you think professional footballers, say, would be more successful if they had gone to Oxford rather than London Met?
I get the networking point, would be easier at more prestigious universities but you can still try at average unis, some of my lecturers know a lot of academics at more prestigious universities, or are editors for certain journals, they know a lot of academics around the world but they rarely talk about it to students because nobody cares to ask.

I was on a trip with some of my lecturers, and students as well. At the end of our activities, we all sat around. Most other students went and did something else, not sure entirely.

Me and my friends sat and spoke to the academics about what we wanted to do after graduation, most would say "oh I know X who does Y research at Z university, I could contact him and see if they're looking for a research assistant". Or they were suggesting, "looking into studying this course at masters level", "try and learn this skill."

My evolutionary biology lecturer would email me personally about opportunities in the field I said I was interested in, I'm not even some super student nor have I done anything for them. I just decided to talk to them one day and they actually responded.
Original post by J-SP
We need more photographers in this world that’s dominated by imagery than we do history/geography/politics graduates. Why is there an assumption that photography is a Mickey Mouse degree?


Also I hate that assumption is every ex-poly student is studying photography or something, I've seen snobby attitudes from people doing like art or history at a low-ranking russel group uni towards people at my uni with accredited-STEM degrees and industry placements.

Like maybe TSR is filled with the best of the best, but I know plenty of people with like slightly better A levels getting a 2:2 at a Russel Group acting like they've got a PhD from Cambridge cause of it.
Original post by J-SP
There is a lot of snobbery on here. People like keeping their own position elevated though, so reinforcing ideas that they are better than someone else based on degree subject or university location is common.

I find it funny how quickly people want to label others on here based on a name or title on a degree certificate. But they probably haven’t got a lot else to hold on to or worry about it life - small things/small minds and all that.


Another example I have of this attitude, a friend of mine, had pretty average GCSEs, B/Cs, dropped out of A level. Ended up doing an access course at a local college and got into a "top 20 russel group uni" and tbh I'm proud of him, but he was really bragging about it for the first few months, somehow finding a way to shoehorn his russel group uni into a conversation, during a night out at a club.
Original post by ma_long
Sometimes it comes down the work ethic as well, Oxbridge and Russell Group make you work harder than lower ranked universities. I've been to a Russell Group university and a lower ranked university and the difference in workload in immense.


Finally someone admits the truth.....RG work you harder because of the higher entry requirements allowing academics to design more rigorous courses.
Original post by Realitysreflexx
Finally someone admits the truth.....RG work you harder because of the higher entry requirements allowing academics to design more rigorous courses.


But you can work as hard as you feel, you can put in more work. My course didn't require me to know any code, but it didn't stop me from contacting a Biomathematics lecturer and being given lessons in perl.

To be fair, I know some top ranking unis, like friends at Oxbridge and their work load is on another world compared to mine but I have also seen friends at lower-ranked russel group unis doing similar courses and tbh the course content doesn't seem that different.

Like I feel there's more of a gap in the top 10, than number 20 and number 30.
Original post by Dinasaurus
But you can work as hard as you feel, you can put in more work. My course didn't require me to know any code, but it didn't stop me from contacting a Biomathematics lecturer and being given lessons in perl.

To be fair, I know some top ranking unis, like friends at Oxbridge and their work load is on another world compared to mine but I have also seen friends at lower-ranked russel group unis doing similar courses and tbh the course content doesn't seem that different.

Like I feel there's more of a gap in the top 10, than number 20 and number 30.


I go to a top 20 uni but i take it on a uni by uni basis, if you feel like your uni is academically challenging and offers good job prospects then thats fine, but that doesnt mean its tougher then a higher ranked uni, or one with more importantly higher entry requirements.
Original post by Realitysreflexx
I go to a top 20 uni but i take it on a uni by uni basis, if you feel like your uni is academically challenging and offers good job prospects then thats fine, but that doesnt mean its tougher then a higher ranked uni, or one with more importantly higher entry requirements.

But I never said it was tougher tbh, just that you can get decent prospects in most places. Like tbh, my uni is middle of the table anyway, there's like 60-70 unis below it and I can't speak for all of them but I assume their academics are trying.

I highly doubt unis like London Met, just have incompetent staff and stupidly easy work, I mean I've never been but I'd give it the benefit of the doubt.

I know someone who left a Russel Group Uni to join my uni, both in the same city, cause her boyfriend went to my uni and she didn't get on with people at hers. She went from being a 2:1/1st student to being a 2:1/1st student and still managed to get a summer internship in research for a company, so it's not like it killed her career.
Reply 29
Original post by Sulfolobus
To be honest, there are plenty of poor students at Russell Group universities.

I recently had my first taste of marking 1st year undergraduate work. I'm amazed some of the clowns got through their GCSEs.


I've marked my fair share of third year exams/assessments that have been that bad, too. It is a little disheartening, but the good ones sort of make up for it.
Original post by gjd800
I've marked my fair share of third year exams/assessments that have been that bad, too. It is a little disheartening, but the good ones sort of make up for it.


You cant realitiscally judge first year work as uni standard because first years know it doesnt count lol.
Reply 31
Original post by Realitysreflexx
You cant realitiscally judge first year work as uni standard because first years know it doesnt count lol.


True in a lot of cases. It's still somewhat disconcerting; they should be after getting into good habits early as on as possible.
Original post by Realitysreflexx
You cant realitiscally judge first year work as uni standard because first years know it doesnt count lol.


It counts for summer internships and placements, most I've seen ask for a good 2:1 in first year, lots of people in my course coasted in first year only to find none of the placement providers wanted them.
Original post by gjd800
True in a lot of cases. It's still somewhat disconcerting; they should be after getting into good habits early as on as possible.


I try pretty hard in first year but thats my nature and even i only pull a 2:1 everytime, also whats required to get high marks isnt taught but developed with time so its difficult to assess, but yea first years do lack effort lol.
Original post by Dinasaurus
It counts for summer internships and placements, most I've seen ask for a good 2:1 in first year, lots of people in my course coasted in first year only to find none of the placement providers wanted them.


You can actually lie, no one looks into grades lol for internships, but yea i mean im averaging about a low 2:1 in first year at a semi tough uni.
Original post by returnmigrant
University Ranking are a total nonsense.
Suggest you read this : https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/sep/21/university-world-rankings


I think they can be valuable for looking at research strength, or funding for whatever reason, probably good for doing postgrad. Entry standards and graduate prospects could be useful depending on what you're looking for, but none of them really measure the 'quality' of the course, if such a thing is possible.
Reply 36
Original post by Realitysreflexx
I try pretty hard in first year but thats my nature and even i only pull a 2:1 everytime, also whats required to get high marks isnt taught but developed with time so its difficult to assess, but yea first years do lack effort lol.


I was the same way. I wanted to be the best I could be right now, so I was continually badgering about my marks and grades to the point where my (now supervisor) academic advisor said that I was a 'very difficult, bullheaded young man' :laugh:

Probably changes on a course-by-course basis, but I know that we spend a great deal of time and effort trying to drum into first years that there are better and worse ways to build and assess arguments. Some of them try, and we can tell. A significant enough proportion think they know better and disregard what they have been told. Fine, but your grades will suffer, haha. Some just do barely anything and it's that which I don't understand.

But yeah, a lot of it comes with exposure, practice, and good feedback - all of which need a bit of time. I never got about a 68 or something in my first year, but I was routinely hitting firsts by second year. Stubbornness more than anything else, for me.
Original post by generallee
Good thread.

What matters is you, not your university.


University name sort of implies what type of person you are, but isn't a definitive approximation (e.g. why people can trade up to better universities or jobs after kicking ass at a lower university).

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Original post by Dinasaurus
But you can work as hard as you feel, you can put in more work. My course didn't require me to know any code, but it didn't stop me from contacting a Biomathematics lecturer and being given lessons in perl.

To be fair, I know some top ranking unis, like friends at Oxbridge and their work load is on another world compared to mine but I have also seen friends at lower-ranked russel group unis doing similar courses and tbh the course content doesn't seem that different.

Like I feel there's more of a gap in the top 10, than number 20 and number 30.


IMO once you get past the point where most people have AAB-AAA+ entry grades the workload probably isn't as hard. I'm dubious that there's a big difference between the average Liverpool student and the average Reading student.

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Original post by gjd800
True in a lot of cases. It's still somewhat disconcerting; they should be after getting into good habits early as on as possible.


Tbh, I'd much rather focus on establishing myself socially in first year than worry about grades that won't move the needle for my degree.

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