kcl vs ucl? (english lit phd)

hey! currently applying for phd as an international student and wondering if i'd be better going for king's or ucl? my undergrad is a first from trinity college dublin, so while it ranks within the top 100 in the qs, it doesn't make the top 50 despite being our top uni. i guess i want to be sure to keep up the high standard given that i want to work in academia in ireland or the uk long term.

i know ucl ranks much higher in the qs overall, but there's little difference between ucl and kcl in their ranking for english (12 vs 15). can't find much it from a postgrad perspective so would love to hear any advice.

if it means anything, there's a prof at king's who's a specialist in the area i'm proposing, but i can't find anyone whose research interests align as closely at ucl. i'm leaning towards king's since it had been my initial interest, but i'll be honest and say rep matters to me - admittedly i'm not uber familiar with the reps of uk unis beyond oxbridge and maybe durham.

thanks!!

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

oswalds

Choice of supervisor is much, much more important than reputation at PhD level. If there isn't really anyone approritate to supervise you at UCL, KCL would be by far the better choice. Both universities are relatively similar in reputation regardless (especially as rankings change frequently so really are not worth putting much weight on).