<p>I got offers from KCL and Manchester for Computer Science.</p>
<p>Which one is better in terms of graduate prospects and for computer science?</p>
<p>the international reputation which one is better?</p>
<p>Thanks=]</p>
<p>I would say that internationally, King’s College London (and the University of London of which it is a part) is better known than Manchester. Someone pointed out in another thread that in the United States few people have even heard of the city of Manchester.</p>
<p>Also remember that Britain has a very stratified society, based both on class and region. Some of these attitudes have eroded over time, but there are definitely still traces of them. King’s College London would generally be considered “posher” (i.e. higher class), while the University of Manchester is generally considered more “Northern” and “Working Class”. I don’t know how this affects employment in the field of computer science, maybe it really doesn’t matter any more. And maybe you will find you like the sort of people who go to Manchester better than those who go to KCL, or vice versa. It’s more of a cultural thing, sometimes foreigners are surprised to find that there isn’t just one “British” or “English” culture, instead there are many different cultures.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>if i want to apply to the States for master or postgrad, does it matter, if I’m a graduate from KCL or Manchester?</p>
<p>I think what KEVP is saying is Manchester doesn’t fulfill American fantasies of England. It’s pretty gritty, and quite far away from period dramas or Richard Curtis movie view of the country. However, it’s quite a cool place. I believe it has one of the highest concentrations of students in Europe. Much cheaper than living in London. It rains A LOT though. </p>
<p>Search YouTube for “coronation street”. This is a soap opera set in Manchester. It’s more diverse than corrie though and there is a large Asian population (plus a small China town and a “curry mile”). </p>
<p>There are hundreds of regional accents in the UK. You will encounter them at any uni because people come from all over the country. After a while you don’t notice that much because you get used to people, but at first you might not understand much.</p>
<p>I doubt that even 1 in 100 Americans have heard of either of these unis. But that is irrelevant. You need to find out if employers in your field will rate a degree from Kings or Manchester. </p>
<p>The main part of Kings is in quite a glamorous location in central London. It will cost a fortune to live close by so you might end up living further away and traveling into the centre each day. London is massive compared to Manchester. Maybe 10 times larger. Also probably more transport links to the rest of Europe. Manchester is more central if you want to see some of the UK, but I know most Americans have little interest in anything outside of London (so in London you will get more visitors).</p>
<p>I’m a current Manchester student, although not in CS. That said, I believe that Manc is quite well regarded for CS - a lot of work on early computers was done here (eg Kilburn’s work). Manc is also very well regarded on a national, and particularly international stage - it ranks roughly 40th worldwide overall. </p>
<p>There are very few places that fulfil the American fantasy of a bucolic, picturesque England. Both cities are very multicultural and your experience of England is unlikely to be what you might expect from watching a film like The Holiday or Notting Hill. </p>
<p>I’m not a great fan of London, personally - it’s incredibly expensive, the novelty of sightseeing soon wears off and students tend to be quite scattered across the city, so you don’t get the ‘student village’ feel that you get in Fallowfield and the surrounding areas of Manc. Manchester is more compact (2m residents of whom ~80,000 are students) as opposed to London’s 7m) but you will never run out of things to do, and if you want to go to London it’s only 2 hours away by train, and there’s also an international airport in case you want to visit Europe.</p>
<p>If you do opt for London, just make sure you can afford to live there. In Manc I pay £80pw for a lovely big double room in a house I share with friends, whereas people in London pay 2-3x that. Similarly, a years bus travel in Manchester is £200, compared to several pounds a day in London.</p>
<p>“If you do opt for London, just make sure you can afford to live there. In Manc I pay £80pw for a lovely big double room in a house I share with friends, whereas people in London pay 2-3x that. Similarly, a years bus travel in Manchester is £200, compared to several pounds a day in London.”</p>
<p>This is so, so true. The cost differential is massive. When I lived in London I was paying about 3 times as much as friends living in Manchester and Leeds for equivalent accommodation. Plus I was miles away from my university and had to pay travel costs on top of that.</p>
<p>i hv visited the computer science department last week… i thk is called kilburn building or sth… I quite like the building tbh…</p>
<p>but apparently Im studying in London atm, and im quite used to the transportation system in London…</p>
<p>but according to QS ranking , kings is higher than manchester…
however the local british ranking, the complete university guide, manchester is higher than kings…</p>
<p>so which one should i trust…</p>
<p>i thk the money matter is not as important as the quality of teaching, the graduate prospects…</p>
<p>If you know that you can afford to live in London, then that’s fine, but I think it’s probably something that takes a lot of international students by surprise. </p>
<p>The transport system (for students) in Manchester is a doddle. You’ll probably never leave Oxford / Wilmslow Road, which is essentially one big straight road which is also Europe’s busiest bus route. Along that road is everything you’ll need - city centre, nightlife, uni, halls, supermarkets and private houses for second & third year. </p>
<p>With regards to the prestige overall, you could barely fit a hair between the two, so there are others things that you should base your decision on first. Have you looked at the details of the course? Two degrees can have the same name, but very different content.</p>
<p>I have no idea what the OP’s “fantasy of Britain” is, so I cannot tell him whether King’s College London or the University of Manchester will better fill that fantasy. I am pretty sure you will find them different environments, and that to this day British people will react differently (whether consciously or unconsciously) to people whose degrees come from these two institutions. Some will react better to one or the other. People in London consider Manchester to be “the North” while people in Manchester consider London to be “the South”.</p>
<p>These sorts of attitudes are so subconscious that most British people don’t realize they are making them.</p>
<p>(And I am sure that many more people have heard of the University of London internationally, even in the U.S., than have heard of the Universtiy of Manchester)</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>If you look at map you will find Manchester is in the north - middle of England and London is in the south east. I am not sure why this should be unknown to anyone, especially to people in the UK. Manchester is famously pretty wet due to its geographical position but if you come from somewhere hot and dry, you will find all of the UK cold and wet relative to what you’re used to.</p>
<p>Of course Manchester is in the North and London is in the South. The geographical realities are what they are, but to American minds, the UK is a small island and just about anywhere that you would actually wish to go is very easily accessible from both Manchester and London. Hell, you can get to France by train from either in a matter of a few hours. </p>
<p>I’ve never been entirely sure that Manchester deserves its rainy reputation - I don’t think it’s any worse than Bristol (my hometown, in the SW).</p>
<p>so which one is better? I</p>
<p>There’s really not that much difference in terms of academics.</p>
<p>This is the problem. Americans think of Britain as a small island and assume that there is a single “British” or “English” culture, when in fact there are many. There really are different cultures in different regions of England. (and even different cultures in the same region!). This can be very baffling to foreigners, who are kindof expecting all Brits to be the same.</p>
<p>This leads to regional stereotypes. So if someone says “I’m from Manchester” or “I’m from London” people make certain assumptions about them. The British themselves are often unaware that they are making these assumptions.</p>
<p>I don’t know where you will be happier. By American standards, all of these places are very close together. But by British standards they are far apart. (There’s an old saying, “Americans think 100 years is a long time, British think 100 miles is a long distance”)</p>
<p>Have you thought about which Britain you are looking for? Maybe Manchester is the Britain you are looking for, maybe KCL is. I can’t decide for you. I don’t want you to be disappointed if you get to the UK and find you are in a different Britain then the one you were hoping for.</p>
<p>KEVP</p>
<p>Kings. Far better university.</p>