Hello fellow Nairalanders,

Pls I need an urgent advice, concerning my masters degree.

I have a B.Eng Chemical Engr. from a Nigerian Uni and I have offers from 2 Universities in the Uk - London South Bank university(msc petroleum engr.) and University of Surrey (msc process systems engr.),

I prefer to study petroleum engr. but i'm hearing so much negative feedback about london south bank university,

I know that Surrey is highly ranked,

Please if there's anyone who went to any of the schools shud kindly fill me in about the job prospects post graduation,
whether or not any major companies go to recruit in the schools,

ur input will be highly appreciated, thanks alot,

Dont go to London.

Period.

I don't know much about the two,but i would go with Uni. Of Surrey,if u're looking better teaching qualities.

http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/tol_gug/gooduniversityguide.php

surrey is no. 39 and south bank is no. 113 (last on the list) : hope this will help u decide

@tboy,

Do all those rankings really matter?? I've seen so many of them,

@Gamine,

Why not go to London?? Cos of the distractions The school isn't in Central London, it's in the southwark borough or something like that,

urs truly:

@tboy,

Do all those rankings really matter?? I've seen so many of them,

yes it does . . . if you have a choice between the two i'll say you should go for surrey:

: you wont be so distracted with the crazy london everyday stress
: accomodation in surrey should be cheaper
: so much social life in london compared to surrey and i believe this is one of the things you should avoid, BTW anytime you really want to enjoy urself you canmake ur way to london for the weekend and get back to surrey
: you've already seen the table (e.g services and facilities, research quality and student satistaction)

anyways i cant choose for you, but personally i'll choose surrey

There's one important factor that has been overlooked so far - the two Uni's are offering you different courses - why do you prefer Petroleum Eng to Process Systems? Is it because you want to work in the oil industry? (i'm guessing it is).

Are you thinking of working in the UK or working in Nigeria? That is also something you should consider - if Nigeria is the case, I'd rather go for the University of Surrey degree, than a petroleum engineering degree from an obscure (from a naija point of view anyways) school.

From my experience, if you're looking to go to Nigeria, the 'big name' schools like Imperial, Heriot-Watt and the like would likely get the nod over London South Bank, but Uni of Surrey should be able to hold its head up. In the final analysis, I think what you really want to study or where you would like to work after graduation will strongly influence your choice in the end.

cheers

Personally, I'd rather study Petroleum Engineering than Process Systems, cos i'd want to work in oil and gas industy

Process engineers DO have a place in the industry but not like petroleum engineers, who are the heart of any oil/gas company.
, And I'd prefer to come back to Nigeria to work and I learnt that alot of the multinationals recruit graduates and bring them back home, especially from the schools u mentioned(imperial, Heriot watt), I wonder if they recruit from either Surrey or South bank,
Cos I really want to just secure a job before coming and joining the stampede of the job market that we have here,

If coming back or getting a job with the majors is your intent, then forget about London South Bank in my own opinion, look for one of the 'red-brick' schools to do the Pet Eng at, else it might not be worth it after all the hassle. Even if it means delaying for a while before applying to those schools, do that and wait for the right opportunity. Don't be in a hurry simply because its a UK school - if it was based in Aberdeen or somewhere in the 'oil patch' then you could consider. . . but what advantage is there studying Pet Eng at LSB? Not much in my opinion.

Hi Urs Trully,

My name is Richard,i stumbled over your post in this room and i read everything people had to say, Well,if u care to listen to my own point of view,i got an unconditional offer from same school,same course petroleum engineering, To be sincere with you,i have four other admissions fro other schools in the uk including petroleum and gas in university of salford,but i decided to choose the one of London south due to some reasons,not the fee and social life in london,but simply because of the modules.
I cant start saying much here,but i will advice you be true to yourself,all those people in the room saying they will go for univ of surrey,ask them if its all those that go through same course in that same school do get great jobs in oil and gas company, the truth is the result you bring out from the school and what you can do,its really an individual competence thing and not really the name of the school you go to, You wont use the name of the school to log reservoir wells or stimulate liquid flows or interprete drill well's data will you?What counts is the experince and knowlegde you have.
If you want choose surrey,and if u wish go for LSBU its all your choice,but remember you've got to act pretty fast,time is going.
If you wish to contact me so we can talk more and who knows if you finally choose LSBU then that means we might end up in the same school,faculty and department so we might need to satrt from here,
U can give me a call or send me a mail on, 08056668867 or noelpixel@yahoo.com.
Best of luck to u, Cheers

geominas:

Hi Urs Trully,

My name is Richard,i stumbled over your post in this room and i read everything people had to say, Well,if u care to listen to my own point of view,i got an unconditional offer from same school,same course petroleum engineering, To be sincere with you,i have four other admissions fro other schools in the uk including petroleum and gas in university of salford,but i decided to choose the one of London south due to some reasons,not the fee and social life in london,but simply because of the modules.
I can't start saying much here,but i will advice you be true to yourself,all those people in the room saying they will go for univ of surrey,ask them if its all those that go through same course in that same school do get great jobs in oil and gas company, the truth is the result you bring out from the school and what you can do,its really an individual competence thing and not really the name of the school you go to, You wont use the name of the school to log reservoir wells or stimulate liquid flows or interprete drill well's data will you?What counts is the experince and knowlegde you have.
If you want choose surrey,and if u wish go for LSBU its all your choice,but remember you've got to act pretty fast,time is going.
If you wish to contact me so we can talk more and who knows if you finally choose LSBU then that means we might end up in the same school,faculty and department so we might need to satrt from here,
You can give me a call or send me a mail on, 08056668867 or noelpixel@yahoo.com.
Best of luck to u, Cheers

Please come back here in 3 years time and lets see whether you will still be chatting this opata. 

If the name of the school you go to does not matter, why did you bother to consider wasting all the thousands of pounds it would cost you to study at LSBU instead of heading for a degree in a Nigerian university since "result you bring out from the school and individual competence" is all that matters. 

With this analytical thinking, you would slot right in at LSBU, so I think you are actually making the appropraite choice for you.

@Sagamite, You don't have to be harsh on Geominas, he's just laying out his opinion, that's all, last time I checked, a person is still entitled to his own opinion,

this is a forum,

Anyways, @poster, I think it all depends on what u want, as an individual,

i think Debosky gave a good point,

Sagamite was a bit harsh, but he is right.

Geominas has a point, not all the people who go to the 'top schools' get great jobs in oil and gas companies. But that fact is the exact reason why doing a petroleum degree at LSB would be a bad idea, in my opinion that is. If the folk at the 'top' schools even have it tough, why now put yourself at a starting disadvantage going to LSB?

These organisations recruiting will have their bias as well, even if they say they are 'fair' and all, if you've always recruited the bulk of your talent from Imperial, H-W or Aberdeen, and you have those candidates alongside an LSB guy, unless you are overtly outstanding and above those guys, they'll get picked over you if you perform at the same level.

and talking about 'modules', hmm do NOT be deceived at all. The so called 'module' may turn out to be a rushed exercise over 2 months where you barely have time to imbibe what was taught to be able to apply it. I have friends who have experienced this at the great Imperial College, not to talk of other schools.

You may well get a job to come back to naij from LSB, but I do think you will be working with the odds against you from the onset, I do not think basing your huge expenditure and stress on an slight chance that you may be selected compared to going to a known school. Get a 'recognised' degree and you have one foot in the door at least.

Hey Folks,

How's everyone doing, hope great?, I just came across this conversation stream tonight and stuck my mind simply how time flies, the last post was sent in July, 2008, roughly 3 yrs ago.

I just will like to know if "Yours Trully" eventually attended Univ of Surrey or LSBU and how has the outcome being?, It might interest you guys to know that some folks I know who attended LSBU are now doing pretty well as engineers and geologists in different oil and gas comps across the globe, maybe the lesson to be learnt is that sometimes, we need to take our future and destiny in our own hands and take risks rather than snapping out at excuses, anyways, if you guys get this reply, I think it might be a great idea for us to talk more and see what had changed in the last three years.

Hope you guys have a Merry Xmas and A Great Year Ahead.

Cheers.

so geomine, what happened to you, its been 3 years so did you still go

Hi Bejo, sure I did and graduated 2 years ago, wonder how times fly huh?, were you part of the discussion stream then?

So where are ya now and what ya doing?

geominas:

Hi Bejo, sure I did and graduated 2 years ago, wonder how times fly huh?, were you part of the discussion stream then?

So where are ya now and what ya doing?

Hi geo.

So can you give a brief overview of the class destination and current activities.

geominas:

Hey Folks,

How's everyone doing, hope great?, I just came across this conversation stream tonight and stuck my mind simply how time flies, the last post was sent in July, 2008, roughly 3 yrs ago.

I just will like to know if "Yours Trully" eventually attended Univ of Surrey or LSBU and how has the outcome being?, It might interest you guys to know that some folks I know who attended LSBU are now doing pretty well as engineers and geologists in different oil and gas comps across the globe, maybe the lesson to be learnt is that sometimes, we need to take our future and destiny in our own hands and take risks rather than snapping out at excuses, anyways, if you guys get this reply, I think it might be a great idea for us to talk more and see what had changed in the last three years.

Hope you guys have a Merry Xmas and A Great Year Ahead.

Cheers.

Did you eventually get a job in the oil and gas industry?

geominas: Hi Bejo, sure I did and graduated 2 years ago, wonder how times fly huh?, were you part of the discussion stream then?

So where are ya now and what ya doing?

Hmmmm. . .
Unanswerd questions still