PPE uni choice

Hey there, I'm currently a french student and I'm aiming to study a PPE. That being said, I'm literally dying to choose a university since my knowledge regarding uni culture in the UK is pretty much non-existent. My top choices so far would probably be Warwick but the economic part afraid me a bit since my maths grades are really low so I might apply to both PPE and PPL, Durham and then the hard part starts since I'm hesitating between Manchester for the international image that it has when it comes to the international ranking and probably Essex or Leeds as my safe choice. But Edinburgh could be cool as well if I don't want to end up with a 50K£ loan. What about Sussex or Exeter? I'm quite lost when it comes to the ranking and to be fair I'm mostly interested in philosophy, I see PPE as a way to pursue philosophy while having a secure way to not being completely unemployed. Economics isn't what I'm looking after although I am interested and I feel like Warwick would probably be too intense in this department. What about job prospects? For the student life, I'd rather live in a campus city and hopefully not having to pay a 1K£ rent a month which is mostly why I'm not aiming London. Thanks to everyone !

Reply 1

Liverpool Hope University

Official Rep

Original post by TanguyF

Hi @TanguyF

It is great to hear that you are interested in studying in the UK.

The first thing I would advise doing is to go on an open day at the universities that you are interested in. You will be able to ask all the questions you have to the department directly and you'll get a feel for what the university is like. You will also be able to experience what is around the university which will help you make a decision.

Also, have a look at prospects.ac.uk. It has some great information on what you can do with your degree after you graduate.

Hope this helps. If you need any more tips please give me a shout.

Dom :h:

Reply 2

TanguyF

Hi,

Well, the thing is I do not have the opportunity to go to the open days which is the reason why I'm trying to look after unis' reputation.

I'm not really worried about job prospects after PPE but more about what each uni I'm interested in has to offer. I just don't know how much university ranking is considered when it comes down to getting a job.

Thanks for your answer!

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Something worth noting is that most PPE courses allow the option to go "bi-partite" after the first year or two, and only study two of the three subjects for the rest of the course. So you could then focus on just philosophy and politics, and "drop" economics as subject. You may want to look at joint honours courses in Politics & Philosophy as well, if your interest doesn't lie in economics. In terms of jobs in the UK, there isn't going to be any real difference in the perception of a PPE vs PP degree by major employers.

Have you considered Oxford? They are the originators of the PPE course, and are generally considered to be the best philosophy department in the UK. King's College London also offers PPE and PPL, with the latter course being a qualifying law degree in England and Wales. KCL has a reasonable well regarded philosophy department, and I think their politics (and for the PPL course, law) departments are quite strong on their own.

LSE also offers PPE but unlike other courses you have to study all three subjects throughout the course - their course is also 4 years long, and as an international student living in London for that long could be quite a financial commitment. You may want to instead look at their Politics & Philosophy course, which may fit your interests more. Both their politics and philosophy departments are very strong (albeit their philosophy offerings are slightly narrower than other universities at undergrad), and their philosophy department is generally considered among the second tier of universities after Oxford.

Reply 4

TanguyF

Oxford is definitely not an option regarding the grades I get during my finals, as I already graduated last year.

I've been quite avoiding London unis to be fair since I'm looking for a great experience as well as an international student and I heard student satisfaction is quite low in LSE or even UCL so it just reinforces my concerns that are mostly financial issues at first. I don't really get the point of having a huge amount of debts if it's only for having the prestigious name of an institution on my resume. I don't really feel like devoting myself to a really heavy 3 to 4 years program so I'd rather probably a less elite school but still one that I can enjoy while having the PPE experience and being eventually in a position where getting a job could be a thing.

I'm not really aiming to work in the City as I'm not a career kind of guy but I guess I feel like pursuing an economics course would at least give me the choice to do so, which is mostly why I didn't think of studying a joint honours courses in Politics & Philosophy.

After thinking about it, I'm not so sure about studying law so I might just take my 5 pics fully for PPE. I'm just really scared of losing my interest in this field and dropping out after a 9000£ investment per year isn't an option.

Which university would you say is considered as being among the second tier of universities after Oxford in philosophy?
My interests are mostly in those regards, studying Philosophy for my soul and Economics for the bread is my plan in a nutshell.

Reply 5

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by TanguyF

Honestly in the UK at least, even for "City jobs" having studied economics previously is neither required nor even particularly a benefit with the exception of a couple civil service roles that require an economics background. Getting a good 2:1 or above (if not a 1st) in a degree from a "reputable" uni will make more difference for those kinds of roles. Investment banks don't care whether you studied economics or underwater basket weaving, as long as you studied at one of their "target" universities.

I think you would be best off looking at pure philosophy courses if that is your area of interest (unless you have a particular interest in political philosophy). Generally being engaged with and motivated for your degree subject will make more difference in getting a good result overall, which as above will make more difference than what subject your degree is actually in. Note this applies to the UK only; I have no idea the extent to which this might translate to working in France.

The following is from another user involved in the philosophy field (who is not currently active) which might be illuminating (slightly edited by me to remove comments directed at a more specific question posed by another user; you can read the entire thread by going to their original post though):

So actually I was mistaken LSE is probably in the third lot after Oxford according to him, unless you are particularly interested in political philosophy and/or the philosophy science/social science :tongue:

@gjd800 may well be able to offer some advice on the philosophy side of things.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 6

vanessa2422

Original post by TanguyF

tbh I don't really see much point in studying PPE if you don't enjoy Economics. A pure Economics degree probably has better employment prospects but PPE? Unless it's at Oxford, there really doesn't seem to be much difference between it and PP or Philosophy. PPE could even hinder you if you struggle with the economic/mathematical content and don't get the grades you could get with just PP/Philosophy. You don't need a specific degree to work in the City so study something that you enjoy.

Reply 7

TanguyF

That's really useful, thank you all!

It might be due to my perspective coming from a french background but down here it's more about where you studied and the name of your uni than how hard you did for 3 years. I actually don't know whether I should take economics or not but I might be still interested and my overall goal is to understand how current worldwide organization is working, as cheesy as it sounds. One of my goals would be to work into UE and I'm quite sure having studied economics could be useful at some point.

I'm indeed really into philosophy but International Relations is my cup of tea as well which is why I just felt like PPE would be the right balanced degree between my interests, recognition in the UK and an open door to opportunities in France as well.

If I wanted to study pure Philosophy, I could that in France but I would most probably end up being a teacher which is definitely an underpaid job in France. We don't have any kinds of degrees that are like PPE or they most probably wouldn't be such a thing. I just feel like PPE is a secure choice when it comes to choosing a degree.

It almost sounds like having studied Philosophy and Politics is like a way to go everywhere, even in investment banks? Jeez, first cultural chock before even applying.