Rank your personal ranking for uk Uni’s

[lightisnotwhite]

I’ve read the league tables but interested to know what MN prefers in a Uni. Bristol for example ranks outside the top ten but MN is keen.

I think (based on these threads) Durham, St Andrews, York, Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Manchester, one of the London ones LSE?

Oxford and Cambridge are givens. So what’s next.

Studied at 2, one RG, one not.

Worked with lots of different people over the years, and could tell a difference. The Durham and IC grads stood out

However, I work with engineers, and a lot of the very good older ones did an HND at a local technical college that was very specific to the company or industry.

Ooo @Liverbird77 tell us more (as parent of son rejected but Cambridge but very excited about prospect of going to St Andrews).

This article by Malcolm Gladwell talks about how he chose his college in Canada (fairly arbitrarily, no fuss, no prestige issues) and how mad the system in the US is. The research he emphasises is that generally going to an Ivy/super prestigious place makes no difference in terms of earnings EXCEPT for those from extremely deprived or very underreprested minority groups. This makes sense to me and why I'm wholly in favour of widening participation for elite universities - not to a blanket 'state school applicants' but to young carers, those from the travelling communities, geographical areas of low aspiration etc, etc.

Sorry here's the link
www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/10/10/getting-in

Frankly, can’t see a problem whatsoever with being a place full of Oxbridge rejects.

I would much prefer to send a child to a university full of Oxbridge rejects than to one that does not attract any.

@lightisnotwhite DS told school that if he was given the choice he would choose St Andrews over Cambridge, so he didn't apply there. He wants to study biology and natural sciences has a heavy maths content.

I would much prefer to send a child to a university full of Oxbridge rejects than to one that does not attract any.

I'm actually quite happy with the concept of our DC having chosen the course and university which they decided best suited them.

Tbh, I'm not sure how one actually 'sends' ones DC to any particular university (I believe a few well-known folk in the USA thought that they had cracked it a few years ago, but it appears to have ended in tears?).

@TheBigDilemma

There are a number of different leagues tables that provide different “top ten” universities and they all evaluate different.

The Guardian’s tends to consider student experience more than others which I don’t value that much as there are universities that have amazing student experience scores but score low in academic stuff. The Times one, Best University Guide and UniStats are in my opinion, a bit better. There is also the QS World Rankings.

There are universities that have a lot of old world prestige and score high in local leagues but if observed in detail they are far from being as good as some new universities that do not have such background (ie. St Andrews has a very competitive entry but scores much lower in world rankings than other British universities.

If you are selecting the “top ten” to send a child there, I strongly advise you check the best university for the subject they are interested in rather than the university as a whole.

St Andrews prob takes fewer international students due to its size which might influence its international rankings. It’s only about 9k total students I believe

In terms of prestige, in terms of things I’ve heard, Russell Group status and combined with dd1’s own particular experience of applying, I’d say:

1. Oxford, Cambridge
2. UCL, LSE, Imperial
3. Bristol, Warwick, Durham
4. Manchester, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Exeter
5. Leeds, Bath, Southampton, KCL, Glasgow, Birmingham, Lancaster, Newcastle
6. York, Loughborough, Nottingham
7. Cardiff, Sheffield, Liverpool

Obviously everyone has a different view so it’s interesting to read this thread and see the differences!

Bristol really isn't doing well in any league tables, Edinburgh has crashed in quite a few subjects. It is an interesting example of how some unis survive on prestigious reputations.

Manchester is an interesting one. Cleary everyone thinks it is an excellent redbrick. But not many MN DCs seem to apply there. Again that may be demographics.

@Piggywaspushed

Birmingham is an extraordinarily leafy campus uni in a very leafy part of Birmingham!

As a York alumna, I actually find MN often sneers a bit at York. MN is quite demographically skewed and York doesn't seem to be a choice for middle class Londoners.

A lot of the unis thus far mentioned tend to be quite science/maths/law skewed (Bath , for example, offers no arts or hum subjects - except a quite pragmatic MFL offering). Bath does stand apart rather (ignoring for the meantime St Andrew's as it is an 'ancient') as being the non RG university that ahs secured prestige - possibly off the back of STEM reputation. DS actually rejected a Bath offer because he couldn't get beyond the fact that the course (social sciences) sounded dull and utterly focused on employment.

As a literature / social science/arts/hums bod, my list outside Oxbridge I guess would be (and only thinking of 'prestige' notions you have specified rather than the actual course and uni!) in no particular order

Warwick
Durham
Nottingham
Birmingham
Leeds
Exeter
York
St Andrew's
Edinburgh
Bristol
Manchester
LSE and Bath for social sciences
UCL
and , in some subjects Southampton/ Lancaster/ Sheffield
Most creative writing people would attach more prestige than any of these to UEA.

Any of those for arts, hums, or social sciences I would assume high flier entrants and a large volume of applications.

Bit it's all stuff and nonsense really.

MN goes in waves, too. York seems more popular this year.

What is UEA please?

My DD is a creative writing student and we are in Uni-watch mode.

@Newgirls I don’t think that is the case, as St Andrew’s international population is about 45% so much higher than many other universities that rank well.

UEA = University of East Anglia

@Piggywaspushed

Bristol really isn't doing well in any league tables, Edinburgh has crashed in quite a few subjects. It is an interesting example of how some unis survive on prestigious reputations.

Manchester is an interesting one. Cleary everyone thinks it is an excellent redbrick. But not many MN DCs seem to apply there. Again that may be demographics.

Yes the demographics are interesting and perception over quantitative evidence.

@Aslockton That link to the same question from last year is fascinating too.

I want DS to be happy as well as get the best outcome. So we will see what he makes of Warwick on the Offer Open Day.

@Valleyofthedollymix congratulations to your son!
I can only speak for myself, obviously, but I absolutely loved every second of my time at St. Andrews.
I sometimes dream I am back there!

It might have changed a lot now, but when I was there you felt so cared about by everyone. You get to know so many people, and it's even better when you've found your core "tribe"! I never felt unsafe walking around either. There's loads of societies to cater for everyone. The academic parents system is great.

We used to have balls/parties etc out of town sometimes e.g. nightclub in Dundee/hall in Gelnrothes etc, but there was ALWAYS a good social scene in the town itself. If you're the type to need big nightclubs etc then it's not for you, but the pub/coffee shop/house party/beach party scene was amazing!

The breadth of study available is brilliant. The seminars were small and challenging.

I was in New Hall (now called Blackadder) and I loved it so much I chose to stay in for all four years, as did my friends. It was so nice and comfortable!

I actually got a scholarship from St Andrews after I had graduated which enabled me to go to the USA for further study. There is a big American contingent, many of Junior Year Abroad, and there are strong links with Emory, although I went to a different uni.

The town is stunning, as is the beach. It's possible to get time alone and just walk if you need to clear your head.

Obviously it depends on your dept, but some are world class.

It's just a fantastic place!

Elephant - UEA is University of East Anglia in Norwich. Basically the pioneer university of Creative Writing under Sir Malcolm Bradbury.

I mean , here is prestige! (admittedly much of it postgrad)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEA_Creative_Writing_Course

I'm concerned about the reports of poor pastoral care at Bristol. Does anyone have any recent insights?

The OP has made it clear from the outset that this thread is about perceptions. Obviously perceptions don't always align with reality but they can be powerful in maintaining biases and so it is worth shining a light on the specifics sometimes.

If you take a subject area like Mathematics, graduate outcomes can vary hugely by university. Surprise, surprise, universities with higher A-level offer thresholds tend to be the ones with the better graduate outcomes. So it is really about prior attainment. Bright first years are still bright graduates a few years down the line. What value did the university really add?

You also get regional effects. Again if we look at Mathematics, Exeter has better employability outcomes than York but it also likely that Exeter attracts a much higher proportion of students from London and the South-East who will have more ready access to London-based placements and entry-level graduate positions. Again, to what extent has the university added value as opposed to benefitting from the 'prior regional residency' of its incoming students?

As has been previously covered on MN, many larger corporates use 'blind' recruitment processes such as numerical reasoning and situational judgement tests as their filters. These have their own flaws but also mean university 'name', in some quarters at least, does not necessarily have the power it once did.

[quote TheBigDilemma]@Newgirls I don’t think that is the case, as St Andrew’s international population is about 45% so much higher than many other universities that rank well.[/quote]
Lots do go there then?! But also very small numbers compared to say the London unis and Leeds (28k students total)

@SilkenBunny

In terms of prestige, in terms of things I’ve heard, Russell Group status and combined with dd1’s own particular experience of applying, I’d say:

1. Oxford, Cambridge
2. UCL, LSE, Imperial
3. Bristol, Warwick, Durham
4. Manchester, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Exeter
5. Leeds, Bath, Southampton, KCL, Glasgow, Birmingham, Lancaster, Newcastle
6. York, Loughborough, Nottingham
7. Cardiff, Sheffield, Liverpool

Obviously everyone has a different view so it’s interesting to read this thread and see the differences!

Warwick good for maths but amazed it’s considered high ranking

Why?

Warwick has always been in the tier below Oxbridge. It is also exceptional for history, film, English, economics...

Looked around Warwick a few years ago and preferred Nottingham, Exeter and a few other places too. Campus seemed dated perhaps. Great to hear it’s good. There is amazing choice in the uk.

[quote TheBigDilemma]@Newgirls I don’t think that is the case, as St Andrew’s international population is about 45% so much higher than many other universities that rank well.[/quote]
The number of international students attending a uni has absolutely nothing whatsoever with that institution’s academic reputation rated on a global scale!!!

What is it for then? Research grants? Rather than international students? Who scores it?

@Liverbird77 thanks so much it sounds fabulous and DS is absolutely not want for nightclubs but absolutely loves people, parties and pubs.

Back to the thread. I suspect that where you go to university makes far less difference than we think it does - much of it is as PP says - the cleverer and more motivated the intake, the better (statistically and with exceptions) they'll do.

Also agree with PP that parents don't 'send' their kids off university. We've talked about DS' UCAS but his five were independently chosen by him. I was very unnerved by a mother telling me all about the employability statistics of various universities. Do people really think like this?