Manchester or Imperial?

[Mooda]

DS has got offers from both the above for maths & physics/ physics & theoretical physics. He was all set to pick Manchester but now can't decide (driven in part I suspect by Imperial being ranked 2nd best uni in world today). I understand the prestige but am concerned he may miss out on the social experience of uni at Imperial. I've also seen it doesn't have a great rep for student support. Any thoughts - anyone got any advice at this 11th hour?

It’s fairly well established that COWI are the top 4 in maths. I think this really comes down to which city is preferred. What dc knows or a challenge. Maybe which job but obviously that’s a few years away.

World rankings are pretty subjective and The Guardian rankings can raise eyebrows, but the others are respected. They are just a steer though. No one ranks accommodation and transport! Or sport and social life.

I have a fairly recent Imperial Maths degree and work in finance. My brother has an even more recent degree from the same course and is currently doing his PhD at Caltech. Neither of us regret doing our courses, although it was a lot of hard work.

Rebuttals:

• The Brian Cox factor doesn't mean much re: choosing somewhere for an undergrad degree
• someone mentioned the number of Nobel Prizes but bear in mind that Manchester is a much larger university with more staff and more disciplines offered...
• Imperial will open more doors for the highest, most coveted jobs. Yes, this is a minority but these are also jobs that mant students want. Quant trading, for example, is notoriously selective about unis (practically only Oxbridge, Imperial and Warwick in order). Broader high finance jobs in IB (IBD and S&T) have target, semi-target and non-targets. Imperial is a target; Manchester is a semi. Doesn't make it impossible but helps your chances
• Multiple people have mentioned that league tables change but I bet they wouldn't be saying that if it were Oxbridge. Imperial is the next uni down after Oxbridge for STEM (some courses pretty similar/close and even the same level) (I mean, it only offers STEM) and has been for a while...

Other points about Imperial

• you can find the right crowd if you want (there are people who go out all the time and somehow manage to do fine) to but it is true that it's definitely not a party uni
• alluded to above but the biggest advantage of my Imperial degree is its name and employer pull. Y Combinator (look it up if you don't know) only went to Oxbridge and Imperial for their careers events recently. We get lots of hedge funds etc coming to campus, sponsoring our societies with lots of events eg hackathons. I've had my degree mentioned at least a few times by my colleagues and at interview stage recognising the rigour of the course
• London is expensive but it is also super fun. As a city girl myself, I loved exploring museums, restaurants, parks etc

It's a difficult call because while they're both great universities, Imperial does carry a bit more prestige in those subjects.

I have heard that Imperial is heavily weighted towards very studious foreign students and being a student in London comes with challenges. However, I'm sure your DS will find his people and there's a huge amount to be said for having a change a scene from your home town (my DS has grown up in London and one of the best places for his course is LSE - but he won't apply there because he wants to experience being a student somewhere else!)

Also, for what it's worth, we were told at DS's very high achieving grammar not to place too much emphasis on uni league tables as they vary a lot and the measurements aren't always accurate...obviously Cambridge is going to be 'better' than, say, Bedfordshire...but they shouldn't be everything in making a decision in choosing where to go.

Imperial is always above Manchester in league tables, however. It's not like Manchester vs Bristol or Manchester vs Leeds.

This sounds minor to me but DH (maths at Imperial) says he would have preferred a university with a better balance of the sexes

There are so many other Universities in London and opportunities for making friends, that that isn't a problem for my DS who is currently studying at Imperial. Literally next door is the RCM who share the same student bar with Imperial!

Imperial does appear to 'open doors' in that many students seem to manage to get summer internships at highly regarded Tech companies.

Imperial offers www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4981350-imperial-offers

Current thread for those considering Imperial as a firm choice. Many of us had the same fears but I think the unsocial thing is a myth. Also, ds course for example, has 48% women to 52% men so evenly spread. Halls stats show an even mix of international and home students across all accommodation.