trust in rankings

M

hei!

I am hoping to get some advice here. I am a student from austria (vienna) currently finishing my bachelor (sports management) and want to continue my masters (taught) in the uk.

I applied to several universities (durham, york, sussex, exeter, aston , birmingham, southampton, leicester, sheffield) - all of them msc or ma in general management.

I got 2 offers so far (durham & sussex). I will probably get a few more offers. but for me the problem is that its really difficult to decide in favor of one of them. I tried to study the rankings, but they all say something different and I just recently heard that they are actually focused on undergraduate studies.

could anyone give me advice or has anyone studied at postgraduate level in one of these unis and can give me some advice? right now i am tending more toward sussex, just because of the area (city, beach, proximity to london and airport....) - even thoug I know durham is raknked higher.

thanks for any advice or help!

B

I think the Financial Times do a specific ranking looking at MBAs - that might be helpful as it's specifically looking at postgraduate teaching even if it's not the precise course you've applied for. I'd ignore the undergraduate newspaper rankings as much of their basis e.g. A-level points scores is irrelevant to you. You could also look at the RAE results to get an idea who is rated on research grounds. www.rae.ac.uk

The places that are usually deemed the best aren't on your list, but I will say that I don't think management is a particular strength of Sussex and I would imagine several of the others like Durham, Birmingham or Sheffield are likely to be stronger.

M

I am well aware that the best ones are not on the list. I didnt apply to the best (like oxford, cambridge, warwick, cass...) because a) my grades are not good enough to get in and b) even if I am lucky and do get into one of them I wouldnt be able to afford the tuition.

but thanks for the advice. concerning sussex - thats kinda the feedback I have been getting.

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