Leicester or Essex for IR?

I have sent my ucas off but am having doubts about Leicester, i have already put down two midlands unis in the form of Loughborough and Birmingham (got an offer)...and while I have nothing against Asians, i have heard Leicester branded a "brown" city by my asian mates.....also as I live in London I thought it would be good to have a Uni choice closer to home as well as teh fact that Essex has a very good politics department according to the Times...but Leicester is a better uni over all and has a better social scene... ..any help appreciated!

Reply 1

Origami Bullets

I have several points to make, which are probably best made in bullet point form!
- Leicester isn't that far from London - only 1.5 hours by rail
- I'm not really sure why having two other Midlands unis is a problem - you're only ever going to attend one for UG and there's no particular reason to have a great variety if all the universities that you want to go to are in the Midlands
- It is true that Leicester is very multicultural - it's due to become the first city where white people make up <50% of the population. However, when I visited there it didn't seem all that 'poke-you-in-the-eye' - Little Pakistan / India / wherever it is not!
- Generally, employers (particularly if you aren't going into a degree where politics is needed) won't know how good the course is, just how good the uni is, so from that point of view the uni is more important

If I were you I'd go for Leicester :wink:

Reply 2

Natasharox

Leicester is great. I study politics, and the first year is the same as it is for IR students. The course is great, very interesting, and the staff are brilliant.

About there being a lot of Asians - well, I don't see why it should matter in the slightest. I've lived here all my life, and it's just as multicultural as any other city, which to me is great.

But it's a great university, I have no complaints about it! And London's only an hour and a half away.