vicade:

Oxford or Middlesex , use your head people. school does not teach you how to make money. Use your head. Education is an advantage but not the focal point of being successful in Life. I did my Masters degree in Scotland and Bsc. in Babcock and today i run my own Professional Certification Business covering IT management topics in Lagos state.

It does not teach how to make money but never under-estimate the network of friends/mates you will get going to a good school.

Some of my friends that went to Imperial and London Business School are working in the counters at ASDA and Tesco back in the UK

Probably they studied Physical Education in Imperial.
Working in the counters of ASDA and Tesco? They need counselling.

Imagination is greater than Knowledge . Although Paid Education gives one an edge/advantage,one has to look beyond the ordinary.
What you become in life has more to do with you and your vision than the schools you attended

I agree but if i have the same vision as a student that went to a 3rd rated school while i graduated from Imperial College. . . .Don't you think i will have a slight edge over him?

~Sauron~:

Probably they studied Physical Education in Imperial.
Working in the counters of ASDA and Tesco? They need counselling.

LWKMD

i wont even mention the unis i wanna

bluespice:

i wont even mention the unis i wanna

That you wanna . . . . . .  [dish . . . . or . . . . . go to?]

ctrume:

As a matter of fact,one studied business management at manchester and d other has an mba from cardiff,d one wt an msc from leeds could only get a 45k per month job at one environmental regulatory organisation in abuja,

how much did he/she earn before going for Msc/MBA, i have a feeling they've never worked before to even accept 45k or they work for a non-profit organisation
the amount you earn it not just about your paper, its about you, your work experience and the company!

~Sauron~:

It does not teach how to make money but never under-estimate the network of friends/mates you will get going to a good school.

Probably they studied Physical Education in Imperial.
Working in the counters of ASDA and Tesco? They need counselling.

I agree but if i have the same vision as a student that went to a 3rd rated school while i graduated from Imperial College. . . .Don't you think i will have a slight edge over him?

I agree with your points and they did not study physical education. ,

I personally believe in judging an individual solely on his abilities not on the type of school he attended but Life ain't fair and that's the way it is

My point still remains. If you attend Middlesex for example and you are imaginative and inspired and see a GAP to explore you just might employ all these LSE guys to run your business for you.

Most of the Billionaires(Both Clean and Dirty money) in Nigeria know nothing about stuffs like potters five forces model and all that. Most of them even graduated with third class degrees from normal schools and are employing first class graduates from top schools.

How about the igbo Millionaires who are only educated up to secondary school ?

First class in Economics from LSE might give you a great job under an Enterpreneur who never went to a university but had the will and courage to imagine and create- That is what no University in the world can teach and that to me is really what matters.

vicade:

I agree with your points and they did not study physical education. ,

I personally believe in judging an individual solely on his abilities not on the type of school he attended but Life ain't fair and that's the way it is

My point still remains. If you attend Middlesex for example and you are imaginative and inspired and see a GAP to explore you just might employ all these LSE guys to run your business for you.

Most of the Billionaires(Both Clean and Dirty money) in Nigeria know nothing about stuffs like potters five forces model and all that. Most of them even graduated with third class degrees from normal schools and are employing first class graduates from top schools.

How about the igbo Millionaires who are only educated up to secondary school ?

First class in Economics from LSE might give you a great job under an Enterpreneur who never went to a university but had the will and courage to imagine and create- That is what no University in the world can teach and that to me is really what matters.

The point you are conveniently omitting is that a larger proportion of those in the top universities are more likely to have the superior abilities.

And these abilities would be further honed by the quality of the education and the company they get and engage with in top schools.

Us wey no go school for JD and Yankee, God go help us

Sagamite, welldone, you hear? I dey see your work o. E be like se u be asawo because you no dey siddon for one place for this NL . Me just dey waka pass, so I say make I hail you.

semid4lyfe:

Us wey no go school for JD and Yankee, God go help us

Sagamite, welldone, you hear? I dey see your work o. E be like se u be asawo because you no dey siddon for one place for this NL . Me just dey waka pass, so I say make I hail you.

Abi o.

Na anywhere belle face I dey do so.

@ Sagamite: OP.

Whichever way you arrived at this list, it is both screwed and misleading. Irrespective of the source of your ratings, the reality is that the top notch, research-led universities in the Uk belong to what is known as and called the Russell Group Universities, the equivalent of the IVY LEAGUE UNIs in the USA. Check it out on http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/our-universities/

Devonian:

@ Sagamite: OP.

Whichever way you arrived at this list, it is both screwed and misleading. Irrespective of the source of your ratings, the reality is that the top notch, research-led universities in the Uk belong to what is known as and called the Russell Group Universities, the equivalent of the IVY LEAGUE UNIs in the USA. Check it out on http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/our-universities/

Misleading in what way?

All the Russell group are in the top 2 leagues tables I created, so what is your point?

Or are you saying the Russell Group itself are the top unis, and any uni not included is inferior to all unis included in the Russell Group?

Sagamite:

Misleading in what way?

All the Russell group are in the top 2 leagues tables I created, so what is your point?

Or are you saying the Russell Group itself are the top unis, and any uni not included is inferior to all unis included in the Russell Group?

My point is that the equivalent of American Ivy League universities in the UK is the Russell Group universities. These are “world class, research-led universities.”  Whilst I’m not saying that UK universities which are not part of the Russell Group aren’t good, Russell Group universities should, by all means, have been listed in the First Division. So, for example, Liverpool and Queen's, Belfast, should have appeared in the First Division (as opposed to appearing in the Second Division). Leaving out these two Russell Group universities from the First Division, you listed non- Russell Group universities namely Bath, Durham, Exeter, Lancaster, Loughborough, St Andrews, and York in the First Division. So, what I find misleading is the classification of Liverpool and Queen's, Belfast, as Second Division UK universities. They aren't. They're First Division universities and should rightly take their place before Bath, Durham, Exeter, Lancaster, Loughborough, St Andrews, and York, even if that implies pushing some of them into Second Division.

Devonian:

My point is that the equivalent of American Ivy League universities in the UK is the Russell Group universities. These are “world class, research-led universities.”  Whilst I’m not saying that UK universities which are not part of the Russell Group aren’t good, Russell Group universities should, by all means, have been listed in the First Division. So, for example, Liverpool and Queen's, Belfast, should have appeared in the First Division (as opposed to appearing in the Second Division). Leaving out these two Russell Group universities from the First Division, you listed non- Russell Group universities namely Bath, Durham, Exeter, Lancaster, Loughborough, St Andrews, and York in the First Division. So, what I find misleading is the classification of Liverpool and Queen's, Belfast, as Second Division UK universities. They aren't. They're First Division universities and should rightly take their place before Bath, Durham, Exeter, Lancaster, Loughborough, St Andrews, and York, even if that implies pushing some of them into Second Division.

[Yeah. As I expected jejune arguments.]

Mate, don't be debating about things you don't know or have not researched thoroughly.

Let me put it to you in a blunt manner, there is no way in HELL, you would compare an average Liverpool/Belfast grad to an average Durham or St Andrews grad.

Let me take it across the ocean, there is no way in HELL you would compare a Brown grad (Ivy League member) to an MIT/Chicago/Stanford grad.

One of the marks of comprehensive thinking is having a strong appetite to do unlimited searches for relevant information and making an effort to understand the basis behind the obtained information, rather than fall for the first apparent glossy/quality information you find.

Your awareness of Russell group and the hype behind it does not mean it is some holy grail of the best Unis.

There is no chance in HELL that Leeds compare to Durham.

Let me put it to you that some of the Uni's in the Russell group I suspect were elected on political grounds to cater for a geographic spread. There was no way they were going to select the top research unis in the UK without ensuring representations from across different regions and recognise some historic cities/unis. Hence the appearance of Cardiff (otherwise no Welsh uni) and Belfast (Northern Ireland).

And for your information, Ivy League was more of a representation (initially) of some sports conference made up of top unis. Not necessarily the best unis.

Liverpool, Belfast, Cardiff are NOT IN THE LEEEAGUE of Durham, St Andrews, Bath or York.

Being in Ivy League or Russell Group, at best, is a guarantee they are very good unis, not necessarily the best unis. That is naive and I hope you are young.

You don't compare universities you need BBC at A-levels to enter with universities you need AAB to enter. Different class, young man.

.

@Sagamite

Your list is spot on, the problem for International students like me is the fees, i have gone through those schools on ur list since last yr, their ranking changes little. The fees put some of us off from having ago.
Paying £10.000 + and with this economic situation is not a joke. Weldone though

justwise:

@Sagamite

Your list is spot on, the problem for International students like me is the fees, i have gone through those schools on your list since last yr, their ranking changes little. The fees put some of us off from having ago.
Paying £10.000 + and with this economic situation is not a joke. Weldone though

Yeah, I get your point. Thanks.

To do a masters in Finance or Management at LSE will burn between £15K to £18K in your pocket (even as a UK citizen) just for fees alone, not to even consider cost of living.

Life aint fair, the rich sometimes have it good and easier. People should just go to the best Uni they can afford and try and be tactical in life.

Sagamite:

Yeah, I get your point. Thanks.

To do a masters in Finance or Management at LSE will burn between £15K to £18K in your pocket (even as a UK citizen) just for fees alone, not to even consider cost of living.

Life aint fair, the rich sometimes have it good and easier. People should just go to the best Uni they can afford and try and be tactical in life.

That is what i'm going to do, then take the option of a yr work placement to gain work experience. Paying £10,000 plus and maintenace money is not a joke.

.

undergrad or grad studies?
u in the uk or abroad?
what field of study?
i hope u know google is ur friend as well

Here are some of the courses that I am aware of as signature courses of the top universities.

Basically, when I say signature courses, these are the courses if you go to that specified university to study the course, it is almost impossible for you to ever go wrong and/or (some) suggests you are inch sharp. Most are courses they are arguably in the top 5 (if not 1) nationally and/or they are world renowned to an extent.

Keyword is "I am aware of", there are definitely more for some unis, especially for the top 10 unis, but I have kept it to a maximum of 3 courses per university and these are the ones I know or shoots into my head straight away.

  1) Cambridge - SPS (Social and Political Sciences), Mathematics, Law
  2) Oxford - PPE (Politics, Philosophy & Economics), Economics, Law
  3) LSE - Economics, Accounting & Finance and Law
  4) Imperial - Mathematics, Engineering and Computer science
  5) UCL - Medicine, Law and Architecture
  6) Bristol - Law, Mathematics
  7) Warwick - Mathematics, Economics and MORSE (Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics)
8.) Edinburgh - Computer science, History, Politics
  9) King's College London - Law, Psychiatry and War/Conflict Studies
10) St Andrews - Philosophy
11) Durham - Economics, Law
12) York - I can't think of any at the moment
13) Bath - Sport & Exercise Sciences, Architecture
14) Manchester - Mathematics, Engineering and Dentistry
15) Nottingham - Architecture and Economics
16) Sheffield - Engineering
17) Birmingham - I can't think of any at the moment
18) Southampton - Environmental Science
19) Lancaster - Management
20) Newcastle - Medicine, Dentistry
21) Leeds - Dentistry
22) Loughborough - Sport & Exercise Sciences, Physiotherapy
23) Exeter - I can't think of any at the moment
24) Glasgow - Medicine, Dentistry

Cardiff, Brunel and Reading in 2nd tier list? Sagamite, I'm not so sure I agree with you there.

ocelot2006:

Cardiff, Brunel and Reading in 2nd tier list? Sagamite, I'm not so sure I agree with you there.

Oga, why you say so?

Which of the first tier you wan replace or even compare them to?

Agree with u, this Russell classification of universities is politics. Common-sense will tell that a degree from Queens Belfast won't go far. . . except u aspire to work as a teller.

Sagamite:

Oga, why you say so?

Which of the first tier you wan replace or even compare them to?

Please don't get me wrong, all the schools you listed in the first group deserve to be there. Still, I feel that the schools I mentioned also deserve to be there based on their reputation. For example, Brunel outperforms a school like Sheffield University in Engineering and Product Design (Brunel leads). The same goes with the Sport Sciences, courses that Brunel university excels when compared with MOST universities (well, excluding Loughborough Uni).

And I consider Cardiff to be quite a strong school academically . By the way, you never even mentioned Cranfield Uni. I would've given my left nut to go to both schools for my postgrad studies.

ocelot2006:

Please don't get me wrong, all the schools you listed in the first group deserve to be there. Still, I feel that the schools I mentioned also deserve to be there based on their reputation. For example, Brunel outperforms a school like Sheffield University in Engineering and Product Design (Brunel leads). The same goes with the Sport Sciences, courses that Brunel university excels when compared with MOST universities (well, excluding Loughborough Uni).

So does Newcastle and Glasgow blow Manchester out the of the water in Medicine.

So does Edinburgh blow LSE and UCL out in Computing.

So does King's blow Oxford out in Music and blows LSE in Philosophy as well.

That does not mean the formers have to be above the latter unis in reputation based on one (or even 3) subject(s). You can't say just because a university is particularly good (not even strong or the best) in one subject, then they are in the top League, otherwise RGU that is good in Oil and Gas would lay claim to a right to be in the Top 10 unis with best reputation.

Brunel's reputation is no where near Sheffield's and no where near the rising star of Loughborough.

Based on the criteria I put down for reputation (take a look at them again), Brunel cannot fit in the first league.

ocelot2006:

And I consider Cardiff to be quite a strong school academically . By the way, you never even mentioned Cranfield Uni. I would've given my left nut to go to both schools for my postgrad studies.

Cardiff is a good school does not mean it is a first league Uni in reputation, just like Sheffield Wednesday is a good football club does not mean it is premiership material. Cardiff is particularly weaker than the top unis in entry standards and the rest of the criteria are just so-so. You don't go to Cardiff and think it would be easy to get a high flying job or have a much better chance than someone from Sussex.

Cranfield is a postgrad only uni just like Birbeck College, so it is hard to include them in the league on a like for like comparison. Even if I did, it will fall in division 2.

Brunel? Better Than Sheffield? Loughborough?

lol.

[size=18pt]Research Grants[/size]

Research grants are monies awarded to the top research institutions to conduct academic research within their fields of expertise. A large chunk of these grants come from the UK university funding body (Note: Unlike the US, almost all UK universities are publicly owned, hence the government funds them).

Apart from the normal operational funding (based on requirement and size e.g. staff salary, facilities sourcing and maintenance etc), the UK government puts some funds aside which they disburse based on the quality of a university in performing research. The decision of how to disburse this extra fund is based on the results of the national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The RAE is an independent assessment of the quality of research in UK universities carried out on behalf of the higher education funding bodies. A panel of experts produces a research quality profile for each area of research within a university. The research quality profile of a university determines how much quality-related funding will ultimately be received by that university.

Also, another major chunk of grants are contracts from foundations, charities, international bodies (UK Government departments, EC, UN, World Bank etc) and top international companies (GSK, Shell etc) outsourcing research work key to their areas of interest. They award grants to universities they respect and feel are the best to conduct research work they require (E.g. I think Bill Gates foundation gave about 100 million pounds grant, spread over some years, to Cambridge University recently).

I have conducted a list of the top 10 universities with the highest research grant as it is part of my key judgement tool of reputation.

Caveat: Size of university departments might imply higher grants as you have more departments participating and requesting research funds. Secondly, some kind of researches are more expensive than others, (E.g. Engineering/Medical research vs Marketing research), hence those unis with more social science expertise might receive lower grants than those with technical expertise. That does not mean they are inferior. Hence, aspects of this caveat is the reason some of the top universities like LSE, York, Bath and St Andrews will not be in the top 10.

Top 10 in Research grant and contracts 2009

  1) Oxford                          £341m
  2) Cambridge                     £260m
  3) Imperial                        £287m
  4) UCL                             £249m
  5) Manchester                   £176m
  6) Edinburgh                      £175m
  7) King's College London      £135m
8.) Glasgow                        £126m
  9) Leeds                           £112m
10) Bristol                           £101m

Hi Sagamite, jus came across dis post. Pls I need ur opinion on good skools for MSc finance and investment in d UK apart from Imperial, since u av done ur research,I believe u will knw d good ones around where I will get value for money and also be hot cake upon completion, all their websites look temptin so am kind of confused.

Thanks

likeithot:

Hi Sagamite, jus came across dis post. Pls I need your opinion on good skools for MSc finance and investment in d UK apart from Imperial, since u av done your research,I believe u will knw d good ones around where I will get value for money and also be hot cake upon completion, all their websites look temptin so am kind of confused.

Thanks

I think you should consider in this order:

1) LSE/Cambridge/Oxford
2) City
3) Imperial
4) Any of the other universities in the First Division + Aston + Reading
5) Heriot Watt
6) Any of the other universities in the Second Division
7) Others

I think you should consider in this order:

1) LSE/Cambridge/Oxford
2) City
3) Imperial
4) Any of the other universities in the First Division + Aston + Reading
5) Heriot Watt
6) Any of the other universities in the Second Division
7) Others


Thanks Sagamite, I appreciate your help. God Bless u.

Hello Sagamite,
I'm kinda new to this forum even though i'v been following your insightful posts for a while.
I'm contemplating an international management career in the IT industry. Can you please lend me your expert advice on which quality UK business schools offer the most reputable Management MSCs with a bias in IT? Someone once reccomented Strathclyde, but the name sounds strange so I really need an insider's opinion!
Also, which business schools have a subtantial number of students venturing into IT management after graduation?
I'm counting on U and y'all keep up the good work!!!

When I was first reading your post and you said an MBA with IT slant, I knew I had read about one but could not recall the name. But when you mentioned Strathclyde, it seems to fit the hole.

The reality is that an overwhelming number of MBA candidates do not do an MBA to end up in the IT industry, so I don't think it is possible or realistic to see a lot of MBA schools with IT slant, hence no repute tables (as I doubt you will even find 3). I will suggest you check each universities website to see which meets your desire. A good indicator of which have the slant is to look at the other masters programme the business school offers and see if they have MSc/MPhil in business/management in IT etc, from this you can guess the business school is differentiated by its competence in IT.

Strathclyde is quite a good uni. It is one of the unis that punch above its weight as I see their grads in good jobs. I suspect the reason for this is that it is a Scottish uni, hence easier to get a job after graduation as the Scottish economy is vibrant, few people want to relocate there to work hence less competition, and big Scottish firms like to show they employ locally hence focus on the few good unis in Scotland for their recruitment. This gives their grads some advantage as they get good jobs more easily and once the experience with a top firm is on their CV, it is easy to transfer to good jobs elsewhere in the UK or World.

This is why I was saying earlier that St Andrews and Edinburgh are like the Oxford and Cambridge of Scotland, since they are the best 2 schools there, the companies love their grads. Companies (like RBS, HBOS, Standard Life, Scottish and Newcastle, Scottish and Southern Energy, BBC and Scottish arm/office of the blue chip firms) recruit heavily from them as the financial, energy, O&G, Brewery, IT & Electronics (Silicon Glen) sectors in Scotland is huge and vibrant. The cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow are the second and third largest financial centres in the UK after London. Edinburgh is the sixth largest in Europe. Most brilliant Scottish students study in Scotland as education is free for them compared to if they came to England or if they were English, so the companies know they would get good material that are willing to stay with the firm for the long term as they are locals.

Basically, my point is that it is easier to get a job if you go to Strathclyde than if you go to a comparably good uni in England like Leicester.