american international applicant choosing courses

so basically to start, as an international applicant from the us, oxford has been one of my first choices for university for over a year. specifically, i want to apply for history & politics. however, my parents want me to include a quantitive aspect to my degree for better chances at employment, but i haven’t taken a math at a higher level as part of my international qualifications.

personally, i’ve considered going into law or foreign affairs after university. the only other degree i’m very interested in is international social & political sciences at ucl (not sure of its rep), but i also want to apply to kcl and lse, but am not quite sure what degrees to pick. i’m also wary of applying to too many different degrees since it will make the personal statement more difficult to complete

would appreciate any help in narrowing down courses!

Reply 1

swanseajack1

19

Original post by ananas01

so basically to start, as an international applicant from the us, oxford has been one of my first choices for university for over a year. specifically, i want to apply for history & politics. however, my parents want me to include a quantitive aspect to my degree for better chances at employment, but i haven’t taken a math at a higher level as part of my international qualifications.

personally, i’ve considered going into law or foreign affairs after university. the only other degree i’m very interested in is international social & political sciences at ucl (not sure of its rep), but i also want to apply to kcl and lse, but am not quite sure what degrees to pick. i’m also wary of applying to too many different degrees since it will make the personal statement more difficult to complete

would appreciate any help in narrowing down courses!

All of your choices are risky. London universities are way over subscribed due to being in London. They are no betther than other cities but because of the demand of being in London lads get rejected. For this reason it is sensible not to apply to more than 2 in London and Oxford.

There are many excellent universities in provincial cities you apply to. Places like Durham, Bristol, Exeter and Warwick are very good universities and you would be wise to apply to at least 2 of them. Have a look at the Complete University guide to see which universities are highly rated for your subject but dont be a slave to them. There is very little difference in any of the top 20 universities. Look at the courses and see what is right for you. Decide whether ou want to be in a big or small city as that will help you narrow your choices.

Reply 2

ajj2000

20

Are you also applying to us universities?

Reply 3

ananas01

OP

4

Original post by swanseajack1

All of your choices are risky. London universities are way over subscribed due to being in London. They are no betther than other cities but because of the demand of being in London lads get rejected. For this reason it is sensible not to apply to more than 2 in London and Oxford.

There are many excellent universities in provincial cities you apply to. Places like Durham, Bristol, Exeter and Warwick are very good universities and you would be wise to apply to at least 2 of them. Have a look at the Complete University guide to see which universities are highly rated for your subject but dont be a slave to them. There is very little difference in any of the top 20 universities. Look at the courses and see what is right for you. Decide whether ou want to be in a big or small city as that will help you narrow your choices.

there’s very little appeal to paying international fees for a level of education not beyond the safer schools i’m already applying to in the us, especially since i’m not particularly sure i’m going to be staying in the uk post grad. i meet or exceed the international entry requirements for the schools listed, and since i’m also applying to schools in the us, i don’t necessarily have to balance my school choices the same way home students might

Reply 4

ananas01

OP

4

Original post by ajj2000

Are you also applying to us universities?

yup! i’m applying to ucs since i live in california and washington d.c. based schools

Reply 5

ajj2000

20

Original post by ananas01

yup! i’m applying to ucs since i live in california and washington d.c. based schools

Cool - so in reality the risk doesn’t matter and if you get into UCB the cost of being an international wouldn’t be justified. Probably still cheaper than Georgetown though?

For £60 for 5 applications you might as well just take a risk and go for what you fancy and then decide when you have a suite of offers.

Reply 6

McGinger

18

Look at courses that are 'with quantitative research methods' - these will include stats/data work but usually do not require hefty maths skills.

Examples
Bristol - https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2024/quantitative-research-methods/
Leeds - https://www.qstep.leeds.ac.uk/quantitative-pathways/
Kent - https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/1892 and https://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/2020/1390/politics-and-international-relations-with-quantitative-research (and some other subjects)

Reply 7

ananas01

OP

4

Original post by ajj2000

Cool - so in reality the risk doesn’t matter and if you get into UCB the cost of being an international wouldn’t be justified. Probably still cheaper than Georgetown though?

For £60 for 5 applications you might as well just take a risk and go for what you fancy and then decide when you have a suite of offers.