UCL post grad engineering

[SoSolid]

Has anyone studied engineering at UCL before? I have been made an offer to do an MSc there and was wondering if perhaps anyone can give me some feedback on what the department and course is like?

 

[Jonny69]

Imperial College? Yes, not studied there but it was one of my choices years ago. Good university with a good reputation.

VERY expensive to live round there though.

 

[meghatronic]

UCL has a good reputation AFAIK.

 

[SoSolid]

Yep I meant University college London (UCL). It's just that when i looked up the rankings, for their undergrad engineering courses, they were surprisingly quite low. I always thought UCL was a top uni.

 

[meghatronic]

Yep I meant University college London (UCL). It's just that when i looked up the rankings, for their undergrad engineering courses, they were surprisingly quite low. I always thought UCL was a top uni.

Rankings mean little. Try looking for their RAE results.

 

[panthro]

What discipline of engineering will you be studying?

 

[SoSolid]

What discipline of engineering will you be studying?

Mechanical engineering MSc.

 

[panthro]

Mechanical engineering MSc.

So why is it an MSc and not an MEng?

 

[azamc]

i study it there. going into my secound year. the uni is a very prestigous uni and i always feel proud when people ask what uni im going to. however the mech eng department isnt the best. i can only speak from my experience of the 1st year. the engineering building is quite wierd, in the sense that some parts of it are brand new and look very nice, whereas other part are very very old and outdated. unfortuantly the mech eng floor is one of the older parts. the lecture room you will use for your first year is very very old and outdated, with uncomfortable seats and very cramped. the recently recarpeted the floor, but it still doesnt look very pleasing.

the teaching is also hit and miss. there are one or two really good lecturers, and some really bad ones. there is also a perticular fluids lecturer who is very strict. the thermo lecturer isnt the best, but he make the assesment material easier. again this is based on my 1st year teaching and maybe in my second year will have better lecturers.

onto the work load now. i cant compare it t another degree, but i felt that the workload was very tough. the coursework is piled on and on, and the course content does become very difficult. however it is not impossible and i think my laziness did not help. if you stay ontop of thing youll manage fine. it is afterall one of the hardest degrees in the world and is never going to be easy, and for you to be made and offer indicates UCL feel your up to the task.

my advice for you looking back at the 1st year is to keep ontop of your cw. get working on it as soon as you get it and make sure it is of good quality as it is easy marks. i also suggest you attend all lectures, as the course is covered very fast and youll become very confused very fast. unfortuantly the course isnt very forgiving and your week will be very very long. i also recommend that you keep on top of your computing and attend all the labs and lectures as the final assignement is one of the toughest.

do your best to keep up with the course content at the uni, but dont dispair if you become lost and confused. i honestly did not know a thing and had to learn the whole year in 2 months of revision. if i had given myself an extra month i think i could have gotten a 1st.

overall i feel the uni is very grand and when you walk around it you do feel a slight awe, and it is nice knowing you in the 7th best uni in the world. however the engineering department isnt the best. if you can go to oxford, cambridge, imperial, southampton, bristol, loughborough, then chose one of those. but if your choice is ucl or kings or queen mary, well i dont think i need to advise you anymore.

if you have anymore questions fell free to ask

sorry for the long post and especially sorry for the poor grammer

 

[azamc]

sorry i just read that your a post grad. i think my post above may not be the best to direct you. some of the labs in the basement are quite impressive and this is where you will be spending most of your time, in which case UCL may be a better choice

 

[mjt]

UCL is a very good uni, but the mech eng isn't the best, as azamc said

the engineering dept has a brand new building, which opened about 2 years ago, but obviously there's still a lot of old ones.
i had a few mates studying mech eng at ucl for both undergrad and postgrad, and i think it's mostly very good, but obviously like with anything else, you might get a shoddy lecturer.

no idea about the rankings, but whilst i do know that UCL isn't the best for mechanical engineering, it still is a very good university

having studied at UCL, i'm biased, but you certainly won't regret it. what are your other choices?

 

[SoSolid]

UCL is a very good uni, but the mech eng isn't the best, as azamc said

the engineering dept has a brand new building, which opened about 2 years ago, but obviously there's still a lot of old ones.
i had a few mates studying mech eng at ucl for both undergrad and postgrad, and i think it's mostly very good, but obviously like with anything else, you might get a shoddy lecturer.

no idea about the rankings, but whilst i do know that UCL isn't the best for mechanical engineering, it still is a very good university

having studied at UCL, i'm biased, but you certainly won't regret it. what are your other choices?

Well I also have an offer from Cranfield University to study mechanical engineering. People are advising me to go to Cranfield for mech eng instead of UCL, I am so confused.

So why is it an MSc and not an MEng?

An Meng is a 4 year course in engineering, it is an undergraduate masters if you like. I obtained a Beng in Mechanical engineering as I decided to not progress to do the additional 4th year required to get an Meng award. This is mainly because I was becoming a little bit disgruntled at the university and the module options for the fourth year were horrendous, I also don't like to put all my eggs in one basket. MSc's tend to be a little bit more specialised than the Meng.

the uni is a very prestigous uni and i always feel proud when people ask what uni im going to. however the mech eng department isnt the best. i can only speak from my experience of the 1st year. the engineering building is quite wierd, in the sense that some parts of it are brand new and look very nice, whereas other part are very very old and outdated. unfortuantly the mech eng floor is one of the older parts. the lecture room you will use for your first year is very very old and outdated, with uncomfortable seats and very cramped. the recently recarpeted the floor, but it still doesnt look very pleasing.

I am not too fussed about the aesthetics of the building, many top universities have dilapidated buildings (especially in the engineering departments). Parts of Imperial college look like they have sustained bomb damage in WW2 and still not been repaired. I studied at King's and a lot of the engineering deparment was falling apart. In regards to the poor teaching, well this is true of any uni. Most uni's have one or two really bad lecturers but this is to be expected. I am more concerned with the reputation of the particular department at the uni and also the resources available to the students as well as the content of the course.

 

[JAzz]

I can't comment on that department in particular but the uni has a very good reputation. I'm not very familiar with Cranfield University but a UCL masters will look pretty good on your CV I would have thought.

 

[Seft]

Graduated UCL last year. Don't know much about Engineering, but the department building is very new and shiny

Also, UCL is one of the best research universities in the world. I believe UCL academics are cited more than those of any university outside America.