Choosing between imperial college and Oxford for mech engineering...
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Associate
I live just outside Oxford and I would have hated going to uni there as there is very little night life. There are a few bars and clubs but not really what you would expect from a city with two universities.
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Neither. Waltz in to somewhere reasonable but not elite like Newcatle, Leeds etc. Because you are clearly very bright you probably wont have to flog yourself too much to get decent marks and can spend the extra time, drinking, socialising and having a good time etc.
An interesting view. My friend was one of, if not, the cleverest people in my year at school. When he went to university to study mathematics & astronomy at Glasgow he totally flunked because he couldn't take the pressure of not being the cleverest person as he was average there.
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Exactly, it is maybe better to be big fish in a smaller pond rather than a small fish in a big pond. It makes being the 'academic alpha male' of the course relatively easy too as the standard of competition is somewhat lower. University is about growing up a bit, making friends you will have for the rest of your life while at the same time obtaining a decent qualification to get your chosen career off to a start. Maybe on average IC/Oxford graduates earn more but that is probably because they have absolutely 0 wasters on their courses bringing the average down. Top engineering companies will take graduates from all decent universities and I don't necessarily think you will have any advantage as these things are almost always decided by the quality of you application/interview as opposed to which uni you went too. After spending a few years in work your degree becomes even less important as companies will be more interested in your employment history than which uni you went to.
Anyway if OP has his heart set on IC/Ox then best of luck to him!
Associate
Imperial has the best reputation of any UK (and arguably world) uni for mech/hard science/engineering types. Cambridge is the better out of Oxford and Cambridge for the Maths/Science tripos; Oxford is broadly speaking better at humanities and arts.
Don't really know what people are talking about when they say "Oxford has the reputation" - yes, but what reputation? It is generally reputed in academic circles as better at Humanities, yet weaker at Sciences than Cambridge. Both are considered weaker in most regards than Imperial. If you were asking something about abstract and theoretical sciences, e.g. "Cambridge or Imperial for Astrophysics?" then it would be a hard one. Mechanical Engineering at Imperial or Oxford? There's no contest here, frankly.
Imperial is pretty much the UK's version of MIT. Specialist and hugely respected in academia and in industry. Go to Imperial.
Don't really know what people are talking about when they say "Oxford has the reputation" - yes, but what reputation? It is generally reputed in academic circles as better at Humanities, yet weaker at Sciences than Cambridge. Both are considered weaker in most regards than Imperial. If you were asking something about abstract and theoretical sciences, e.g. "Cambridge or Imperial for Astrophysics?" then it would be a hard one. Mechanical Engineering at Imperial or Oxford? There's no contest here, frankly.
Imperial is pretty much the UK's version of MIT. Specialist and hugely respected in academia and in industry. Go to Imperial.
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Associate
That's a stupid view. The university you go to speaks volumes. A first from a middle-ranked university is NOT the same as a 1:1 or a 2:1 from a top-rate university. Odd example of choosing Leeds and Newcastle as "non-elite", too. They are both considered to be elite schools. The approach of 'oh well go to Uni of Lampeter so you can ace all your courses, wow your teachers, stun your peers, etc.' is very poorly thought out. A good degree from a top university will give your life-career a good footing. Thrashing an easy course at an institution that is obviously below your standards is just going to raise recruiters' eyebrows. You can't 'game the system' that way. People aren't stupid.
Associate
Imperial College is global top10/15 pretty much across the board. Doesn't have the global name? Very very few institutions better it. Oxbridge and Harvard/Yale mostly gloss into the top10 because of their rather nebulous 'elite brand' appeal; Imperial earns global top10 recognition as a specialist school. Not sure what you are talking about here (and I am waiting to start a PhD at Oxford myself).
Soldato
If you want to stay within Engineering once you graduate then I'd go with Imperial, if you're looking to move towards Management or potentially outside of Engineering then go to Oxford.
I studied Eng Sci at Oxford from 1999-2003, loved my time there and wouldn't swap but being honest I think Imperial has a better Engineering course although Oxford is certainly not a bad option
One thing Oxford does have over Imperial is a bit more flexibility in the course, the downside is you study quite broadly for the first year (and most of the second/third) so if you know you are only interested in Mech Eng then doing Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Information Engineering could be frustrating.
Oxford's night life wasn't (and I guess still isn't) as good as other universities but you can still have a great laugh as it your friends more than venues that make a good night out and there is nearly always something going on that you can be part of.
Make sure you visit a few of the colleges if you haven't done so already as they are quite different, I studied at St Catherine's which is more relaxed than some of the others (it's also ugly but it's what's on the inside that counts!) and I think I'd have found some of the more traditional colleges a bit suffocating.
What I will say is that getting work experience and showing leadership, initiative, etc outside of your course will be more important than whether you went to Imperial or Oxford because competition for the best graduate roles will be pretty strong. If I could tell myself anything in 1999, that would be it, I worked hard but not necessarily smart in terms of lining myself up for a job.
Disclaimer: I now work in IT in New Zealand, I wanted to stay in Engineering but life and opportunities led a different way.
I studied Eng Sci at Oxford from 1999-2003, loved my time there and wouldn't swap but being honest I think Imperial has a better Engineering course although Oxford is certainly not a bad option
One thing Oxford does have over Imperial is a bit more flexibility in the course, the downside is you study quite broadly for the first year (and most of the second/third) so if you know you are only interested in Mech Eng then doing Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Information Engineering could be frustrating.Oxford's night life wasn't (and I guess still isn't) as good as other universities but you can still have a great laugh as it your friends more than venues that make a good night out and there is nearly always something going on that you can be part of.
Make sure you visit a few of the colleges if you haven't done so already as they are quite different, I studied at St Catherine's which is more relaxed than some of the others (it's also ugly but it's what's on the inside that counts!) and I think I'd have found some of the more traditional colleges a bit suffocating.
What I will say is that getting work experience and showing leadership, initiative, etc outside of your course will be more important than whether you went to Imperial or Oxford because competition for the best graduate roles will be pretty strong. If I could tell myself anything in 1999, that would be it, I worked hard but not necessarily smart in terms of lining myself up for a job.
Disclaimer: I now work in IT in New Zealand, I wanted to stay in Engineering but life and opportunities led a different way.
Associate
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
Very surprised you've found that. Oxbridge has some of the best grants/scholarships out of all UK universities and should be a night and day difference from any grants you'd get from Imperial. Also, you have to take into account the ridiculous living costs of Imperial - whereas Oxford is actually pretty cheap (although, as you say, you're only in college for three 8/9 week terms). I actually applied to Imperial for mathematics, ended up at Oxford, and the difference in financials was ridiculous. I would've got significantly less money going to Imperial and had to spend a lot more money on living costs at Imperial.