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doing a degree at a uni with a poor reputation

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
has anyone done this and found it to be a problem when applying for jobs after completing the degree.
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Depends entirely on which universities that you consider to have a poor reputation. I struggle to think of any straight off the top of my head. Obviously, a degree from somewhere like Oxford will carry more weight than most. But I don't know whether employers have some kind of sliding scale for this kind of thing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Most of the time the degree is just the foot in the door and then it's experience that counts. At least that's what I've heard from numerous friends. Some jobs say 'must have a degree' where you don't necessarily need them. Just a filter of the supposedly less able people.

    I think at the higher end like very exclusive jobs though they'll pick up on whether your great great grand father was dyslexic or not. (Well, maybe not, but they are very picky)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I ended up getting my degree at a university that was a former polytechnic and doesn't have the greatest reputation. I haven't found it to be an issue, although I was asked in one interview why I went there when my A Level grades were good enough to get me an unconditional offer at Warwick.

    I explained that the department my degree was in did have a good reputation and had good success at actually getting students into suitable employment.

    I don't work in fields such as law/banking, that may be more fussy. But a CV is about more than what university you went to. It also includes your A Level grades, work experience, etc, which together can add up to more than the fact that you went to a redbrick university or otherwise.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I hope this isn't the case, because I'm doing an Open University degree!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BumbleBee wrote: »
    I hope this isn't the case, because I'm doing an Open University degree!

    But the OU has a good reputation though!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Meryn wrote: »
    But the OU has a good reputation though!


    Yes, I know it does, but it isn't a bog standard university. Some people don't actually think a degree from there is worth anything. I get two reactions from people:
    "wow, that must be so difficult, good for you!" and "oh, that must be so easy, working from home, in your own time."
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The OU has an excellent reputation amongst employers- it shows you have excellent organisational skills and can prioritise effectively.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Depends what degree you are doing I think. If it's job related then maybe, but I did history at a good uni and no interviewer has ever asked me about it, it's always about my work experience and hobbies etc.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dont go to Salford for anything related to 3D design!!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It depends what you mean by a 'poor reputation'. For example the league tables are frankly useless unless you happen to be white, middle class and want to do a traditional course in a traditional environment (see here). Many of the new universities and former polytechnics in fact have better employment rates than some of the traditional unis ? perhaps partly because they have a greater emphasis on vocational courses. Very few employers are that bothered where the degree comes from. As others have said, it depends more on the grades you get, the subject you study, the job you want, your extra-curricular activities and, most of all, your work experience. You may find this article helpful.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A few graduate jobs I've looked at want a 2:1 or above from one of the top 20 universities, but most are ok.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Thames Valley

    My son studied digital art at Thames Valley which had a poor reputation. However he had no problem at all in finding employment and neither did his fellow students. It is probably more important to look at the course and make sure it is going to be of use to you in terms of future ambitions.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Depends a lot on the sector. For a lot of traditional graduate career sectors, and prestigious blue-chip employers, they value the prestige of your university a lot, even if you're not doing a relevant degree course. For my sector these days you pretty much can't get in if you weren't at a top 5 uni. You have a better chance going into a national paper studying History & Politics at Warwick than Journalism Studies at Northampton. etc. However for many new vocational sectors like multimedia production, film, some aspects of marketing, going to a "bad" uni doesn't matter at all, especially if the specific department has a decent rep.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Coventry

    I study at Coventry university. It hasnt got the best reputation, but I know people that have graduated here and gone into successful jobs no problem. I think the main thing is that most employers want a 2:1 classification degree, without paying too much attention to where the degree is from. Also, it depends on the department, as different departments have different reps regardless of the university that they belong to. For example, anything to do with transport in Coventry is highly regarded in the world of work. hope this helps!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As others have said really, a 2.1 at virtually all universities will sit nicely on your CV for most employers.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    as long as you get a 2.1 you should be fine, i know a couple of friends who were headhunted by niche consultancy firms at top unis which was a nice headstart, but if you have a brain and know how to use it in an interview you should be able to get the top jobs with a bit of experience...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    How do you find if your uni has a good rep or not?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It's just one of those things. Generally speaking, the newer the University the 'worse' the supposed reputation. They are often classed into groups... and here is the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universities_in_the_United_Kingdom
    # Ancient universities - universities founded before the 19th century
    # Red Brick universities - universities founded in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
    # Plate Glass Universities founded in the 1960s which were known as "New Universities" when first created, but which are now more commonly considered a sub-section of the "Old Universities" which existed prior to the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 which allowed Polytechnics to become Universities, and
    # The Open University, founded in 1968 is Britain's sole mainly distance-learning University.
    # New Universities - created in or after 1992 often called Post-1992 universities, from polytechnics and colleges of Higher Education.

    The higher up on that list the better the reputation... I guess like a good cheese or wine they get better with age?

    That's all bollocks in reality though.. (at least for undergraduate degrees)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ahh okay, thanks
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