Consensus world view of TOP 5/6 UK University Rankings (Prestige/Research)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is applying through UCAS this fall.

He wants to apply to:
1. Oxford
2. UCL
3. St Andrews
4. Edinburgh
5. Bristol or Exeter

If he picks 5 spots on UCAS, can he apply to St Andrews direct as the 6th spot?

Which course?

A couple of different ones depending on the uni, but basically: Management/Economics, Financial Economics/Management, Management/Innovation, etc….

We have visited all 6 of them. UCL was the only London uni he is considering because he was influenced by his cousin who went to school there. He has spent 2 weeks with his cousin a year ago. He thought LSE was just cold….We understand housing in London is tough. Housing is also tough to a lesser extent in Bristol and St Andrews after 1st year. As far as campuses, he liked Exeter campus the best. It is the one campus that is the most similar to an American campus. He loved how quaint St Andrews was. Loves how lively the cities of Edinburgh and Bristol are…. And Oxford….it is Oxford. He already has 3 APs with 5’s from last year. Awaiting scores of 4 more. He thinks he got 5’s on all.

We were told St Andrews says that if you have applied to any other school though UCAS, you need to use UCAS.

What is the Appeal for Bristol and Exeter with these subjects?

Bristol has an amazing multidisciplinary Innovation program that can be added to several degrees, including their Business degree. They are spending a ton of money on this new state of the art facility that will house not only the Business School, but also their Innovation program. It is also a cool town.

Exeter is a beautiful campus setting. Very American like. Their business school is really good and several of their subjects are ranked in their league table top 10. Plus my son surfs and you are close to some of the best surfing in the UK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is applying through UCAS this fall.

He wants to apply to:
1. Oxford
2. UCL
3. St Andrews
4. Edinburgh
5. Bristol or Exeter

If he picks 5 spots on UCAS, can he apply to St Andrews direct as the 6th spot?

Which course?

A couple of different ones depending on the uni, but basically: Management/Economics, Financial Economics/Management, Management/Innovation, etc….

We have visited all 6 of them. UCL was the only London uni he is considering because he was influenced by his cousin who went to school there. He has spent 2 weeks with his cousin a year ago. He thought LSE was just cold….We understand housing in London is tough. Housing is also tough to a lesser extent in Bristol and St Andrews after 1st year. As far as campuses, he liked Exeter campus the best. It is the one campus that is the most similar to an American campus. He loved how quaint St Andrews was. Loves how lively the cities of Edinburgh and Bristol are…. And Oxford….it is Oxford. He already has 3 APs with 5’s from last year. Awaiting scores of 4 more. He thinks he got 5’s on all.

We were told St Andrews says that if you have applied to any other school though UCAS, you need to use UCAS.

What is the Appeal for Bristol and Exeter with these subjects?

If he likes the idea of something similar to a campus, did he consider Durham? Small university town with loads of charm but about twice size of St Andrews. Three year degree. Highly ranked.

yes, he look at Durham initially since Exeter/Bristol/Durham are all about tied in their business league tables…But unfortunately we didnt have time to visit. we were there for 12 days to visit those 7 schools. Durham was on the original plan, but we had to cut it to make it work. He is still interested in Durham.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is applying through UCAS this fall.

He wants to apply to:
1. Oxford
2. UCL
3. St Andrews
4. Edinburgh
5. Bristol or Exeter

If he picks 5 spots on UCAS, can he apply to St Andrews direct as the 6th spot?

Which course?

A couple of different ones depending on the uni, but basically: Management/Economics, Financial Economics/Management, Management/Innovation, etc….

We have visited all 6 of them. UCL was the only London uni he is considering because he was influenced by his cousin who went to school there. He has spent 2 weeks with his cousin a year ago. He thought LSE was just cold….We understand housing in London is tough. Housing is also tough to a lesser extent in Bristol and St Andrews after 1st year. As far as campuses, he liked Exeter campus the best. It is the one campus that is the most similar to an American campus. He loved how quaint St Andrews was. Loves how lively the cities of Edinburgh and Bristol are…. And Oxford….it is Oxford. He already has 3 APs with 5’s from last year. Awaiting scores of 4 more. He thinks he got 5’s on all.

We were told St Andrews says that if you have applied to any other school though UCAS, you need to use UCAS.

What is the Appeal for Bristol and Exeter with these subjects?

If he likes the idea of something similar to a campus, did he consider Durham? Small university town with loads of charm but about twice size of St Andrews. Three year degree. Highly ranked.

yes, he look at Durham initially since Exeter/Bristol/Durham are all about tied in their business league tables…But unfortunately we didnt have time to visit. we were there for 12 days to visit those 7 schools. Durham was on the original plan, but we had to cut it to make it work. He is still interested in Durham.

I visited Durham with my son. One of the attractions is it has a residential college like system a bit similar to Oxford and Cambridge plus, along with its charm, it is larger than St Andrews (which he thought would be too small for him for four years). He came away with Durham at the top of his list (having also visited Warwick, Bristol and Leeds). He also really liked Bristol.

DH did economics at Exeter a few decades ago. Back then, there was a preponderance of wealthier white private school kids. I think that was the case for Durham back then too. If that might be an issue for your child, perhaps worth looking at diversity and size of the international student cohort now. A couple of people have mentioned this to me recently for both, but I’m not sure whether their view might be very outdated as they would also have been studying in the UK in the 90s. Things do change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is applying through UCAS this fall.

He wants to apply to:
1. Oxford
2. UCL
3. St Andrews
4. Edinburgh
5. Bristol or Exeter

If he picks 5 spots on UCAS, can he apply to St Andrews direct as the 6th spot?

Which course?

A couple of different ones depending on the uni, but basically: Management/Economics, Financial Economics/Management, Management/Innovation, etc….

We have visited all 6 of them. UCL was the only London uni he is considering because he was influenced by his cousin who went to school there. He has spent 2 weeks with his cousin a year ago. He thought LSE was just cold….We understand housing in London is tough. Housing is also tough to a lesser extent in Bristol and St Andrews after 1st year. As far as campuses, he liked Exeter campus the best. It is the one campus that is the most similar to an American campus. He loved how quaint St Andrews was. Loves how lively the cities of Edinburgh and Bristol are…. And Oxford….it is Oxford. He already has 3 APs with 5’s from last year. Awaiting scores of 4 more. He thinks he got 5’s on all.

We were told St Andrews says that if you have applied to any other school though UCAS, you need to use UCAS.

What is the Appeal for Bristol and Exeter with these subjects?

If he likes the idea of something similar to a campus, did he consider Durham? Small university town with loads of charm but about twice size of St Andrews. Three year degree. Highly ranked.

yes, he look at Durham initially since Exeter/Bristol/Durham are all about tied in their business league tables…But unfortunately we didnt have time to visit. we were there for 12 days to visit those 7 schools. Durham was on the original plan, but we had to cut it to make it work. He is still interested in Durham.

I visited Durham with my son. One of the attractions is it has a residential college like system a bit similar to Oxford and Cambridge plus, along with its charm, it is larger than St Andrews (which he thought would be too small for him for four years). He came away with Durham at the top of his list (having also visited Warwick, Bristol and Leeds). He also really liked Bristol.

DH did economics at Exeter a few decades ago. Back then, there was a preponderance of wealthier white private school kids. I think that was the case for Durham back then too. If that might be an issue for your child, perhaps worth looking at diversity and size of the international student cohort now. A couple of people have mentioned this to me recently for both, but I’m not sure whether their view might be very outdated as they would also have been studying in the UK in the 90s. Things do change.

Oh wow. Small world! Quite frankly we did not look at diversity and international student populations. We did feel like Exeter was very white…Edinburgh and Oxford looked much more diverse. But no, this is not an issue for my kid. He can adapt to wherever he is. He did come from a white private school/privileged background. My husband is not originally from the US (Italian) and this has allowed him to experience a different way of life visiting cousins and family all over Europe growing up. He is also applying to Bocconi.

[Anonymous]

I just ran a quick search and found this:

https://thetab.com/2023/09/18/the-whitest-universities-the-russell-groups-with-the-fewest-ethnic-minority-students


Exeter and Durham are pretty white….I guess not a lot of change from the 90’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just ran a quick search and found this:

https://thetab.com/2023/09/18/the-whitest-universities-the-russell-groups-with-the-fewest-ethnic-minority-students


Exeter and Durham are pretty white….I guess not a lot of change from the 90’s.

It would be changed if there is more socioeconomic diversity. But you can’t tell that from this table. There might be other information sources available.

One thing I will say about the linked table is that all of the universities highest on the list are the ones with the biggest international cohorts. Eg LSE has 70% international students, Imperial has 52%. So it’s not surprising that they have more racial diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just ran a quick search and found this:

https://thetab.com/2023/09/18/the-whitest-universities-the-russell-groups-with-the-fewest-ethnic-minority-students


Exeter and Durham are pretty white….I guess not a lot of change from the 90’s.

It would be changed if there is more socioeconomic diversity. But you can’t tell that from this table. There might be other information sources available.

One thing I will say about the linked table is that all of the universities highest on the list are the ones with the biggest international cohorts. Eg LSE has 70% international students, Imperial has 52%. So it’s not surprising that they have more racial diversity.

I wonder how they tabulate that data. Take LSE with 70% ethnic minority. What does Ethinic Minority mean here? Just because you are international, doesn’t make you an ethnic minority? Or are they considering EU internationals ethinic minorities? 70% Ethinic Minority in the US would mean 70% Hispanic, Asians, Blacks and native americans regardless of whether you are international or not. Wonder how it is in the UK…

[Anonymous]

Durham indeed is a good option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just ran a quick search and found this:

https://thetab.com/2023/09/18/the-whitest-universities-the-russell-groups-with-the-fewest-ethnic-minority-students


Exeter and Durham are pretty white….I guess not a lot of change from the 90’s.

It would be changed if there is more socioeconomic diversity. But you can’t tell that from this table. There might be other information sources available.

One thing I will say about the linked table is that all of the universities highest on the list are the ones with the biggest international cohorts. Eg LSE has 70% international students, Imperial has 52%. So it’s not surprising that they have more racial diversity.

I wonder how they tabulate that data. Take LSE with 70% ethnic minority. What does Ethinic Minority mean here? Just because you are international, doesn’t make you an ethnic minority? Or are they considering EU internationals ethinic minorities? 70% Ethinic Minority in the US would mean 70% Hispanic, Asians, Blacks and native americans regardless of whether you are international or not. Wonder how it is in the UK…

“Ethnic minority means black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic minority backgrounds”

https://www.thetimes.com/article/606a12ba-8452-466e-b109-5305ae95fa1f?shareToken=b9c65757e24be2fb88043e9c3422c71a

EU nationals or any other international students are only included if they are from these backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just ran a quick search and found this:

https://thetab.com/2023/09/18/the-whitest-universities-the-russell-groups-with-the-fewest-ethnic-minority-students


Exeter and Durham are pretty white….I guess not a lot of change from the 90’s.

It would be changed if there is more socioeconomic diversity. But you can’t tell that from this table. There might be other information sources available.

One thing I will say about the linked table is that all of the universities highest on the list are the ones with the biggest international cohorts. Eg LSE has 70% international students, Imperial has 52%. So it’s not surprising that they have more racial diversity.

I wonder how they tabulate that data. Take LSE with 70% ethnic minority. What does Ethinic Minority mean here? Just because you are international, doesn’t make you an ethnic minority? Or are they considering EU internationals ethinic minorities? 70% Ethinic Minority in the US would mean 70% Hispanic, Asians, Blacks and native americans regardless of whether you are international or not. Wonder how it is in the UK…

“Ethnic minority means black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic minority backgrounds”

https://www.thetimes.com/article/606a12ba-8452-466e-b109-5305ae95fa1f?shareToken=b9c65757e24be2fb88043e9c3422c71a

EU nationals or any other international students are only included if they are from these backgrounds.

I know there are a ton of foreigners at LSE, but 70% Ethnic minorities seem a little ridiculous. I dont think that is what the PP’s artifice said, I called Internationals an ethnic minority. Hard to believe 70% is ethnic minorities at LSE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just ran a quick search and found this:

https://thetab.com/2023/09/18/the-whitest-universities-the-russell-groups-with-the-fewest-ethnic-minority-students


Exeter and Durham are pretty white….I guess not a lot of change from the 90’s.

It would be changed if there is more socioeconomic diversity. But you can’t tell that from this table. There might be other information sources available.

One thing I will say about the linked table is that all of the universities highest on the list are the ones with the biggest international cohorts. Eg LSE has 70% international students, Imperial has 52%. So it’s not surprising that they have more racial diversity.

I wonder how they tabulate that data. Take LSE with 70% ethnic minority. What does Ethinic Minority mean here? Just because you are international, doesn’t make you an ethnic minority? Or are they considering EU internationals ethinic minorities? 70% Ethinic Minority in the US would mean 70% Hispanic, Asians, Blacks and native americans regardless of whether you are international or not. Wonder how it is in the UK…

“Ethnic minority means black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic minority backgrounds”

https://www.thetimes.com/article/606a12ba-8452-466e-b109-5305ae95fa1f?shareToken=b9c65757e24be2fb88043e9c3422c71a

EU nationals or any other international students are only included if they are from these backgrounds.

I know there are a ton of foreigners at LSE, but 70% Ethnic minorities seem a little ridiculous. I dont think that is what the PP’s artifice said, I called Internationals an ethnic minority. Hard to believe 70% is ethnic minorities at LSE.

Well the current table from the Sunday Times says it is 63.6% ethnic minority. I don’t know why that is hard to believe though, and it isn’t only because of foreign students. Aston University, which is in Birmingham and would not be on the radar of most Americans, is 83.8% minority, because of the large number of Asian students who live locally and attend that university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is applying through UCAS this fall.

He wants to apply to:
1. Oxford
2. UCL
3. St Andrews
4. Edinburgh
5. Bristol or Exeter

If he picks 5 spots on UCAS, can he apply to St Andrews direct as the 6th spot?

Which course?

A couple of different ones depending on the uni, but basically: Management/Economics, Financial Economics/Management, Management/Innovation, etc….

We have visited all 6 of them. UCL was the only London uni he is considering because he was influenced by his cousin who went to school there. He has spent 2 weeks with his cousin a year ago. He thought LSE was just cold….We understand housing in London is tough. Housing is also tough to a lesser extent in Bristol and St Andrews after 1st year. As far as campuses, he liked Exeter campus the best. It is the one campus that is the most similar to an American campus. He loved how quaint St Andrews was. Loves how lively the cities of Edinburgh and Bristol are…. And Oxford….it is Oxford. He already has 3 APs with 5’s from last year. Awaiting scores of 4 more. He thinks he got 5’s on all.

We were told St Andrews says that if you have applied to any other school though UCAS, you need to use UCAS.

What is the Appeal for Bristol and Exeter with these subjects?

Not PP, but Husband studied at Bristol and Exeter before moving to America. Engineering at Bristol and Finance at Exeter. Both are great schools. yes they are considered a little “posh”due to large number of white private school kids attending. But great universities nonetheless. Bristol has amazing Engineering programs. If my kids couldn’t get in any top 50 university here in the US, I would send them to either one and not even think about it. It is easier for Americans to get in both schools than UK students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is applying through UCAS this fall.

He wants to apply to:
1. Oxford
2. UCL
3. St Andrews
4. Edinburgh
5. Bristol or Exeter

If he picks 5 spots on UCAS, can he apply to St Andrews direct as the 6th spot?

Which course?

A couple of different ones depending on the uni, but basically: Management/Economics, Financial Economics/Management, Management/Innovation, etc….

We have visited all 6 of them. UCL was the only London uni he is considering because he was influenced by his cousin who went to school there. He has spent 2 weeks with his cousin a year ago. He thought LSE was just cold….We understand housing in London is tough. Housing is also tough to a lesser extent in Bristol and St Andrews after 1st year. As far as campuses, he liked Exeter campus the best. It is the one campus that is the most similar to an American campus. He loved how quaint St Andrews was. Loves how lively the cities of Edinburgh and Bristol are…. And Oxford….it is Oxford. He already has 3 APs with 5’s from last year. Awaiting scores of 4 more. He thinks he got 5’s on all.

We were told St Andrews says that if you have applied to any other school though UCAS, you need to use UCAS.

What is the Appeal for Bristol and Exeter with these subjects?

Bristol has an amazing multidisciplinary Innovation program that can be added to several degrees, including their Business degree. They are spending a ton of money on this new state of the art facility that will house not only the Business School, but also their Innovation program. It is also a cool town.

Exeter is a beautiful campus setting. Very American like. Their business school is really good and several of their subjects are ranked in their league table top 10. Plus my son surfs and you are close to some of the best surfing in the UK.

Thank you for the info. We just looked at this: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/innovation/undergrad-masters/

It is a really neat program. In 4 years you get a BS and a MsC in Innovation alongside whatever major you select. Very cool set up.

[Anonymous]

This is really interesting. For those looking at Bristol, these are their Bachelor integrated 4-yr Masters degrees they offer:


Single Honours
MArts Anthropology with Innovation (XD50)
MArts Film and Television with Innovation (4M50)
MArts History with Innovation (V104)
MArts Music with Innovation (W304)
MArts Theatre with Innovation (2Q50)
MEng Computer Science with Innovation (G404)
MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Innovation (H604)
MSci Accounting with Innovation (NN50)
MSci Business and Management with Innovation (N204)
MSci Economics with Innovation (L104)
MSci Finance with Innovation (N305)
MSci Geography with Innovation (F805)
MSci Physics with Innovation (F306)
MSci Psychology with Innovation (C804)

[Anonymous]

I am about to start an MA at Bristol in Sept. But it does not include the innovation.

This is a long thread and I see on this page LSE has been mentioned.

50% of undergrads are from overseas, 70% overall students (under & post) are from overseas.

It is also hugely more prestigious than UCL and Kings London.

One of the best places to guage quality of courses and institution (rankings) is The Complete University Guide. Priceless tool for anyone considering sending their kids to the UK to study.

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/