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Notts, Exeter, or Aber for MA in International Relations

Hi All,

I am heading over to the UK from the US for postgraduate work in IR. I have been accepted at Nottingham, Exeter, and Aber for the subject. So, now I need to make the big decision. I'm looking for opinions.

One of my main concerns is having the possibility to go on for my PhD and attain funding, whether directly from the University or from a +3 scholarship.

Here is my pros/cons list so far:

Nottingham:

PROS

-The most highly regarded of the three overall
-nice campus
-strengths in diplomacy and conflict resolution, two of my interest areas

CONS

-rated "4" for research, the lowest of the three
-does not seems to be a main focus of the uni
-postgrad accommodation is pushed onto the fringes of the campus

Exeter:

PROS

-rated 5 for politics
- vice chancellor came from Aber, where he helped make the IR dept there outstanding (future of dept looking good)
-absolutely beautiful campus and area, set in a great small city (for my tastes)

CONS

-possible lack of funding opportunities (not sure on this one)

Aberystwyth:

PROS

-5* rating for IR research
-rated the highest of the three for the subject
-brand new IR building being built, to be ready by January 2006
-Uni seems very dedicated to the department

CONS

-overall, not as highly regarded as the other two
-set out in the middle of nowhere

It would be great to hear from anyone who is a student within one of these departments or who is familiar with them. Please feel free to disagree with any of my pro/con preconceptions.

Thanks for your help

Reply 1

viviki

14

Politics and international politics are the best subject to do in aber and are regarded well. Uni overall not regarded as well as the others in the UK.
Lovely uni by the sea, very friendly student atmosphere, nice place to live if a little small, good amount of internationals.
Probably is the best place to study for the subject. Depends what you want to do with it.
If you are looking to stay in that field then its a solid choice but if you are looking for a general career in the UK after possibly better to go for Nots.

Reply 2

Squishy

11

I'd prefer Aber as well...it depends on whether the department's more important to you than the city, since you seem to like Exeter (the city) more...I'm personally not a fan of studying in Nottingham, but that's just me.

Reply 3

Evil Muffin

1

Exeter - its the best compromise between them and you seem to like it here :biggrin:

Reply 4

rah2

6

I'm at nottingham studying politics ug and whilst the department is very good and the research rating doesn't do it justice i would *strongly* recommend aber to you, as it is easily the best, academic reputation wise, IR department in the UK.

If you are looking to go on and do a phd then aber is what you need, nottingham is fun and exeter is pretty but neither will help you as much as aber, nor i imagine would be as stimulating.

Their current list of staff is just sickening :wink:

Reply 5

Kman

OP

Evil Muffin

Exeter - its the best compromise between them and you seem to like it here :biggrin:

Well, you are right that I like the Exeter environment best Evil Muffin (nice name by the way), but i'm not sure if I should let that override picking the best course. If the Aber and Exeter course are considered very close in quality, then I'd pick Exeter. It's just that everyone seems to be making so much of Aber's IR department.

Reply 6

viviki

14

Yes and aber is the nicest place in the world to live too. you'll never want to leave. i'm biased but it beats Exeter anyday. Sit by the window in the library on a nice day and look at the sea and it'll be sold to you forever.
Abers department for that subject is amazing thats why!!!

Reply 7

Kman

OP

rah2

I'm at nottingham studying politics ug and whilst the department is very good and the research rating doesn't do it justice i would *strongly* recommend aber to you, as it is easily the best, academic reputation wise, IR department in the UK.

If you are looking to go on and do a phd then aber is what you need, nottingham is fun and exeter is pretty but neither will help you as much as aber, nor i imagine would be as stimulating.

Their current list of staff is just sickening :wink:

thanks rah2,

Aber's staff list is incredible, isn't it? Seems like the whole University revolves around that department.

On the social side of things, I'm not big on city club scenes, so that's not a draw for me from Notts. You've gotta love a good pub though, and Aber seems to be chock full of those :smile:

Reply 8

viviki

14

You won't suffer socially from being at aber the social life is amazing. Fulll of dodgy places like the bay.

:eek:

I miss aber

Reply 9

Kman

OP

viviki

You won't suffer socially from being at aber the social life is amazing. Fulll of dodgy places like the bay.

:eek:

I miss aber

Haha dodgy places- the perfect accompaniment to any postgraduate education :wink:

I here wales is beautiful as well viviki. You're cetainly helping to lean me towards Aber. What did you study while you were there?

Reply 10

viviki

14

English I loved every second.

More to the point my friends loved it that much that most of them still live in the town.
Doing post grads or working, so I try to visit twice a year or so.
Aber is gorgeous I used to live by the harbour next to the castle and it was lovely. the weather sucks most of the year but when its nice its really nice and revision on the beach is the best!!!
Borth is nice too and near borth is ynyslas and its gorgeous
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/reserves/pages/ynyslas.shtml
http://www.forces-of-nature.co.uk/dbdriven/beachguide/beachguide.php?action=display_location&loc_id=2

Its a bit restrictive in the way of entertainment, one bowling alley one cinema in town and one in the arts centre, not many shops, but loads of pubs and restaurants. Did I mention the millions of dodgy pubs.
In my day you could get drunk on less than a tenner everynight if you wanted to. Theres always somewhere with a cheap drinks deal.

I honestly think aber is as pretty as Exeter. Come to aber you'll love it, its great and its got the national library of wales so you don't have to worry about never being able to get the library books you want. Its also very cheap the halls are really reasonable and overall price of living in aber is generally low. I don't recommend penbryn that highly though (catered hall) go self catered its cheaper and nicer.

Reply 11

Evil Muffin

1

Kman

Well, you are right that I like the Exeter environment best Evil Muffin (nice name by the way), but i'm not sure if I should let that override picking the best course. If the Aber and Exeter course are considered very close in quality, then I'd pick Exeter. It's just that everyone seems to be making so much of Aber's IR department.

Thanks

Strangely enough, loads of people I've met here had Aber as their insurance choice or applied there. I guess students for both places have similar ideals about things! Perhaps you should speak to some IR experts/professors (i.e. not on this website) and ask them about the respective courses.
I've heard that Aber is a very close-knit university and the students love it there. However, Exeter is more likely to have better places to go out socially, and you might like to take into account the postgraduate populations in each and what their lifestyles are like. Its all very well generalising about the places, but many people will be speaking about them from an undergrad perspective.

Reply 12

viviki

14

postgrads at aber are aplenty. My first year warden was a postgrad doing something politicsy but I can't remember the exact nature of her course it was an MA though.
I know several people that have done MA s and one that has done a phd (well hes in his final year) at aber.

I would argue that abers better than exeter socially, exeter theres more variety but in how many places can you walk into a pub on the way home and be almost guaranteed to see someone you know, you can do that in aber. Also aber is alot cheaper the students have a brilliant social life.

Reply 13

treff

1

I'd recommend Aber too. :smile:

I haven't been to any of the three unis, but when it comes to postgrad degrees, the focus of the decision should be the quality of the department. Of course lifestyle concerns should be considered, but it probably won't factor into the decisionmaking as much as it would if it were undergrad studies. Since your postgrad studies are likely to be overwhelmingly centered on academics anyway, I'd suggest going for the uni that would give the best academic environment, though not necessarily the best social environment. :smile:

Reply 14

rah2

6

Kman

thanks rah2,

Aber's staff list is incredible, isn't it? Seems like the whole University revolves around that department.

On the social side of things, I'm not big on city club scenes, so that's not a draw for me from Notts. You've gotta love a good pub though, and Aber seems to be chock full of those :smile:

I think personally, if i wanted to do a masters in IR, there are only four places i would consider - warwick, aber, lse and oxford. Probably with aber easily at the top of the list as I don't really like the thought of london, warwick is just a little *too* new a department and I doubt i'd have a shot at oxford.

Ken Booth, Ian Clark. Mike Foley. Andrew Linklater and woah Nicholas Wheeler(has got me through several humanitarian essays) at aber.

Tim Dunne and Iain Hampsher-Monk at exeter, not bad but not quite the same.

Notts, Exeter, or Aber for MA in International Relations

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