University of Manchester or Sciences Po?

prxxx

Which one of the two unis should I rather attend? Does anyone have any experiences they can share?

Reply 1

toothysmile

UoM is very disorganised and not a lot of staff support...

University of Manchester

Manchester

Reply 2

INCOGN170

Original post by prxxx

Which one of the two unis should I rather attend? Does anyone have any experiences they can share?

What subject/course did you apply for?

I would say if it is engineering/natural science/medicine related, UoM is a better place to go especially if you are looking for the uni reputation. Global rankings consistently rank UoM within top 50-100 (2023-24 general rankings: QS - 32, THE - 54, ARWU - 38). Note these are global rankings which means academic reputation, employer reputation etc. is considered a whole lot more than student experience which is something national rankings weigh a whole lot more. So if you care about uni reputation and academics, global rankings are what you should look at (of course, you shouldn't base your decisions purely off of them because rankings always have flaws to their methodologies, but they give a general idea of uni prestige and help you to some degree).

I can't say much about student experience at Sciences Po because I ain't got friends who go there but I can say UoM is pretty nice despite all the strikes or administration issues that are currently happening (which, honestly, is going on everywhere in the UK not just Manchester it's just blown to a greater proportion there because of a large Student Union presence). It has a buttload of societies you can join and a good blend of international students and local students. The uni accom isn't great, even in UK standards, but it's tolerable to some degree.

Anyways, do talk to some other person who's gone to Sciences Po to give you their experiences.