dilemma: Leicester or Essex for politics?

i've been digging up stuff about leicester for a while since they gave me the order a month before.. and the environment, ranking, etc make Leicester seemed to be a pretty good option for me
but Essex just sent me the the offer, and i dug it up about the ranking for the school- 42nd comparing Leicester's 14th (Times, 2009).
then i looked into faculty ranking- which stunned me. since i'm doing international relations, which is under politics- the ranking is exchanged. i.e. Essex is 8th and Leicester is 42nd.
now, it becomes quite a dilemma to me- better faculty ranking, or better school ranking?
there're few others factors that i consider- international student population- leicester is 10-15%, essex is 40%.
and there is one weird thing- there hasnt been much discussion in the essex subforum - anyone know why?

Reply 1

Natasharox

I can't help you much with info about Essex, but I've just finished my first year in politics at Leics and love it. In the first year, IR and Politics students study the same modules anyway, so the two departments are very close. I don't think you should base your decision on rankings though, I think you should perhaps look at the module choices in the second and third years, and see which you'd be most interested in.

Also, visiting the campus, and researching the surrounding areas would be a good idea. Remember, you're picking a place to live, not just the university itself.

De Montfort University

Leicester

Visit website

Reply 2

PirateFlag

Natasharox

Also, visiting the campus, and researching the surrounding areas would be a good idea. Remember, you're picking a place to live, not just the university itself.

I would agree with her. I visited both Essex and Leicester. Essex felt like too much of a bubble. I have two friends who left Essex because of that reason.