Engineering for girl (with very high grades)

[Au79]

Dd has heart set on applying to Cambridge (I know, I know, she is doing this all wrong). But she’s going to apply there, end of discussion, she says! With her exam performance and other activities throughout school so far, she has a good shot at it. It will be her firm, as it stands atm.

My question is, where else can she apply that will be both prestigious and really interesting? I gather she needs an MENg to be properly qualified, but I don’t know. She is maybe interested in Bioengineering in the longer term, and quite keen on something like a stint abroad or at least a placement, as part of the course.

I don’t want her to end up like her sister, with three offers but all for the same (high) grades. Sis was set on a super demanding subject, or nothing (in the end she got the grades but it was super stressful waiting for results and not knowing where she was going until 2 weeks before). I want dd2 to have a proper insurance, with actual lower offer grades in the event of dropping a grade, where she won’t be too sad about getting second choice.

Not keen on London, we live there and she wants to leave home for uni.

TIA

[MarchingFrogs]

Something like this?
engineering.leeds.ac.uk/courses/UG/F447/medical-engineering

Leeds combines being a campus (everything all on the same site) with being part of the city.

As opposed to, say, Lancaster (definitely campus), Bristol (definitely city) or Cambridge (sort of whole city is campus).

Did DD2 go with DD1 when she was looking at universities? If so, does she have an opinion as to what kind of set up she feels most comfortable with?

[Penguinsandbears]

Further maths would be a 4th and a passion / work / hobby experience would help. Worth visiting Cambridge colleges and meeting the engineering Director of Studies and see what they say.

[GnomeDePlume]

DD2 is at Sheffield studying a Physics subject. Her A levels were Chemistry, Physics, Maths, FM. She is very glad she took the FM, without it she would be struggling. Students with less strong Maths have dropped off her course for courses with less Maths.

Sheffield is a great student city. Cost of living is lower than many other cities. Lots to do and not all alcohol related.

[greathat]

My hubby did engineering at Loughborough. Works designing racing cars now

[hellsbells99]

My DD is at Leeds. The first 2 years you follow the general mechanical engineering course and can then choose to specialise if you want. DD has stuck to the mechanical engineering course but has picked a project in her 3rd year to do with prosthetics. She is loving the course and the university. Loves the student union for social events. Lived on campus for the first year and shared a bathroom between 2 - there are en-suite rooms too. Not really a party animal but does enjoy the social scene there. She now lives about a 10 minute walk from campus in Hyde Park where a lot of the students live. The course is very full-on and she has found it hard work despite getting very good A level grades. This year, she is generally in uni from 9am until 7pm.
She did A levels in chemistry, physics, maths and AS levels in biology and further maths (which she self studied with some tuition with friends as not offered as a main subject at her school).

[TeaandHobnobs]

My experience is c. 15 years ago, but I’d strongly recommend Further Maths for Cambridge - those that hadn’t done it in my intake had to do extra maths to catch up (no idea if they still do this), and it was very tough for them.
Lots of great things about Engineering at Cambridge, but it isn’t necessarily the best for everyone - if she is leaning towards bio-engineering now, I’d be looking for universities with specialist engineering degrees on offer.
It wasn’t my area, so I can’t be sure, but I don’t think there was bio-engineering offered as part of the (general) MEng course at Cambridge.
If London wasn’t out of the question, I’d be looking at Imperial first and foremost. Bristol, Bath and Southampton worth a look.

[PanGalaticGargleBlaster]

Astonished nobody has mentioned Imperial College. Its engineering department is excellent and has a formidable reputation

[TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross]

Um - Imperial College is in London...where the OP specifically said her DD didn't want to go to uni.

[Hollowvictory]

Having recruited graduate engineers I would recommend a sandwich year, really helps to stand out. Also a course with an extra year which gives a masters is a good option. Though as a woman she will already stand out! "

[Au79]

Thanks all, great help, imperial won’t be ruled out entirely I expect, she will have friends going there I imagine and anything could happen at this stage. It’s all just mum’s guess of what she may want in x months time.

We haven’t actually done many visits, dd1 refused to goas her course was at so few places and she had sooo much work experience to do, just wanted to get in to the course, wherever she could (vet med). We had to go to interviews and toured and got offer holders talks later, but dd2 was v busy in school also it’s been apparent for a long time she has very different interests. I hope that Engineering is challenging but not quite so stressful, she is a little more anxious naturally. Also the job should be rewarding for her, she always tries hard and wants to do good in the world ! But not do the daily life and death decisions bit (thank heavens). She is also considering law but I am less keen. I think she would feel more achievement in engineering, with less of the social/status thing determining her success.

I will figure out the open day schedule and fit as many in as we can.

[Au79]

I’ve told her she has to do further maths and she was not daunted.

[happychange]

She definitely needs further maths if she wants to do engineering, if not she will have a lot of catching up to do in her first year. Normal a level maths is too easy and most people doing further maths take normal maths as an AS level

[OMGithurts]

Absolutely do further maths. My first year mechanics lectures (maths at oxford) were shared with the engineering students. Students without FM were left in the dust.

[noblegiraffe]

Normal a level maths is too easy and most people doing further maths take normal maths as an AS level

This isn’t true, you need to take A-level maths to do further maths. It relies on A-level maths content.

[brownmare]

My son did his MEng and Phd at Leeds and loved it and after working in the motor racing industry he is now an advanced research scientist. A fair few of his fellow doctorates are from Leeds too. They are keen to employ female engineers nowadays, so it's a good option to consider.

[Penguinsandbears]

DH (Engineer) said Imperial, Sheffield, Manchester, Bristol, Loughborough are good for engineering in UK.

[Stickerrocks]

Many colleges are no longer offering AS levels anyway. If your DD's college does still offer them, she could always take AS further maths & drop it if she decides to study something else. Is she in year 11? Degree aspirations seem to change quite dramatically between year 11 & year 12, as so many new paths open up once they leave school and have new options for A level.

[BubblesBuddy]

There is a difference between the integrated Masters Courses (MEng) and the BEng that’s available in many universities. The MEng usually requires higher grade A levels and is 4 years. Only do a BSc if you want a sandwich year in industry. After that you ideally need a MEng. The reason MEng is important is that it leads to quicker professional status as a Chartered Engineer. This takes at least 3 years after graduation. So it’s not a career that ends with the degree and she will need a grad job that trains for the Chartered status.

The Engjneering Council and the individual engineering institutions all have lots of information about the degrees and the jobs. Start with the Enuneering Council as they oversee the professional qualifications of engineers and are a good resource for information.

Cambridge isn’t the be all and end all for Engineering. The universities mentioned above are top notch plus Nottingham, Newcastle and Southampton. Look for MEng courses which are supported by the Engineering Council. They list them.

Yes to Further Maths. If she does French, I know Bristol link with the very prestigious Grand Ecoles in France for third year abroad for Engineering students. They are top schools of engineering and that’s worth considering. A Technology A level is never wasted either and Chemistry is required for some degrees.

[BubblesBuddy]

Engineering Council - phone keyboards!

[RandomMess]

Definitely go for a visit to Lancaster a proper campus uni with very good bus service to town and lots of en suite rooms. Decent train service to Euston.

You could live on campus and never leave if you didn't want to!

[BubblesBuddy]

Unfortunately Lancaster doesn’t make it into the top 20 for general or mechanical engineering. Don’t choose campus over quality of course. Warwick and Leeds are also worth looking at.

[vroc81]

Yep I’m with the previous posters don’t rule out imperial just because it’s in London...

And as someone that recruits graduates, albeit for a different engineering course Leeds and Imperial always jump off the CV..

[jeanne16]

Bath is good for engineering as is Nottingham. I think some unis would take a female for engineering even if they drop a grade or 2.

[EcclesThePeacock]

My DD is currently in the second year of her MEng at Cambridge, and loving it.

Her A levels were physics, maths, further maths (this is definitely the preferred trio for all good engineering courses other then Chem eng) , plus she did comp sci to AS and an 'artefact' EPQ for which she designed and built a robot.

Her main interest is Electrical & electronic engineering, so apart from Cambridge that's what her other UCAS choices were for - didn't want to live in London which ruled out imperial and UCL, her other choices were Southampton, Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham. Offers ranged from 2A stars and an A at Cambridge(the stars had to be further maths and physics) , through one A star and an A at Soton and manc, a bit lower at Sheffield and Notts. She wasn't impressed by Bristol, perhaps surprisingly; if she'd wanted somewhere with a slightly lower offer in the mix it would probably have been Loughborough.

She didn't rate the general engineering courses other than at Cambridge (and I guess imperial but London) but not saying she's right! Oxford is good, obv, but its 'engineering science' which seemed to have a bit of a different slant.

Pros and cons to doing 4th A level .... most places only make their offer on the basis of 3 but at Cambridge if your doing 4 then the offer is likely to be based on all 4. On the other hand, you're probably more likely to actually get an offer ... I don't know of statistics on that, just seems likely.

The EPQ was useful for developing some practical skills, and she also helped run her school robotics club. Plus had done all the stuff like Crest awards, Go4Set, Smallpeice, and had won an Arkwright scholarship. She did a Headstart course in the summer after yr 12 which can also be useful for getting a better feel for engineering. These are the sort of 'suoracurricular' activities which are likely to help a successful Cambridge application, showing a sustained engagement with the field.

[EcclesThePeacock]

Re Lancaster - we live near there, so DD had been there with school - the engineering dept is quite small.