MSc in advanced mechanical engineering: Loughborough vs Imperial College London

[Hamza1988]

Hi guys, I am looking to do my postgraduate at a good University in London and I am not a resident there therefore I am not sure about the reputation of the universities when it comes to Mechanical Engineering. I have done some research and I have shortlisted two Universities to do my MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering at. So it is Loughborough vs Imperial College London. Which one do you think is the better one.

 

[GregLocock]

Imperial has a better reputation academically, it is tough. Either are good. One factor is whether you want to deal with London on a daily basis.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[ScottyUK]

I agree with Greg - ICL is more of a 'name' which might (or might not) be a factor in your decision process. Mechanical engineering is a very broad field, so think about which university offers the opportunity which you are most interested in and offers the greatest prospect of finding employment afterwards. I suspect a PhD in mechanical engineering from either university would attract interest from recruiters if it aligned with their business interests.

 

[SomptingGuy]

"In London"

You do realise that Loughborough University London isn't where they teach engineering courses?

If you really want to be in London, your shortlist becomes much shorter.

Steve

 

[MFJewell]

Why would you ever want to go to London? I heard they eat fish and chips all three meals of the day, the chocolate bars are so strong it is like taking LSD, and they drive on the wrong side of the road.

 

[Hamza1988]

Apologies for the 'in london' part. What I wanted to write was 'in the UK'. So if I look at the rankings Imperial is probably in the top 10 in the world while loughborough barely makes it in the top 100. But I really want to know which university is actual better in academic terms not just by 'name'. Also, @greg, what is wrong with dealing with London on a daily basis? Isn't it better to be in a city, might just attract more recruiters?

 

[Ron]

MFJewell:

they eat fish and chips all three meals of the day, the chocolate bars are so strong it is like taking LSD, and they drive on the wrong side of the road.

I'm from Florida....2 out of 3 ain't bad

 

[GregLocock]

ICL is fairly hard to get into as an /undergraduate/, and has excellent facilities. It thinks it is a great place. Oddly I have never worked with an ICL graduate so I have no idea how good it is at /engineering/ as opposed to /applied mathematics/. The couple of people I knew from Loughborough were fine. Now to some extent that only applied to undergraduate courses, which pretty much ran the same syllabus (in important points) across the nation, as the engineering institutions enforced a compliance policy.

So far as recruiting goes, London has very few working engineers per capita. There are head offices there, but the grunt work is done in industrial estates and business parks all over the country.

If you want to work very hard and live in London and get a more prestigious doctorate, go ICL. As you say Lowbrow doesn't have a stellar academic reputation. Big fish, small pool, may apply.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[ScottyUK]

The engineers coming out of ICL are very good, or at least the couple I have worked with were. Were they much better than those coming out of, say, Newcastle or Manchester? That's more arguable. Plus there's a world of difference between academically bright and being a good engineer.

 

[dhutch98]

Certainly within the UK Loughborough has an excellent reputation within industry and engineering circles. It is a top-notch engineering university which prides its self in preparing students for the work place, both academically and practically.

I have less knowledge of ICL as I ruled out anywhere in London as I didn't want to live there, however I understand it also a good university, maybe a little drier on the industrial ties but respected and obviously has that 'london thing' if your into that.

Daniel

 

[GregLocock]

Might be worth looking at why Loughborough scores poorly in some rankings.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[Terratek]

In the US, if you have applicable work experience, it doesn't matter - at all. If not, go to the best brand name you can get into because it will look more neat on your resume. The curriculum from one school to another will otherwise be pretty similar. The overall experience will probably be better at the brand name.

 

[spciesla]

What distinguishes "Advanced Mechanical Engineering" from plain "Mechanical Engineering"?

 

[SomptingGuy]

Good question.

IC used to (in the 1980s/1990s) offer undergraduate Mechanical Engineering courses:
BSc: All technical, 3 years.
BEng: Some non-technical modules, mostly in the 3rd year.
MEng: Like BEng, with the last year repeated and even less technical.

But now the only undergraduate course is a 4 year MEng, so it looks like the shorter course options have simply been dropped.

The syllabus for the MSc in Advanced Engineering looks like a load of technical modules aimed at someone that holds a BSc (or BEng?) from elsewhere.

Steve

 

[berkshire]

things have changed since I left the UK . Colleges used to offer Ordinary and Advanced Engineering courses, you had to do the Ordinary before you could go on to the advanced. I understand that they have now changed that to a system of Levels i.e. level one level two and so on. With level five being an Higher national diploma.
B.E.


You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[ScottyUK]

Steve,

A likely reason for the change in course offering is that the UK's professional bodies now require a Masters degree rather than a Bachelors degree to achieve professional registration. Regardless of the apparently more challenging academic requirements for registration, I am not convinced that the M.Eng graduates of today are any smarter than the B.Eng graduates of thirty years ago.

The MSc is almost always a post-graduate course.