Dear All,

I?ve been given offers from below mentioned unis and its getting tougher by the day to decide. I?d be very grateful if you provide me with your invaluable suggestions:

1. Nottingham University: MSc- Operations Management
2. Cardiff University: Msc- Logistics and Operations Management
3. Newcastle University: Msc-Operations and Supply Chain Management.

Can any of the experts help me decide?

Thanks!

The programme at Nottingham looks much better: the curriculum is really well thought out and flexible. The sheer range of electives suggests they have a bigger OM programmes, and that will mean more recognition among alumni and employers.

Both Nottingham and Newcastle have the advantage of AMBA accredited MBAs, which means they will have better connections to employers, and a better alumni network. So I'd put Newcastle second and Cardiff last.

Having studied in both Nottingham and Newcastle, I must add that Newcastle is terribly cold and windy.

PS also, the IELTS score is higher at Nottingham, so the students will be more able.

Dear Mr. Duncan,

Thanks for the invaluable information provided by you. Today I've also received an unconditional offer from Manchester Business School for MSc- Operations, Projects and Supply Chain Management.
In my opinion, I think this is the best of the lot. But what do you think Sir? In terms of reputation and course structure- would you suggest I choose Manchester over Nottingham.

Best Regards,
Jas

Yes, the Manchester course and brand are even better. I see that Nottingham is very proud of its career services for MSc students.

There's useful data for Nottingham in the 2010 ranking:
http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-management-2010 and for Manchester in the 2011 ranking:
http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-management-2011

Manchester get better salary and more aims achieved, but Nottingham is ahead for careers progress (perhaps the students are more junior, so they can progress more?), employment and value. I would consider them quite similar in standing, but Manchester's greater alumni network would pull be there. However, careers services for MSc students are slightly stronger at Nottingham, so maybe start a "job club" alongside your study group.

I dont look at the programme but a few points

1. Newcastle engineering school is excellent and generally they are much better than Nottingham.

2. Nottingham is one of the cities with highest crime rates in the UK my friends got robbed and threatened and beaten by thugs there.

3. Newcastle is cold and windy but the scenery is far better, nightlife is awesome.

I vote for Newcastle. Btw, to choose a good programme ask them whether they teach you a lot of maths, a lot of programming in C/C++ at least they must use Matlab. Avoid schools only teach Excel and VBA.

The tougher the better but you also need to know yourself

Dear Mr. Duncan,

Thanks for your response, So would you rate Manchester Business School and the course content over Nottingham's?

Also, how accepted is the course in the corporate world. By the look of it, should be good? Can you please give me your opinion on the same?

Regards,


Dear Mr. Donho,
Thanks for your response, surprised to hear about the crime rate in nottingham. how is it in manchester?

Regards,

Donho is right about the engineering school in Newcastle, but this MSc isn't taught in the engineering school, or even on the same campus. There's a lot of crime in the centre and east of Nottingham, but the University campuses are distant from there. But I think the idea of asking about which softwares are used is really good.

The Manchester, Newcastle and Nottingham programmes are all recognised by the institute of purchasing and supply, so they are all pretty good. Personally, I like the electives at Nottingham and Manchester. It look like Nottingham has more operations students, hence the good placement and wide range of electives. Hard choice.

Dear Mr. Duncan,

my heart is more set on Manchester's programme as it is more in sync with the kind of profile I want.

But will there be any disadvntage if I choose Manchester over Nottingham?

Regards,

Well, I think the trade off is Manchester's brand and alumni network versus Nottingham's better careers service. Manchester's graduates still earn more, but you will need to work hard to get the right job.

PS I like Donho's comments below.

I quickly browse through the courses at respective university.

Nottingham and Manchester are proper operations science while Newcastle is a very soft course with a lot of writing and reading apparently.

Manchester does say they use Excel Add-in + SPSS which is OK.

Also please look at Southampton and Edinburgh. Edinburgh is the best value for money and the thing they teach is properly operations research so as Southampton with many students at Southampton do their thesis for businesses and industries e.g. NHS and Edinburgh go to Finance and insurance industry hub located right there in the historic city of Edinburgh.

And Edinburgh teaches you Java as well as C++. BTW, which one is more suitable for you?

Mr. Duncan, Mr. Donho,

I did some research based on your responses and have shortlisted Manchester and Nottingham.

Only Confusion is: Manchester is ranked much below Nottingham in Guardian's ranking while in the others it is ranked higher.

Will I be making a right decision if I choose Manchester over Nottingham? Is the course/ uni reputed enough?

Thanks!

The Guardian's ranking is for undergraduate programmes across all business areas. It ranks both in the top quarter of all UK universities. As a university, Manchester is stronger at postgraduate teaching and research. Both the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings rank it as the #7 UK university, above Nottingham.

But the key point is this: these are both great programmes and you cannot go wrong with either of them. You are totally right to have them as your two top schools.

In fact, I am sitting here with a guy who studied at Nottingham (I studied at Manchester) and we both agree these are similarly respected schools, solidly 'middle England'. He says Manchester is probably a better place to spend a year: it's large and a real city. Nottingham is certainly smaller and more provincial (and perhaps a little cheaper).

Personally, I woud be tempted to speak with some graduates of the courses and to think a little about the two cities. Maybe the choice should be simply on the cities, since the academic offerings are so similar. As a foreigner, I would certainly feel more at home in a cosmopolitain city like Manchester.

I dont have enough time to check thoroughly the content of the programmes and you should do your homework.

But the rule of thumb is to go for Manchester which is a bigger, older and more research-intensive University.

The business school at Manchester also carries more weight, bigger network, better impression and larger WOW effect. It together with London Business School was originally 2 schools setup by UK government to rival the mighty American MBA empire.

If you step outside of England Manchester is well-respected in UK and mainland Europe or the rest of the world while Nottingham is largely unknown. This of course is also due to the popularity also of Manchester United.

I will go for Manchester all the way unless Nottingham has something very specific to praise about

Also I tend to agree with Duncan that academic rigour is largely similar in most Operations Mangement programme.

They mostly use similar courses, similar textbooks, similar software and similar projects.

So whoever give you better career services is the one that win

Maybe one more reason to avoid Nottingham? http://www.reform.co.uk/pages/1978/view

Thanks a lot for your inputs Mr. Duncan, Mr. Donho;

You really helped me make a distinction between these two!

How'd you rate Lancaster's: MSc- Logistics & SCM against Manchester's: Msc- Operations, Projects and SCM in terms of:

a. Course Structure/ Content
b. Employability
c. Global reputation.

Thanks!

In terms of course content, Lancaster seems a lot stronger, which a much greater emphasis on modelling. Having a project is a big advantage too.

Looking at the FT's MSc rankings (http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/masters-in-management-2011) The schools seem modestly similar, but Manchester has the edge on almost everything, including salary. However, Lancaster students rate their placement service more highly.

LUMS is a well respected school, but Manchester clearly has a much larger and stronger alumni network.

I think a lot of this choice depends on you. Personally, I think I would opt for the Lancaster course because of its better content and more positive careers service, however you'd need to build personal momentum to make up for the (slightly) weaker brand recognition.

PS See also http://www.find-mba.com/board/23096/1#post-23293

I would forego the brand of Manchester and go for this rigorous academic portfolio at Lancaster. If you can do well finish the course means you can do everything in your career without going to formal re-training again.

With Excel skills from Manchester and Nottingham you can still pull-off a lot but would have to be on your knee to beg for those techies to crunch data for you.

If you do C++ plus all those SAS and ERP as Lancaster mentioned, you can easily run the show on your own threatening those IT guys to work 16 hours per day to keep their jobs from outsourced and still can crunch data nicely and do reports to your bosses.

If you do C++ plus all those SAS and ERP as Lancaster mentioned, you can easily run the show on your own threatening those IT guys to work 16 hours per day to keep their jobs from outsourced and still can crunch data nicely and do reports to your bosses.

Dear All,

I have been offered a scholarship of GBP 1500 from the Newcastle University for the programme: MSc- Operations and SCM.
Please tell me, is Newcastle comparable to Manchester & Lancaster?

Thanks!