Engineering at Birmingham vs Southampton Univeristy

Mechanical and Aerospace are a fair bit different, it comes down to what interests you more. But, Southampton is really really great for Aero and have some of the best facilities. Still, if you'd rather do Mechanical go for Birmingham, don't sacrifice your course of interest just for the 'better uni'

Yeah tbf the common first year amongst all engineering disciplines in birmingham offers flexibility but the main thing that's swaying me back and forth is wether I want to go to uni purely for the course, and the ranking which would be southampton or if I value other things like nightlife and industry links, and whilst still having a course I like which would be birmingham. I was also unsure how much use I would get out of the facilities in southampton because I was impressed by them when I went and wether it is better to do a masters there after where I would be able to get good use out of the facilities.

(this text will be riddled with spelling errors i apologise)
Before i start get ranking out your head anyone in the top 15 is great for engineering, sheffield were like 20th for ages despite being really good for engineering they measure some stupid stuff which heavily sways the results your better asking those at the unis and in the industry.
i feel like i can give quite a good view point on this as im currently at soton doing mechanical engineering and my mate is up at brum doing aero. Firsly soton has a general first year aswell except from teh chem and electrical engineers so if you want to do mech here you can you just need to get in contact within the first year to switch. ill subtitle and compare a few things ive realised between me and my mate which i think is important in your desicion:
Nightlife:
your first year you will be out alot and soton has a okay night life on par wiht birmingham neither of them compare to places like manchester or leeds but if your not a person who goes clubbing weekly its great. Soton has lots of cheap student friendly bars all around campus and mainly in protswood and city centre which you can get a bus too with your free bus par. I know birmingham is very similair so night life i would say is fairly even.
The actual Course:
what i have relaised is we have learnt a fair amount more then birmingham in the first year, they seem to get alot more assingments and weekly tests and lab reports were at soton its much less. We have three exams at the end of the year and then 4 courseworks throughtout one being a group design project which is relatively simple. Despite learning more content i think the fact we havent been bombarded with tests meaning you have more time to stay on top of lectures and revise content.
Also look at the modules in depth see what you enjoy and if you have any questions on what comes up just ask and ill let you know.
Socieities:
Ill only speak about the engineering related ones but there are loads here being sports or subject or many other things for both unis and every uni in general. At southampton and birmingham there is a formula student team which is were you build a race car and you can learn alot from years above. Soton also has a society called suhpa which is were they build a human powered aircraft, again you can learn laods from years above. Birmingham from what ive heard and searched doesnt have one but has somehting like a rocket society but i cant speak on that as i know nothing about it.
Facilities:
Ill only speak for southampton as i have no clue for brum. Tbh in first year you dont get too do much unless you join engineering socities. In first year you can use lathes, mills, basically all hand tools, lasercutters, bandsaws, sandbelts and all pretty simple to use stuff like this. Being in engineering societies and getting involved with building stuff you can start doing carbon fibre layups using autocalves once trained, stuff like hydraulic presses. Also we have an EDMC (lots of cnc machines) where you can send pieces youve made for water jet cutting. When you get into your masters and older years or if you are involved heavily with formula student or supha youll be able to get training on wind tunnels as that is something alot of people want. We also have like 6 axis robot arms but no clue when you get to use them or why all ive seen it do is play a paino.
Stuff like accomodation the city the campus is very subjective so its probably better to look online and see which one you like more. Im happy to answer any questions on soton and can try fro birmingham as i can ask my mate

Wow perfect timing i just logged into the student room, also i can barely spell myself so I didn't even notice any spelling mistakes 😂.
I firmed Southampton in the end as I love the course and the main argument for brum was nightlife but at the end of the day its what you make of it.
I do have questions about accommodation, for me its between glen and wessex. I would love a sociable hall and a room with an en-suit, tbh im sure at the end of the day either would be fine however i would like to hear what you think about them. Also are the enhanced plus rooms worth it? ik the enhanced plus en-suit rooms at glen are quite new and have a bigger bed but ive heard mixed things about them so im unsure whether or not to go for it or not.
Thanks a lot for the help.

even better timing on my part as i am sat in my glen ensuite right now 🙂 . I had the exact same preferences as you when coming to soton i wanted an en suite just as its nice to have your own toilet and shower. I would defitenly recommend glen mainly to the fact that it is walkable to campus, on nights out you can get the bus straight to the clubs, the kitchens are bigger then wessex ensuite aswell. However somehting to consider is wessex shared enhanced plus, they are really nice toilets, they have a sofa, an island in there kitchen and a tv, i just remember it being really nice when i went for drinks there. At glen and wessex ensuite it is just table and area to prep food and cook aswell as obviously a fridge.
After thinking about what ive wrote and re reading what youve said id defitnely say put glen first choice and dont go for the enhanced ensuite at just go for the standard ensuite. Going enhanced ensuit means you can end up in quite antisociable halls and itll be harder to make friends with from what ive heard. The people all in glen standard ensuites from what ive found are really nice obviously theres some annoying people who always go out but thats what it is. For your second choice its kind of up to you half my housemates are in wessex ensuite standard and again its a nice area wiht nice people in you cant really go wrong, the only thing ive kind of realised the higher you pay normally the less socialble the halls are but i could be wrong.
Anymore questions just ask this is a great way to procrastinate my revision

haha sorry i should've been quicker to help u with that procrastination😂
yeah i did hear that about the enhanced plus rooms at glen, are the wessex ones the same?
i did see the shared enhanced plus at wessex during an open day the rooms are really nice but idk about sharing a toilet bc ive heard some horror stories. is it as bad as im thinking it would be?

To be honest i dont know anyone in shared accom but i never heard much bad about it, you could get put with somenoe whos really neat who will probably end up on your case for somehting insignifcant or you could get put with a slob. I would recommend an ensuite as its jut nice to know you can acess the toilet and shower whenever you need, youll be grateful for an ensuite after a rough night out

Yeah didnt think about that tbf. Do you know how the enhanced plus en-suit rooms at wessex are like? they are the same price as the standard en-suit rooms at glen but by the looks of it you get a bigger room and more desk space. I was just worried about the social aspect like mentioned earlier.

im not too sure what they are like i havent seen those but im guessing it will be a nice desk a double bed and then obviously your own nice bathroom, some of the bathrooms at glen eyre normal ensuite are wet rooms whcih is a bit annoyed but im sure theyll all be very nice rooms.

i foregot to add that whilst they will also be nicer the reason for the same price is most likely the location and the fact oyu have to get the bus everyday, im not sure if you know but everyone in accomodation gets a free bus pass for the first year as they dont let you bring your car down unless you have a good reason to.

I currently have MEng offers for Mechanical engineering at Birmingham uni (AAA) and for Aerospace engineering at Southampton uni (A*AA) and I'm currently trying to decide between the two and I'm curious what other people think of the two unis to help with my decition, in regards to course, facilities, nightlife etc.