Recommendations for UK universities

[theperson333]

Hi all,
   Are there any UK universities that you can recommend for a Masters in EE? I.e. Which universities tend to be desirable in the eyes of employers?

Thanks

[KJDS]

University choice makes far less difference than is usually imagined.

Having said that, generally avoid those universities that were kindergartens or similar in pre-Thatcherite times. Googling with the name followed by polytechnic or college of higher education will tell you a little of the history.

If you want to specialize for your Masters then let us know which specialization and further guidance may be forthcoming.

[tggzzz]

One easy answer, which is too limiting, is the Russell group.

A more helpful answer is to think what you enjoy doing that employers will value, and find a course that matches.

But be careful:  what makes you think employers value an MSc? When I was doing a lot of interviewing for r&D positions, we came to the conclusion that there was only one valid reason to do a PhD:  because you want to. In other words, a PhD did not make you more employable.

Having said that, I have seen a one year MSc conversion course turn a biochemist into a very competent EE. But the circumstances were unusual!

Before the usual chorus pipes up first degrees are highly beneficial.

[TechItApart]

Hi all,
   Are there any UK universities that you can recommend for a Masters in EE? I.e. Which universities tend to be desirable in the eyes of employers?

Thanks

I am in my 3rd year studying for a masters in EE at the University of Sheffield. Really like the Uni and the course, our brand new £80m engineering building has some of the best labs in the country. I should work for the admissions department haha but you should have a look around

[DenzilPenberthy]

Are you looking for a 1 year masters to do after your BSc/BEng? Are you thinking of doing a taught masters or a research masters? Do you have a particular field in mind?

Or are you looking for a 4 year MSc/MEng course?

Personally I can't hesitate to recommend Bristol. I did my MEng there and loved it (so much that after doing all sorts of other stuff I'm working there).  Also Bristol is a truly amazing place to live.

No use though if you have a deep interest in doing a research masters in a field which no one there is working on though...

[Z80]

Choose the one that YOU like and is in a place you will enjoy living, after all you will be spending a couple of years there at great expense.  Unless you are applying for a very specific position, your future employers will likely care less where you went.  I went to Manchester and loved it, but I did computer science so can't comment on the EE department.

[TheWelly888]

I am in my 3rd year studying for a masters in EE at the University of Sheffield. Really like the Uni and the course, our brand new £80m engineering building has some of the best labs in the country. I should work for the admissions department haha but you should have a look around

I went to Sheffield a very long time ago - sadly did not get a degree there but I second the recommendation! 

[coppice]

Not every good UK university is in the Russell Group, but every university in the Russell Group is a good university. There are published leagues of UK universities, based on research, student ratings and other factors. Don't read too much into the fine details of those lists, which can be somewhat skewed. However, you don't get to be near the top of those lists by being bad, or near the bottom by being good. They break down the rankings by faculty, so you can judge if the place is well rated for your subject.

Of course, elitists might say that only Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and Imperial count.

[MrSlack]

I went to a Russel Group 20 years ago (one of the red brick ones) and studied EE. I got the impression that the staff were more interested in the research than the teaching and working out who's arse to lick was a most valuable skill. The lectures and tutorials were pathetically disorganised, my tutor was disinterested and damn right rude most of the time and I genuinely feel like I was shafted after the first year so I taught myself the material and skipped lectures and tutorials and just turned up for the exams and tutor sessions.

Now I do something completely different. Waste of money.

[tom66]

University of Leeds is decent. I'm still studying here. I'd probably give it 8/10. Good labs, equipment and teaching staff, but some aspects of the course seem poorly thought out, and a lot of the modules require a very strong understanding of theory.

[coppice]

University of Leeds is decent. I'm still studying here. I'd probably give it 8/10. Good labs, equipment and teaching staff, but some aspects of the course seem poorly thought out,

Nice

... and a lot of the modules require a very strong understanding of theory.

You say that like its a negative quality for a university course. You're at a respectable university, not technician school.

[MrSlack]

We had to learn Maxwell's equations under theory but never managed to get a conclusive view in biasing a transistor. YMMV.

[tggzzz]

... and a lot of the modules require a very strong understanding of theory.

I should hope so too. I would reject any university that didn't have such a requirement.

Universities should be producing (inexperienced) professional engineers - not amateur bodgers.

[grumpydoc]

I went to a Russel Group 20 years ago (one of the red brick ones) and studied EE. I got the impression that the staff were more interested in the research than the teaching and working out who's arse to lick was a most valuable skill. The lectures and tutorials were pathetically disorganised, my tutor was disinterested and damn right rude most of the time and I genuinely feel like I was shafted after the first year so I taught myself the material and skipped lectures and tutorials and just turned up for the exams and tutor sessions.

Now I do something completely different. Waste of money.

20 years ago that description probably fitted a large number of UK universities and university departments. I suspect it is a little better these days because the money can vote with its feet, so to speak.

However university should be thought of as a place to learn, not a place to be taught.

[tggzzz]

However university should be thought of as a place to learn, not a place to be taught.

Nicely put.

[MrSlack]

It's a place to be supported in your learning, which was thoroughly lacking in my case at least. Otherwise you might as well sit on your arse at home and work it out with a pencil and coffee, which is what I did anyway. Being mumbled at for four hours a week for a semester on something that requires imperative experience of applications isn't productive.

I currently spend a large amount of my time fixing broken graduates who did compsci here and I'm convinced nothing has changed. There is an incredibly disparity between the real world and the theoretical ideals taught by universities in the UK. I don't expect people to be trained for industry but I do expect people to have at least some idea of precisely where they are heading.

Now some of our guys come from former socialist Eastern European countries with unheard of technical universities and I'd take them over a Cambridge graduate in a snap. Universally motivated, well educated, efficient, good communicators, productive and a good gender balance.

YMMV but I think the whole thing is broken.

[dannyf]

It's a place to be supported in your learning,

That's probably the most impressive thing about Harvard. They really do all they can to support their students. on campus and off campus.

I would also argue that the most important thing at universities, and especially graduate schools, is networking. Technical knowledge is easy to learn and often obsolete before you leave school, with the exception of math. Once you have learned how to analyze unstructured problems, the rest is easy.

Networking, however, is not.

[MrSlack]

This. You're 100% right.