Which uni will lead to better graduate prospects

I am an international student coming to the uk in fall 24 to study masters in
advanced computer science.

I have 12 offers but the ones I'm seriously considering are University of Manchester,University of Liverpool, University of Nottingham and Qmul. I will save about 15k if i pick liverpool over the other two.

1. Is paying close to 50k overall (for Manchester or qmul) worth it? ( Liverpool will be about 35k overall)
2. Will it lead to better job prospects than if i were to go to Liverpool.
3. How much do employers care about uni rankings and prestige since Manchester
is way higher ranked and prestigious.

I don't mind paying extra if it leads to substantially better career outcomes. Looking desparately for advice since I need to respond to my offers. Also have an offer from Kcl but that's completely unaffordable. How much does faang and big tech companies care about uni rankings. Will I be fine I go to any rg.

First of all how KCL unaffordable compare to QMUL? Both are London based Uni.
amongst all, I think Manchester has better ranking. Uni ranking definitely play a big role in initial stage of your career but after few years, it's all about experience in the field and your skills.

So go with your own guts and choose the best amongst all if you can afford. Between KCL and QMUL, I would recommend KCL. Amongst all, Manchester

I'm an international so the tuition fee for me is insanely high. Qmul is 28.2k and kcl is 37k, qmul has on campus accomodation which is also much cheaper than the accoms near kcl

Accommodation in London is also MUCH more expensive than Manchester.
And yes, unfortunately international student fees are ridiculously expensive as compared to home student fees, regardless of Uni.

Also, as someone who hires STEM students and graduates for a large corporation, personally I don't care much about the Uni that the candidate graduated from, neither about it's ranking. As long as the course is accredited by a relevant institution you will be fine.

If you're applying for an internship, things I care about:

If you're applying for a graduate programme or full time position, it's all of the above plus:

Accommodation in London is also MUCH more expensive than Manchester.
And yes, unfortunately international student fees are ridiculously expensive as compared to home student fees, regardless of Uni.

Also, as someone who hires STEM students and graduates for a large corporation, personally I don't care much about the Uni that the candidate graduated from, neither about it's ranking. As long as the course is accredited by a relevant institution you will be fine.

If you're applying for an internship, things I care about:

If you're applying for a graduate programme or full time position, it's all of the above plus:

Thank you so much for the answer, a few follow up questions. I check all boxes in the first category (I hope) i.e I have a 1st in bsc, many projects including publications, active GitHub/freelance project, pretty decent communication skills. As for the 2nd part, I've done 3 internships as a software engineer intern working in data science, full stack and then backend, but all the internships are back in my home country, so will they add any value according to you or will they be disregarded since it's not uk experience. Your answer has been very helpful and i think I'll go ahead with Notts but I'd really appreciate it if you could answer the internship bit. Thanks

I am an international student coming to the uk in fall 24 to study masters in
advanced computer science.

I have 12 offers but the ones I'm seriously considering are University of Manchester,University of Liverpool, University of Nottingham and Qmul. I will save about 15k if i pick liverpool over the other two.

1. Is paying close to 50k overall (for Manchester or qmul) worth it? ( Liverpool will be about 35k overall)
2. Will it lead to better job prospects than if i were to go to Liverpool.
3. How much do employers care about uni rankings and prestige since Manchester
is way higher ranked and prestigious.

I don't mind paying extra if it leads to substantially better career outcomes. Looking desparately for advice since I need to respond to my offers. Also have an offer from Kcl but that's completely unaffordable. How much does faang and big tech companies care about uni rankings. Will I be fine I go to any rg.

So right off the bat I would be inclined to say Manchester because of the strength of its Computer Science department above and beyond the aforementioned names. That being said if you are self-funding your studies you also need to factor in living costs. The best thing to do might be to possibly speak to the Careers Service at each of the above universities to gauge the prospects of those graduating from the programme, or perhaps, go onto LinkedIn and search out graduates from those programmes and universities and see what they are doing now and perhaps reach out to them for advice? Also at a very specialised level such as this you want to do your postgrad in a department and university that will provide adequate networking opportunities and opportunities to further study. Of the ones you mentioned the only one that really ticks all those boxes is Manchester. KCL is a great university in general but isn't immediately noted for the strength of its CompSci department. Neither are Nottingham, Liverpool and QMUL. QMUL is only really boosted by the fact it's based in London.

Manchester is a great university all round and has a world-class CompSci department. Living costs in Manchester will be significantly cheaper in Manchester than in London and probably comparable to Liverpool.

As I like to say - the laws of physics apply everywhere. What I mean by that is a STEM work experience is a STEM work experience. It's not like you studied law or accounting in your home country and now want to do that in another country.
As long as you can provide with evidence of you applying the skills in practice and talk about that in an interview, highlighting your level of expertise and quantifying your impact - that's all I want to see. Granted, some employers are pickier than the others, so when it comes to applying for jobs I strongly suggest applying to as many jobs as you can BUT (!) without compromising the quality of your application. Also, don't get discouraged about getting rejected. In my experience and from experience of people that I know, the average success rate is about 10-20%, meaning if you apply for 30 jobs you will probably end up with 2-3 job offers give or take. It's a game of statistics these days I'm afraid.
And no, it doesn't matter if you're a student from London applying for a job in Scotland or the other way around. Employer expect you to agree to move closer to where their office is unless it's a 100% remote position.

Also, when looking for jobs, I suggest you to apply for internships too as a backup plan in case you can't get a graduate level job. Even though they are tailored for students in their 2nd or 3rd year, they will definitely consider a graduate and you will have an edge over the competition. An internship only lasts 12 months and closer to the end of it you will have very good chances on staying with the company in a permanent role or transition to the internal graduate programme as an option. We do that for our interns who have already graduated, it makes sense for us to do that - save a lot of trouble in looking for graduates and the person who's completed the internship already knows a lot about the company and the products we develop & deliver to our customers.

Thank you so much for the advice. I've already done exactly what you've said. I've talked to many LinkedIn folks, some of whom said save the 15 grand and go to a cheaper uni since they're all rg, and the slight advantage isn't worth the 15k. But then when I look at LinkedIn stats for uni Mcr grads, they are in phenomenal places (like a massive bunch of them) compared to Notts or QMUL, but then some people have made it to the same places from UoN or even non-Rg-unis. I would love to attend mcr, and while applying, I planned to accept their offer blindly in case I got one; still, the recent market condition makes it a big gamble since I'll be taking a loan for the total amount, so if I go to mcr and land the same job that I can from a cheaper uni, it'll be a waste of the 15k. I know no one else can make this decision for me, but I'm just looking for insight, on whether the slight advantage is worth the 15k difference. Thanks again for taking the time to respond. Cheers

Thank you for the response again; I've seen a bunch of posts on Reddit where people have applied to 400+ places before landing interviews or securing offers, so I'm prepared to do that. I've decided to prepare for interviews, grind LC, etc, till August and start applying for jobs/internships the second I get there. Liverpool does have the option for a placement year where I can get local experience, but I kind of thought, why waste a year being on intern salary when I can make grad salary instead. Plus, I feel that Notts will be a slightly better option at the same cost as Liverpool, but I'd be losing out on the placement year option. However, I think that I can do an internship on the PSW either way, even if I go to Notts and if I'm unable to find a grad job right after. Thank you so much again. I really needed the perspective of someone who is in hiring. Last question: how big of a disadvantage does needing a sponsorship post-PSW put me in the perspective of hiring managers?