Hi,Are there any technology courses/universities in the UK or US that are rated highly by consultancies? Or is it the case with MBA programs only?Thanks

As an academic moving into consultancy, I think I am well placed to answer this. All of the top consultancies want top graduates, which without question means candidates from the best institutions. Now, any ranking system is completely arbitrary (and generally idiotic), so I think it's better to look at which schools carry sway with employers no matter where you are in the world, and not who is 'better' than whom. In the UK:Cambridge, University of London and Oxford (the golden triangle)Within University of London itself, University College (UCL), King's College (KCL), London School of Economics (LSE), and Imperial College Other high flying UK universities include UMIST (University of Manchester Institute for Science & Technology), Bristol, Warwick, Durham, Sheffield, Liverpool, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Birmingham, Aston Business School, London Business School, Leeds, Bath, York and Cardiff.Some but not all of the most prestigious UK universities, with the greatest research income belong to a collective known as the Russell Group (much like the American Ivy League, but with 19 members instead of 8).See: russellgroup.ac.ukIn the USA:MIT and Caltech are the kings for tech research. Also, other top notch places are UPenn, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Duke and University of California (including a number of colleges such as San Diego). Many of these places are multi faculty and not tech research intensive, so do think about that. There are of course MBA specific schools you might consider if a Business education is really the main thing you're after. The top tier for this would include:In the USA Harvard and UPenn amongst others(but I couldn't say which is "better"). In France, consider INSEAD.I'm better placed to tell you that in the UK, the following are highly regarded: London Business SchoolUMISTAstonSaid Business School, OxfordCambridge Business SchoolAnd in that order. DICLAIMERThis is a personal response, so please do read it as such and thoroughly investigate your choices in depth. Hope this is a good starting point for the education available in the UK and USA.

Aww my uni wasn't mentioned.It's the local one, my parents think it's a great uni, i told them it was shite, but they sent me there anyway.The uni - Queen's University Belfast.

Thanks for posting this list. Many people suggest quality has played second fiddle to quantity under the current government, so I don't think I'm alone in wanting a clearer view on how university degrees should be considered by consultancies.Could you clarify please:- Does it account for research income by uni. size (e.g. numbers of students), in other words would you divide a university research budget by the size of the uni. ? Or are these ranked by gross research figures on the assumption that 'biggest is best'? - Also London often has a high proportion of PhD students, is that why University of London is in the 'golden triangle' or has it changed significantly in recent years?Thanks.

-----Does it account for research income by uni. size (e.g. numbers of students),I'm afraid not, which makes things a little unfair and weighted towards the biggest players. The highest proportion of research income is achieved by places like Imperial, King's, UCL, LSE and Oxbridge. All of these are major "brands" throughout the world. Other, smaller universities (in terms of students, departments, centres for research, etc) might yield a smaller gross research income, but proportionally speaking there are cases where this is still highly admirable. Take a place like Royal Holloway (a smaller college of the federal University of London). RH has a much narrower domain of subjects offered than large multi faculty universities like Cambridge and King's, but still attracts strong income for the subjects it does offer. There are a number of examples like this. However, even proportionally speaking, this is still no match for the top tier of research income earners. ---- Also London often has a high proportion of PhD students, is that why University of London is in the 'golden triangle' or has it changed significantly in recent years? London's status is very much arbitrary; based not on numbers of PhD students but on academic history, tradition and prestige in exactly the same way as with Oxbridge. The fact is, these places have some very distinguished alumni and some of the world's best academics can be found working in their offices. Of course, research income and alliances with heavyweight bluechips also helps. Consider that the highest research income earner amongst ALL UK universities over the past three years has been UCL, Imperial, Cambridge, Oxford and King's (in that order). All of this has secured London's place in the top tier with the dark and light blues. Overall, I strongly feel that people making recruitment decisions in consultancies should excercise a balance between two factors: 1) Elitism for university brand (of course, everyone does this and it's going to continue so let's deal with it) and 2) The relative credibility of the PARTICULAR university department in which a candidate has studied. For example, King's College London presently has the best UK departments for English and Law based on research output, student/staff ratio and income attracted. In both these areas it trumps Oxbridge. The best Economics degree (using the same criteria above) is without question from the London School of Economics. It makes sense, therefore, that candidates who have sidestepped the hallowed halls of Oxbridge in favour of better courses and departments elsewhere are given due credit.

Thanks all. With an MBA with 3 years of industry experience I am keen to get into technology through an MSc from a highly rated Uni (ideally UK, as that would mean a 1 year program). Is my non-technical background likely to go against me after the MSc?

Yes, some good points in these posts. Toni - it probably hinges on a few variables. I'd ask myself: How technically relevant is the MSc to what you want to do afterwards? Are you going to look at roles that are business and technology, so you can steer yourself in the direction of more technical further down the road? Can you use examples from your experience and MBA that explain your leaning towards tech solutions?If you jumped on a top course for a year and it was very relevant to roles in a year's time it could be worth it, but I'd view it more as complementary rather than as a substitute course!

I certainly view it as complementary rather than substitute. See myself managing projects, ideally business transformation, process change, maybe SAP related. This is early days, and I only have project management, business analysis and internal strategy experience, no technology background..yet. I could really do with some career guidance at this stage.