University Reputation

From people I know university reputation is definitely a bonus, especially when applying to the big city firms. Kingston has the reputation of being a bit of a doss:/
 
gurdas said:
From people I know university reputation is definitely a bonus, especially when applying to the big city firms. Kingston has the reputation of being a bit of a doss:/

Does it really? :confused:

I thought it was a good name University.

The University on my degree doesn't even exist now its changed its name :( In my experience I haven't ever been asked where I got my degree in, though that may be because of the line of work that I am in.

BB x
 
There are lots of caveats with ideas such as 'prestige'. Firstly, yes, a University's prestiage can be useful but the prestige isn't always easy to fathom because it can be based on a variety of aspects. It is not always as simple as "Oxbridge uber alles" although as a general rule the more established universities have better reputations and generally more to offer.
Also, I have known unsuccessful people who went to top-class universities and sucessful people who have gone to nondescript universities, so obviously it is a complicated situation.
 
University reputation is important for getting interviews. I know a few companies I have done summer internships with who got so many applications they just binned all those that didn't come from Oxbridge, Warwick, York and a few of the other 'top' universities.

Obviously reputation wont get you a job, but it will allow you to get your foot in the door, so to speak.
 
Is there like a massive list of university reputations becuase im abit stumpt to which uni to apply to and i dont know the reps of them all..
 
reflex said:
Is there like a massive list of university reputations becuase im abit stumpt to which uni to apply to and i dont know the reps of them all..

just look at the times / guardian league tables for a vague idea.
 
Personally i've found University snobbery is not a problem. Employers don't make an issue out of what uni you went to.

Naturally Oxford and Cambridge is impressive, anything below that 'all looks the same to me' to quote one of our HR guys.
 
reflex said:
Is there like a massive list of university reputations becuase im abit stumpt to which uni to apply to and i dont know the reps of them all..

Not really, you can only go on league tables and when they were established. Saying that even these are not that accurate, but can act as a rough guide on which ones you should look into. Generally the higher the enterence requirement the better the standard of the course, though this does not always follow :p I think it depends on what sort of job you are applying to as well at the end of the day (and the number of applicants).
 
Im predicted 3 B's but hopefully i can push higher but i guess thats around mid to low end of the universities, i should really start looking on UCAS :D
 
Una said:
Generally the higher the enterence requirement the better the standard of the course, though this does not always follow :p

This is a bad measure of the quality of a course.

I'd prefer to look at several factors, not least being the "graduate destinations" score.
 
daz said:
This is a bad measure of the quality of a course.

I'd prefer to look at several factors, not least being the "graduate destinations" score.

Yeah but reputation wise, it usualy follows that the higher the enterence requirements the more highly its respected by an employee. It does indeed give no idea what the quality of the course will be like. So you need to find a balance :)
 
It's not a hard and fast rule though... something that should also be considered is the location of the university. Going to a higher rated university out in the sticks may not be as good for getting placements or internships, despite perhaps apparently being ranked higher in the league tables.

In conclusion, league tables can only give you a very general idea of the ranking of a university. Furthermore, they are also subjective, and there is much disparity between say the Times ranking of a university, the Guardian's ranking, popular/public opinion and then industry/employers' opinions. It's the latter that is most important...
 
I'd also like to point out that it changes from subject to subject. I'm just going into the third year of my law degree at Kingston and, from talking to some barristers in decent chambers, for law Kingston punches above its weight. This is because of two things
a) it has a lot of mature students - who tend to bring other skills to the table
b) lots of mooting occurs, along with it being close to London so students can get up to the inns of court and big court cases easily. It is thus becoming known for running a quite practical degree - so students need less retraining on a pupillage.

I know of some chambers who simply wont look at your application if you're not Oxbridge. At the same time I know of some chambers who wont look at your application if you've gone straight from college to uni to BVC - requiring you to have done something in the working world or gap year.

Entering your third year there's little you can do about your uni choice now - though try to get as many extras that you can add to your CV done as early as possible. Oh, and you've probably already been told, but Kingston's got a habit on most courses of making the second year the hardest year. Beware.

@Visage's totty comment - 'tis true :) (<realises girlfriend reads the forum>) after all it's where I met my gorgeous girlfriend :D

fini
 
As for the little extras, I've volunteered as a programming assitant as well as being a mentor for first year students as well as aquiring quite a few awards on the way.
 
triggerthat said:
As for the little extras, I've volunteered as a programming assitant as well as being a mentor for first year students as well as aquiring quite a few awards on the way.

If you want to be a coder, try meet people from the industry. Contribute to an open source project, do google summer of code etc... You will get much further if people know that you are a good programmer and you can demonstrate a good portfolio of stuff you have worked on.
 
The problem with basing your uni choice decison on league tables is apart from the top 5-10 a universitys place can dramatically shift from one year to the next. It would be more ideal to try and find out an average of a unis league table score if you were that concerned i'd guess.

Also in the next few decades a lot of the newer unis will start really gaining on the more established ones, see oxford brookes.

Of course if you go to Oxbridge, UCL imperial LSE etc it will always be impressive. But I think in the end its really down to massaging your ego, if your happy at your uni and you get a good grade you will have a good chance of getting a really good "city" job.
 
Back
Top Bottom