League Tables/John Hopkins University/International Relations

http://www.politicalstudies.org/pdf/psr/hix.pdf

Scroll down to page 12. This study is far from perfect, but it's better and more detailed than the other ones out there.

Reply 24

The Orientalist

10

shady lane

Business?

Mmm...Didn't know Imperial had a business school :redface:

. Can't believe it's rated so highly for social sciences though. It's impossible! Like pharmakos said, these tables are a bit weird.

Reply 25

since were talking about rankings...i know that you guys mentioned before that its more about the university prestige than department..but still how are these ranked roughly for economics:

University of Pennsylvania
Cornell
Dartmouth
Brown
Columbia
Duke
Berkley
JHU.

thanks.

also is there any point applying to LACs if we are going to go back to UK afterwards (im talking eg Amherst, Williams, HAverford etc)

Reply 26

pharmakos

8

The Orientalist

Mmm...Didn't know Imperial had a business school :redface:

. Can't believe it's rated so highly for social sciences though. It's impossible! Like pharmakos said, these tables are a bit weird.

Imperial does have a business school. But anyone who has a brain would know that business alone--no matter how good--is not enough to put a uni on the map of social sciences--otherwise London Business School would be at least on the THES social sciences rankings and better ranked than Imperial.

I don't even have to mention that business isn't even a hard-core social sciences subject and that Imperial's business school isn't so good.

Reply 27

IAMAPERSON

What the hell. Essex is ranked at 16th in that table, with Oxford at 19th. Glad to see Bristol is 34th though. How hard is it to get into a top ten grad IR program in the US if you were rejected from the Oxford bandwagon and you're probably going to do politics at Bristol?

Reply 28

arkbar

12

Why don't you just go somewhere good in the UK and spend a lot less time/money?

Reply 29

IAMAPERSON

There are a number of reasons as to why I'm considering it. I've spent a lot of my life abroad and like seeing new cultures / living in different places. Also, I think it would be a very interesting experience studying IR from an American perspective. It's also something to differentiate me from other students. And money is an issue, but isn't a big obstacle / my parents are prepared to support me to an extent or i can just use my student loans from my UG degree that I'm not going to use.

Reply 30

IB-more

abrp

since were talking about rankings...i know that you guys mentioned before that its more about the university prestige than department..but still how are these ranked roughly for economics:

University of Pennsylvania
Cornell
Dartmouth
Brown
Columbia
Duke
Berkley
JHU.

thanks.

also is there any point applying to LACs if we are going to go back to UK afterwards (im talking eg Amherst, Williams, HAverford etc)

You have to understand how the system works. You don't (generally) go to a school just for one major, unless you're totally sure that you want to be that. Most US High School students don't go to College knowing what they're going with their lives. As such, we don't really have a system of ranking which schools are good in specific areas. We'll say that some schools are "strong in" certain majors, like Tufts and JHU, which have strong International Relations departments, but it's not as important as it seems to be in the UK.

After saying all of that, however, econ is a pretty strong major pretty much anywhere you go.

About the Lib Arts places, they might not have a strong reputation outside of the US, but they'll sure as hell make sure that you're a smart, competent, and well-rounded human being. To me, it sounds like you can't really go wrong from there...

One major motif that keeps coming up here is that British students are so career-minded. But let's not get off topic.

JHU is great. I was just in the JHU dorms the other day, and some are really nice, and the others are pretty average for colleges.

Reply 31

thanks

yea..maybe about the whole Major thing..but Economics is the only thing im really intrested in...possibly politics..but then again only a combination of the two...im also quite intrested in Philosophy but only at a "reading a book by Nietzsche/Plato/Aristotle etc down by the fire place in the evening"... :smile:

Reply 32

abrp

since were talking about rankings...i know that you guys mentioned before that its more about the university prestige than department..but still how are these ranked roughly for economics:

University of Pennsylvania
Cornell
Dartmouth
Brown
Columbia
Duke
Berkley
JHU.

thanks.

also is there any point applying to LACs if we are going to go back to UK afterwards (im talking eg Amherst, Williams, HAverford etc)

Harvard and Chicago are #1 and 2. Columbia and Berkeley aren't far behind. UPenn has a great business program, but not necessarily a great economics program. JHU and Cornell are above average. The other ones on your list are better than those two, but far below Columbia and Berkeley.

Reply 33

thanks Bismark :yy:

will employers in England take that into consideration or will they just consider overall Uni rep? What about in America?

and yea..i forgot to add Chicago there...im planning on applying there...not for Havard though...

so overall out of my choices for Economics deps it would be:

Chicago
Columbia/Berkeley
|
|
|
Duke/Brown/Dartmouth
Cornell / JHU

so would it look better on an application form/cv if i went to Chicago rather than an Ivy such as Dartmouth/Cornell/Brown (which you say are worse for economics)?

Reply 34

I think the reputation of the university is more important than the reputation of the program. This is more true in Britain than it is in the US, but going to a top-notch university will still help your career far more than going to a top-notch program in the US. For that reason, I'd probably put Columbia above Chicago.

Columbia
Chicago
Berkeley
|
|
|
Duke/Brown/Dartmouth
Cornell / JHU

Reply 35

so the Ivys arent infact considered the be and end all in USA (+ obvs mit, stanford ) ? when i was talking to City Trader (investment banker on IB forum) he said that to get top job in UK banks you have had to gone to Ivy :s-smilie:

.

which is why i actually thought places like Brown would be top of that list.

Reply 36

abrp

so the Ivys arent infact considered the be and end all in USA (+ obvs mit, stanford ) ? when i was talking to City Trader (investment banker on IB forum) he said that to get top job in UK banks you have had to gone to Ivy :s-smilie:

.

which is why i actually thought places like Brown would be top of that list.

Not really. They're only called Ivies because they're in the same sports division...

Even though the university's reputation is more important than the program's, I really have never heard of Brown having a good eco program. All the top economists are in Chicago, Harvard, Columbia, and Berkeley. MIT is actually really good for eco as well (and overall), but it heavily emphasizes statistics and math. Of course if you're good at those things, you have no reason not to apply there.

Columbia is really picky by the way, because everyone wants to study in New York (it's why NYU, which is mediocre, is harder to get into than it should be). It might be as hard as to get into Harvard.

Reply 37

ebonyphoenix

1

abrp

since were talking about rankings...i know that you guys mentioned before that its more about the university prestige than department..but still how are these ranked roughly for economics:

University of Pennsylvania
Cornell
Dartmouth
Brown
Columbia
Duke
Berkley
JHU.

thanks.

also is there any point applying to LACs if we are going to go back to UK afterwards (im talking eg Amherst, Williams, HAverford etc)

You can take my advice or leave it, but it is never a good idea to select a university solely based on prestige. It doesn't matter whether you are British, American, Canadian, etc. There have been very successful people at prestigious places; there have been billionaires who have gone to "lesser" schools. The name on your degree will help you get a foot in the door early on, but after a point, it more boils down to you and your innate talent. Studies have shown people who have gotten into Harvard, ect. and have chosen to attend another school for some reason have not been put at a disadvantage in their earning potential. This is because the person already has the talents to succeed in whatever environment they are thrust in.

By all means, go to the prestigious university with the great econ department. But don't let that be the deciding factor. Location, student body, party atmosphere, and everything else are SO important. I had so many peers fall into the trap of deciding early on it was prestigious school or die trying to get in, and it just made me worry for their sanity. Never go anywhere just for the name on a degree, go for the amazing experience and the things you will learn.

All of the above would be excellent schools, though I don't believe Brown is known for econ. If I were you, I wouldn't pass up Amherst or Williams or Haverford or Swarthmore because you are worried about the weight the name will carry on your UK CV. All of these schools will make you an articulate, thoughtful, intelligent sounding person, which I think is the goal.

Reply 38

shady lane

16

If you want to work in the UK, I think you should consider university reputation very carefully. You'd be paying quite a lot of money, and honestly more British employers have heard of Queen Mary than Swarthmore, despite the fact that Swarthmore is miles better academically.

Reply 39