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Can I get a more aeronautical engineering based degree at Exeter studying Mech Eng?

I got an offer back from Exeter a while ago for Mech Eng and I'm strongly consider it as I've now heard back from all my unis but I'm slightly concerned by the course - I mainly want to study aeronautical/aerospace engineering and I've got offers from Glasgow, Surrey and Loughborough (only really considering the last two as I'm not so keen on moving to Scotland anymore) for aeronautical engineering (aerospace for Surrey) and I was wondering if Exeter offer more aeronautical specific modules that I could do?
just out of interest why do you prefer exeter over loughborough. my first choice for mechanical has always been loughborough
Reply 2
Original post by mechengineer8
just out of interest why do you prefer exeter over loughborough. my first choice for mechanical has always been loughborough

I just prefer the university, course wise Loughborough is the superior uni however I prefer the ambiance of Exeter much more over Loughborough
No, essentially. There are no courses in aerodynamics, propulsion, mechanics of aircraft, aerothermodynamics, or aerospace control systems modules at Exeter (unless they've introduced them since I was there, which I don't think they have). They do cover some overlapping topics like thermofluids and mechanics of materials, but this won't be particularly applied to aerospace purposes.

You would probably need to aim for a masters in aerospace after such a degree to move into that area. However it is fairly common to do a BEng in mechanical/materials/electronic (or sometimes civil) engineering, then a masters in aerospace engineering to go into the field, since at least historically aerospace engineering wasn't that common as an undergrad course (it's moderately common these days).

If you know you want to go into that field though, you may as well do the more specialised course now. Also I would note Exeter's engineering department is fairly mediocre and nothing at all compared to Loughborough's which is in a whole other league to Exeter tbh. I can't say after my time doing engineering at Exeter I'd recommend it over a department like Loughborough.
Original post by ErtugrulBey
I got an offer back from Exeter a while ago for Mech Eng and I'm strongly consider it as I've now heard back from all my unis but I'm slightly concerned by the course - I mainly want to study aeronautical/aerospace engineering and I've got offers from Glasgow, Surrey and Loughborough (only really considering the last two as I'm not so keen on moving to Scotland anymore) for aeronautical engineering (aerospace for Surrey) and I was wondering if Exeter offer more aeronautical specific modules that I could do?

Look on the website course page.
@artful_lounger has given a very good responce though.

I also think it depends what you want specifically
For example thermofluids might not be covered in as much detail as aircraft aerodynamics or aircraft propulsion but obviously aerodynamics is drawn from fluid mechanics and aircraft propulsion is drawn from thermodynamics.... so you still cover content thats likely highly relevant just not as explicit as you would get on an aero degree.
Reply 5
Original post by artful_lounger
No, essentially. There are no courses in aerodynamics, propulsion, mechanics of aircraft, aerothermodynamics, or aerospace control systems modules at Exeter (unless they've introduced them since I was there, which I don't think they have). They do cover some overlapping topics like thermofluids and mechanics of materials, but this won't be particularly applied to aerospace purposes.

You would probably need to aim for a masters in aerospace after such a degree to move into that area. However it is fairly common to do a BEng in mechanical/materials/electronic (or sometimes civil) engineering, then a masters in aerospace engineering to go into the field, since at least historically aerospace engineering wasn't that common as an undergrad course (it's moderately common these days).

If you know you want to go into that field though, you may as well do the more specialised course now. Also I would note Exeter's engineering department is fairly mediocre and nothing at all compared to Loughborough's which is in a whole other league to Exeter tbh. I can't say after my time doing engineering at Exeter I'd recommend it over a department like Loughborough.

Okay, thanks very much! To be honest I'm not sure I want to go into engineering to begin with as my main goal is to become an airline pilot and I'd like to have a degree to fall back on and aeronautical engineering seems like the logical option for that as it caters to my passion for aviation and physics too. Therefore I don't really mind it not being specialised however I'm just not sure I'll enjoy a more general grasp of engineering as I really want to see it applied to aviation as I simply find it more interesting; modules that cater to electrical and civil engineering don't particularly interest me and I'm worried that I'll end up regretting choosing that degree over the specialised degree.

If you don't mind me asking, why isn't Exeter's engineering department that great compared to Loughborough's and what advantages does Loughborough have over Exeter?
Original post by ErtugrulBey
Okay, thanks very much! To be honest I'm not sure I want to go into engineering to begin with as my main goal is to become an airline pilot and I'd like to have a degree to fall back on and aeronautical engineering seems like the logical option for that as it caters to my passion for aviation and physics too. Therefore I don't really mind it not being specialised however I'm just not sure I'll enjoy a more general grasp of engineering as I really want to see it applied to aviation as I simply find it more interesting; modules that cater to electrical and civil engineering don't particularly interest me and I'm worried that I'll end up regretting choosing that degree over the specialised degree.

If you don't mind me asking, why isn't Exeter's engineering department that great compared to Loughborough's and what advantages does Loughborough have over Exeter?


Loughborough has better connections to industry, I suspect some of the teaching (in maths) is better (as L'boro has a specialist mathematics pedagogy research group that also contributes to the maths teaching for those on engineering courses (also I think other science courses). Also because Exeter assumes no specific prior knowledge on the science side (physics is not required) and has very low expectations on the maths side (they teach a lot of stuff that is covered in A-level Maths from scratch again, because they massively undershoot their entry criteria and regularly take people with lower grades in A-level Maths and other subjects), the standard reached by the end of first year isn't that advanced.

Certainly, not comparable to those lofty heights they market themselves as being (this was specifically said to me by a lecturer there who had formerly taught at several other unis, including MIT). While arguably comparing Exeter engineering to MIT engineering is absurd, the fact is Exeter spends a lot of money to market themselves as a prestige elite university just a step below Oxbridge, when in reality they are not. They also don't even have that great industrial links (outside of civil eng, as far as I knew from others there).

That isn't to say the department is bad per se, but it's just fairly mediocre, but since they themselves try to present the university as a whole as extremely high calibre, and school leavers (and certain other users on this website) also uphold such beliefs, it bears pointing out that the simple fact of the matter is enginering is not one of Exeter's specialty or prestige departments (which would probably more generally be considered to be physics, law, I believe history, maybe politics and psychology, and possibly Arabic and islamic studies on the main campus). However Loughborough is fairly well regarded and established for engineering (also similar STEM subjects generally).

Note all of this is for the main campus; the Cornwall campus is completely separate teaching, and is actually reasonably good for engineering, their engineering department being borne out of the Camborne School of Mines. However that campus tends to focus more on environmental/earth scientific type things, and that includes their engineering courses which are more focused on renewable energy, mining engineering, and engineering geology. So even farther removed from aerospace!
Original post by ErtugrulBey
I got an offer back from Exeter a while ago for Mech Eng and I'm strongly consider it as I've now heard back from all my unis but I'm slightly concerned by the course - I mainly want to study aeronautical/aerospace engineering and I've got offers from Glasgow, Surrey and Loughborough (only really considering the last two as I'm not so keen on moving to Scotland anymore) for aeronautical engineering (aerospace for Surrey) and I was wondering if Exeter offer more aeronautical specific modules that I could do?

Hi there!

It's great to hear you have applied to Surrey and received an offer. If you have any questions about Surrey or uni life in general, then please ask as I am here to help you out!

To introduce myself I’m Joao, an Economics student from the University of Surrey on placement at Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) this year and I'm enjoying it a lot.

I have some interesting subjects with really good lecturers (obviously depends on the module and lecturers you have). Surrey is 8th in the UK for business and economics for example. Rankings fluctuate all the time I honestly wouldn’t worry. However, if I were you I would probably move to a sandwich degree. A placement provides students with a unique opportunity to gain skills specific to their subject or industry of choice as well as the employability skills required for real-life work. If you do not manage to secure one you simply go straight to the 3rd year.

The campus is lovely. Surrey is known to put a lot of emphasis on the social life of students and always care about how you spend your free time at university. The student union offers more than 140 societies based on any hobbies and interests’ students have and clubs for all kinds of sport that a student might want to take up. And even with covid restrictions, the union managed to organise one of the biggest covid-safe university events in the country!

During my first year, I spent a lot of time training as part of the University’s rowing team and I had amazing time there. So, if you are into sports that is something you should definitively consider.

I think this may help you.

Study and work abroad:
https://www.surrey.ac.uk/student-exchanges/study-abroad

More than 140 societies and clubs to join:
https://blogs.surrey.ac.uk/bulgariablog/2017/02/19/more-than-140-societies-and-clubs-to-join/


Joao
Economics

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