Trumpettom001 said:
Figured this is the best place to ask in the entire world.
Basically, planning on doing some form of engineering at uni, and would like suggestions for which one.
On the list so far: Sheffield, Duruham, and Loughborough.
Def not on the list - OxBridge, in that I'm not a genius.
Go.
Just been through this process (infact been through it twice haha), looked at looodes of unis. It can be hard deciding which ones to pick, but the one thing I would really really state is that it is so, so important to look round them. I cannot stress this enough.
Do you have a clear choice so far?
Sheffield is really, really nicely located - Looks brilliant for cycling (ilb goes there, chat to him)
Durham - know nothing about this (apart from the fact that the city is situated inside an incised meander
)
Loughborough - you are likely to feel like a small fish in a big pond. Elitist feel to it. I went there to look at geography, and it is possibly the worst geog apartment I have seen. Grounds were ok, but all in all, I felt really let down. Anyway, everybody has different expectations, and I didn't look at engineering at all. Check it out.
London has a few very highly rated Unis for engineering. But there are a few red flags with some of them. Firstly, cycling is limited. Secondly, the cost....it is rediculas. Thirdly many people may chirp up and say go to Imperial which is really good for engineering - I will say one thing about this uni....sausage fest. 64% males....stay clear.
Also, make sure you pick at least two reserve choices. One with lower grades, one with far lower grades. Your year is likely to get slammed by UCAS...courses that were asking for ABB in previous years will be asking for AAA this year.
So how to pick these unis? I would start off with location. If you really really enjoy cycling, then this makes life easier - ditch all the places which are crap for cycling. Is campus a big deal? If so that is more off the list. Then look at reports and rankings of the uni - %of students in full time employment in the first year after they finished their course is a big one, as is student satisfaction. Look at comments on accomodation etc etc. Then look at which ones are highly rated for your course. It is better to go to a uni lower in the league tables where you are more likely to have a great time and attain your degree than one high up which you dislike, therefore making you more likely not to finish/do worse.