Uni Decision (Electronic Engineering)

RastaManBob · 3 Apr 2006 at 08:34

Hey,

Currently on the way to making my uni decision (For this year). I wish to do Electronic Engineering and have gone through all the motions so far - Applied to 6 institutes through UCAS and since receiving offers have visited each on an open day - But having trouble making that last step and confirming my choices.

Here is a list of where I applied along with the grades required:

Bristol AAC
Loughborough ABB
Birmingham BBB
Southampton ABB
Nottingham BBB
Sheffield ABB

After the visits I ruled out the possibilities of going to Bristol and Southampton, as I did not really get a good "feel" from them. This seemed odd as they both do really well in league tables - Am I missing anything? Should I make sure to give this definite further consideration before making my decision?

Loughborough I've pretty much decided "No" as I live in Loughborough... I think getting away (Even if not far) would be nice and in any case the department didn't really catch my eye.

This leaves me with my decision between Birmingham, Nottingham and Sheffield. From here I'm really being picky at making one appear better than another.

Sheffield is not a campus uni, which slightly put me off - This would leave Birmingham and Nottingham. Both have the same entry grades, too, which makes the decision harder. Out of the two I'd probably say Birmingham as it does better in the tables and the uni was shown off in a great light on the visit day.

My only concern with my favourite choices is industry recognition - During visit days at both Bristol and Southampton it was drilled in that industry recognition due to research is very important and almost ensures a good job at the end of the degree. Is Birmingham well respected by employers and the electronics industry as a whole? Wouldn't want to do the whole course and find I'm at a disadvantage simply down to the institute I've done my course at.

I'm sorry for rambling but I'm really finding it hard to make the decision - This isn't to say I'm looking for a magic answer from OcUK but I'm sure some things will be brought up (Or answers given) to things I have not previously thought up.

If anybody could please offer anything useful or any opinions it would really be appreciated.

Many Thanks.

Dan.

SaBBz · 3 Apr 2006 at 08:34

Nottingham is awesome

Hodders · 3 Apr 2006 at 10:37

All I can add is based on what I learned whilst working at Philips Research. I left Surrey Uni in 1990 and by about 1995 was involved in the technical interviews for new graduates.

Of the uni's you mentin we would have looked at Bristol as being the most likely to produce a graduate of the calibre that we wanted. The applicants from the other unis would have needed a very good CV to get an interview.

I know it might sound unfair - but that is what consistantly worked out best for us.

I have also heard really good things about Bristol uni as a place to be - I'm sure other people here were there and can comment....

Psyk · 3 Apr 2006 at 11:50

I was put off a little bit that Bristol isn't a campus university. But to be honest I think it's much better that it's not. You have a choice of much more than one or two places on a night out without going too far. I guess that depends on which halls you go to and what you consider far though.

Can't say much about electrical engineering as I'm comp sci but I'm sure Sara will be along soon to tell you about it.

DaveyD · 3 Apr 2006 at 11:59

Birmingham! Just for the fact I'm there

Back to normal, I think as Birmingham is an old, campus Red Brick University, it would have quite a bit of recognition from employers. But to be honest, I think Employers are more interested in industrial experience, though that's probably tied with how well you do in your degree also. If your course is acredited by the IEE, then it should be reasonably good I would have thought.

Wherever you do go, try your best to do a placement, if that's a year placement mid-degree, or doing a couple of months placement every summer, you shouldn't really go too wrong, in my honest opinion anyway.

Birmingham is a fantastic University, and it's in a city big enough for all your needs socially, as it's got pretty much everything a bus / train ride away from Uni. Same could be said for both Sheffield and Nottingham, but I didn't really like Nottingham personally, and though I've not really seen Sheffield, I don't really fancy it from the outside.

Kreeeee · 3 Apr 2006 at 13:18

I'm at Bristol and do Computer Systems Engineering (Which involves all of the compulsory modules of Electronic engineering and computer science) so if you want to add me to MSN to chat about it feel free.

I chose Bristol over Warwick, Sheffield, Bath, Birmingham and Reading.

Edit: My ex goes to uni in Sheffield so I can tell you about the city but not about the uni.

Freefaller · 3 Apr 2006 at 13:31

Shame about Loughborough that's where I went to study Electronic Engineering. Great Uni was in the top 5 for electronic engineering at the time I went - but I can understand your need to get away from home

I only know Nottingham and Bristol from having been there for nights out (I used to go out to Nottingham a lot), and they are both cool places. Go and visit them and see which one you get a better vibe from - that's what I did. What looks good on paper doesn't necessarily mean it's great in real life.

divine` · 3 Apr 2006 at 14:04

Southampton might have felt better had the ECS building not burnt down last year.

Dinomania · 3 Apr 2006 at 15:02

I like Bristol, and the EE course is pretty good - I kindof do a bit of a hybrid course so I couldn't tell you all the ins and outs - but I had a really good run in labs a few weeks ago, we built a simple wireless modem from scratch - it could *just* manage about 600 baud with a few errors... good stuff

a1ex2001 · 3 Apr 2006 at 16:28

Nottingham is awsome I had the two best years of my life studying Electonic engineering there until they gave me the boot for drinking too much and studying too little. The campus pub crawl should be the highlight of any students life.

Six6siX · 3 Apr 2006 at 21:22

Hey

Im currently doing electronic engineering at Sheffield Uni. In my second year this year. I also live in Sheffield....but that wasnt my reason for choosing it

The course remains the same through years 1 and 2 and you choose options in 3 or 4 depending whether you do the masters or depending on which option modules you choose. There is a mix of both electrical and electronic based modules, from semiconductor and digital electronic oriented ones to power electronics and analogue based systems. I like the course and the way its taught (they quoted me on that on the website...

), and the staff are, in my experience, friendly and willing to help (sounds like a talking prospectus...lol). Plus, the department is one of the top rated in the country.

Dont rule it out as it is not a campus uni - once you get used to it, you find that the area over which the uni is mainly is relatively small (as far as engineering/student union is concerned. There is accommodation close to the union or somethin a bit further afield. Nothing more than a 20 min walk I wouldnt have thought (took my friend about 20 mins to walk in in 1st year, and he lives a bit closer now - takes about 10). Also, you wont find yourself walking huge distances between lectures (I didnt have to) - i think the furthest is about 10 mins max walking average speed.

As far as Sheffield goes as a city for student life, there are plenty of bars (very important) and clubs ranging from dance->rock, and theres a fair amount of rather nice looking ladies

Be warned though, public transport is a bit expensive, and if you drive, so is parking (spose thats the same anywhere really though).

Hope that helps.

sermad · 3 Apr 2006 at 21:37

Ok anyway - I did a MENG in electronic and electrical engineering at Birmingham uni from 96-01. If you are into computers then you can switch in your last year (or 2 years for masters) and do a VERY VERY easy last couple of years. If you are good at maths then you should find everything pretty easy - Im not so good and my fourier/laplace transform work really was hard for me. So maybe take extra care doing this.

You'll get into brum with less than a BBB btw! Trust me

The first two years are very very tough - 30+ hours a week lecture time. The facilities are EXCELLENT. Its also very geared towards computer engineering - there was lots of c++ programming even before I converted to software engineering. Lots of practical time building circuits etc.

There were lots of people on the course - maybe 150? Lots of foreign chinese and maybe 5 girls!

Lots of sound people who sit on the back row at lectures...and obviously tonnes of geek like people.

Birmingham as a place I didnt like at all - Im from brighton so moving from the seaside to the concrete jungle of brum was a bit of a shock. I hear its improved drastically over the years....The campus of brum is nice but the student union was pretty crap to be honest.

Oh yeah. DO NOT stay in griffin close at all. It is the worst place ever.

ps if you want my books (they never go out of date) then I will give you them if you want if you pay postage.

pps Have you thought about imperial?? Its tough but pretty much top of the heap.

DB_SamX · 3 Apr 2006 at 22:09

Southampton may have lost the ECS research buildings but they have a brand new one on the way, to be ready in a few months. Plus they are the no1 for elctronics and computer science in the country.

Soton also has the best campus and has a great atmosphere. Check out www.susu.org for the union website, especially the awesome forum, gallery, events etc.

Dave · 3 Apr 2006 at 22:12

Six6siX said:
Dont rule it out as it is not a campus uni - once you get used to it, you find that the area over which the uni is mainly is relatively small (as far as engineering/student union is concerned. There is accommodation close to the union or somethin a bit further afield. Nothing more than a 20 min walk I wouldnt have thought (took my friend about 20 mins to walk in in 1st year, and he lives a bit closer now - takes about 10). Also, you wont find yourself walking huge distances between lectures (I didnt have to) - i think the furthest is about 10 mins max walking average speed.

As far as Sheffield goes as a city for student life, there are plenty of bars (very important) and clubs ranging from dance->rock, and theres a fair amount of rather nice looking ladies

Be warned though, public transport is a bit expensive, and if you drive, so is parking (spose thats the same anywhere really though).

Hope that helps.

All I could've said really. I've got Sheffield down as my firm choice (conditional) for Chemical Engineering, loved it when I visited. Plus, Sound Control is an ace music shop

alx · 3 Apr 2006 at 22:22

Dave said:
All I could've said really. I've got Sheffield down as my firm choice (conditional) for Chemical Engineering, loved it when I visited. Plus, Sound Control is an ace music shop

ooo someone else doing chem eng :eek:

.

RastaManBob · 4 Apr 2006 at 23:12

Hi again,

Thanks very much for so many replies - It's something that is quite heavily on my mind at the moment so it's pretty cool to be able to get info from another source.

What Hodders said has worried me quite a bit - I really didn't like the feel of Bristol at all yet obviously I'd still hope for a good job on the other side of University. The question still remains - How does industry see other Unis? Are Birmingham/Nottingham/Sheffield (These all still seem good options) seen as good institutes, from industry point of view?

On the note of work placement... I do intend to do one - Birmingham appeared, initially, the best Uni for industrial work placement as they have their own scheme in place yet I guess it's possibly other Unis just didn't mention it during the open days.

sermad - You mention getting in with less than a BBB... What is the lowest you think they would accept (In the case of poor exam results, bad day, etc.)? What grades did you need to get in? I've sent you an email (Trust email address) regarding you offer of the books in order to try and keep this thread on track. Thanks for the offer

.

Oh, and Imperial looks very good but I didn't apply there and of course it is too late now - Can't say I mind... Finding it hard enough to decide with the options I do have... Let alone any more...

Still continuing to look more into my Uni choices - If anybody else has any other opinions or information to consider I'd really appreciate hearing it. Especially if it relates to industry recognition of the institutes.

Many Thanks

Dan.

DaveyD · 4 Apr 2006 at 23:19

On the placements issue, I'm sure any half sane uni will let you take a year off mid degree for a placement, just some places will have proper schemes, and some will not. My course and Birmingham doesn't have a specific 'Sandwich course' or 'With Industrial Placement' on my course, it's just if I do get a place, I let the right people know, and I come back in a years time.

At the end of the day, when you're out looking for placements, a lot of the time you're on your own, and your uni will have a small list of places where they've had either successful placements in previous years, or companies are looking specifically for students from that uni. Out of the 7 interviews I've had so far, only 2 have been directly through contacts at uni, the rest from me going out and applying to various companies.

DaveyD · 4 Apr 2006 at 23:23

sermad said:
Ok anyway - I did a MENG in electronic and electrical engineering at Birmingham uni from 96-01. If you are into computers then you can switch in your last year (or 2 years for masters) and do a VERY VERY easy last couple of years. If you are good at maths then you should find everything pretty easy - Im not so good and my fourier/laplace transform work really was hard for me. So maybe take extra care doing this.

You'll get into brum with less than a BBB btw! Trust me

The first two years are very very tough - 30+ hours a week lecture time. The facilities are EXCELLENT. Its also very geared towards computer engineering - there was lots of c++ programming even before I converted to software engineering. Lots of practical time building circuits etc.

There were lots of people on the course - maybe 150? Lots of foreign chinese and maybe 5 girls! Lots of sound people who sit on the back row at lectures...and obviously tonnes of geek like people.

Birmingham as a place I didnt like at all - Im from brighton so moving from the seaside to the concrete jungle of brum was a bit of a shock. I hear its improved drastically over the years....The campus of brum is nice but the student union was pretty crap to be honest.

Oh yeah. DO NOT stay in griffin close at all. It is the worst place ever.

ps if you want my books (they never go out of date) then I will give you them if you want if you pay postage.

pps Have you thought about imperial?? Its tough but pretty much top of the heap.

Arg, good old fourier/laplace... I... love them

I'd agree that the Birmingham guild is pretty poor, but to be honest, by the time you've got through freshers week, you'll be going out with people from halls/societies/course to the other places available.

Dinomania · 4 Apr 2006 at 23:35

RastaManBob said:
What Hodders said has worried me quite a bit - I really didn't like the feel of Bristol at all yet obviously I'd still hope for a good job on the other side of University.

What was it that felt so off about Bristol, is there anything you can put your finger on?

I don't really know how to impart it to you - but I love being at uni in Bristol. It's a lovely city - not too big and especially in the summer, the downs (right next to 60% of the fresher's halls) are beautiful, the waterfront is a perfect place to sit in the sun with a pint, the road from the halls down to the city is full of nice bars & pubs (the Whiteladies Rd Challenge is a formidable one, tactical chundering is the order of the night). The city's clubs cater to fans of R&B, DnB, Indie, Metal, Industrial, Cheese, Greek (!), allsorts - and most of these will run really cheap student nights during the week.

As for the uni, it's nearly all located along one road in Bristol centre, the union isn't the most fantastic place (about to be ripped down and moved), but I always found myself to busy with other stuff to worry about the union. There are loads and loads of societies and plenty of scope to start your own.

Engineering is spread over two buildings, one very computery and modern and swish - the other old and traditional. The elec labs (housed in the latter) are looked after by a lovely big guy called Rich, Most of the labs are fairly interesting, and teach you a lot more than a lecture series ever could. Labs are a massive part of elec engineering here. It's rather hard work - but then you have to work hard to be a good graduate. They pump you full of knowledge, assuming you turn up and do the work.

Ermmm, I've run dry. Anything else?