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why do people go to university's that are at the bottom of the league table ?

Just wondering... out of all the 130+ universities in the UK why do people voluntarily go to a University in the lower end of the league table (100 and below)

I understand this isn't always reflective of the status of the university as some specialise in certain courses but what about those universities that don't specialise in a particular course....

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Original post by techstudent1
Just wondering... out of all the 130+ universities in the UK why do people voluntarily go to a University in the lower end of the league table (100 and below)

I understand this isn't always reflective of the status of the university as some specialise in certain courses but what about those universities that don't specialise in a particular course....

Often location - if you don't want to, or can't move to anywhere in the country (think mature students, those with caring commitments etc) but want to go to university, you might be limited to universities in a particular area. And these might be crap universities.
It could be a case of:-

a) What are the realistic options with their grades
b) Maybe they feel that they'll be one of the top students there
c) Maybe things like logistics come into play (e.g. they need to stay / be in a particular location).
d) Maybe they feel the more prestigious universities will have snobbish / pretentious people there
e) The syllabus content may be more appealing (for whatever reason).
f) The company they want to work for may have a deal going on with said university
g) Cheaper tuition fees / living costs
h) Maybe the area / uni has a good social / night life

and so on.

Anyway, does it matter? In theory, a bachelors degree is worth the same from any accredited UK university institution... it's the subject matter and who accredits the degrees that really give the their value. Besides, once you've been working for two years, no one really cares what Uni you went to (in the same way no one cares about GCSE's at university / degree level studying)
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by techstudent1
Just wondering... out of all the 130+ universities in the UK why do people voluntarily go to a University in the lower end of the league table (100 and below)

I understand this isn't always reflective of the status of the university as some specialise in certain courses but what about those universities that don't specialise in a particular course....

League table are not reliable - some unis specialise in certain degrees and tables don't show that.
Well, question for you, why do people go to lower ranked universities all around the world even though the top 10 are in the USA, UK and Switzerland.

As for me (Germany not studying in the UK and not planning to), it was the academic fit and option to qualify remotely next to working full time as nurse (non-academic training in Germany) or later student research assistant and now as Case Worker at the Federal Employment Agency in Germany. And you know, not all employers look out for students of the best ranked universities. In case of my employer and most federal or public admin jobs in Germany it does not even provide you with any advantage.

Even though not only studying remotely but also at a fairely unknown University of Applied Sciences (which in Germany is even lower ranked as for example it does not qualify for PhD studies) I was able to secure a job at a Fraunhofer-Institute while studying.

And for my Master's an additional criteria was that I would not have to pay fees, language of study is English, high theory-praxis interralation, qualifies for PhD studies, remote, highly international and so I chose the best suited program and am now studying in Sweden.

Honestly, I think the focus on rankings is more common in certain areas such as economics or law, medicine or psychology but for other areas it largely depends on what you plan to do. Studying nursing at an Ivy League Uni would still not provide me with a higher salary here in Germany. So why spend money one does not need to spend?
Some uni's have a course that's got modules that absolutely right for them. Chester isn't right up there but they do animal behaviour degree which is less on the biology (like other zoology degrees), but more about the animals themselves. Some are also excellent on the PHD side of things as well. Some want to save money and stay local too.
Original post by Old Skool Freak
In theory, a bachelors degree is worth the same from any accredited UK university institution...


In theory, yes - but in practice it's obviously not the case that a BA from the University of Cambridge is in any way comparable with a BA from the University of Suffolk for instance.


Besides, once you've been working for two years, no one really cares what Uni you went to (in the same way no one cares about GCSE's at university / degree level studying)


Again, I think having gone to a top university does still carry weight in the early part of your career, though obviously the more experience of a job/profession you have, the less the 'name' of the university matters.
Many possible reasons.
Interesting course, located in local area, lower accomodation & living costs, to continue studying with childhood school friends/partner/relatives, only uni to make an offer, reduced tuition fees, offer of corporate sponsorship available to cover all tuition fees & accomodation costs, want to study in less intensive uni environment or have access to a less stressful weekly timetable.
League tables are an awful indicator of quality.

People choose universities based by compromising a variety of factors, and what is specifically important to them.
Also bear in mind that for some courses "rankings" are largely meaningless e.g. most allied health professions courses, where provided they have the correct accreditation in place it doesn't matter whether you graduate from one at the top or bottom of the rankings usually. Of course things like quality of feedback provided by lecturers, student support, and so on are important, but these are difficult to measure in league table rankings - usually they're all mostly covered in the nebulous "student satisfaction" criterion which can so often seem to just be a random number generator...

Additionally for "general" rankings this can often marginalise specialist universities (e.g. the Courtauld which only offers one course and doesn't exist on any general rankings I believe as a result, arguably SOAS although they're "restructuring" away from most of their specialist courses, RVS, etc), and may not give an accurate picture for some departments, which may be better or worse than the "general" ranking suggests. For example, the University of Essex tends to not rank extremely highly in general, but has an outstanding politics department with a very strong presence in research in that field as I understand. Conversely Warwick has one of the top maths departments in the country, and very strong business, economics, and CS departments, which buoy it in the rankings (and students perceptions) a great deal, but by all accounts the other departments there are somewhat more mediocre outside of those flagship departments/courses.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Reality Check
In theory, yes - but in practice it's obviously not the case that a BA from the University of Cambridge is in any way comparable with a BA from the University of Suffolk for instance.

Well I did say "in theory". Besides, I thought Oxford was stronger for things like Arts and classics, while Cambridge was more science based :wink:



Again, I think having gone to a top university does still carry weight in the early part of your career, though obviously the more experience of a job/profession you have, the less the 'name' of the university matters.



TBF, I also said when you've got two years experience... obviously the "two years" isn't set in stone, and some leverage / discrepancy should be applied.
I assume for things like law, it was people wanting to be local. Ie mature students (I went local but I am London based) or don’t have the grades for better ones.

In the USA you have the community colleges to get a degree locally at much reduced price, I assume this is similar.
Original post by Old Skool Freak
Well I did say "in theory". Besides, I thought Oxford was stronger for things like Arts and classics, while Cambridge was more science based :wink:

Oxford is stronger at being a budget version of Cambridge :laugh:
Original post by Reality Check
Oxford is stronger at being a budget version of Cambridge :laugh:

You're biased... but biased the right way :cool:
Original post by Old Skool Freak
You're biased... but biased the right way :cool:

haha - exactly :smile:
“Why do other people make different life choices to me?”
Computer science from London Met will probably get you more money in life than someone who studied Latin at A bog standard RG
Because it's just not that deep
:iiam:
Reply 19
I have a master degree from computer science at London Metropolitan University , This university accepted me as a student If I apply the other universities they would refuse me when I applied London Met I was 34 and I was thinking I am the one of mature student there but I saw a lot of people at heir 40's 50's 60's studying.

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