The Student Room Group

Sussex over Russell groups?

I got AAA in my a levels and have offers for chemistry from ucl, southampton, Bristol , Sussex and Nottingham. Obviously the other 4 are Russell groups but Sussex seems to tick all my boxes whereas the others are all missing something. Would I be crazy to pick Sussex over these “better” unis? At Sussex open day they said they rank in the top 10 for chemistry for the past 15 years, but overall they’re obviously not as prestigious. Would it matter later down the line? I don’t think I’d regret picking Sussex but I don’t want to miss out in the job world because I didn’t pick a top tier russel group uni. Any advice is welcome please!
Reply 1
Based on what you've said, go for Sussex.
Russell group doesn't really mean all that much, and if Sussex are in the top 10 for Chemistry for 15 years, that's not to be sniffed at! Although, worth looking at student satisfaction if you're concerned.

Have a read of this. Russell group isn't the be all and end all!

Plus, I went to university in Brighton. I can't comment on Sussex itself, as I studied at the University of Brighton, but Brighton is good fun!
Hi I go to Sussex! Getting a job after university is more about what experience you have, the things you’ve done while at uni etc rather than what university you actually go to e.g. if you wanted to get a job in research and took up loads of research opportunities at Sussex compared to doing none of that at Kings jobs aren’t going to be fussed about which uni u attended
I’ll be honest, UCL could open up more job opportunities (although it does depend massively on what you want to do) but at the same time it’s best to go for a course you’ll enjoy and do well in! For a lot of jobs university name will make little to no difference anyway and if Sussex is so good at chemistry it’s probably the case that specialists in that industry would recognise it to be very good
Original post by Anonymous
I got AAA in my a levels and have offers for chemistry from ucl, southampton, Bristol , Sussex and Nottingham. Obviously the other 4 are Russell groups but Sussex seems to tick all my boxes whereas the others are all missing something. Would I be crazy to pick Sussex over these “better” unis? At Sussex open day they said they rank in the top 10 for chemistry for the past 15 years, but overall they’re obviously not as prestigious. Would it matter later down the line? I don’t think I’d regret picking Sussex but I don’t want to miss out in the job world because I didn’t pick a top tier russel group uni. Any advice is welcome please!


Not on all ranking tables...

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/chemistry
I went to Sussex and loved it —and went on to get a PhD from LSE (and work at the BBC). It was many moons ago, but I loved Sussex—and Brighton—and found my fellow students to be more interesting, engaged with the world and curious—and I would say therefore more intelligent—than a lot of those from higher-ranked (whatever that may mean) unis.
From my observation, I would say the same still holds.
I have also taught at two unis in London one highly ranked, one low. I had particularly interesting conversations with students at the latter.
As an employer, I have always rated people far more by what they have to say about themselves and their life experiences, and how they interact with—and respect others—than where they studied.
Good luck to all of you!