Which university to choose? Lancaster? Strathclyde?

Original post by magzab

I got accepted to a few universities in the UK and I’m seriously lost when it comes to choosing as there are so many factors. So far I have looked through various rankings and forums and narrowed it down to three unis.
I got accepted to Lancaster (International Law and International Relations) Strathclyde(International Relations, Law and Security) , Aberdeen( International Relations and International Law) Birkbeck (International Security and Global Governance) Bristol (European and Global Governance) Aston (International relations and Global Governance) and Coventry (Diplomacy, Law and Global Change).
Which one to choose? I’m thinking bout Lancaster or Strathclyde. I should add here that I will be looking at various internships and traineeships after graduating. Which uni and course gives me most options for a job and, before that, internships? Thank you 🙏🏼

Lancaster and Bristol are probably the unis with the best reputation on your list. They both have good links with industry, as well.

What sort of thing are you looking for in a uni?

Reply 2

magzab

OP

Original post by SarcAndSpark

Lancaster and Bristol are probably the unis with the best reputation on your list. They both have good links with industry, as well.

What sort of thing are you looking for in a uni?

Ok, thank you :smile:

Just as you’ve mentioned; the links with industry as well as being recognised as a desirable university to have a degree from. My aim is to work as a diplomat, however, I am aware that it might be hard. That is why, I was also thinking about which university and course will give me some alternatives as well. I know Bristol is a really good uni, but I find the course a bit limiting. Lancaster gives me more options, I think. When it comes to Strathclyde, I have read some really good opinions about it and it is also quite high in rankings regarding international relations and social sciences.

Reply 3

Original post by magzab

Ok, thank you :smile:

Just as you’ve mentioned; the links with industry as well as being recognised as a desirable university to have a degree from. My aim is to work as a diplomat, however, I am aware that it might be hard. That is why, I was also thinking about which university and course will give me some alternatives as well. I know Bristol is a really good uni, but I find the course a bit limiting. Lancaster gives me more options, I think. When it comes to Strathclyde, I have read some really good opinions about it and it is also quite high in rankings regarding international relations and social sciences.

Lancaster is a well regarded uni, so it's definitely a good option.

If you like Strathclyde then that's great- but I'd say most people in the UK wouldn't consider it on par with Bristol/Lancaster.

Reply 4

brackets_

Original post by magzab

I got accepted to a few universities in the UK and I’m seriously lost when it comes to choosing as there are so many factors. So far I have looked through various rankings and forums and narrowed it down to three unis.
I got accepted to Lancaster (International Law and International Relations) Strathclyde(International Relations, Law and Security) , Aberdeen( International Relations and International Law) Birkbeck (International Security and Global Governance) Bristol (European and Global Governance) Aston (International relations and Global Governance) and Coventry (Diplomacy, Law and Global Change).
Which one to choose? I’m thinking bout Lancaster or Strathclyde. I should add here that I will be looking at various internships and traineeships after graduating. Which uni and course gives me most options for a job and, before that, internships? Thank you 🙏🏼

I haven't researched your subjects or visited any of those except Lancaster so I can't help you there. However, if accommodation is important to you, Lancaster has the best I saw in all 14 unis I visited and is widely praised for it.

If you are torn it's definitely worth going to open days, or if that isn't economical for you, see if they do online virtual ones. Some highly ranked universities/courses really didn't suit me, and some with poor rankings turned out to be pretty good.

Reply 5

magzab

OP

Original post by SarcAndSpark

Lancaster is a well regarded uni, so it's definitely a good option.

If you like Strathclyde then that's great- but I'd say most people in the UK wouldn't consider it on par with Bristol/Lancaster.

I actually like Lancaster, however, I was thinking about Strathclyde just because of the course content as well as the size of the town/city. Surely it’ll be easier to get a part-time job in Glasgow. The most important factor for me, however, is how good the university really is. Also, I was surprised to compare some rankings and acceptance rate in Strathclyde, Lancaster and Aberdeen. Strathclyde seems to reject most applicants which is surprising to me as Lancaster is ranked way higher than Aberdeen or Strathclyde.

Reply 6

Original post by magzab

I actually like Lancaster, however, I was thinking about Strathclyde just because of the course content as well as the size of the town/city. Surely it’ll be easier to get a part-time job in Glasgow. The most important factor for me, however, is how good the university really is. Also, I was surprised to compare some rankings and acceptance rate in Strathclyde, Lancaster and Aberdeen. Strathclyde seems to reject most applicants which is surprising to me as Lancaster is ranked way higher than Aberdeen or Strathclyde.

Strathclyde is a smaller uni, so have less capacity to accept people. I wouldn't let that factor into your decision.

There are lots of part time jobs available in Lancaster or on the uni campus as well.

But if you like Strathclyde then go for it!

Reply 7

aleml

7

Acceptance rate isn’t necessarily a good measure of how good a course is. Strathclyde is just a very popular uni because it’s in Scotland’s biggest city making it harder to get into. All are good universities. I would assume all are in fairly equal level in terms of the reputation of their international relations courses. I am aware Strathclyde is very strong in politics and IR research but Bristol’s social science dept as a whole is probably stronger. If you’re an EU student then Scottish universities might be a better option as you are able to obtain free tuition and Aberdeen is good for politics too. Both Strathclyde and aberdeen have a good reputation internationally, particularly in the EU because of how hard they are to get into for free tuition. I’d definitely recommend looking at the course content and structure. I’ve heard Aberdeen as a city isn’t the best, Lancaster is a bit small so consider what lifestyle you want while studying. Bristol and Strathclyde would be quite similar in this regard.

Reply 8

magzab

OP

Original post by SarcAndSpark

Strathclyde is a smaller uni, so have less capacity to accept people. I wouldn't let that factor into your decision.

There are lots of part time jobs available in Lancaster or on the uni campus as well.

But if you like Strathclyde then go for it!

Thank you so much! I actually like Lancaster the most and I think it will be the best option to go for 😃 Thank you

Reply 9