Engineering Careers Advice - DS offered Robotics at Bath instead of Mechanical

[CaveyWavey]

Hi,

I'm after some advice and I think there are one or two engineers on here?!

My DS applied for Mechanical Engineering and Bath is his top choice uni in terms of campus etc (he has offers from Southampton, Loughborough and Birmingham, still waiting on Bristol). Bath have come back and said that they were impressed with his application but mechanical is their most competitive course etc. They have offered Robotics instead.

I have asked him why he picked Mechanical over Aerospace and Robotics (which also interest him). He has said that he felt Mechanical was more mainstream and the other two are too niche in terms of employability, jobs available. He doesn't know what he wants to do yet but I guess it will be some form of engineering job as that's what interests him.

So my questions are..

If he studied Robotics would he be able to apply it over various types of engineering work? He is concerned that employers may view a Robotics degree as a step down from Mechanical? I have no idea!

He has looked at the modules in depth and the degree definitely interests him as much as the mechanical degree so it's future prospects he is concerned about. Which degree can be applied more broadly when looking for a job/career? Or are they just too different to compare?

Thanks in advance for any help with this. I'm completely out of my depth here

The frustration is better aimed at the slowness of response generally at an institution. It would be a good PR exercise for such universities to be transparent about their admissions’ process and reasons for why they are so much slower, for example combination of greater applicant numbers and that they read each PS.

Response times vary within an institution. My DS had his Bath offer within 2 weeks of applying back in Nov.

@Cassiusclay I would say that course is really undersubscribed, if they are now offering it to other prospective students

Many engineering departments offer a common first year across all engineering disciplines and then specialisation in year 2. So it’s worth him looking into whether it would be possible to transfer to a different specialism later down the line and what it would take.

@Cinnamona I was going to ask how that works, as DS is planning to do an engineering degree (he is one that was offered Robotics from Bath rather than the course he had applied for), but at most of the universities he has applied for they do the common first year, so how does it work when they then do their specialism, because that seemed to be a bonus offered by these universities that they could then decide what their specialism would be

I'm an electrical engineer and can confirm there is a real shortage at the moment. However the robotics course looks really interesting and there are many instances where electrical and mechanical engineers need to work together so having a base knowledge in each discipline would be useful!

I studied at Bath many years ago and its a lovely place to live and study.

@toomuchlaundry the robotics session at the Bath open day was packed too. When DS went for interview at York he was one of a small handful there for robotics, the rest for generic engineering.

@toomuchlaundry

The vast majority of students stick with the specialism they had on starting, and obviously the universities need to be able to plan for how many people they can accommodate in the different subjects. But there are always a few people who drop out, fail, switch courses entirely etc through the year so there tends to be a bit of flexibility once you’re in the front door.

@ramabanana I agree- I actually live very close to Bath Uni. Lovely campus Uni- I see the appeal- given the way the world is going robotics sounds incredibly employable to me (and I used to be an internal recruiter) especially if it still has strong elements of mechanical and software engineering. I think the best thing to do is have a think about the kind of jobs your son sees himself in and then look what the usual entry requirements are- also have a really good look at the syllabus and see if it still appeals.

For what it’s worth…. From the description of Bath’s robotics course above, in Canada the course would be called mechatronics. University of Waterloo and U of Toronto’s mechatronics courses are more oversubscribed than either mech eng. or electrical eng. and graduates are hugely employable in Canada and US.

@UKsounding Thanks for that bit of information, it’s good to hear positive feedback from different people. My DS has now spent a lot of time looking into it more thoroughly, course modules, career prospects and he is very interested. The title of the course is very misleading. My DH has a contact in recruitment in London for apprenticeships for school leavers and graduates and he has sent my DS information about how jobs are evolving, the skill set that employers will be looking for etc. His opinion was Robotics over Mech Eng. Bath are putting on an extra offer holder session for those students offered different courses so he will be able to make his decision after that. Everyone on Mumsnet has been so helpful, it’s great to get different opinions. Thank you.

What did he decide to do? X

Apologies have only just seen your reply. DS picked Robotics Engineering at Bath and we dropped him off today. We went to the offer holders day so he could find out a bit more about the course and talk to some of the academic staff and meet students. My DH then took him to Southampton that were offering Mechanical, that he had originally applied for. He was sold on the Robotics in the end. It incorporates some mechanical and electrical engineering and also computer science. To be honest I think he had picked mechanical as it is a popular course without really looking in depth at other courses. The dilemma definitely made him look into everything more thoroughly! Now he just has to get on with the work, the timetable looks quite full on!

My DS is off to bath tomorrow for robotic engineering! I’m so scared and excited for him. X

Fantastic! Did he apply for Robotics or get offered it as an alternative? DS is really excited about the course even though it wasn’t his first choice. The timetable looks a lot! I hope the drop off today went well.

Is he on campus? X

He spoke to his tutor at college, he wanted to do something with computer science, but he was guided to robotics as his alevels he picked weren’t the right subjects apparently (Computer science, maths and physics) even though that’s what they advised in the first place.

I am having doubts as to whether it’s the right course for him but time will tell. He took a year out which worried me but the fact he’s gone ahead and moved 200 miles away must mean he wants to.

What accommodation does your DS have? I’m worried he’s going to be quite lonely as he’s a quiet person 😭

DS is in Quads. They will all meet this week as the electrical/robotics students have a couple of welcome events. I’m sure that engineering attracts students on the quieter side so I wouldn’t worry just yet, it’s early days.

He’s not enjoying it.

There was something the other day that he went to and left early, and then a treasure hunt today which he didn’t join in with as everyone was already arriving in groups.

Is there anyone else on his course in his accommodation? I was the only electrical engineer in my block so it did take me longer to make friends on my course tbh, but once he starts doing lab work and project work he will get to know more people!

Also make sure he makes the most of the many many groups and societies. There really is something for everyone!

He hasn’t spoken to anyone in his accommodation either. He has a studio on his own so that’s not helping matters. I want to go and pick him up and bring him home. I won’t, but I want to.

Can he reach out to student support @ShesJustAShyGirl ? Your DS sounds like he is having a rough time and they do support students who are struggling.

To say what though? How would they help him make friends. I feel so sad for him.