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Which university in IR for a foreign student?

Hello everyone!

I'm French and currently studying in Paris. Next year is my year abroad and I have to choose the uni I will ask. I would like to study IR in a university that has a good reputation in it. But I would like to discover the real "british student life" too, "the life in campus" we don't have in France.

I have selected Saint-Andrews, Durham, KCL, Warwick, Sheffield and Manchester. What do you think about them?

I am hesitating for my first choice (that is the most important). I am hesitating between Saint-Andrews and Durham. Saint-Andrews for its reputation concerning IR, the place (near the sea, "city-campus"...) and the community spirit I heard about. Durham for the collegiate system (it sounds so unreal for a French, so Harry Potter :biggrin:

) and the very good reputation Durham generally has.

What do you think about it? According to you, which one is the best for an Erasmus student? In the UK, which one has the best reputation?

Thank you very much! Excuse my English :smile:

Marion

PS: I've seen there is a conversation in the forum about "IR Applicants 2014" or something. I don't want to flood the topic with my foreign student questions, but just let me know if you think I should delete this thread and put a message in the other thread.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

Origami Bullets

St Andrews is not a city. It's a small village in a relatively isolated location, with a university, a golf course, a beach and precious little else. It's the only uni you've mentioned that has easy access to a beach, but in reality you're never more than 70 miles from the coast in Britain, so you can always take a daytrip to the seaside. It's also full of Americans. This may or may not appeal to you.

Durham is a nice little town, with a collegiate system, and relatively close to Newcastle (so not isolated in the same way that St Andrews is). It is a 'city uni' in the sense that it is not all on one self contained campus, but Durham is relatively small, so if you want bright lights and a lot of nightlife, you'll have to get the train to Newcastle (which is fantastic for nightlife). Its IR department has a focus on the Middle East, which may or may not appeal to you. One of its colleges is in a castle, which probably does appeal to you!

I'd avoid London (i.e. KCL) if I were you - the high rents mean that students are pushed out away from central London, and end up relatively scattered. Therefore, you lose the 'student village' effect that you get in other cities.

Warwick isn't actually in Warwick. It's a campus on the edge of Coventry, which is a crap town a few miles down the road. Fantastic academic reputation, but if you want to see the nicer end of Britain itself, perhaps not for you.

Sheffield - good politics department, located in a large city with lots to see and do, and lots of nightlife. These are the modules in politics & IR https://www.shef.ac.uk/politics/prospectiveug/modules

Manchester - my own university, large city, fantastic nightlife, lots to see and do and generally a lot of fun. It's a large department, so you have a lot of choice in terms of what you can study whilst you're here http://courses.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/modulelist.html?department=13

All have very good academic reputations, so don't worry about that aspect :smile: