Which University for Computer Science?

[Tree543]

Hi
My ds is in year 12 and wants to apply to study CS. His termly reports so far have been AAB and AAA. He is studying Maths, CS and Physics.
Possible Unis with these grades are Exeter, Sheffield, Nottingham, York, Birmingham, Leeds, Lancaster, Cardiff, Kent and others. (Have discounted London due to cost and Scotland due to distance).
He wants to do a year in Industry which they all do.
We will obviously go to Open Days but I imagine they all do the hard sell and show their best side.
He will consider distance from home, accommodation, modules on each course, drop out rates, graduate employment,whether he wants campus/large city etc. But how do actually find out how good the course/teaching/support is before you start? Also he would like somewhere with good links to industry but wont they all say they have this? He has been looking at the League tables and various websites but is confused by the choice.

Is he interested in a certain branch or aspect of Computer Science as that could narrow down the options (as Comp Sci is quite broad). E.g. does he definitely want to be a Developer, say, or work in AI or Cyber Security.
Or does he want to keep his options open.

If he's interested in a year in industry then maybe look at the course pages to see if any of the companies and student stories mentioned jumps out at him (for the placement or longer term).
E.g. York mentions IBM, Morgan Stanley, Hiscox, Amadeus, Met Office, Siemens, ETAS Bosch, Sports Interactive.
But you're right, most/all will say that they have good links!

Second the comment above that it's a broad subject and CS degrees vary quite widely in their content. Some (eg Warwick) focus more on fundamentals and theory and are very math based, others are more geared to application or specialisms such as Cyber or AI. Other than reading module details you can get a clue from where the dept. is based - eg Warwick very much part of or along side maths dept. Southampton within engineering and has an electronics focus.

DS narrowed down options quite quickly by looking at course content plus location (distance from home) and Campus vs city. Then once he had a short listed he asked the more detailed questions you have via open days, offer days and direct emails to admissions depts.

Thanks for the replies. DS doesnt know what area he wants to work or specialise in so he thought that Computer Science would give a broad base and he could choose modules in years 2 and 4 and specialise a bit down the line. I do encourage him to look at jobs and work backwards but he hasnt bothered to do this yet!

I know some courses are more theory/maths heavy such as Oxbridge Warwick and I dont think he would be as keen on these but he wouldnt have the grades or the Further Maths anyway for these types of places. Southampton would have been a good aspirational option but its about the only course that doesn't have a placement year so that's been crossed off the list.

Your list looks a good one in that case. Although I would still advise checking content as some were focussed more on a particular area or looked a bit dated in content which put DS off.

I would maybe add Swansea, Loughborough and Surrey as achievable and with a good CS reputation. And Bath which is known for its industry links and placement year (unless entry grades are too high).

DS is currently first year at one on your list so feel free to message of you have any specific questions

Take a look at Queens University in Belfast. Great ties with local IT companies and one of the top 5 cities globally for Cyber. Plus low cost of living

If he's leaning away from Maths then have a look at the subject requirements, as those which do not require Maths A-level, may (but not guaranteed to be) less Mathsy.

Other than reading module details you can get a clue from where the dept. is based - eg Warwick very much part of or along side maths dept. Southampton within engineering and has an electronics focus.

Geographical location doesn’t tell the full story. CS students at Warwick can take engineering modules.

You can do a year in industry with CS at Southampton- there are multiple combinations. My ds is there and rates it very highly.

@settledandsmug

You can do a year in industry with CS at Southampton- there are multiple combinations. My ds is there and rates it very highly.

I thought that was only the MSc not the BSc.

DS is yr13, has similar predicted grades. We have just done offer days or visits at some of those same Unis, his mates are applying for similar courses.

I suspect the Unis all use similar resources and strategies to get year in industry: from about start of yr2 they are constantly advertised at & get workshop opportunities for writing cv, interview techniques, etc. The better industry placement opportunities will be for higher ranked Unis in general, we imagine.

I would be unhappy if there wasn't an industry placement talk from someone who has done it recently, for candidates & parents to listen/talk to.

Most of them start out with shared core modules which means kids who start Software engineering/CS can switch to CS/SE if desired. Or kids who started by saying year abroad could do year in industry instead.

fwiw,
Leicester : the modules in yr1 sounded too basic, not challenging enough. The taster event failed to work for candidates. We both liked Leicester village (student digs) very much.

ARU : really pushed themselves as caring, diverse & supportive. Taster technology session failed to work correctly. We assume links to industry must be very good.

UEA : had the most staff on hand who seemed genuinely enthused about their research & teaching; also the nicest rooms/facilities. Taster session worked ! Too much talk about modules, but at least the modules looked hugely better than what Leicester said.

Nottingham : No Saturday offer day event available, only an online event. I may remember to report back here how that went...

DD is doing a very different course in London : at least one Uni there gave off vibes of "You'd be lucky to come here." DD finds that attractive. I'm getting same vibes from Nottingham.

MNers say that Nottingham accommodation can be difficult to secure. ARU, too. UEA seemed the most supportive on accommodation. Most campuses only or mostly give self-catering options, now. Nottingham has some students (in Uni digs) living in Derby (wtf).

DS prefers place with highest conditional offer on logic that will mean better everything.

DS's friends are considering Bath, too.

Looking at the website, or the MEng 'straight' CS actually includes the option of a one year, paid, placement, not the 'with AI' version, which just says that summer placements are encouraged, nor the BSc. Interestingly, the grade requirements for the BSc are the same as for the MEng, A* A A.

His current grade levels will dictate where he will.be able to apply. If he can get up to A*AA it would leave open more opportunities. Remember the entry requirements are minimum requirements. Computer Science is fast becoming one of the most popular degrees with limited number of spaces.

He should make sure he has good content for his personal statement too.

Good suggestions here. One thing is that some programmes may be more effective than others at actually securing good industry placements for their students. As you say, more generally everyone is showing their best side and your DS needs the reality to make his decision. The league tables are a start.

He might consider joining The Student Room where he can ask students directly about their experiences. I think on the whole the quality of the responses is pretty good.

We loved Birmingham campus - definitely have a look.

I was going to say Southampton, very good programme - didn't know about no placement because dd wasn't interested as she's sponsored so straight into work on graduation

My DS is in his first year at Birmingham. He loves it, there's a huge computer science society which is very active.

Have a family member doing CS at York - absolutely loves it!
The department has fantastic state of the art facilities on East Campus and is very much its 'own entity' i.e. not part of Maths or engineering etc.
They say that it's one of the most heavily-invested in, flagship departments, and having visited on an open day I'd agree.

Year in Industry support was good (albeit during covid) and they have links with numerous local companies and very supportive if you choose your own route/ company.
Careers support is good - family member is graduating this year and has just secured a £50k software developer role for September!

@Jng1

Have a family member doing CS at York - absolutely loves it! The department has fantastic state of the art facilities on East Campus and is very much its 'own entity' i.e. not part of Maths or engineering etc. They say that it's one of the most heavily-invested in, flagship departments, and having visited on an open day I'd agree.

Year in Industry support was good (albeit during covid) and they have links with numerous local companies and very supportive if you choose your own route/ company.
Careers support is good - family member is graduating this year and has just secured a £50k software developer role for September!

Thanks for this info, sounds like your family member is doing really well. We had another look at York, wow the facilties do look amazing and the placement assistance does look very good as well. Do you know how the social side of things was at York? How about rental prices?

@Tree543

York is a great student city, plenty to do, but not like the massive city universities e.g. Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle etc. Depends what they like/ want really .

I'd say the costs/ accommodation are fairly standard - about £167/week.