Help me choose! (Physics)
Hi! I’m a UoN offer holder for Physics MSci, and I’m unsure about where to go. I’m currently an offer holder from Imperial College, Exeter, UCL and Southampton (although I’m not too interested in Southampton) too, so now is time to decide where I’m going to firm and insure.
I’m struggling to split the four of them. I’m not worried about name, so please no saying just firm Imperial because it’s Imperial. All four of my unis are Russell group, so it’s not like I’m gonna struggle to get a job. I honestly really like Nottingham, but I want to know how flexible the physics course is. I don’t know enough about UCL, and I have huge doubts about Imperial. Any and all comments to help me decide are so welcome. 💙
I’m struggling to split the four of them. I’m not worried about name, so please no saying just firm Imperial because it’s Imperial. All four of my unis are Russell group, so it’s not like I’m gonna struggle to get a job. I honestly really like Nottingham, but I want to know how flexible the physics course is. I don’t know enough about UCL, and I have huge doubts about Imperial. Any and all comments to help me decide are so welcome. 💙
(edited 4 weeks ago)
Imperial is the strongest academically - this has nothing to do with Imperial as a "brand name" but simply that it's one of larger physics departments in the UK that is engaged with a large proportion of leading research. This may be less important to you if you aren't that interested in pursuing research, but there is that. However that doesn't necessarily mean that teaching is of high quality - just that you will likely be exposed to more advanced topics earlier in the course and thus reach a greater depth by the end.
Southampton has a strong physics department also though, and their notable flagship programmes where the top couple of students of each cohort do a year of research at CERN or the Harvard-Smithsonian Observatory. For a prospective research career that's definitely appealing although you have to be at the very top of the cohort. Outside of those things though it's generally a strong department academically (albeit not as strong as Imperial.
Exeter has strengths in exoplanet research and is reasonably good otherwise (although quite a bit less strong than Imperial and a a fair bit less strong than Southampton in my opinion). Teaching in the department is a bit hit or miss (I know from both personal and anecdotal experience), although generally people get on well enough overall. I've known 4 people from there who went on to do PhDs (3 at Exeter and 1 at Imperial) and 2 more who went into work after graduating (1 into a graduate software dev role with the met office, 1 into a random non-grad role). So people on the whole seem to get on reasonably well other than the latter exception (who was happy enough with where he ended up in the end anyway I understand). Although perhaps notably all the PhDs I knew from there went into industry after completing the PhD and none continued in academia lol...
UCL I think is not really stronger than Exeter and not as strong as Southampton or Imperial, outside of planetary science which they have some strengths in. Otherwise you're really just going there for the London experience and/or to go to a target uni (which may be of relevance if you want to go into investment banking or management consulting - as in that case your options are really Imperial or UCL). I think it's a bit overrated on the whole for physics specifically though.
Don't know anything about Nottingham, sorry
Southampton has a strong physics department also though, and their notable flagship programmes where the top couple of students of each cohort do a year of research at CERN or the Harvard-Smithsonian Observatory. For a prospective research career that's definitely appealing although you have to be at the very top of the cohort. Outside of those things though it's generally a strong department academically (albeit not as strong as Imperial.
Exeter has strengths in exoplanet research and is reasonably good otherwise (although quite a bit less strong than Imperial and a a fair bit less strong than Southampton in my opinion). Teaching in the department is a bit hit or miss (I know from both personal and anecdotal experience), although generally people get on well enough overall. I've known 4 people from there who went on to do PhDs (3 at Exeter and 1 at Imperial) and 2 more who went into work after graduating (1 into a graduate software dev role with the met office, 1 into a random non-grad role). So people on the whole seem to get on reasonably well other than the latter exception (who was happy enough with where he ended up in the end anyway I understand). Although perhaps notably all the PhDs I knew from there went into industry after completing the PhD and none continued in academia lol...
UCL I think is not really stronger than Exeter and not as strong as Southampton or Imperial, outside of planetary science which they have some strengths in. Otherwise you're really just going there for the London experience and/or to go to a target uni (which may be of relevance if you want to go into investment banking or management consulting - as in that case your options are really Imperial or UCL). I think it's a bit overrated on the whole for physics specifically though.
Don't know anything about Nottingham, sorry
(edited 1 month ago)
If you like Nottingham then it's best to talk to current students there because if you take advice here then chances are people will base it on anything that they have read instead of their own experiences.
Like for example to say UCL is not as strong as Southampton or even Exeter. UCL is both strong in theoretical and experimental physics. It is quite strong in particle physics and condensed matter. It has a center of nanotechnology on its campus. There are so many researches in which the UCL team is working with the Imperial team. But all you will hear is how one is better than the other.
This is just an example and there are many pros of UCL but I will not get into it as you want to know about Nottingham.
If you don't find a student here then go to Unibuddy and you might find someone there.
Like for example to say UCL is not as strong as Southampton or even Exeter. UCL is both strong in theoretical and experimental physics. It is quite strong in particle physics and condensed matter. It has a center of nanotechnology on its campus. There are so many researches in which the UCL team is working with the Imperial team. But all you will hear is how one is better than the other.
This is just an example and there are many pros of UCL but I will not get into it as you want to know about Nottingham.
If you don't find a student here then go to Unibuddy and you might find someone there.
Original post by Anonymous #1
If you like Nottingham then it's best to talk to current students there because if you take advice here then chances are people will base it on anything that they have read instead of their own experiences.
Like for example to say UCL is not as strong as Southampton or even Exeter. UCL is both strong in theoretical and experimental physics. It is quite strong in particle physics and condensed matter. It has a center of nanotechnology on its campus. There are so many researches in which the UCL team is working with the Imperial team. But all you will hear is how one is better than the other.
This is just an example and there are many pros of UCL but I will not get into it as you want to know about Nottingham.
If you don't find a student here then go to Unibuddy and you might find someone there.
Like for example to say UCL is not as strong as Southampton or even Exeter. UCL is both strong in theoretical and experimental physics. It is quite strong in particle physics and condensed matter. It has a center of nanotechnology on its campus. There are so many researches in which the UCL team is working with the Imperial team. But all you will hear is how one is better than the other.
This is just an example and there are many pros of UCL but I will not get into it as you want to know about Nottingham.
If you don't find a student here then go to Unibuddy and you might find someone there.
I’d hear about UCL, because based off what you just said I clearly don’t know enough about it. Would you mind expanding??
I will touch on some points:
UCL does a lot of work in Space Science. UCL' Mullard Space Science laboratory has participated in satellite missions. Their observations on black holes makes news. It is part of astrophysics and climate physics research group.
UCL center of nanotechnology: Multi floor building at UCL main campus dedicated for research for newer materials, cross science research. It was opened as a joint venture between UCL and Imperial. While Imperial has researches in various departments on their campus, UCL has a whole building dedicated to it with state of the art equipment.
UCL high energy physics group: It is one of the largest HEP groups in the country. The group is also leading ATLAS experiment. So UCL is big on particle physics though I would say that they are more on experimental side than theoretical.
These are just a few points. Now I am not saying you should join UCL based on this simply because every university has something. It's just when people say UCL physics is not strong then I beg to differ.
As for undergraduate at UCL: It is a big department and I wish it was smaller but the department is nice. The faculty is excellent. They teach well, have good amount of tutorials in small groups as well. Physics as a degree would be difficult anywhere you go but you would be able have a good work life balance here. UCL course also teaches you a lot of transferrable skills so if you do not want to continue into academia then you can easily go into finance, accounting, patent law, IB etc. I like that you get an option of choosing one module in any other department as well. UCL careers are fascinating and would help you in getting internship and jobs. Being in London has added advantage of networking and UCL has good links with employers. It is also a truly global university and has lots of societies. UCL also has its own observatory if that interests you.
Again this is about UCL and I would say compare it all the universities in your list as they might offer similar. Do look at the research groups in Physics too. If you would like to go in academia then having a research group you are interested in would be a plus. You can get summer internships as well as know academics who are working in research of the field you like. If you plan to do PhD then having a reference from an academic from similar research group would help.
On that note, Nottingham is a good university as well, while UCL has a higher research power Nottingham GPA in Physics research is also worth noting.
UCL does a lot of work in Space Science. UCL' Mullard Space Science laboratory has participated in satellite missions. Their observations on black holes makes news. It is part of astrophysics and climate physics research group.
UCL center of nanotechnology: Multi floor building at UCL main campus dedicated for research for newer materials, cross science research. It was opened as a joint venture between UCL and Imperial. While Imperial has researches in various departments on their campus, UCL has a whole building dedicated to it with state of the art equipment.
UCL high energy physics group: It is one of the largest HEP groups in the country. The group is also leading ATLAS experiment. So UCL is big on particle physics though I would say that they are more on experimental side than theoretical.
These are just a few points. Now I am not saying you should join UCL based on this simply because every university has something. It's just when people say UCL physics is not strong then I beg to differ.
As for undergraduate at UCL: It is a big department and I wish it was smaller but the department is nice. The faculty is excellent. They teach well, have good amount of tutorials in small groups as well. Physics as a degree would be difficult anywhere you go but you would be able have a good work life balance here. UCL course also teaches you a lot of transferrable skills so if you do not want to continue into academia then you can easily go into finance, accounting, patent law, IB etc. I like that you get an option of choosing one module in any other department as well. UCL careers are fascinating and would help you in getting internship and jobs. Being in London has added advantage of networking and UCL has good links with employers. It is also a truly global university and has lots of societies. UCL also has its own observatory if that interests you.
Again this is about UCL and I would say compare it all the universities in your list as they might offer similar. Do look at the research groups in Physics too. If you would like to go in academia then having a research group you are interested in would be a plus. You can get summer internships as well as know academics who are working in research of the field you like. If you plan to do PhD then having a reference from an academic from similar research group would help.
On that note, Nottingham is a good university as well, while UCL has a higher research power Nottingham GPA in Physics research is also worth noting.
Original post by Picnicl
Nottingham currently has the best research quality out of all of those for Physics (www,thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk)
That's really not going to matter for an undergraduate degree
Original post by Sinnoh
That's really not going to matter for an undergraduate degree
What are you going to go from then to decide quality? Entry standards? They can be partly due to assumed prestige rather than actual quality. In other words, how tempted are students by the name of that university, regardless of anything else. Graduate prospects? Anywhere from an ex-polytechnic to Oxbridge can have the best.
Original post by Picnicl
What are you going to go from then to decide quality? Entry standards? They can be partly due to assumed prestige rather than actual quality. In other words, how tempted are students by the name of that university, regardless of anything else. Graduate prospects? Anywhere from an ex-polytechnic to Oxbridge can have the best.
Entry standards probably do have some effect on what it's like to do the course*, since it could affect what lecturers expect of their new students. People could also decide based on course content, location, facilities and teaching methods. There is a certain amount of core degree content that people should expect in any physics course, but there is variation there - e.g. if you did physics at Surrey, you'd only learn what spin was if you did a 4th year optional module (which I think is a bit silly)
*assuming that the university is honest about their requirements. It can be in their interests to inflate grade requirements to put more pressure on applicants to choose it as their firm, but then come results day, they might accept AAB for a course that asked for A*AA.
(edited 4 weeks ago)
Original post by Anonymous #1
I will touch on some points:
UCL does a lot of work in Space Science. UCL' Mullard Space Science laboratory has participated in satellite missions. Their observations on black holes makes news. It is part of astrophysics and climate physics research group.
UCL center of nanotechnology: Multi floor building at UCL main campus dedicated for research for newer materials, cross science research. It was opened as a joint venture between UCL and Imperial. While Imperial has researches in various departments on their campus, UCL has a whole building dedicated to it with state of the art equipment.
UCL high energy physics group: It is one of the largest HEP groups in the country. The group is also leading ATLAS experiment. So UCL is big on particle physics though I would say that they are more on experimental side than theoretical.
These are just a few points. Now I am not saying you should join UCL based on this simply because every university has something. It's just when people say UCL physics is not strong then I beg to differ.
As for undergraduate at UCL: It is a big department and I wish it was smaller but the department is nice. The faculty is excellent. They teach well, have good amount of tutorials in small groups as well. Physics as a degree would be difficult anywhere you go but you would be able have a good work life balance here. UCL course also teaches you a lot of transferrable skills so if you do not want to continue into academia then you can easily go into finance, accounting, patent law, IB etc. I like that you get an option of choosing one module in any other department as well. UCL careers are fascinating and would help you in getting internship and jobs. Being in London has added advantage of networking and UCL has good links with employers. It is also a truly global university and has lots of societies. UCL also has its own observatory if that interests you.
Again this is about UCL and I would say compare it all the universities in your list as they might offer similar. Do look at the research groups in Physics too. If you would like to go in academia then having a research group you are interested in would be a plus. You can get summer internships as well as know academics who are working in research of the field you like. If you plan to do PhD then having a reference from an academic from similar research group would help.
On that note, Nottingham is a good university as well, while UCL has a higher research power Nottingham GPA in Physics research is also worth noting.
UCL does a lot of work in Space Science. UCL' Mullard Space Science laboratory has participated in satellite missions. Their observations on black holes makes news. It is part of astrophysics and climate physics research group.
UCL center of nanotechnology: Multi floor building at UCL main campus dedicated for research for newer materials, cross science research. It was opened as a joint venture between UCL and Imperial. While Imperial has researches in various departments on their campus, UCL has a whole building dedicated to it with state of the art equipment.
UCL high energy physics group: It is one of the largest HEP groups in the country. The group is also leading ATLAS experiment. So UCL is big on particle physics though I would say that they are more on experimental side than theoretical.
These are just a few points. Now I am not saying you should join UCL based on this simply because every university has something. It's just when people say UCL physics is not strong then I beg to differ.
As for undergraduate at UCL: It is a big department and I wish it was smaller but the department is nice. The faculty is excellent. They teach well, have good amount of tutorials in small groups as well. Physics as a degree would be difficult anywhere you go but you would be able have a good work life balance here. UCL course also teaches you a lot of transferrable skills so if you do not want to continue into academia then you can easily go into finance, accounting, patent law, IB etc. I like that you get an option of choosing one module in any other department as well. UCL careers are fascinating and would help you in getting internship and jobs. Being in London has added advantage of networking and UCL has good links with employers. It is also a truly global university and has lots of societies. UCL also has its own observatory if that interests you.
Again this is about UCL and I would say compare it all the universities in your list as they might offer similar. Do look at the research groups in Physics too. If you would like to go in academia then having a research group you are interested in would be a plus. You can get summer internships as well as know academics who are working in research of the field you like. If you plan to do PhD then having a reference from an academic from similar research group would help.
On that note, Nottingham is a good university as well, while UCL has a higher research power Nottingham GPA in Physics research is also worth noting.
That’s a phenomenal comment that’s really provided me a great insight and I really do appreciate it. As an environment to be within for four years, UCL does seem better suited to me than Imperial College, having seen both. The main concern I had with it was its somewhat middling reputation from the sources I have but this was really helpful, thank you! If you have anything else to share I’d appreciate it loads.
Everyone has their own personal experiences but most people love UCL and the department is quite friendly. One example I can think of is a lot of students were taking Machine learning module as optional module from other department so the physics department decided to include it as part of their options so the students were free to take another module like languages.
Also because its a research heavy institute the practical learning tied into theory is a big advantage. It improves your experiences in 3rd year group project as well as in 4th year and it gets you ready for PhD should you choose to do it.
Being part of University of London also means you can use resources from other UOL as well. Some departments also allow you to take modules in other universities - not sure about Physics though as you have to approach your department gor it. There are also a lot of opportunities for study abroad in 3rd year if you are interested.
I think reputation wise UCL has no issues either in academic or in employer circles. UCL attracts lots of excellent academics because it has the resources for research and reputation so a student who has learnt from these academics will never be looked down upon. UCL is also a target for many employers and if you do decide to leave academia UCL networking is a big plus. Of course it is on the student to use the resources.
I think reputation wise it suffers on student forums simply because it is compared to Imperial. London university rivalry is quite common but it's mostly light-hearted. Some take it quite seriously and its up to you to ignore it. Some universities do a lot of marketing so it might affect students mindset and although I do keep telling people to ignore the rankings while choosing their university I think if UCL had a reputation problem then it would suffer in rankings too but it doesn't.
Also because its a research heavy institute the practical learning tied into theory is a big advantage. It improves your experiences in 3rd year group project as well as in 4th year and it gets you ready for PhD should you choose to do it.
Being part of University of London also means you can use resources from other UOL as well. Some departments also allow you to take modules in other universities - not sure about Physics though as you have to approach your department gor it. There are also a lot of opportunities for study abroad in 3rd year if you are interested.
I think reputation wise UCL has no issues either in academic or in employer circles. UCL attracts lots of excellent academics because it has the resources for research and reputation so a student who has learnt from these academics will never be looked down upon. UCL is also a target for many employers and if you do decide to leave academia UCL networking is a big plus. Of course it is on the student to use the resources.
I think reputation wise it suffers on student forums simply because it is compared to Imperial. London university rivalry is quite common but it's mostly light-hearted. Some take it quite seriously and its up to you to ignore it. Some universities do a lot of marketing so it might affect students mindset and although I do keep telling people to ignore the rankings while choosing their university I think if UCL had a reputation problem then it would suffer in rankings too but it doesn't.
Original post by Anonymous #1
Everyone has their own personal experiences but most people love UCL and the department is quite friendly. One example I can think of is a lot of students were taking Machine learning module as optional module from other department so the physics department decided to include it as part of their options so the students were free to take another module like languages.
Also because its a research heavy institute the practical learning tied into theory is a big advantage. It improves your experiences in 3rd year group project as well as in 4th year and it gets you ready for PhD should you choose to do it.
Being part of University of London also means you can use resources from other UOL as well. Some departments also allow you to take modules in other universities - not sure about Physics though as you have to approach your department gor it. There are also a lot of opportunities for study abroad in 3rd year if you are interested.
I think reputation wise UCL has no issues either in academic or in employer circles. UCL attracts lots of excellent academics because it has the resources for research and reputation so a student who has learnt from these academics will never be looked down upon. UCL is also a target for many employers and if you do decide to leave academia UCL networking is a big plus. Of course it is on the student to use the resources.
I think reputation wise it suffers on student forums simply because it is compared to Imperial. London university rivalry is quite common but it's mostly light-hearted. Some take it quite seriously and its up to you to ignore it. Some universities do a lot of marketing so it might affect students mindset and although I do keep telling people to ignore the rankings while choosing their university I think if UCL had a reputation problem then it would suffer in rankings too but it doesn't.
Also because its a research heavy institute the practical learning tied into theory is a big advantage. It improves your experiences in 3rd year group project as well as in 4th year and it gets you ready for PhD should you choose to do it.
Being part of University of London also means you can use resources from other UOL as well. Some departments also allow you to take modules in other universities - not sure about Physics though as you have to approach your department gor it. There are also a lot of opportunities for study abroad in 3rd year if you are interested.
I think reputation wise UCL has no issues either in academic or in employer circles. UCL attracts lots of excellent academics because it has the resources for research and reputation so a student who has learnt from these academics will never be looked down upon. UCL is also a target for many employers and if you do decide to leave academia UCL networking is a big plus. Of course it is on the student to use the resources.
I think reputation wise it suffers on student forums simply because it is compared to Imperial. London university rivalry is quite common but it's mostly light-hearted. Some take it quite seriously and its up to you to ignore it. Some universities do a lot of marketing so it might affect students mindset and although I do keep telling people to ignore the rankings while choosing their university I think if UCL had a reputation problem then it would suffer in rankings too but it doesn't.
I hate league tables because they’re all so obviously biased. Like I’m reading some that puts Exeter above UCL and Imperial for Physics, and you can tell that’s just not true. I would like to know more about UCL now, because I think I might be considering it a little more! Is Unibuddy the best place to ask you think?
You can talk to current students at Unibuddy.
If you want to follow a bit unconventional method then you can go to UCL physics society on Instagram and message a few people. Although not everyone will reply.
Has the department not invited you for offer holder day? That is usually the best way to meet faculty, current students, some researchers and also have a look at the facilities. Virtual offer days are not that good in comparison. If you live close by then you can always request for an informal day. Sometimes departments will allow it if they are not busy.
In my case I also went down for a campus tour and sat there for an hour and chatted with a few students.
I am guessing you are looking at the Guardian table which I would ignore. If you do want to compare universities then look at QS tables but better to just ignore the rankings. If you want to look at graduate prospects then look at discoveruni. For earnings, ignore the 15 month data as that comes from student survey, but look at 3 years and 5 years data as that comes from the tax department.
Also have a look at the link to see where recent graduates of UCL have ended department wise
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/careers/find-out-what-our-graduates-do
You can do this for any university you are interested in by going on their career page. A good university will not shy away from data.
If you want to follow a bit unconventional method then you can go to UCL physics society on Instagram and message a few people. Although not everyone will reply.
Has the department not invited you for offer holder day? That is usually the best way to meet faculty, current students, some researchers and also have a look at the facilities. Virtual offer days are not that good in comparison. If you live close by then you can always request for an informal day. Sometimes departments will allow it if they are not busy.
In my case I also went down for a campus tour and sat there for an hour and chatted with a few students.
I am guessing you are looking at the Guardian table which I would ignore. If you do want to compare universities then look at QS tables but better to just ignore the rankings. If you want to look at graduate prospects then look at discoveruni. For earnings, ignore the 15 month data as that comes from student survey, but look at 3 years and 5 years data as that comes from the tax department.
Also have a look at the link to see where recent graduates of UCL have ended department wise
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/careers/find-out-what-our-graduates-do
You can do this for any university you are interested in by going on their career page. A good university will not shy away from data.
Imperial and UCL are head and shoulders above Exeter and S’ampton, no question.
If you can get to an offer holders day or arrange a department tour to split Imperial and UCL
But unless you really don’t like Imperial, it’s Imperial.
For what it’s worth, I went with my daughter to Exeter’s offer holders day for History. While they’re nice people, I was not impressed… Lots of reasons why, but the whole place seemed a bit ‘meh’. Can’t say I personally rated the campus or accom. Town itself seemed pleasant, but small.
Went along with her to Cardiff (history again) the next month and while they’re lower on the ranking scale they smashed it out of the park. Unquestionably better in every way.
If it were me it’d be Imperial or UCL and I’d have a dive into the course and try to visit the department to get a feel of the vibe of the place and the staff. See if they’re interested in their undergrad students or not.
Best of luck. (Former St Andres physics student 92-96)
If you can get to an offer holders day or arrange a department tour to split Imperial and UCL
But unless you really don’t like Imperial, it’s Imperial.
For what it’s worth, I went with my daughter to Exeter’s offer holders day for History. While they’re nice people, I was not impressed… Lots of reasons why, but the whole place seemed a bit ‘meh’. Can’t say I personally rated the campus or accom. Town itself seemed pleasant, but small.
Went along with her to Cardiff (history again) the next month and while they’re lower on the ranking scale they smashed it out of the park. Unquestionably better in every way.
If it were me it’d be Imperial or UCL and I’d have a dive into the course and try to visit the department to get a feel of the vibe of the place and the staff. See if they’re interested in their undergrad students or not.
Best of luck. (Former St Andres physics student 92-96)
Original post by AnonOxE
Imperial and UCL are head and shoulders above Exeter and S’ampton, no question.
If you can get to an offer holders day or arrange a department tour to split Imperial and UCL
But unless you really don’t like Imperial, it’s Imperial.
For what it’s worth, I went with my daughter to Exeter’s offer holders day for History. While they’re nice people, I was not impressed… Lots of reasons why, but the whole place seemed a bit ‘meh’. Can’t say I personally rated the campus or accom. Town itself seemed pleasant, but small.
Went along with her to Cardiff (history again) the next month and while they’re lower on the ranking scale they smashed it out of the park. Unquestionably better in every way.
If it were me it’d be Imperial or UCL and I’d have a dive into the course and try to visit the department to get a feel of the vibe of the place and the staff. See if they’re interested in their undergrad students or not.
Best of luck. (Former St Andres physics student 92-96)
If you can get to an offer holders day or arrange a department tour to split Imperial and UCL
But unless you really don’t like Imperial, it’s Imperial.
For what it’s worth, I went with my daughter to Exeter’s offer holders day for History. While they’re nice people, I was not impressed… Lots of reasons why, but the whole place seemed a bit ‘meh’. Can’t say I personally rated the campus or accom. Town itself seemed pleasant, but small.
Went along with her to Cardiff (history again) the next month and while they’re lower on the ranking scale they smashed it out of the park. Unquestionably better in every way.
If it were me it’d be Imperial or UCL and I’d have a dive into the course and try to visit the department to get a feel of the vibe of the place and the staff. See if they’re interested in their undergrad students or not.
Best of luck. (Former St Andres physics student 92-96)
After using Unibuddy I’m now deciding between firming Imperial and UCL. I’m sort of tempted to even firm one, insure the other, but it would depend on my UCL offer. I have an offer holder information day in Bristol with Imperial soon, and provided I get an offer from UCL, I’ll make sure to go to them.
Thank you for the luck!! Hope you are well.
Hey! I'm currently in my third year at the University of Nottingham so I thought I'd drop a message.
I ended up picking Nottingham over Imperial as I'd heard the student satisfaction, and research was better. As they are all IOP accredited Russel group unis, the standard course will be pretty much the same wherever you end up.
Regarding course flexibility, the first year course for all 'physics' and 'physics with' courses is the same. It gives you a chance to try experimental, theoretical physics and is useful if you're struggling to decide between the two. There is also a module called Frontiers in Physics that everyone does in first year. It cover the three main research groups: medical physics, astrophysics and nanoscience. A lot of people end up switch between the 'physics' and 'physics with' courses after first year once they start to figure out what kind of courses they like.
In the second year, if you are on the standard physics course you'll do labs but if you are on theory, at this point you get to swap of labs for 2 theory modules. There are also 2 optional modules you can take and there's loads of choice on what you want. Some people pick stuff from other departments too if they're interested in it!
Third year there's so many more optional modules and a lot of people say its their most enjoyable.
As for the masters, if you choose to stay on, there's no/reduced exams based on what modules you pick. The year is spent doing a year long research project and modules studied in intensive blocks. It focusses on developing soft skills, following discussions with employers.
Ultimately, I'm sure you'll be happy wherever you end up! This has just been my experience so far but please feel free to ask if you have any questions
I ended up picking Nottingham over Imperial as I'd heard the student satisfaction, and research was better. As they are all IOP accredited Russel group unis, the standard course will be pretty much the same wherever you end up.
Regarding course flexibility, the first year course for all 'physics' and 'physics with' courses is the same. It gives you a chance to try experimental, theoretical physics and is useful if you're struggling to decide between the two. There is also a module called Frontiers in Physics that everyone does in first year. It cover the three main research groups: medical physics, astrophysics and nanoscience. A lot of people end up switch between the 'physics' and 'physics with' courses after first year once they start to figure out what kind of courses they like.
In the second year, if you are on the standard physics course you'll do labs but if you are on theory, at this point you get to swap of labs for 2 theory modules. There are also 2 optional modules you can take and there's loads of choice on what you want. Some people pick stuff from other departments too if they're interested in it!
Third year there's so many more optional modules and a lot of people say its their most enjoyable.
As for the masters, if you choose to stay on, there's no/reduced exams based on what modules you pick. The year is spent doing a year long research project and modules studied in intensive blocks. It focusses on developing soft skills, following discussions with employers.
Ultimately, I'm sure you'll be happy wherever you end up! This has just been my experience so far but please feel free to ask if you have any questions
Original post by Anonymous
Hey! I'm currently in my third year at the University of Nottingham so I thought I'd drop a message.
I ended up picking Nottingham over Imperial as I'd heard the student satisfaction, and research was better. As they are all IOP accredited Russel group unis, the standard course will be pretty much the same wherever you end up.
Regarding course flexibility, the first year course for all 'physics' and 'physics with' courses is the same. It gives you a chance to try experimental, theoretical physics and is useful if you're struggling to decide between the two. There is also a module called Frontiers in Physics that everyone does in first year. It cover the three main research groups: medical physics, astrophysics and nanoscience. A lot of people end up switch between the 'physics' and 'physics with' courses after first year once they start to figure out what kind of courses they like.
In the second year, if you are on the standard physics course you'll do labs but if you are on theory, at this point you get to swap of labs for 2 theory modules. There are also 2 optional modules you can take and there's loads of choice on what you want. Some people pick stuff from other departments too if they're interested in it!
Third year there's so many more optional modules and a lot of people say its their most enjoyable.
As for the masters, if you choose to stay on, there's no/reduced exams based on what modules you pick. The year is spent doing a year long research project and modules studied in intensive blocks. It focusses on developing soft skills, following discussions with employers.
Ultimately, I'm sure you'll be happy wherever you end up! This has just been my experience so far but please feel free to ask if you have any questions
I ended up picking Nottingham over Imperial as I'd heard the student satisfaction, and research was better. As they are all IOP accredited Russel group unis, the standard course will be pretty much the same wherever you end up.
Regarding course flexibility, the first year course for all 'physics' and 'physics with' courses is the same. It gives you a chance to try experimental, theoretical physics and is useful if you're struggling to decide between the two. There is also a module called Frontiers in Physics that everyone does in first year. It cover the three main research groups: medical physics, astrophysics and nanoscience. A lot of people end up switch between the 'physics' and 'physics with' courses after first year once they start to figure out what kind of courses they like.
In the second year, if you are on the standard physics course you'll do labs but if you are on theory, at this point you get to swap of labs for 2 theory modules. There are also 2 optional modules you can take and there's loads of choice on what you want. Some people pick stuff from other departments too if they're interested in it!
Third year there's so many more optional modules and a lot of people say its their most enjoyable.
As for the masters, if you choose to stay on, there's no/reduced exams based on what modules you pick. The year is spent doing a year long research project and modules studied in intensive blocks. It focusses on developing soft skills, following discussions with employers.
Ultimately, I'm sure you'll be happy wherever you end up! This has just been my experience so far but please feel free to ask if you have any questions
Hi there. If I’m going to pick Nottingham over UCL or Imperial, I want to make sure that Nottingham still has a strong reputation in physics. I know it has in the past but it has slid down some rankings lately so I still want to make sure I’m going to one of the best British universities for physics, not just for student satisfaction. Imperial and UCL have a very good reputation in research and whilst I know Nottingham does too, is it in the same bracket as at least UCL? Be it PhD or into industry post degree, I just want to make sure I still have a great chance to pick where I want to post undergrad. Thank you
Original post by Heppe
Hi! I’m a UoN offer holder for Physics MSci, and I’m unsure about where to go. I’m currently an offer holder from Imperial College, Exeter, UCL and Southampton (although I’m not too interested in Southampton) too, so now is time to decide where I’m going to firm and insure.
I’m struggling to split the four of them. I’m not worried about name, so please no saying just firm Imperial because it’s Imperial. All four of my unis are Russell group, so it’s not like I’m gonna struggle to get a job. I honestly really like Nottingham, but I want to know how flexible the physics course is. I don’t know enough about UCL, and I have huge doubts about Imperial. Any and all comments to help me decide are so welcome. 💙
I’m struggling to split the four of them. I’m not worried about name, so please no saying just firm Imperial because it’s Imperial. All four of my unis are Russell group, so it’s not like I’m gonna struggle to get a job. I honestly really like Nottingham, but I want to know how flexible the physics course is. I don’t know enough about UCL, and I have huge doubts about Imperial. Any and all comments to help me decide are so welcome. 💙
Hi! If you have any questions relating to the physics course - such as how flexible it is - please email your enquiry to [email protected] and we can forward this to the relevant department to obtain the information you need. Hope this helps
Original post by UniofNottsEnq
Hi! If you have any questions relating to the physics course - such as how flexible it is - please email your enquiry to [email protected] and we can forward this to the relevant department to obtain the information you need. Hope this helps
Too late. Already chose to firm Nottingham 😁
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