politics and international relations at warwick

hi, if u have done politics and international relations how was it? is it mainly essays and will there be debating? is it hard? i did maths and further maths in alevel so i would say i probably have more of a maths brain so would i even be able to do well in it?

Reply 1

University of Kent Reps

Official Rep

16

Hi there!
I have just finished my second year of Politics at the University of Kent, the course here is tailored so that even if you have not done Politics or an essay-based A-Level you can use your first year to catch up with those who have. A lot of my work has been essay based, but we have had workshops where we have learnt conflict resolution and debate skills. Some of our assignments have also involved coding and statistics, in the second year we had two of these modules where we conducted research and then had to code our results to create graphs for a research paper. There is a lot of data handling for Politics so your maths skills will be incredibly useful!
I would say go for it because you already have useful skills and anything you aren't confident in you can always ask to go over if you struggle as that is what the staff are there for :smile:

I hope this has helped!
-Bethany, UKC Rep

Reply 2

imcrying

OP

9

Original post by University of Kent Reps

Hi there!
I have just finished my second year of Politics at the University of Kent, the course here is tailored so that even if you have not done Politics or an essay-based A-Level you can use your first year to catch up with those who have. A lot of my work has been essay based, but we have had workshops where we have learnt conflict resolution and debate skills. Some of our assignments have also involved coding and statistics, in the second year we had two of these modules where we conducted research and then had to code our results to create graphs for a research paper. There is a lot of data handling for Politics so your maths skills will be incredibly useful!
I would say go for it because you already have useful skills and anything you aren't confident in you can always ask to go over if you struggle as that is what the staff are there for :smile:

I hope this has helped!
-Bethany, UKC Rep

hi, this helped a lot, i was just wondering, do you do you learn how to debate as personally, im not good at essays or debating so im wondering if im making the right choice

Reply 3

University of Kent Reps

Official Rep

16

Original post by imcrying

hi, this helped a lot, i was just wondering, do you do you learn how to debate as personally, im not good at essays or debating so im wondering if im making the right choice

Hiya, you will learn how to debate within written work, as we had workshops that would help us with our essay writing skills if we didn't feel comfortable with it or if we felt as though we could improve. I remember that within our first week we had a lot of introductory lectures on how to write a university-style essay. If your university doesn't offer this however then do not worry as you should be assigned a tutor or academic advisor who will go through this with you and you can book sessions with them to go over anything else that worries you about the course.
Additionally, you could see if your university offers a debating society as this would be a good way to meet people as well as being a great opportunity to learn this skill in an environment which isn't as academic so you can learn to enjoy it a bit more. That way you can build up your debating skills amongst friends and your essays will become so much easier to write!
-Bethany, UKC Rep

Reply 4

imcrying

OP

9

Original post by University of Kent Reps

Hiya, you will learn how to debate within written work, as we had workshops that would help us with our essay writing skills if we didn't feel comfortable with it or if we felt as though we could improve. I remember that within our first week we had a lot of introductory lectures on how to write a university-style essay. If your university doesn't offer this however then do not worry as you should be assigned a tutor or academic advisor who will go through this with you and you can book sessions with them to go over anything else that worries you about the course.
Additionally, you could see if your university offers a debating society as this would be a good way to meet people as well as being a great opportunity to learn this skill in an environment which isn't as academic so you can learn to enjoy it a bit more. That way you can build up your debating skills amongst friends and your essays will become so much easier to write!
-Bethany, UKC Rep

do you know how the job prospects for politics are, as i've not seen much online? i think the only reason why im hesitating is because i know im able to do decent in maths but its just in queen mary which isnt as good as warwick but i i struggled with economics at alevel so im not sure if i will be able to do politics essays. but not only that, im naturally a very shy and quiet person and i cant think fast on the spot, which is why i know that ill be really bad at debates.

Reply 5

University of Kent Reps

Official Rep

16

Original post by imcrying

do you know how the job prospects for politics are, as i've not seen much online? i think the only reason why im hesitating is because i know im able to do decent in maths but its just in queen mary which isnt as good as warwick but i i struggled with economics at alevel so im not sure if i will be able to do politics essays. but not only that, im naturally a very shy and quiet person and i cant think fast on the spot, which is why i know that ill be really bad at debates.

Hi there!
At the University of Kent, there is lots of support in terms of looking for employment within the Civil Service- where you can work alongside government departments after graduation if you apply for the Civil Service fast stream there is the opportunity to work in the House of Commons or work alongside legislators. There are also lots of opportunities within the UN and NATO for graduates. There are also many different industries you can work in if you weren't too sure if you wanted to work in Politics directly, like teaching, publishing and also working for non-governmental organisations. For example, I want to be a journalist and I would like to use my politics degree so that I can focus on current affairs, I would be using my degree but I would not directly work in the political sphere. It is also worth bearing in mind that Politics is a broad degree where you develop a lot of skills, not just knowledge of political institutions, without my degree I would not have learnt to code, debate and communicate effectively as well as critical thinking which are all transferable skills which you can take into any industry.
With debating, not everybody will have experience, some may have been fortunate enough to have debate clubs at their schools but this is not common, the reason you are going to university is to learn skills that you do not already have. You don't need to be perfect at things like this, there would be no point in you going to uni if you already knew everything. :biggrin:

This is the perfect time to address what you think you may need improvement on and then dedicate time in your degree to learn it.
I am a fairly shy person when meeting new people and in a big group, but I have found my niche in written work, the same way that you may find yours in stats and research as you can use your maths skills; debating on the spot is not an essential skill for this degree, however, you will be taught how to by your tutors and professors which will build your confidence up slowly.
In regards to your worries about economics, within your first term, you will be brought up to speed with any economic terms you will need to know and if you struggle then you can ask your lecturer/seminar leader/academic advisor or even other people on your course. I personally have had quite a few things that I did not understand, as I did not take economics A-Level so when we looked at globalisation in the first year I was initially really scared that I would never understand it, however, if you build up the courage to ask for help then the staff at your uni will do everything in their power to make it easier for you to make you feel more confident.
Let me know if you have any more questions,
-Bethany, UKC Rep

politics and international relations at warwick

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