Rank these unis for IR

applied to 5 universities for International Relations (and politics for UCL):

LSE, Exeter, King's, St. Andrews, UCL

For me LSE is clearly the best and Exeter is clearly the worst, but I'm conflicted in terms of how to rank the middle 3. UCL is highest in general rankings, King's is highest in subject-specific rankings (on QS at least), while I've seen loads of praise for St. Andrews IR on this subreddit.

How would you rank those 3 in terms of prestige, quality of teaching, and employability?

Cheers :smile:

Reply 1

tomsaja

8

Original post by Antonii_l

applied to 5 universities for International Relations (and politics for UCL):

LSE, Exeter, King's, St. Andrews, UCL

For me LSE is clearly the best and Exeter is clearly the worst, but I'm conflicted in terms of how to rank the middle 3. UCL is highest in general rankings, King's is highest in subject-specific rankings (on QS at least), while I've seen loads of praise for St. Andrews IR on this subreddit.

How would you rank those 3 in terms of prestige, quality of teaching, and employability?

Cheers :smile:

If I was making this decision my order of preference would be:
LSE
St Andrews
King's / UCL
Exeter

Reply 2

Antonii_l

OP

8

Original post by tomsaja

If I was making this decision my order of preference would be:
LSE
St Andrews
King's / UCL
Exeter

Thanks! What are your reasons for this? How do you determine the quality of the unis when uni rankings are deemed innacurate?

Original post by Antonii_l

applied to 5 universities for International Relations (and politics for UCL):

LSE, Exeter, King's, St. Andrews, UCL

For me LSE is clearly the best and Exeter is clearly the worst, but I'm conflicted in terms of how to rank the middle 3. UCL is highest in general rankings, King's is highest in subject-specific rankings (on QS at least), while I've seen loads of praise for St. Andrews IR on this subreddit.

How would you rank those 3 in terms of prestige, quality of teaching, and employability?

Cheers :smile:

Why are you trying to rank them? Apart from the top v the bottom, compare any of them together and they aren't different enough that employers will be using UCL v LSE, or Kings v St Andrews to determine the outcome. They will be suing the qualities and characteristics of the person. An individual from St A who will be a better fit in the team than the individual from LSE will get the offer, regardless of any perceived differences between St A and LSE. I'd say in IR terms, Exeter is slightly the outsider.

Reply 4

Sweetiepie101

12

Bristol is good as well

Reply 5

A Rolling Stone

20

Original post by Antonii_l

applied to 5 universities for International Relations (and politics for UCL):

LSE, Exeter, King's, St. Andrews, UCL

For me LSE is clearly the best and Exeter is clearly the worst, but I'm conflicted in terms of how to rank the middle 3. UCL is highest in general rankings, King's is highest in subject-specific rankings (on QS at least), while I've seen loads of praise for St. Andrews IR on this subreddit.

How would you rank those 3 in terms of prestige, quality of teaching, and employability?

Cheers :smile:

St Andrews
LSE (look at their student satisfaction, don't actually expect to be taught there)
Kings
UCL (better than Kings overall)
Exeter

Reply 6

Em.-.

18

The 4 which aren’t Exeter likely aren’t different enough to really affect employability. Exeter is still good, but the other 4 have better reputations imo.

Reply 7

Antonii_l

OP

8

Original post by A Rolling Stone

St Andrews
LSE (look at their student satisfaction, don't actually expect to be taught there)
Kings
UCL (better than Kings overall)
Exeter

I feel in general throughout my life I haven't been prioritising "student satisfaction" that much, as I've often been happy with teachers everyone has been complaining about. I feel the most important thing for me is the general level of my peers and the difficulty of the course, both of which for me are the most important factors in regards to the learning experience. In terms of that, would there be a noticeable difference in the level of students in the course?

Reply 8

Antonii_l

OP

8

Original post by Em.-.

The 4 which aren’t Exeter likely aren’t different enough to really affect employability. Exeter is still good, but the other 4 have better reputations imo.

Did figure that, as employability is more about your CV in the end. However, if I'm looking at changing university for my postgraduate studies, potentially looking at Oxford, would there be more of a difference between the unis for postgraduate opportunity?

Reply 9

A Rolling Stone

20

Original post by Antonii_l

I feel in general throughout my life I haven't been prioritising "student satisfaction" that much, as I've often been happy with teachers everyone has been complaining about. I feel the most important thing for me is the general level of my peers and the difficulty of the course, both of which for me are the most important factors in regards to the learning experience. In terms of that, would there be a noticeable difference in the level of students in the course?

average UCAS points will be around the same.

can't you just instinctively tell that there is something impersonal and unsupportive about London unis?! LSE in particular. this has been backed up by other TSR users

Reply 10

Antonii_l

OP

8

Original post by A Rolling Stone

something impersonal and unsupportive about London unis

I've heard talks of this, but is it really that bad? From what I heard the experience in London unis is generally a bit more academic and less community-based, but I didn't think it could be a deal breaker.

Reply 11

Em.-.

18

Original post by Antonii_l

Did figure that, as employability is more about your CV in the end. However, if I'm looking at changing university for my postgraduate studies, potentially looking at Oxford, would there be more of a difference between the unis for postgraduate opportunity?

I think those 4 unis would all be highly regarded by Oxford, St Andrews isn’t Russell Group, but it ranks just behind Oxbridge on U.K. rankings I see, and has a good reputation. The level of degree you get will matter more to them.

Reply 12

Antonii_l

OP

8

Original post by Em.-.

I think those 4 unis would all be highly regarded by Oxford, St Andrews isn’t Russell Group, but it ranks just behind Oxbridge on U.K. rankings I see, and has a good reputation. The level of degree you get will matter more to them.

Thanks loads! What do you mean by level of degree? I'm not actually that familiar with what determines how much value your undergraduate degree has.

Reply 13

Em.-.

18

Original post by Antonii_l

Thanks loads! What do you mean by level of degree? I'm not actually that familiar with what determines how much value your undergraduate degree has.

Like class. First class is the best, followed by upper second. These two are good. Then there’s lower second and third. Some phd programs for less prestigious unis will take people with lower second, but for most at least an upper second will be required. Oxford probably get so many from those with first class honours that this will almost be a necessity (though they say a high upper second class can be okay sometimes).

Class is determined by how well you do in your course.

Reply 14

anne_1511

1

Hi, what is the overall reputation for St. Andrews joint Social Anthropology & IR versus KCL International relations (undergrad)? Kings is known worldwide, while a lot of people recommend St. Andrews as best for IR in the UK. Apart from the location, what does one lose out on when choosing one over the other?

Plus, for future prospects as an international, which uni should one go for? Or is undergrad really not that different in the social sciences?

Original post by Antonii_l

Did figure that, as employability is more about your CV in the end. However, if I'm looking at changing university for my postgraduate studies, potentially looking at Oxford, would there be more of a difference between the unis for postgraduate opportunity?

No, none.

Original post by anne_1511

Hi, what is the overall reputation for St. Andrews joint Social Anthropology & IR versus KCL International relations (undergrad)? Kings is known worldwide, while a lot of people recommend St. Andrews as best for IR in the UK. Apart from the location, what does one lose out on when choosing one over the other?

Plus, for future prospects as an international, which uni should one go for? Or is undergrad really not that different in the social sciences?

Joint degrees only do half the work in each subject, compared to single subject degrees, so if you were going to IR jobs, Kings would be substantially stronger.

Doing two subjects that don't have clear career benefits are a risk, unless you want to go into a degree-agnostic career, but they are weaker for trying to get into either of the subject areas specifically.

St Andrews is very good for IR, I don't think anyone is seriously saying it's the best at undergrad though.

Internationals could go to either, but not in a joint subject like Soc Anth and IR.

Rank these unis for IR

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