To wonder if it really matters what university you go to?

[yappydappydoo]

Part of me says yes, part of me says no.

I do think there's more to it than what university you go to as to whether you get the job or not. I think experience is also important (more so these days when it seems pretty much everyone has a degree) and the people themselves and how they come across and how they will fit into the team, etc. However I can't help thinking if there was no difference between two candidates other than one went to a good Russell Group university and the other went to a bottom of the league table ex-poly then it might become important iyswim?

Also I'm not an employer but I can't help thinking that because so many people these days go to university that employers do have to differentiate between candidates somehow to choose who to invite in for an interview and one of the easiest ways to do that would be by what university they went to. I actually know someone who does interview for graduate jobs and to narrow applications down he immediately disregards any that went to universities that he hasn't heard of and then works from there.

The whole university snobbery thing seems to be worse on the internet.

For certain employers, certain jobs/careers/certain grad schemes it matters; you have a head start with Oxbridge or Russell Group Unis. For some specialist courses other Universities are considered superior. However, overall you are better off with a degree from Oxford or Exeter, say, than one from Southampton Solent.

It depends what you want to do. Where I work is well respected in three key areas and employers will look favourably on our graduates in those areas.

Outside of specialisms though, it's unlikely that people will look as favourably on a degree from, say, Bolton University as they would do one from Cambridge.

I would have thought no, but every interview I have had has brought up the fact I went to Oxford. And I know I got one consultancy job recently (17 years after graduating!) with a startup in part as I have a degree from Oxford - the founder was American though.

I learned a great deal at University that had nothing to do with academic pursuit.
I learned to work hard and produce weekly essays to strict dealines and a high standard.

Tutorials taught me to have confidence in my thinking and to push myself harder and to have original though.
I learned how to form cogent arguments

Not all universities do that and I think that that is what makes the difference.

Ronald if you don't get to the interview because your Uni was not on the list of establishments that the employer wished to recruit from, you will not get a chance to show your skills as your application will be in the bin.

It depends partly on your course, too. While Oxbridge/RG may seem better in general, other universities might be particularly good for a particular course. It also depends on what field you're working in - I get the impression some professions care rather more than others.

I work in IT, and while some employers want you to have a degree, it's your particular technical training (usually gained in work rather than at university) and experience which really counts.

It also depends when you went to university - mature students may be at their local university because it fits in better with having children at school/childcare arrangements, rather than it's absolutely the best course/university ever.

It depends. It depends on the course and what you intend to do with it.

Ebearhug. To get a job in IT where I work, a degree - any degree - is one of the essential criteria.

We do have some short term apprenticeship posts, but they're not permanent.

It absolutely matters - in lots of professional jobs where a lot of applications are received, those who went to Oxbridge are at the front of the queue, followed by other Russell Group (unless it's a specialist job where a particular non-RG university is renowned for being a trailblazer). Other universities are generally overlooked unless a smaller than usual number of applications has been received.

However, after a few years, experience is more important generally, so although graduates from less-well-regarded universities are likely to have to fight harder to get a toe-hold, it won't hold them back once they've got a decent CV under their belt.

"I actually know someone who does interview for graduate jobs and to narrow applications down he immediately disregards any that went to universities that he hasn't heard of and then works from there"

Bit short sighted, is he. I can just visualise him sitting with a couple of wishy washy 2:2s from University College London on his to-be-considered pile, having inadvertently discarded an outstanding first from Strathclyde.

I used to work in graduate recruitment and some organisations would simply not visit universities outside their target group. So no presentation, no on-campus interviews...sure, these days there are online applications for everything, but the students at targeted institutions would definitely have a head start.

Have worked in recruitment, and yes, there are a lot of employers who have a set list of which universities they are prepared to interview from and which they wont. It was amazing how long into your career it still mattered (some companies would still have a list of unis they would consider for roles that required 15+ years experience, that long into proving yourself in the workplace and still you couldn't get an interview if at the start you went to the 'wrong' uni).

Generally, companies who are paying well can be picky, it's something that's easy to be picky about, and if you only have time to interview 10 people but have had 100 applications, it's a nice quick way to make the first 'cut'.

Yes it matters.

I do not get the RG obsession for universities the russel group of universities is not and i repeat NOT an indication of a good university it is basically a reasearched based lobby group that has incorprated the larger reaserched based universities into a single group.

I do admit some of the best universities are in the RG but there are a lot of medicorce univities within the group as well that are no where near as good as some of the none RG universities like leicester st andrews bath and lancaster univierties that nearly always rank in the top 10 univerties of the UK where as manchester and liverpool (both RG) unvities barely make it into the the top 30 of the UK

bah the myth of that RG stands for execellence needs to die soon as its bloody stupid that top universities that are not in this sodding reaserch lobby group are getting looked down upon because people do not understand that the RG is NOT the uk verson of the IVY league.

and until recently did not include Durham university (it joined 2 years ago) that was better than 95% of RG univities with the expetion of oxford and cambridge

Interestingly enough, I sift through PhD applications, and where someone did a degree doesn't matter much to me at all. If they have really excellent grades, I'm not snobby about these things, a great candidate from City University will be just as likely, if they've got a first (plus a Masters) and a good proposal, to get interviewed as one from Oxford. There are 'known' places where the subject is good- but I tend to consider that many people don't have a complete choice, they might need to save money and live at home, they might be living out of the UK and have limited access, they might want to move near a boyfriend or girlfriend. I'm looking for potential and I've found that as often coming from more obscure universities, where someone might go to night-classes and come back into education later in life, as from more traditional pathways.

Yes it matters. I remember being at college and the teachers telling us that a first class degree from a RG uni was harder to achieve than a degree from other universities and that employers are well aware of that.
Once we were at uni the group I had been at college with (went to four different unis between us) could easily see that the standards required at the RG uni were much higher than the other unis. The degrees are not equivalent.

At the start it may help you get your foot in the door of some better companies. I did an arts degree from a decent enough RG uni, I struggled to get a proper career job for a while and ended up working in IT completely unrelated to my studies. The first place took a chance on me as they presumed I was smart and had potential , going by my uni I had got my degree from. A lot of people I now work with come from a varied range of both academic and straight from school backgrounds and the degree doesn't count for very much. Every one of them has got there based on a unique selling point, not necessarily based on if/where/what they studied.

Missunreasonable I call BS on that are your searously suggesting the Belfast queens university was better and more regerous than durham st andrews and bath universities.

but you cannot just compare ex poly univerties with RG univestires as that is not a fair compasrion did any of your friends go to the mentioned none russel group universities or did they in fact go to an ex poly which is in a different group than none ex poly univties

There are not only University rankings but course rankings. Most students are using several metrics when applying for a place, location, Student sat and course ranking normally featuring higher than University ranking.

I think it's hard and a bit meaningless to say that bath is a better uni than Manchester, for example. There are league tables that place Bath above Manchester but then Manchester is placed in top 50 unis in the world and Bath and others listed by Worridmum don't come close. It depends what they are being ranked by which is not necessarily quality of teaching/syllabus.
I think it does matter which uni you go to depending on what course you do, what field you are going into, etc not just Russell group v non rg.

Tho for some careers Going to Oxbridge or an RG uni is definitely very important. It may be unfair but that's the reality

It matters, but not always just for RG/Oxbridge. A good example is the music and sound recording BMus at Surrey. Because it is unique they have their pick of applicants and eg entry requirements are A*AA-AAA (with maths, music and physics), massively higher than other courses at Surrey. It's hugely prestigious within the industry and makes a big difference when later applying for jobs. I'm sure there must be similar examples in other fields.

Two of the stupidist most incapable people I have ever worked with went to Oxford.
I would assume that certain universities are more likely to catch the eye but I agree with ADish Seems quite short sighted to discount based on university alone but I guess with hundreds of applications it is easier to do this in some sectors.

worridmum they went to ex polys. I went to an RG uni. There are some good unis that are not in the RG group but none of my college cohort went to any of those as we all stayed fairly local due to being mature students. My experience was: me at the RG uni submitting 3000 word assignments for 10 credits in my first year and my friends at the ex polys submitting 1500 -2000 words for 10 credits and one friend at a FE college (doing a degree accredited by an ex poly) submitting a poster for 10 credits. How can any degree course give 10 first year credits for a poster?
Overall one of the ex polys probably provided the best degree overall but the work required was different.
Call it BS if you like, but that is my experience and I have no reason to make it up.