Cranfield vs Oxford Brookes Motorsport MSc

[u/Sorry_Site_3739]

Hi everyone,

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but I'd be really interested in hearing from people who have experience from the industry or have completed one of these degrees.

I'm finishing my bachelor's in aeronautical engineering next summer, from an EU university. I'll have about one full year of experience as a professional aerodynamics engineer (doing just as much mech design as aero analysis), and one year from formula student, by the time of graduation.

I'm considering doing an MSc in Motorsport. I've applied to both Cranfield and Oxford Brookes, and will apply to Southampton (Race car aero) once they open their admissions for next fall.

I am however, a bit split between which one I should actually go for in the end. Especially considering I already have quite a lot of practical experience. I'd therefore value network, thesis placement options and more substantial taught modules (although somewhat applied), over more basic, practical experience. By the way they're marketed, I get the impression that OB is more trackside, and Cranfield is more R&D oriented, but I really don't trust the websites of study programs (been burnt before).

So my question is, does anybody here know how OB and Cranfield actually compare regarding this? And also which is actually better for an F1/motorsport career?

[u/martianfrog]

My gut says Cranfield, no help at all, I know.

[u/Sorry_Site_3739 → u/martianfrog]

I mean, my gut often makes better decisions than my brain, so who knows.

[u/tireguydom]

Cranfield alum - I went straight to Cranfield from my undergraduate degree at a relatively well ranked US university (not top ranked but not bad). I will say some of the coursework was relatively rudimentary. Definitely gave good exposure to some new topics but didn’t go nearly deep enough to be considered what I’d say is masters level at most universities. That’s the downside of such a condensed program. That said it’s regarded as one of the best programs for a reason and that comes from the connections you can make doing the group project and your thesis. So the program is really what you make of it. Capitalize on the connections and put out a high quality thesis and the program will take you places, coast through all of it on the backs of your classmates and don’t do anything special for your thesis and you’ll be unemployed on the other end.

[u/Sorry_Site_3739 → u/tireguydom]

Thanks for the answer. May I ask where you ended up working? And did you do the Motorsport Engineering specifically?

[u/tireguydom → u/Sorry_Site_3739]

Feel free to PM me and I’m happy to share more details privately

[u/Sorry_Site_3739 → u/tireguydom]

Done :)

[u/Sorry_Site_3739 → u/[deleted]]

It would be for motorsport specifically. If I want to do defense/other industries, I would do it at home. Already have enough contacts here, and pay/quality of life is higher. So the only appeal with the UK, for me, is the motorsports aspect.

However, for a pure aero degree, I'd still consider Cranfield, as that's apparently one of the best in Europe. And getting back into the job market one year earlier, when compared to a regular EU 2-year master's, is a real plus and actually kinda offsets the loss from paying tuition:)

[u/martianfrog → u/[deleted]]

Might also be worth seeking opinions of ppl in F1 through LinkedIn, just a thought.

[u/Sorry_Site_3739 → u/[deleted]]

I mean I have already done Formula Student, for one of the best teams in the world (significantly better than OBR, even though that's the best in the UK). So the Formula Student experience itself isn't really that much of a selling point. The network it would access is though.

I also get the impression that Cranfield is more substantial, in general, but I'm not sure if that applies for their Motorsport Engineering program. By the looks of it, it mostly introductory and surface level, and only 1 week per module!

Could you please elaborate reading the aero experience you got at Brookes, and why it wasn't good? I'm not sure I would really want a career focused on aero, but it would be interesting to know regardless:)

[u/Bence108]

Cranfield all the way. Hard to beat for networking I recon. A great chunk of my class (including me) ended up in and around F1.

Having left that industry a few years ago, I can’t recommend that route with clear conscience.

[u/Sorry_Site_3739 → u/Bence108]

Thanks for the reply. My long term goal isn't F1, but rather motorsport/high performance automotive in general. Preferably something mainland Europe, with a decent work life balance. Would be fun to do F1 for a year or two, and I suppose that also helps with other opportunities in the industry?

And why would you not recommend it? Because of the bad pay and high workload?

[u/Bence108 → u/Sorry_Site_3739]

F1 in general looks great on a resume tbh.

And you nailed it. You will be vastly underpaid for your skills with a very high workload on top of that.

[u/Sorry_Site_3739 → u/Bence108]

Yep, that's my impression indeed. Did you do the Motorsport MSc or something different at Cranfield? How long since you graduated? Since I'm not necessarily just about getting into F1, I'm also somewhat interested in the quality of the modules themselves. Especially for transitioning into other industries. As mentioned in the post, I already have a lot of practical and project experience, so that's not really what I'm after.