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Question about course rankings?

I'm applying for International Relations, there's no section for IR under course rankings, does it come under politics?

Second question is, I'm looking at The Guardian which has ranked 76 unis for IR and the Complete Uni Guide which has 83, what is considered good out of those rankings? I can't decide between two Unis, and they are both in the top 30 of rankings, is this considered good for IR?
International Relations falls under politics/political science and the alike in the rankings. The top 30 is a bit general... Can you say which ones? Anyways don't decide over the rankings... There are many more variables to consider!

Best of luck
Reply 2
IR will be under politics... but seriously I wouldn't take all that much notice of rankings. Of course a good ranking can re-enforce the claims which any department will make to be a good one. But the rankings are not hugely reliable - different rankings follow different methodologies and many these days are based on the vague criteria of 'satisfaction'. In addition to more general criteria for you to consider - do you want to live close or away from home, in a city or not etc.? - the most important academic variables should be whether the department offers the sort of courses that you want to do, your impressions if you visit and what other people who have been to those unis say.

The top 30 probably includes the world class and national class unis and a few others with particular specialisms in IR. But whether a uni is, say, 22nd or 28th or whatever shouldn't really influence your decision.

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