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nottingham vs leeds for chemical engineering?

I'm not sure which to pick - both are in clearing and I will hopefully be able to get into either. I have several friends going to Leeds (and not Nottingham) and i liked both cities+courses when i went to their open days, but the thing holding me back is that Leeds has pretty low student satisfaction (29th out of 34 unis on completeuniguide) and im wondering if there's a reason for this
Original post
by walp013
I'm not sure which to pick - both are in clearing and I will hopefully be able to get into either. I have several friends going to Leeds (and not Nottingham) and i liked both cities+courses when i went to their open days, but the thing holding me back is that Leeds has pretty low student satisfaction (29th out of 34 unis on completeuniguide) and im wondering if there's a reason for this

Can be a combination of different factors that lead to those scorings, so I wouldn't read a huge amount into it - but there will definitely be some unhappy students on that course for sure. I would also say, equally, that while knowing some people when you start uni is helpful - you have no control on whether those friends stick with you or drift away. So I wouldn't use that to pin you down to Leeds either.

My suggestion would actually be focus back on the details in the course. Yes you like both of them, but which course excites you more? Which course has better connections with industry (any opportunities for placements at all)? Which course has specialisms that wet your appetite a little more? For me, that would be the most important thing. :smile:

Good luck tomorrow and let me know in the morning how you get on - will be thinking of you :heart:

Reply 2

Original post
by walp013
I'm not sure which to pick - both are in clearing and I will hopefully be able to get into either. I have several friends going to Leeds (and not Nottingham) and i liked both cities+courses when i went to their open days, but the thing holding me back is that Leeds has pretty low student satisfaction (29th out of 34 unis on completeuniguide) and im wondering if there's a reason for this

Hello @walp013!

I would follow @04MR17's advice. The contents of your target course are the most important thing. After that, you could also look at location of the university itself, and other aspects such as the accommodation options at your disposal.

Best of luck,
Abian.

Reply 3

Original post
by walp013
I'm not sure which to pick - both are in clearing and I will hopefully be able to get into either. I have several friends going to Leeds (and not Nottingham) and i liked both cities+courses when i went to their open days, but the thing holding me back is that Leeds has pretty low student satisfaction (29th out of 34 unis on completeuniguide) and im wondering if there's a reason for this

Both are excellent universities & engineering facilities, both are very well regarded and both places will give you all the opportunities you need to have a great student experience. I personally loved my time at UoN, the campus is beautiful, it’s a great city, near the Peak District & the engineering faculty itself is very strong (but I’ve known plenty of Leeds students, and I would say almost everyone I know there loved it so I wouldn’t worry), id be inclined to say Nottingham has the slight edge reputation wise in engineering but this is a very slight edge.
Do you have any specific interests or preferences for a university? For example certain geographical areas, certain societies?

Reply 4

Original post
by mnot
Both are excellent universities & engineering facilities, both are very well regarded and both places will give you all the opportunities you need to have a great student experience. I personally loved my time at UoN, the campus is beautiful, it’s a great city, near the Peak District & the engineering faculty itself is very strong (but I’ve known plenty of Leeds students, and I would say almost everyone I know there loved it so I wouldn’t worry), id be inclined to say Nottingham has the slight edge reputation wise in engineering but this is a very slight edge.
Do you have any specific interests or preferences for a university? For example certain geographical areas, certain societies?

Pleased to hear you enjoyed your time at Nottingham!!

Yes, agree with the above, maybe a tick-sheet would help you, starting with the course then looking at what is important to you - if you have hobbies are there clubs and societies, is accommodation based where you would like to be etc.... 🙂#UoN Official Rep Karen

Reply 5

Original post
by mnot
Both are excellent universities & engineering facilities, both are very well regarded and both places will give you all the opportunities you need to have a great student experience. I personally loved my time at UoN, the campus is beautiful, it’s a great city, near the Peak District & the engineering faculty itself is very strong (but I’ve known plenty of Leeds students, and I would say almost everyone I know there loved it so I wouldn’t worry), id be inclined to say Nottingham has the slight edge reputation wise in engineering but this is a very slight edge.
Do you have any specific interests or preferences for a university? For example certain geographical areas, certain societies?

thanks for the reply! out of curiosity do you know how well leeds uni supports you in finding a placement for your placement year? I'm looking at their website rn and they clearly have good links to industry but i'm not sure about careers support

Reply 6

Original post
by walp013
thanks for the reply! out of curiosity do you know how well leeds uni supports you in finding a placement for your placement year? I'm looking at their website rn and they clearly have good links to industry but i'm not sure about careers support


Yes both these universities have great connections, it’s one of the big benefits that they are large research institutions which have lots of partnerships.
How good Leeds support is, honestly I don’t know. There is in general lots of good advice online on preparing for applications so if you end up without anything you can research it yourself, but it’s not quite the same as receiving advice on your personal cv / cover letter, and particularly understanding what is normal (particularly how many companies you need to apply to & how early on you need to start).

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