Hi all,

Currently, I'm international student who received an unconditional offer from Durham and Nottingham, but I cannot decide which one is better. Personally, I expect to broaden my thought, inspiration along with practical case study from talented classmate from all around the world

Understanding that Durham got higher ranking than Nottingham, what's you guys think ? Below is pros and cons for both universities

Durham pros > pathway course to fit students' interest (additional 2 modules), good ranking, (might) get 3 months internship at the end of the semester (university did not directly provide, just offer longer period for Visa)
Durham cons> high cost for dorm, live in suburb areas, bigger class size (about 45-60 ppl), less variety of nationality (half of the class will be Chinese and Indian)

Nottingham pros > good city, small class size (20-30 ppl), various nationality(according to interviewee, but might be less concentrate in term of one particular nationality), lower investment cost, offer international tour
Nottingham cons> lower ranking, business project at the end of semester mainly concentrated on Finance industry (which I rather prefer a consultancy company)

Please help me choose

Thanks

You can be more specific about your goals, I guess. If you want to work in the UK, then Durham has a better brand and stronger career services. If you don't, then Nottingham's campus in Malaysia gives you the same degree at a lower cost. To be fair, I also think that Durham campus is better for finance than for consulting: the consulting firms tend to go to places like Cranfield, Imperial, Warwick and better.

Many of the plus factors for these schools don't really many a lot: low cost is a bad thing rather than a good thing if you think about it; the international tour is sweet but educationally what does it really offer.

Durham offers you a bigger network and a stronger experience. The real question for me is: why not attend a better school if your target is consulting?

Durham will be better for most students.

I'm not sure if Durham's location is necessarily a *con* - even though it's away from the larger metro areas, there will be recruitment fairs on-campus, and I believe the school still puts on an annual recruiting fair in London.

In any case, look at LinkedIn to see where each school's alumni have ended up, and whether the firms / positions seem to align well with your goals, or not. But in general I'm with Duncan: if you want to go into consulting, look at a school like LBS or Oxbridge.