Essex PPE vs Newcastle Politics and Economics

Essex is known to punch above its weight (so to speak) in the social sciences, so I think there is little question that the quality of the course would be at least comparable to that of Newcastle. This said, and while I do not know an enormous amount about careers in finance, I would predict that Newcastle would be viewed more favourably by the majority of people. The rankings are essentially irrelevant, but perception is important. Newcastle is a name people generally recognise and, by virtue of it often being considered alongside "red brick" universities, it is going to generally be viewed more positively than Essex which, if people have heard of it at all, they will often have a neutral to poor opinion of - rightly or wrongly.

I'm personally of the mind that you should study the course you want to study. You are more likely to be happy, which makes you more like to achieve a good degree classification and more likely to take advantage of opportunities to get relevant experience and the like. Your career after university will depend - in general - relatively little on which university you attended. I don't believe that Newcastle is even a semi-target for IB but it is likely that a few people from there will move into that field each year, and I would predict that certainly that number is greater than the number from Essex. Something to consider.

As I said though, finance is something I know very little about.

Thank you very much for your answer!

I am currently considering Essex to be my firm choice, as I believe I would enjoy the course more.

Other than those two universities, I have an offer from the University of Stirling for PPE. Are Essex and Newcastle probably better choices academically and professionally than Stirling?

I would think so, but my previous comments about studying where you think you will be happiest would still apply

Good luck!