Home Work & Study
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Read the community guidelines before posting ✨

Which University?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
Right I?m coming up to my final year in A levels and I?m currently sitting here up to my waist in personal statement attempts and university booklets. I?ve narrowed it down to a possible 4 that I?m interested in and I was wondering whether anyone has any first had experience of these universities or of the style/genre of course I?m looking to go into?
I?m hoping to do a Computing/Programming/Computer science type course of varying technicality and direction at...

Warwick
Aston
Worchester
Birmingham City University

are the current ones that jump out at me however i value peoples experience over ranking and statistics.
Also any business manages/director opinions on a degree from those universities would be appreciated as ultimately they are the people that matter.
Cheers for any advice :)
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Don't forget you apply to 5 on your UCAS form, might make the application process chosing bit a bit easier.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Don't forget you apply to 5 on your UCAS form, might make the application process chosing bit a bit easier.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Don't forget you apply to 5 on your UCAS form, might make the application process chosing bit a bit easier.

    I thought it was 6, but I guess you still have to have a first and second choice etc.

    My friend went to Warwick and she really loved her time there. She studied a completely different subject to the one you're looking into, but as a general experience of the university, apparently it was really great. I visited her a few times and it seemed pretty friendly, and the campus was pretty cool.

    Good luck with your decisions. Make the most of open days. They made a huge difference to me. I completely changed my mind after visiting a couple of the unis I was considering and I'm really glad I did.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    5/6 It was 6 when I applied but I've been lead to believe it's been lowered to 5, could be wrong though.

    You don't have to rank 1st/2nd choice etc until you get all your offers back though.

    Just as a side note, Warwick to me is in a different level to those others, would have guessed it had much higher entry requirements.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    xsazx wrote: »
    5... and uni's are placed in alphabetical rather than places
    It was six when I did it less than 2 years ago. Why have they lowered it?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Think wrote: »
    Warwick
    Aston
    Worchester
    Birmingham City University

    ooh brummie unis :yippe: where do you live?

    right well obviously warwick is a very esteemed university so it would most likely have high entry requirements. it's actually in coventry mainly and the nightlife tends to be more in leamington. aston is right in the city centre so it's convenient for everything and it seems to be getting better every year in terms of league tables etc. worcester is a former college and is very small as universities go, worcester is a nice place definitely but it depends what you're looking for. birmingham city, the main campus is in perry barr and there are nicer places to be :p but it's going through lots of regeneration etc as you probably know so it's looking a bit shiner than it used to be and there are new halls etc in the city centre.

    what i would recommend is that you go to open days and look carefully at the websites before making any decisions. it depends greatly on what grades you are expecting to get, so that you can work out where is realistic/sensible to apply.

    everyone else - it's definitely five. my year (2008 entry) was the first year to have five. :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    hey Think!

    i found a fab site called http://www.whatuni.comwhatuni.com which helped me choose my uni (birmingham). it;s a cool site with tons of student reviews, course info and student vids!

    and thru it i found another useful site http://www.scholarship-search.org.uk/

    good luck think. i hope u find a cool uni
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just as a side note, Warwick to me is in a different level to those others, would have guessed it had much higher entry requirements.

    Yup. Warwick's the best one of the list by a way.

    I'm guessing you don't want to move away from the Midlands?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i went to Birmingham University in Edgbaston (lovely red brick uni) and loved every minute. I know a few that did computer science and spoke really highly of their course...

    The open days made my mind up in the end so def worth doing the visits.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Where would you like to live for the next 3-4 years? I was thinking of going to Birmingham as well for Computer Science but it is quite far away for me.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not to blow my own trumpet but the University of York is excellent for computer science (it was the best, I don't know if it still is). And it's not as hard to get into as it should be because the uni is slightly undersubscribed. It's teaching quality across the university is roughly from the grades I have seen on a par with Warwick but obviously I have not been to both. Computer Science is one of the excellent departments though getting 5* ratings. The name of York as far as I know is impressive and all my friends who've graduated have had no problem finding a graduate job before they left (so they have the summer off after they graduate, then go straight into a job). One of them just turned down a job offer of ~£55k with bonuses and he graduated in 2007. So going to York definately won't hold you back from getting a good job!

    As Melian says, what decided it for me was where I would be happy living for the next 4 years. The courses are all taught to the same standard in any undergraduate degree at any university, you will learn roughly the same things. At some universities it is more challenging (time wise and the way they are taught) and you are expected to meet higher targets though. I've got lots of mates doing compsci at York actually and they all rate it quite highly.
Sign In or Register to comment.