Please help me choose!

I have a number of offers for post grad degree in data science/analytics and am very much struggling to decide what to do!

I have an offer from Durham to study the Scientific Computing and Data Analysis MSc.
https://www.dur.ac.uk/courses/info/?id=25453&code=g5k609
Pros:
Durham is top university.
Aimed at physics graduates (which I am).
Astrophysics component appealing to me.
Would lead to PhD possibilities.
Cons:
Costs more

My other main choice is Data Science MSc at Lancaster:
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/postgraduate-courses/data-science-msc/
Pros:
Offered £4k scholarship
Comes with a work placement
Looks better fir employability
Cons:
Not as good a uni as Durham?

I guess my heart says Durham, but my head kind of says Lancaster might be a more pragmatic choice. I'm also waiting on decisions from Manchester and Edinburgh, but that's another issue!

What do you all think of these courses/universities? I need to make my decision on Lancaster by the end of the month.

Thanks everyone!

Reply 1

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by cleanhat

Hi @clean hat,
I'm currently a student at Lancaster so I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
I'll just point you towards some information I think might be helpful!
There's a couple of videos made my postgraduate students on what it's like to be a postgrad at Lancaster.
Transitioning from undergraduate to postgraduate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpjKAaNSFWc&t=465s
Day in the life of a postgraduate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKlbBvLetmI
There's some other more general content on there that you might find interesting!
You can also use UniBuddy to talk to current students within the Data Science department. This might give you an idea about things related to the course.
Hope this is useful and let me know if you have any specific questions!
Charlotte :smile:

3rd year Biological Sciences with Biomedicine

Reply 2

Joelpin

Original post by cleanhat

I have no opinion on both universities as I have never been to them but I have got a little advice on selecting a university. I had selected 5 universities and had my offers back from all 5 and was faced with a very similar situation to what you're in now ( a top university for my course vs a scholarship). I had a bit of advice from my tutor and he said when you get your degree they all say the same thing and the university generally doesn't matter (unless Cambridge or oxford). He told me to pick the university where I believed I would be generally happiest at (if that's closest to home, near friends, better nightlife...whatever is important to you). University is an amazing experience and yes it is mostly about the educational side but you got to actually feel happy where you are at!
I decided, in the end, to go for the scholarship university (and not the top university) and I have never looked back since! I am now still at that university after graduating doing a PhD and I could not be happier with that decision I made!

Whatever you pick I'm sure will be the correct decision in the end! Also, my PhD is in the field of data science and there will be loads of jobs waiting for you after your degree! Best of luck!

Please help me choose!

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