May 18, 2003, 09:54
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#1
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Emperor
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Star's Uni choices, opinions and advice wanted
The time for choosing a university edges ever closer and what's a better way to get a feel for a place than ask a huge forum full of well traveled, smart people?
Yes, I am this bored.
Below are my choices for university so far in order of preference and where they are located. Any opinions or funny stories about them would be appreciated, as well as any other destinations I may not have considered (in the UK).
1) Edinburgh University (Edinburgh, Scotland, UK)
2) University of East Anglia (Norwich, England, UK)
3) University of Bristol (Bristol, England, UK)
4) Cardiff University (Cardiff, Wales, UK)
5) I dunno
6) I dunno
*place I wanted to go to*) University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
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Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
-Richard Dawkins
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May 18, 2003, 09:56
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#2
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Emperor
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Well, I'd heard that the Huffington's dominate the footy leagues at Edinburgh, while the Scathsby's are the dominating force at East Anglia, but I confess that I'm not very familiar with Bristol or Cardiff. 
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"For just twenty cents a day, we'll moisten your dreams with man urine." -Space Ghost
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May 18, 2003, 10:01
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#3
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Prince
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What do you want to do, subject-wise?
I did my undergrad in Edinburgh and it was a pretty nice place to be a student.
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May 18, 2003, 10:03
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#4
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Emperor
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NYU. Come here. You can't resist.
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Tutto nel mondo č burla
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May 18, 2003, 10:11
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#5
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King
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Boris, that was one well concealed come on...
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"I hope I get to punch you in the face one day" - MRT144, Imran Siddiqui
'I'm fairly certain that a ban on me punching you in the face is not a "right" worth respecting." - loinburger
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May 18, 2003, 10:12
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#6
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Emperor
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I wanna do Biochemistry primarily but would not be adverse to taking a similar, related subject.
And boris, smookie, I keep telling you. I gotta see the cash before you see the ass.
__________________
Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
-Richard Dawkins
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May 18, 2003, 10:13
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#7
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Emperor
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Concealed...?
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Tutto nel mondo č burla
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May 18, 2003, 10:20
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#8
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King
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damnit boris...now i dont know what to say.
A. that was sarcastic
B. i cant believe i misspelled concealed (which i dont know if i did or not)
__________________
"I hope I get to punch you in the face one day" - MRT144, Imran Siddiqui
'I'm fairly certain that a ban on me punching you in the face is not a "right" worth respecting." - loinburger
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May 18, 2003, 10:24
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#9
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Emperor
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Starchild, snookums, I told you--I won't pay full price for something that is so obviously in in the Previously Viewed bin.
MRT, it's spelled correctly, though "well-concealed" should have a hyphen. 
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Tutto nel mondo č burla
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May 18, 2003, 10:25
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#10
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King
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damn you for making me question my own spelling! and then pointing out poor grammar. although by now you should just ignore all grammar in my posts considering i never adhere to the rules of it.
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"I hope I get to punch you in the face one day" - MRT144, Imran Siddiqui
'I'm fairly certain that a ban on me punching you in the face is not a "right" worth respecting." - loinburger
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May 18, 2003, 10:26
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#11
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Emperor
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Is a van Gogh or Picasso any less valuable just because millions of people have seen it?
__________________
Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
-Richard Dawkins
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May 18, 2003, 10:27
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#12
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Emperor
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Quote:
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Originally posted by Starchild
Is a van Gogh or Picasso any less valuable just because millions of people have seen it?
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We're talking "viewed" as in the $ .99 rental at Blockbuster, hon.
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Tutto nel mondo č burla
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May 18, 2003, 10:30
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#13
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Emperor
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Says the man who would have to pay someone to press his play button.
__________________
Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
-Richard Dawkins
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May 18, 2003, 12:43
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#14
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Deity
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I think UBC is pretty good in biochemisty. If you want to go to UT, you might as well try U Wat, uless UT has a better biochem program. It's campus dependent, though.
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(='.'=) "Claims demand evidence; extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence." -- Carl Sagan
(")_(") "Starting the fire from within."
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May 18, 2003, 14:54
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#15
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Emperor
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Choose your subject then choose your university. Even a good university can be crap in some departments. And some departments in under-rated universities can be at the top of the pile.
Unfortunately I can't be arsed to see how good some Biochemistry departments are.
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May 18, 2003, 14:57
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#16
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Warlord
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Big studie scene in the East Midlands - I'd take a look at Loughborough or Nottingham Trent to see how well the subjects are covered.
I doubt they'll be better than Edinburgh - but CHECK.
Wild horses wouldn't drag me to the Bristol scene. Too many people and not enough outlets for fun. Yeuk.
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Some cry `Allah O Akbar` in the street. And some carry Allah in their heart.
"The CIA does nothing, says nothing, allows nothing, unless its own interests are served. They are the biggest assembly of liars and theives this country ever put under one roof and they are an abomination" Deputy COS (Intel) US Army 1981-84
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May 18, 2003, 15:00
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#17
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Emperor
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Midlands accents are terrible.
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May 18, 2003, 15:09
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#18
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Warlord
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Quote:
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Originally posted by Boddington's
Midlands accents are terrible.
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And almost unheard in Loughborough, where the student pop outnumbers the locals.
A far more important reason for avoiding the East Midlands is the level of street violence.
It's not for wimps.
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Some cry `Allah O Akbar` in the street. And some carry Allah in their heart.
"The CIA does nothing, says nothing, allows nothing, unless its own interests are served. They are the biggest assembly of liars and theives this country ever put under one roof and they are an abomination" Deputy COS (Intel) US Army 1981-84
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May 18, 2003, 15:28
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#19
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Emperor
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Don't think Starchild would fit in there then. 
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May 18, 2003, 15:45
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#20
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Emperor
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Anyone know of any corporate sponsorship programmes for undergraduates in which a company pays full or part of university costs in exchange for you becoming their whore afterwards?
My family has been mentioning this recently as their subtle way of saying "Do we look like we've got Ŗ3000 to spend on you sweety?" 
__________________
Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
-Richard Dawkins
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May 18, 2003, 16:28
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#21
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Local Time: 01:51
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Starchild: Here are a couple of things that might help:
This is the Times overall University Ranking Times University Ranking
This is the published list of departments greaded "excellent" for teaching by the QAA Degree courses rated excellent.
They don't have Biochem on there, because it's done by department, so just look at Biology and Chemistry, as I presume it is jointly taught.
The HERO site might be of help too, other than that, look at prospectuses, either online or in paper, and then visit the ones you like. It's the usual way, but it works well IMHO.
UEA gives nice easy offers (or at least it did for my friends that applied there) and Edinburgh comes up very highly on everything about sciences I've seen.
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Smile
For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next
But he would think of something
"Hm. I suppose I should get my waffle a santa hat." - Kuciwalker
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May 18, 2003, 16:32
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#22
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Quote:
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Originally posted by Cruddy
A far more important reason for avoiding the East Midlands is the level of street violence.
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That's only really Nottingham that's that bad. When it comes to violent crime, the big cities, London, Birmingham and Manchester are the bad ones. Northampton's fine for crime, but the Uni is absolute ****. I'd like to see someone find a worse one.
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Smile
For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next
But he would think of something
"Hm. I suppose I should get my waffle a santa hat." - Kuciwalker
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May 18, 2003, 16:33
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#23
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Emperor
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Oh yes, I've been doing my research. Edinburgh and UEA want the same grades for Biochemistry (A-Level: BBC with A-level chem and biology). Edinburgh is also rated 5* in Biochemistry.
It doesn't hurt that everyone I mention my uni choices to raves about Edinburgh and how good it is.
__________________
Exult in your existence, because that very process has blundered unwittingly on its own negation. Only a small, local negation, to be sure: only one species, and only a minority of that species; but there lies hope. [...] Stand tall, Bipedal Ape. The shark may outswim you, the cheetah outrun you, the swift outfly you, the capuchin outclimb you, the elephant outpower you, the redwood outlast you. But you have the biggest gifts of all: the gift of understanding the ruthlessly cruel process that gave us all existence [and the] gift of revulsion against its implications.
-Richard Dawkins
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May 18, 2003, 16:36
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#24
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President of the OT
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Quote:
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Originally posted by Starchild
Anyone know of any corporate sponsorship programmes for undergraduates in which a company pays full or part of university costs in exchange for you becoming their whore afterwards?
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They're called co-op or internship programs, most unis in Canada offer them for the sciencey/engineering type fields.
I'm taking a variation of the co-op program, after my third year my school hooks me up with a company in my field and I work for them for a year, then come back and take my last year.
My brother is entering honours Mechanical Engineering at the Uni of Waterloo co-op, and how it works there is 4 months school/4 months work, etc for 5 years.
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May 18, 2003, 16:39
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#25
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Starchild: 5* is research rating, and doesn't really affect undergrads at all. Look at teaching quality ones. However, there is no substitute for going there and seeing for yourself if you like it, would fit in etc.
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Smile
For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next
But he would think of something
"Hm. I suppose I should get my waffle a santa hat." - Kuciwalker
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May 18, 2003, 20:58
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#26
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Warlord
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So what you're saying is... it's wiser to evaluate your uni choices, and pick the one that best suits your interests, rather than simply go to the one that's nearest to you? 
Damn! If only I would've known!
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"I wrote a song about dental floss but did anyone's teeth get cleaner?" -Frank Zappa
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May 19, 2003, 12:28
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#27
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Emperor
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WALES
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Economics Aberystwyth
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May 19, 2003, 12:38
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#28
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OTF Moderator
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I had a great time at Birmingham and they have a very good Biochem dept (well they did when I was there, not sure what it's like now)
Out of your list Bristol is a really cool place. My brother failed a Biochem degree there. It's slightly full of sloany Oxbridge rejects though.
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May 19, 2003, 12:51
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#29
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Prince
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You should be careful of the Times ratings. For example, I did my physics undergrad at Edinburgh and my postgrad at Durham (where I had to teach), so I am fairly well placed to compare the two. While Durham is definitely better for research, I thought the teaching at Edinburgh was first rate while that at Durham a little lacklustre (they let me teach for God's sake!). The Times review would have you believe it is the other way round, and I think this is mainly because of their rather bizarre criteria for 'good'.
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May 19, 2003, 13:49
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#30
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Warlord
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Some thoughts on ratings:
Teaching ratings are NOT about how good teaching is, but about how consistent it is ie atre all the forms filled in correctly
Reasearch ratings do not directly affect undergraduates, BUT good ratings show you that the department is full of good staff AND that they are well managed; this should mean that that they are also good at most other things that they do
Before you choose make sure you visit - most people's choices are gut feel and you can only do that in person
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