How important are University tables?

[RastaManBob]

Hey,

With A-level results tomorrow I really wish I wasn't having to ask this now but here goes...

This academic year I have applied to Universities through UCAS to study Electronic Engineering. I applied to Bristol, Birmingham, Loughborough, Nottingham, Sheffield and Southampton. All places gave me a conditional offer or an interview and following which a conditional offer. Although against what others, including tables, recommended I really felt Birmingham and Nottingham were my favourites.

Come the date at which I had to select my firm choice I could not find a single reason to pick Birmingham against Nottingham, and vice versa. Ultimately I checked the Electronic Engineering tables and put the one which was came out better (Birmingham) as my firm choice - I could think of no other ways to decide.

Fast forward to two nights ago and it dawned on me that the 2007 University league tables were out - I decided I would have a check with the Electronic Engineering table and see how far Birmingham had climbed (Never assume ) only to find that now they were not in the top 20 at all - Talk about sending me into a panic attack!

It seems that the Electronic Engineering table has had a complete shake up - Many Universities seem to be in completely different places... Nottingham dropped too however has maintained it's place in the top 20.

My most recent thought is that if I collect my results tomorrow and find I have done well enough to get the necessary grades to get into a University that I may ring up Nottingham and explain the situation to them and hope that it is possible to study Electronic Engineering there. My main question for you people lies here - Is this over kill?

How important are the University tables? Is the fact a University has dropped out of the top 20 enough a reason to change universities (Or consider trying in any case)?

Any advice would be greatly (And I mean greatly) appreciated! As I'm sure you know this is already a stressful time and this is yet another stress I don't need... I s'pose it's taken my mind off of results!

Look forward to reading your comments.

Many Thanks

Dan.

 

[RastaManBob]

i think its important to go somewhere you feel comfortable and actally want to go to. but that is not to say that the league table position is irrelevant.

I visited all six places and found that I most comfortable at both Nottingham and Birmingham - Hence my main reason for considering these two above most others. It was only the table (Which has now changed) which swayed the decision... Which is the hard bit to swallow!

i think it also depends on the job that you want to move into and the circles therin. do you know anyone in your prefered industry who is at a senior level? ask them if poss whether they care about uni tables.

i suspect that most dont, and would instead look at your grades and history, and then afterwards interview performance. but if yours is a highly specialised industry it does sometimes pay to go to the established leaders as this may help get your first job from uni.

I am not sure about a specific job or anything of that sort of accuracy at the moment and have nobody to ask but when I originally checked the tables (2006 versions) all my choices were in top 20 - Whilst the choices may not be the best in the world they are certainly far from worst. Unsure how much much difference industry would find between Nottingham and Birmingham in terms of how established and respected they are.

Thanks for your input

Dan.

 

[RastaManBob]

While at this time I do not mind too much where life takes me after University obviously a good, successful job is always a bonus! Birmingham has slipped down both the subject and overall tables and actually not in the top 20 of either... So I s'pose on that count it doesn't fair too well. Whilst Nottingham is still not one of the "best" it still seems the better option than Birmingham.

Just checked the Nottingham website for Clearing info and the course I was looking for is still available as is another one (A joint honours in Maths and Electronics) which I missed first time round but seems very appealing now (Though requires much better grades than simply electronics) - Certainly food for thought!

Many Thanks.

Dan.

 

[RastaManBob]

We get the same threads this time of year every year.

Yes, like it or not, red brick unis (higher up the league tables usually) gets more recognition from employers than ex-polys.

I'm sorry - As I've never had to worry about University before I've not checked these sort of threads and hence did not know...

I think (From what I do know) that both Birmingham and Nottingham are classed as "Red brick" so if thats the case hopefully I'll be okay.

Meanwhile it seems advise suggested is probably best - Wait until tomorrow... Get results... Decide if I'd rather a different course and go for it - We shall see... (Now to find out if employers would prefer a degree in Electronic Engineering to a joint honours degree in Electronic Engineering and Maths or vice versa... Any ideas?).

Many Thanks.

Dan.

 

[RastaManBob]

I honestly dont think general employers would really care either way- in fact Engineering firms would probably prefer straight Electrical and Electronic Engineering as that course would probably be IEE approved and allow graduates from that course to progress towards CEng status.

I should probably also point out that engineering courses are in generally mathematically intensive, so you probably dont really want to do extra maths courses unless thats your thing and you hate practical work

Incidentally, I started off doing Elec Eng at Edinburgh, realised (pre-contact lenses) that I was pretty much a liability with a soldering iron and thus changed to Comp Phys at the end of first year

Hi,

Both of the two courses are accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (formerly the IEE) - And the joint honours course mentions:

"The course comprises all electronics modules taken from the Single Honours Electronics degree programme and selected modules from the Single Honours Mathematics degree programme."

... so I s'pose it'd just mean extra work? Though if it would be worth it I wouldn't be too unhappy...

Dan.