Choosing between imperial college and Oxford for mech engineering...

alx

alx

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As others have said, whether you go to Imperial or Oxford will make no difference with regard to progressing to management later on in your engineering career.....it will basically be down to your competence/experience etc.

From a pure engineering point of view you may say Imperial is better for mech eng as it is specialised from the start, whereas Oxford would probably be better if you wanted to go into a non-engineering related job (finance etc). Although the difference really will be negligible - both are some of the top unis in the country.

Do you have any idea what you want to do after university?
 
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As others have said, whether you go to Imperial or Oxford will make no difference with regard to progressing to management later on in your engineering career.....it will basically be down to your competence/experience etc.

From a pure engineering point of view you may say Imperial is better for mech eng as it is specialised from the start, whereas Oxford would probably be better if you wanted to go into a non-engineering related job (finance etc). Although the difference really will be negligible - both are some of the top unis in the country.

Do you have any idea what you want to do after university?

I may well end up doing a PHD, or will go into work.
 
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Oxford is a terribly boring city, but I imagine you will have fun in your university cliques.

Edit - an offer from Bristo? Take that 100%. It's an incredible city and I would bet my life you wouldn't regret it.
 
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Both universities are great and well respected, don't worry that one will be looked down upon. Go to whichever university you like the look of most (the whole package, including the nightlife and other things to do) and concentrate on getting onto a decent placement. A good placement will do far more for you than 'x' university on your CV.
 
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Yeah, but, if Bristol was a woman, there would be a restraining order in place... you're unhealthily obsessed!

I understand the city doesn't offer much to students, but I can't understand how there wouldn't be lots of fun within the university community. And, on the other hand, I understand how London offers almost limitless possibilities... but I'd question how much is within reach for university students, on whatever money's left after they've shelled out for the ridiculous London rents.

I'm not unhealthily obsessed. Everyone who lives here loves it. I really wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

I did say explicitly say that I imagine the Oxford university community could be fun.
 
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My youngest has just started at Oxford and my eldest just finished at Imperial and out of the 2 Oxford is a pain in the arse.
You have to take everything home with you after every 8 week term as the rooms are rented out whereas you can leave what you want at Imperial.
You don't get as much grants or loans at Oxford either.
Both will give you very well respected degrees and good job prospects, I would choose based on your view of each individual town and uni really :)
 
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The OP wants to know the best place to further his education and ultimately career and we're talking about Bristol because it's this amazing place? I've been to Bristol lots of times and comedy accents aside it's a dreadfully small, limited place to be or, worse, live for 3 or 4 years.

I agree with ahleckz though : choose something which has the correct balance for you.
 
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You have a choice between universities that are equally good, go to one that you will enjoy.
It's far more important to go to a university you will enjoy rather than a university that is slightly more reputable.
I feel that I made a really good decision doing this, as my life would be incredibly boring if I had less money and less time.
 
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What a nice dilemma to have!

I would say if you want to be a proper engineer then Imperial is the better university.

However if you think you may want to do something different upon graduating such as finance then you cannot beat the Oxford network for greasing the wheels in interviews etc (remember its who you know and not what you know!).

Then there are the arguments about the cities and costs etc.
 
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I have a friend that did his first stint at Imperial and he's now doing a PHD at Oxford (had an Imperial PHD offer too, but chose Oxford for a change. It's in BioMed, though. His friend however did MechEng at Imperial and is now doing a PHD at Oxford as well too.)

He likes certain parts of Oxford and it's good for a more relaxed experience (ie. It's not so huge, travel, bikes etc.) but prefers London as everything is far more accessible.

I've had quite a few great nights out in Oxford, especially on Cowley Road, so there are some good party spots too.

I would go with whichever you feel has the course better suited to yourself and the overall package (location, etc). They are both fantastic universities so it's not a case of X is better than Y in the eyes of Z.

Speak to as many students and people you can that are on the courses there already, their opinion is the valuable one.
 
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I'd go for Oxford. Even if the course has a slightly lower reputation, the extra-curricular activities are in a different league to Imperial. Getting to network with the right people can be incredibly important and you still can't beat Oxbridge for that.
 
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This doesn't worry me. It is in other fields that I feel imperial may be disadvantaged. I want to be able to move into a management role later in life if I want to. My priorities still lie in the engineering profession though of course.

Imperial has plenty of extra courses you can do in business and management that will count towards your degree. Not sure how much they actually tell you about all of this in the prospectus and such :p

Anyway Imperial couldnt organise a ****up in a brewery, but if you know what's going on it's a good place to be. I've been here 5 years now, and really it does come into its own at postgrad, but i think that goes for most of the top universities.

As far as oxford goes, I know engineers from both imperial and oxford and as far as I can tell the courses arent hugely different in terms of scope, the main difference is in structure so go for what you think would suit you the most on that side.

W.R.T. the cities, London definitely wins out of the two, but that's just my personal preference ;)
 

bJN

bJN

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If those were the two choices I would take Imperial. I wanted to get into Civil or Mech Engineering before I decided Uni wasn't for me, and Imperial is right up there as one of the best for MechEng!

Oxford will always have a certain air about it no matter what degree you graduate with, but Imperial would have more meaning in that specific Industry.

Take a look at the area as well, you may or may not like London, and the same with Oxford. Again, personally, I'd choose Imperial over Oxford for that reason, there's more to do, more interesting lifestyle etc.

Either way, both are bloody good choices!
 
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You have to take everything home with you after every 8 week term as the rooms are rented out whereas you can leave what you want at Imperial.
That depends on the college and what year they're in. They picked / were picked unfortunately.
You don't get as much grants or loans at Oxford either.
Again depends on how well funded the college is. I had loads of monetary support. Some colleges, however, can barely afford to maintain the buildings.

Oxford is a great place to study anything in terms of the general style and quality of the tuition. The benefits of the tutorial system are not to be underestimated! I'm not an Engineer, but I know several that had a great time on their course. Imperial is also a fantastic prospect, but it doesn't quite have the global name. It also depends on how focussed you want your course to be.
 
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