The Student Room Group

PPE, best uni and job prospects ?

Hi,

I am preparing my application for PPE since a year now and I still have non-answered questions.

I would like to apply to Oxford, LSE, KCL, Warwick and UCL (all for PPE). I know that Oxford is the best PPE but what are the reputations of the others ?

I am interested in working in the UN or in another international organisation, do you think PPE is good for this kind of job ?

Also, what are the others job prospects for PPE in the other sectors such as business, international relations, finance, etc... ?

Thank you !
Reply 1
Those are all great universities, although you're right that Oxford is particularly well known for PPE.

I don't really know whether a PPE degree would increase your job prospects in those fields, as I don't have any experience of them (I also don't study PPE myself), but it certainly won't put you at a disadvantage, particularly with a degree from reputable institutions like the ones you're applying to.
Reply 2
With a PPE degree all doors are open to you, honestly, a lot of PPE graduates work in the fields you mentioned.

As for the reputation (academic) of PPE in the universities mentioned, I'd rank them:
Oxford > Warwick > UCL > LSE > KCL. However, all of them are great and you would have pretty much the same career prospects in any university (although Oxford definitely has an edge)
Hi, I'm also applying to PPE and from my understanding after a fair bit of research:

As far as PPE courses, Warwick and UCL are extremely highly regarded. The former is probably the best interdisciplinary course because far more than Oxford it stresses the links between the two, and UCL's PPE course has a really strong policy and quantitative focus. LSE course-wise is not famous or anything, but LSE as an institution you go for the name. You get a degree from LSE and you'll have no problems landing a job so it doesn't really matter, I mean no one goes to LSE for the student satisfaction, contact time or great social life because...well...it usually lacks in all three...

KCL is the least regarded you've listed unless you're thinking about getting a job internationally, which KCL has a great reputation for mostly because it's in London. But even if as institution/course domestically, Durham does better (largely because the uni itself is usually academically stronger), but even York does because its PPE course is older and more well established than most of the listed options, even if as a uni it's usually lower down. I guess just for completeness sake, domestically a PPE degree from Exeter would be highly regarded too. Of every uni I've listed: Oxford > Warwick > UCL > LSE > Durham > York > KCL > Exeter would probably be correct.

Yeah as far as the course, pretty much anything from politics to finance. With PPE most fields people go into don't require absolutely specific degrees, but a background in politics and economics opens up your options quite a bit. More important is work experience, contacts and the university you go to but the transferable skills you get from a PPE course are really useful too. From a good uni, a PPE degree is not a disadvantage in any sector you listed.

Hope this helped :smile:

Edit: I guess though just a point on reputation, a York PPE degree is better than a KCL one, but only if the employer knows that which you can't guarantee, and if they don't KCL looks better. If you're applying for finance, reputation and universities are far more considered but with PPE being so broad, the usefulness of the reputation of your uni is hard to say for sure.

I'd give a different ranking for quality of the course, but that's a lot more subjective. From any of those unis it won't be a huge problem so pick the ones you like. Durham, LSE, York for example don't give you the option to drop one, but the others do. As I've mentioned, Warwick is a lot more interdisciplinary, and Exeter in general is really flexible. Find the course you enjoy most, from any of these unis finding a job should not be a problem provided you do well, get good experience, etc.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 4
Great post by NamesAreEffort. I'd just add that don't make the mistake of only chasing the prestige/reputation of a university. Attending either of these universities won't inhibit your career prospects, and having such a respected degree means that it will be entirely up to you to achieve career success. Just don't, for the sake of God, join something like LSE merely because it's a famous university and its' graduates earn high salaries. Apply to a university only if you truly like the course/city/accommodation etc, because if you don't, there is a high chance that you will find yourself unhappy.
Reply 5
Thank you all for your answers !

So if I have well understood @NamesAreEffort, the best 'choices' to do for a PPE are :
1. Oxford
2. Warwick
3. UCL
4. LSE
5. Durham
?

Because my original choices were :
1. Oxford
2. LSE
3. UCL
4. KCL
5. Warwick
Reply 6
Original post by mbellens
Thank you all for your answers !

So if I have well understood @NamesAreEffort, the best 'choices' to do for a PPE are :
1. Oxford
2. Warwick
3. UCL
4. LSE
5. Durham
?

Because my original choices were :
1. Oxford
2. LSE
3. UCL
4. KCL
5. Warwick


Employers don't care about university rankings.

Attachment not found


(Or "brand name")
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 7
I wasn't talking about university ranking. Indeed, there is no real university ranking fir the PPE course. So it is not the subject.

But it is real that some schools are more able to teach a subject than others. And some schools bring a more complete teaching than others. Actually, you can't say that an Oxford PPE is equal to Kent's one.
Reply 8
Original post by mbellens
I wasn't talking about university ranking. Indeed, there is no real university ranking fir the PPE course. So it is not the subject.

But it is real that some schools are more able to teach a subject than others. And some schools bring a more complete teaching than others. Actually, you can't say that an Oxford PPE is equal to Kent's one.


What's Kent got to do with it? That said there are 24 Kent alumni currently at the UN.

Employers, including NGOs, are looking for good people, not good universities.
Reply 9
What do you know about Manchester for PPE?
Original post by NamesAreEffort
Hi, I'm also applying to PPE and from my understanding after a fair bit of research:

As far as PPE courses, Warwick and UCL are extremely highly regarded. The former is probably the best interdisciplinary course because far more than Oxford it stresses the links between the two, and UCL's PPE course has a really strong policy and quantitative focus. LSE course-wise is not famous or anything, but LSE as an institution you go for the name. You get a degree from LSE and you'll have no problems landing a job so it doesn't really matter, I mean no one goes to LSE for the student satisfaction, contact time or great social life because...well...it usually lacks in all three...

KCL is the least regarded you've listed unless you're thinking about getting a job internationally, which KCL has a great reputation for mostly because it's in London. But even if as institution/course domestically, Durham does better (largely because the uni itself is usually academically stronger), but even York does because its PPE course is older and more well established than most of the listed options, even if as a uni it's usually lower down. I guess just for completeness sake, domestically a PPE degree from Exeter would be highly regarded too. Of every uni I've listed: Oxford > Warwick > UCL > LSE > Durham > York > KCL > Exeter would probably be correct.

Yeah as far as the course, pretty much anything from politics to finance. With PPE most fields people go into don't require absolutely specific degrees, but a background in politics and economics opens up your options quite a bit. More important is work experience, contacts and the university you go to but the transferable skills you get from a PPE course are really useful too. From a good uni, a PPE degree is not a disadvantage in any sector you listed.

Hope this helped :smile:

Edit: I guess though just a point on reputation, a York PPE degree is better than a KCL one, but only if the employer knows that which you can't guarantee, and if they don't KCL looks better. If you're applying for finance, reputation and universities are far more considered but with PPE being so broad, the usefulness of the reputation of your uni is hard to say for sure.

I'd give a different ranking for quality of the course, but that's a lot more subjective. From any of those unis it won't be a huge problem so pick the ones you like. Durham, LSE, York for example don't give you the option to drop one, but the others do. As I've mentioned, Warwick is a lot more interdisciplinary, and Exeter in general is really flexible. Find the course you enjoy most, from any of these unis finding a job should not be a problem provided you do well, get good experience, etc.


What do you know about PPE @ Manchester? Is it also as highly regarded?