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Which Uni (for postgraduate) should I attend?

Hi everyone! I'm an American girl wanting to head to the UK next fall for my postgraduate studies in International Relations. I'm looking at: University of York, Edinburgh, Kingston, Kent and Durham. Does anyone have any advice? All the programmes look fantastic, but I'm a little concerned about the life/atmosphere of each city. Cost of living is important, but so is atmosphere! Thanks for any recommendations!

Reply 1

returnmigrant

If you look for the 'Open Day' or similar films on You Tube for each Uni, and read the wikipedia entry for each one, this will give you an idea of what each is is like.

Reply 2

jelly1000

Original post by cnadeau

Kingston is a lot further down the league tables than your other choices. That said if you really like the course feel free to go ahead with it.

Reply 3

Tcannon

It depends on your academic areas within IR. Also look at activities outside the class room such as guest speaker series, treks to international organisations (EU or UN in Geneva), alumni chapters, Student Model UN simulates negotiation, employment record after graduation.

York is very strong in governance, health and public policy. It has research clusters and attracts even some funding from the EU. For home students, York's reasonable tuition also offers a good value for money. I can't say how the tuition fee for internationals compares with peers. Lovely old town, the campus is modern and located outside. Good student satisfaction in surveys for teaching, value, personal development and location. Some dorms have a good community feeling with parties or movie night. For some courses (business, history and politics), the career center helps to place students with regional organisations for internships or capstone projects. Cost of living is reasonable, on some index York is one of the cheaper towns.

Edinburgh has a good IR programme, upper mid tier (top tier: Oxbridge and LSE). But the tuition is relatively higher than your other choices. Regional coverage includes Middle East, North America and Europe. A bit light on Asia and Africa. As a city, Edin has a more metropolitan feeling with higher cost of living.

Kent is mostly Europe, IR derives from the core European Studies course. Institution, political economy and governance. Light on IOs, policy analysis and NGO. Lovely university town, small and compact. There is not much around Kent, but London is 90ish min away. Town is busy during term and quiet during summer. Quality of housing stock in the private sector varies. Most postgrads share houses.