Where is best to do a Sociology Degree?

Hi there!I am looking to study a Sociology degree starting in 2016. I'm looking to apply to Surrey, Exeter, Birmingham, Warwick and Bath. I was just wondering if anyone else on student room has studied Sociology at one of the above (or anywhere else!) who has anything to say about it; concerning the course and the uni as a whole!! As during my open days I haven't actually been able to speak to any Sociology students! Thanks a lot!

Reply 1

cambio wechsel

Original post by rosieholdway

...a Sociology degree...Surrey, Exeter, Birmingham, Warwick and Bath

I would want to go to Bristol or Cardiff. Something Bath has to commend it is that you can there do your Sociology degree and have it called 'Social Sciences', which sounds more respectable. I think something similar is true at York. At Cardiff you can now do a BSc in 'Social Analytics' (?) which sounds still more rigorous. Bristol is all over the Q-Step thing, ‘...& Quantitative Methods' which is where the money presently is in Sociology and cognate disciplines and will lend a greater degree of employability.

Reply 2

rosieholdway

Original post by cambio wechsel

Thanks for the reply! Exeter also offer the Q-Step program in their BSc degree - which I would prefer to study rather than a BA. Warwick also do Sociology with Quantitate Methods that I am interested in (currently taking Maths as one of my A-Levels). I live very close to Bristol and therefore am not appealed to go there. Have also looked at Cardiff but will look at the Social Analytics. Thanks for the help!

Reply 3

Sheffield Methods Institute

Hi

Have you looked at our BA in Quantitative Social Sciences at The University of Sheffield. We're also a Q-Step centre and our degree offers the choice between three study pathways, as well training in the latest quantitative research methods:

- Politics, Criminology and Sociology
- Geography, Urban Studies and Landscape
- Management studies.

You can find out more about the course structure here:
http://smi.dept.shef.ac.uk/quantitative/

We also have an open coming up this Saturday where you can find out more www.sheffield.ac.uk/smi/study-with-us/open-day-booking

Happy to answer questions you have or I can ask one of our students to contact you via TSR?

I hope this helps

Reply 4

returnmigrant

I suggest you look at the COURSE CONTENT at each Uni - not all Sociology courses are the same - and decide what bits interest you the most. Think about which optional modules/units would you choose (in all 3 years of the course) - and why.

No-one else is ever going to be able to tell you which Uni/course will suit you best - because they aren't you.

Reply 5

beautifulbigmacs

Agree with returnmigrant.

I looked at Staffordshire and Liverpool Hope based on my subject interests within Sociology. Rank is not value.

Reply 6

rosieholdway

Original post by returnmigrant

Thanks for the advice, think I have decided on my five now having looked at content the most, just got to decide on my firm now! Hoping I get my choices!

Reply 7

returnmigrant

You don't have to make a Firm choice until May 2016. Lots of things could change by then - including your ideas about which course you prefer - so stay open to all possibilities.

Reply 8

missbubbley

Are Quantitve methods maths based? Do you need to excel in maths to do a sociology degree?

Reply 9

returnmigrant

Original post by missbubbley

Are Quantitve methods maths based? Do you need to excel in maths to do a sociology degree?

You don't need 'Maths' to do Quant Methods. Its about how you interpret, use and represent data rather than the number crunching to produce that data.

If the degree is called 'Sociology with Quantitative Methods' then that's the focus of your learning. If it's just 'Sociology' then , like all Social Sciences, you will learn how to use and interpret all sorts of data as a part of your course.

Bristol offers all sorts of Sociology courses - including 'with Quantitative Methods' and a whole range of joint subject Sociology degrees : http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/search/search_results?sort=score&dir=desc&sort=UndergraduateCourse-programname&dir=asc&query=sociology+

Reply 10

missbubbley

Thanks so it is a way of interpreting data rather than mathematical equations.
Are there any Unis which have very few Quantitative methods as part of the core module and more emphasis on the actual sociology?

Reply 11

returnmigrant

Original post by missbubbley

Data is an integral part of Sociology - you can't get away from this as its a Social Science. But it isn't anything to be afraid of - if it demanded big maths skills then the Unis would be asking for A level Maths - clearly anyone with GCSE Maths can cope with it. Its one small part of your initial core units - and no-one will have done any of the theory behind data handling before so it really will be basic stuff.

Reply 12

beautifulbigmacs

Maths used in sociology is pretty basic stuff. It's no more than you will encounter in many other humanities subjects. It could be maths as simple as looking at a bar chart from a voting poll you design for a dissertation research. Tis nothing to worry about.

Reply 13

missbubbley

Thanks for your advice :smile:

I'm definitely planning to do sociology at Uni but still unsure on my final uni choices for 2016. I'm thinking to go to Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester ??? maybe Goldsmiths?? Any recommendations?

Reply 14

beautifulbigmacs

Liverpool and Manchester are great cities to live in. So many unis offer sociology that it is well worth thinking about where you would like to live also.

Reply 15

Deloo

I would like to share my experience when I was deciding between LSE, Bristol and Bath.

I was hesitating between LSE, Bristol and Bath and I have a place at LSE, but still I don't know if that was a good decision, I have to go to the uni and find out ig. How I decided was by looking at the modules, competitiveness of that course, research quality, number of students, social life, the overall university reputation for the subject, how much learning I can get out of and location for internships.
1. MODULES By looking at the modules, I liked LSE and Bath university. Bath offering social policy modules in year 1 was tempting as well as how LSE let the students pick modules outside the subject (from other social science subjects such as Econ, govern, politics, anthropology, geography etc.) Also LSE module had researching London so that sounded fun. I was hesitating, cuz I wanted to do social policy and public policy and research as my possible career - and obviously I had a choice of Bath which had social policy in the model or LSE which I could choose to learn something outside the subject module such as Social Economics and Policy (1.0), Politics of Social Policy Making (1.0) or Government, Politics and Public Policy in the European Union (1.0).
2. COMPETITIVENESS LSE was the most competitive uni in the admission process with this year having the offer rate of 38 percent according to the LSE website this year and last year 45 percent according to the admission report. This was because LSE doesn't do interviews but values personal statements a lot. For me, this meant that even if I would achieve the right predicted grades, I would still get rejected. This doesn't matter that much as offer rate does not show anything but it is still good to look at how hard to get into the course at the university before applying. I received contextual at Bristol so I only needed BBB and Bristol also considers someone with lower predicted grades whereas LSE and Bath may reject them.
3. RESEARCH QUALITY - I thought Bristol was very good for Sociological research. But Bath and LSE were good too.
4. I didn't want a big pool of sociology students but wanted good social life. For social life, I thought LSE would be tough full of international students but Bath or Bristol very good. However, last year in LSE sociology (bsc) there were only 40 Sociology students at LSE compare to Bristol with a lot more students. 40 to 70 would be the right size for me. Social life would be harder at LSE but I thought as a Sociologist I should be aware of cultural diversity and cultural hegemony when living (I am joking - LSE might be tough when making friends)
5. I thought all of them had a good reputation for Sociology. But I thought I could get the most learning out of it at LSE as it is "the social science university" which has the world biggest social science library and because LSE pushes your limits thanks to there being many competitive international students.
6. In terms of internships, I thought London would be good with a lot of opportunities provided in the heart of London. But the location obviously is very expensive...
7. Search up how many gets into work or further studies. LSE website said last year median salary was 27000 pound (after 6 months of graduating and I would say that it is probably the same for Bath and Bristol (I couldn't find it)
8. Finally, where you want jobs is important too. If you want jobs outside of UK, it would be a good choice to go for LSE depending on the country. But, I know that many countries such as my home country (Korea) or India etc care a lot about the brand name of university. But it didn't matter as much to me cuz I am going to live in the UK so.

To conclude, you could consider all these stuff I think. university rank that changes every year doesn't matter. University brand doesn't matter too - look at modules, competitiveness of getting in and when you are in, location, learning opportunities and social life. And I am sorry for writing loads.