International Relations Masters - King&#x27;s College or Warwick??

OP

Warwick Scholarship Received - MA International Relations Warwick or KCL?

I have just found out that I have been awarded a £5000 scholarship at Warwick, so I will only pay £2250 in tuition. Studying at KCL would be far more expensive (London living costs + higher tuition $5500). Would an MA in IR from KCL be sufficiently more highly regarded than that at Warwick to justify this extra expense. In terms of the course, I prefer the MA at Warwick slightly.

Reply 8

studentadvice21

Warwick Scholarship Received - MA International Relations Warwick or KCL?

I have just found out that I have been awarded a £5000 scholarship at Warwick, so I will only pay £2250 in tuition. Studying at KCL would be far more expensive (London living costs + higher tuition $5500). Would an MA in IR from KCL be sufficiently more highly regarded than that at Warwick to justify this extra expense. In terms of the course, I prefer the MA at Warwick slightly.

Then go to Warwick! :smile:

If you prefer the course, and would be happier there financially, then go for it. Warwick is not sufficiently less good to warrant you going to Kings if you wouldn't be happy to do so, and having a scholarship on your CV is not something to be sniffed at.

Funding's so scarce in the social sciences that personally I'd bite their arms off, although I'm sure others will disagree :wink:

Reply 9

OP

The competitiveness of the course at KCL is also tempting me. KCL requires a mark of 65 in your undergraduate degree programme, and I've heard from a few people that it can be quite difficult to get into. I've heard the Warwick MA in IR is not too difficult to get into - they only asked for a 2:1 and in the prospectus it states that if you have a 2:2 you can apply for the diploma, and depending on your performance can continue to do the MA

Reply 10

studentadvice21

The competitiveness of the course at KCL is also tempting me. KCL requires a mark of 65 in your undergraduate degree programme, and I've heard from a few people that it can be quite difficult to get into. I've heard the Warwick MA in IR is not too difficult to get into - they only asked for a 2:1 and in the prospectus it states that if you have a 2:2 you can apply for the diploma, and depending on your performance can continue to do the MA

To be quite honest, in my experience Masters courses in Politics and IR don't tend to be amazingly competitive as a rule wherever you go. The vast majority of places only want a 2.1 and you really don't have to be that smart to get onto courses at the top universities (a lot of people I know off my course got into LSE, and a couple of them were thicker than two short planks). If that's something that's important to you then by all means take it into account, but bear in mind that these things are all relative. :smile:

*shrugs*. If you were to go to KCL, how would you finance it?

Reply 11

OP

Thanks for your advice. Sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing! It would be financed form savings and possibly a bank loan

Reply 12

studentadvice21

Thanks for your advice. Sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing! It would be financed form savings and possibly a bank loan

Fair enough. :smile:

Have you been to visit both? They obviously have extremely different environments and you may find that you have a very strong gut reaction to one or the other.

Reply 13

ILIGAN

9

Warwick.

There are only 4 universities in the UK that are generally regardd as better than Warwick and these are Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and LSE. Since you're not applying to any of those four, Warwick should be the best bet for you. It's a no-brainer.

Reply 14

OP

I have visited both - unfortunately the visits didn't sway me one way or the other. I would prefer to live in London but the expense is a deterrent.

I know Warwick is always ranked higher and probably has the better overall reputation as a university. However, King's War Studies Department is internationally renowned and more famous than PAIS. It's a case of University Vs Department, although it's complicated by the relative strengths of both universities and both the departments.

Reply 15

Socrates

ILIGAN

Warwick.

There are only 4 universities in the UK that are generally regardd as better than Warwick and these are Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and LSE. Since you're not applying to any of those four, Warwick should be the best bet for you. It's a no-brainer.

Erm, thats a load of *******s. Warwick is pretty good, but nowhere near the top 10. (Top 20, perhaps, closer to the mark).

From your choices, I'd say Warwick, personally I'm not convinced that the "Politics" department of KCL is "Politics" enough, which is why I say this, but that's just my opinion.

Reply 16

ILIGAN

9

Socrates

Erm, thats a load of *******s. Warwick is pretty good, but nowhere near the top 10. (Top 20, perhaps, closer to the mark).

Nowhere near the top 10? Really? What are the top 10 then?

Reply 17

Socrates

ILIGAN

Nowhere near the top 10? Really? What are the top 10 then?

Depends on the criteria you think are important.

Personally, overall, I'd have Oxbridge, Imperial, LSE, UCL, Durham, St Andrews, Bristol, KCL and Edinburgh (in no particular order).

Perhaps I'm a little harsh on Warwick, but you seemed to be implying that it is second only to Oxbridge, which is a load of *******s.

Reply 18

OP

King's College - very security orientated

The MA in IR at KCL is in the War Studies department and the course choices are mostly security based. Could this be a disadvantage? I am not aiming to work for the MoD , NATO, or a defence organisation, but would prefer the foreign office, UN or NGOs.

Reply 19