<p>Right. I wonder which university you’d recommend if the schools were between Dartmouth and Duke.</p>
<p>One is an ivy, the other is some southern school :rolleyes:</p>
<p>UCLA’s been in the 25-26 range for years. I’m not sure how that makes it ‘fringe.’</p>
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<p>it’s an inside joke.</p>
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<p>Yes i was faced with a similar decision a few years ago. Choosing not to learn at UCLA was one of the best decisions of my life :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>That seems a bit strong no? Imperial is at least a notch below M and C in quality. Or did you mean in terms of being their super-prestigious technical school, like IIT is in India?</p>
<p>Choose Imperial OP. Just because Imperial won’t be as fun as UCLA, it will only be for 3-4 years of your life, and you can still have fun-you’re in london for christs sake! Plus if you wanted fun at university, you should have gone to west virginia or leeds uni</p>
<p>Imperial in the UK is considered overall, a notch below Oxbridge, but even some of its engineering, computing courses are considered by the British and Europeans to be even better than Oxford!! Imperial and LSE (depending on which subject you are going for) is considered the best universities in Europe and UK after Oxbridge.</p>
What in the world are you talking about? Dartmouth and Duke have equal reputations (top 10ish) in the United States and are more comparable to Imperial’s standing in the U.K. UCLA is not in the same league and would be more akin to a Leeds in the U.K.</p>
<p>I suggest you look up the definition of “fringe” as you will discover that UCLA is indeed a fringe top 25 school, which is not an insult or whatever you interpreted it to be.</p>
<p>“I suggest you look up the definition of “fringe” as you will discover that UCLA is indeed a fringe top 25 school, which is not an insult or whatever you interpreted it to be.”</p>
<p>Coming from you goldenboy, it couldn’t be interpreted as anything else but an insult.</p>
<p>I’m getting the feeling that you only made this comparison based on numerical standings on respective national rankings, which I feel is a faulty comparison. For example, I don’t think the University of Edinburgh (which is a great school, usually ranked between 14 and 16 on league tables) is as selective or prestigious as Cornell. </p>
<p>In any case, I think UCLA matches up with any of the top 8 schools in the UK, with exception to Oxbridge of course.</p>
<p>I can spin things too! Nationally, UCLA is a top 5 public school and Imperial is as well ;)</p>
<p>Also, arguing for “national” reputation is irrelevent since the OP wants to travel around various countries. UCLA and Imperial are peers with regard to international reputation.</p>
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<p>Right, like anyone believes you didn’t use ‘fringe’ as an insult; and, for the record, every time i’ve heard the term “fringe” used, it’s always had a negative connotation.</p>
<p>@RML Yes, but that is due to reputation of Oxford. If you actually take a look at the quality of education your receive in Imperial and the rankings for engineering and computing, Imperial is comparable if not even better in Oxford. </p>
<p>Right now, i study at Dulwich College, a boarding school in south london and here many boys acknowledge that Imperial in the field of science/engineering/tech is on par with oxford if not better. If you don’t believe me, go on the student room and ask, i don’t wanna waste anymore time on a thread which OP has already made his/her decision.</p>
<p>ruvermillion, I’m a product of a British university myself, so there’s no need to do more research on it. And, based on personal experience, even though some would say Imperial has a top-ranked engineering and computing departments, the vast majority of the top students would still rather end up doing any of those majors at Oxford than at Imperial.</p>
<p>I think I know what goldenboy is trying to say. He was trying to view UCLA as how it is perceived in America; He wasn’t comparing it directly to Imperial as how the people around the world view them. </p>
<p>goldenboy, I think UCLA is viewed more as a U of Manchester kind of university in the UK, not Leeds. Remember that there are only about 110 chartered universities in the UK as opposed to more than 2 thousand in America. Manchester, like UCLA, is huge, but is still selective, heavy in research and has many departments that are ranked top 10. It also has a global appeal, or more so than Leeds has. Leeds can be viewed as how UIUC or Texas-Austin is viewed in America.</p>