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Bath or Warwick for a STEM degree????

I have applied to maths and physics joint honours for both unis and I am wondering which uni would be better???

Reply 1

Original post
by cayenne.w
I have applied to maths and physics joint honours for both unis and I am wondering which uni would be better???

To be honest from a maths perspective it's always quite hard to say, in general it just depends on your choice of topic! For example if you're doing analysis and end up doing optimal transport both might be valid cause in Warwick there is Clarice Poon who's worked with legends like Gabriel Peyre and Carlier. If I recall correctly, one of her current student is doing PhD in Bath. So purely from a course perspective between the two, best way to choose is maybe consider potential advisors for your bachelor or master thesis and then look at who is teaching what courses to get a general idea for what might be best for you :smile:

Maybe it might be very different from a student life perspective so maybe I will let someone hopefully chime in on that to help you!

Prestige and being in the Russel group etc might be of your concern too but tbh I don't really think those are super important when it comes to a later point because it becomes more of who you know and what you know rather than where you're from, especially for something a subject like math. (It is just sometimes what you know correlates to where your from and that's where some misconceptions occur 😉 )

Physics wise I got no idea to be honest. My training was in abit of mathematical physics and not "real" physics so can't really chime in on that sadly I am afraid will have to revert again to someone else!

All the very best for your future education, just remember to have fun!
From the maths side Warwick is the clear stronger option, it has one of the strongest maths departments alongside Imperial/Cambridge/Oxford. For physics they're probably similar though I think?

Reply 3

Original post
by artful_lounger
From the maths side Warwick is the clear stronger option, it has one of the strongest maths departments alongside Imperial/Cambridge/Oxford. For physics they're probably similar though I think?

Thanks for the quick response!
Maths for warwick is 4th however for physics it is 10th. With Bath physics is 7th and maths is 7th.Therefore they both have the same overall ranking thats why I was wondering which out of the two may have greater career prospects and better opportunities or is a better or more respected uni as my degree is a joint honours course.

Reply 4

Original post
by thisisauser
To be honest from a maths perspective it's always quite hard to say, in general it just depends on your choice of topic! For example if you're doing analysis and end up doing optimal transport both might be valid cause in Warwick there is Clarice Poon who's worked with legends like Gabriel Peyre and Carlier. If I recall correctly, one of her current student is doing PhD in Bath. So purely from a course perspective between the two, best way to choose is maybe consider potential advisors for your bachelor or master thesis and then look at who is teaching what courses to get a general idea for what might be best for you :smile:
Maybe it might be very different from a student life perspective so maybe I will let someone hopefully chime in on that to help you!
Prestige and being in the Russel group etc might be of your concern too but tbh I don't really think those are super important when it comes to a later point because it becomes more of who you know and what you know rather than where you're from, especially for something a subject like math. (It is just sometimes what you know correlates to where your from and that's where some misconceptions occur 😉 )
Physics wise I got no idea to be honest. My training was in abit of mathematical physics and not "real" physics so can't really chime in on that sadly I am afraid will have to revert again to someone else!
All the very best for your future education, just remember to have fun!

Thank you so much for this quick response. Tbh I didnt really consider who the actual lecturers and advisors are on the uni because i havent decided what i am most passionate about in both maths and physics therefore i wouldn't really know what i would be looking for in an advisor for a thesis or what sort of area i would want my uni to be stronger in. I have applied for a masters though so I would be doing one in the future. Additionally both unis have the same overall ranking thats why I was wondering in terms of other than rankings e.g. what would be the better option for things such as career prospects and connections and placements and overall which uni would be more impressive generally for a employer.
Original post
by cayenne.w
Thanks for the quick response!
Maths for warwick is 4th however for physics it is 10th. With Bath physics is 7th and maths is 7th.Therefore they both have the same overall ranking thats why I was wondering which out of the two may have greater career prospects and better opportunities or is a better or more respected uni as my degree is a joint honours course.

Employers don't look at league table rankings. The "stronger department" comment is in terms of academic offerings, not employability.

If employability is your only or primary motivating factor then, while I would point out this is largely down to you and not what uni you go to, if you want to go into investment banking or management consulting, Warwick is a target uni and Bath is semi-target at most. So for those specific areas (which are very small numbers of grad roles available and extremely competitive) Warwick is arguably the better option.

Reply 6

Original post
by cayenne.w
Thank you so much for this quick response. Tbh I didnt really consider who the actual lecturers and advisors are on the uni because i havent decided what i am most passionate about in both maths and physics therefore i wouldn't really know what i would be looking for in an advisor for a thesis or what sort of area i would want my uni to be stronger in. I have applied for a masters though so I would be doing one in the future. Additionally both unis have the same overall ranking thats why I was wondering in terms of other than rankings e.g. what would be the better option for things such as career prospects and connections and placements and overall which uni would be more impressive generally for a employer.

Most welcome! One advice I'd have especially before doing subjects like math and physics in uni is to look into maybe what fields you might be interested in by looking at some lectures from IHES or IAS, the first 10 minutes is usually for the layman and the rest you probably wouldn't understand for now; but depending on what catches your eyes you can sort of build a feel for what might work best for you and search for a mentor from there and kind of get a sense on how to navigate through the major.

In the case of employer it depends on the field (finance, software, healthcare etc) and the employer. A good indicator over a league table ranking would be to open up Linkedin and look at where the people who studied from each school doing your major ended up in. Even better, write them a message to ask them about their experiences and what they recommend doing while in school/ what they regret not doing in school. That'll give you a greater image on what might match your current interests. However, purely looking at LinkedIn and career stats is once again not representative of the real world cause each individual has a different set of connections.

My general advice is try to work based on your strengths than ranking. Most of the time hiring is a nightmare so it is really very dependent on luck at the end of the day. Honestly speaking, a recruiter looking at a resume on Bath and Warwick, I highly doubt they are going to toss one or the other based on the school; if they are going to toss one it'll be both for an fella with oxbridge. The honest truth after the first round of interviews is that the oxbridge guy is gone compared to an internal referral guy. So basically, the idea of the school choice is so hopefully your alumni or professor can get you a referral or the company your interested in comes to your career fair. So end of the day go to a school that supports you the most in that aspect will probably be my best advice. Have a look at the career fairs of each school and see what companies are there to. Helps hopefully to give you some perspective.

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