Which IPE/public policy programme should I choose?

I will be starting IPP at UCL so my bias would be towards UCL. However they all sound good. Manchester would definatly be the weakest of the four though.

The question is though whether you want to study IPE or Public Policy because they are totally different degree programmes. I know that you can do a module in IPE if you do Public Policy at UCL. If its Public Policy you are interested in, then UCL is the natural choice. However if you are more interested in IPE then without a doubt LSE would be the strongest programme. Warwick is also very good but LSE is a cut above.

Reply 2

LSE quite honestly wipes the floor with the rest, no offence but UCL's spp is new and unestablished with little reputation in the field. If not LSE try king's pp and management.

Reply 3

e-lover

16

LSE, Warwick, UCL and then Manchester.

Reply 4

Undisputed

LSE quite honestly wipes the floor with the rest, no offence but UCL's spp is new and unestablished with little reputation in the field. If not LSE try king's pp and management.

Complete nonsense. If you are really interested in studying Public Policy, then the degrees on offer at SPP are some of the best in the country. The department is not unproven, has been around for more than a decade. Although it does not have the same calibre of academics as LSE, it is still impressive and most of the degrees in this department include modules which are taught from academics in other departments such as economics, law and philosophy where UCL is also very strong. So you you will be taught by the likes of Dworkin ect if you desire.

I suggest you look at the staff list (certainly not unproven) and the modules on offer if you are interested in applying to UCL.

Reply 5

system49

Complete nonsense. If you are really interested in studying Public Policy, then the degrees on offer at SPP are some of the best in the country. The department is not unproven, has been around for more than a decade. Although it does not have the same calibre of academics as LSE, it is still impressive and most of the degrees in this department include modules which are taught from academics in other departments such as economics, law and philosophy where UCL is also very strong. So you you will be taught by the likes of Dworkin ect if you desire.

I suggest you look at the staff list (certainly not unproven) and the modules on offer if you are interested in applying to UCL.

i disagree and most students of political science would as well, UCL is not great at all for politics especially pp. In my eyes there are only two places in london to study pp and thats LSE and kings. And i do know what im talking about because i study the subject and also rejected UCL for the straight public policy msc this yr.

Reply 6

What a ridiculous sweeping statement.

Reply 7

system49

What a ridiculous sweeping statement.

No it is not, how precise do you want me to be then? Shall i talk about each individual professor's achievements at every single politics department in the country and world?
Here are the UK's world leading politics departments:
LSE and Oxford
Essex, Kings, Sheffield, St Andrews, aberystwyth (the latter two especially for IR)

Those are the ones that spring to mind as being world class, UCL has a excellent all round rep but not for politics i'm sorry.

Reply 8

Chemical_Scum

14

Undisputed

LSE quite honestly wipes the floor with the rest, no offence but UCL's spp is new and unestablished with little reputation in the field. If not LSE try king's pp and management.

Hatred of UCL too....seems pretty clear this is Illigan.

Reply 9

Kitty Pimms

17

This is not something I thought I'd say...but TBH I agree that UCL's excellence does not lie in politics. Admittedly, that's partly because they have a bias towards theoretical PP and legal/constitutional theory, both of which they do well. However, I would imagine that the OP would be approaching a PP degree from a broadly political standpoint given his other choices, in which case I would suggest that he might be disappointed.

Personally I'd pick Warwick's IPE degree, as it is both good and significantly cheaper than LSE.

Reply 10

Fares

OP

1

Thanks all for your enlightening inputs.

I now know that Manchester should not feature in my list. Also, everyone agrees that LSE is the first choice. However, what remains is the comparison between Warwick and UCL. I think I am facing the dilemma of choosing either a university with a decent overall reputation but an excellent departmental reputation (Warwick) or a university with an excellent overall reputation but a decent departmental reputation (UCL). I know that some may argue that the overall reputation of both institutions are equivalent, however, I can say that this may be the case in Britain only because I am an int'l student and beyond the kingdom's boundaries almost everyone aknowledges that UCL is one of UK's powerhorses universities while no one has even heard of Warwick.

So what do you think? Overall reputation VS Departmental reputation

Reply 11

ILIGAN

9

From where I come from, Warwick is at least seen as prestigious as UCL if not even more so due to its strong business school.

I would choose LSE then Warwick.

Reply 12

ILIGAN

9

Chemical_Scum

Hatred of UCL too....seems pretty clear this is Illigan.

Excuse me? :eek:

Reply 13

Fares

OP

1

Undisputed

And i do know what im talking about because i study the subject and also rejected UCL for the straight public policy msc this yr.

Sorry but one question. Why did you apply to UCL for MSc PP in the first place if it is " not good at all" as you claim?

Reply 14

Fares: I wouldn't take any notice of what Undisputed says because pretty much all of his posts on TSR are there simply to wind people up. In another post he said that only American universities were worth going to and that British universities were crap so he probably did not even apply to this programme or know anything about it.

Reply 15