Are some degrees more equal than others?

[sheepdogdelight]

Musing upon this really.

If student A gets a 2:1 from Oxford.
Student B gets a 2:1 from Aston
Student C gets a 2:1 from Wolverhampton

Are these degrees all of equal value?

I know some people will say the one from Oxford is worth more, because, well Oxford. And the one from Wolverhampton is worth less, because, ex polytechnic.
But have the students achieved equal academic excellence in reality?

I'm sure you'll make sure you speak nice and clearly and slowly - at least for his first day or two - ?

'Our' optometrist is a graduate of Aston. Good at his job and excellent interpersonal skills.

I think it is very degree dependant. My degree can be done a very small selection of universities. These are Cambridge, Reading, Royal Agricultural University and Harper Adam’s (ex poly). It generally leads to working in a very specific field, employers value the degree from RAU and HAU much more highly than the one from Cambridge and Reading to an extent. The degree from Cambridge and Reading may have been more ‘difficult’ but employers wanted practical skills, not skilled essay writing.

I don't know if things have changed now, but I read a few years ago that firms who'd brought in 'blind recruitment' found that their numbers of 'privileged' recruits (private school, unis) actually increased.

No, they are all equal

@MarchingFrogs
Does Oxbridge do optometrist degrees? Surely the subject matters when looking at grads?

@ErrolTheDragon
I believe that’s true. They are just better at all the selection tests too!!

Would disagree Glasgow Uni is an excellent one from our experience it's been a total shit show with little or no regard for students or their well-being. Surprisingly our DD is no longer at Glasgow after two years

Plus very easy to get in via clearing as they seem desperate.

No, of course neither O nor C does (' Nobody comes to Cambridge to train for a profession', my brother's tutor apparently said to him when he arrived to study Law and found himself being convinced to change to History instead - mind you, this was 60-odd years ago). But even if Aston were the best place to study Optometry, it's still, well, Aston, isn't it? And I doubt we're talking the local branch of the Boots eye test place here?

(BTW, please think to yourself 'cheek', 'tongue, location of', as you read this. Personally, I would merely have thought it interesting that a new person at my former workplace had studied at Aston, as I spent several of my younger years living not a million miles from Birmingham).

"Would disagree Glasgow Uni is an excellent one from our experience it's been a total shit show with little or no regard for students or their well-being. Surprisingly our DD is no longer at Glasgow after two years

Plus very easy to get in via clearing as they seem desperate."

🤣🤣🤣

Yup places on 2 specific degrees available. Desperate... you've a mighty odd view of desperate.

I find the exact opposite. Fabulous uni, fantastic pastoral support & outstanding teaching. It is academically v rigorous & of course some won't manage that and it's correct they move on.

Plus very easy to get in via clearing as they seem desperate.

When DD's ex BF went to Glasgow through clearing 4 years ago all of his friends in halls had also got in through clearing.

This would be because Glasgow and other Scottish unis keep a percentage of places aside for English/Welsh/n Irish students so they can charge them fees. “Clearing” isn’t a thing in Scotland.

No, not equal in the least.HTH

@MarchingFrogs
Sooo funny!!!

@beachcitygirl
Your data is not correct. A5 is 70% or above. The conversion table is attached. It’s not harder at Glasgow!

I would imagine it would depend to some extent on reputation within a subject as well. For example at Plymouth back in the day as a polytechnic/new university the courses on marine and fishy things were viewed highly despite that fact, because the courses were still very, very good.

But Southampton, a RG university, next door. Better.

Next door to Plymouth...?

In the South, a proper university with the same courses. Christ.

My husband went to Oxford... he had 4 hours a day of lectures or small classes, two 2000 word essays a week, 5 exams a term, and a ridiculous reading list. I went to Oxford Brooks and had 4 lectures a week, of an hour each, and 5 2000 word essays a term. We both got a 2:1, but we were worlds apart to get there.

I hope teenagers are not being told all universities are equal as that will con some into not going to a better place.

'Proper' university? How very snobby. Polytechnics were tightly regulated by the CNAA and did good work, especially in vocational subjects, and in widening access and providing second chances to people who'd missed out on a university education. I think it was a mistake to make the polys, teacher training colleges etc convert to universities. The research-heavy universities are a different breed from the teaching-focused ex-polys. Comparing them is unfair to both. Apples and pears.

Yep...snobby but true. Soz.

On the WIWIKAU Facebook page there are so many posts claiming that all universities offer the same opportunities, and it doesn't matter where you go. And anyone who wants their DC to go to a top 10 or RG university is just being snobby.

Then you get loads of posters saying that it does matter.

So who is right? Does it depend on the degree course?

There was a newspaper article recently (I can't find it to link to it) that said that as long as the graduate achieves a 2.1 or higher it doesn't matter where you went because employers now select university blind.

This.

I went to Cambridge, the workload was insane. (Made me much better at my job later, to be fair - job was so easy.) At Cambridge I had 3 essays a week, each 2000 words. Plus all the lectures. It wasn’t unusual to write until 5am. I never got even 30% of the way through my reading list, it was impossible unless you started years before going.

My friend at an ex-poly had one essay per term. She was bored out of her mind and drank/volunteered a lot.

Not really the same, no.

Would love to know which employers they meant.

It isn’t the high paid professions, that’s for sure…