hsps or ppe

I'm in year 13 and in my research and reading for my personal statement I developed a really strong interest in political polarization. this was originally for an application for PPE at Oxford but now I'm hesitating and considering hsps to learn more about the human side. I kinda wanna do both but obviously can't so can anyone help me make an informed decision?

thank you :smile:

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Reply 1

McGinger

Only you can decide this.
Have you been to Open Days and listened to the subject presentations for each course?
Have you look for relevant films from students on YouTube etc?

Reply 2

University of Bath

Official Rep

@anne th ,

Thanks @McGinger - alongside this I'd strongly recommend looking in detail at the course modules in the 3-4 years of study and see which captures more of your interest, think about what might set you up better for any careers you may want to go into, and talk to any of the students from those courses through Unibuddy or on any campus tours you can book onto. Perhaps talk to your parents about your thoughts and see if they can offer theirs. As has been said this is your life and your future - only you know where you think you'd fit best :smile:

Best of Luck

Holly
University of Bath

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 3

ageshallnot

Original post by anne th

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As above, examine the two courses side by side. Which subjects/modules interest you the most? Do you prefer philosophy and economics (Oxford) or IR, sociology, anthropology etc (Cambridge)?

Also consider what other courses you would apply to in light of this decision.

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by anne th

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Although they look at some similar issues there are some clear differences between the two courses.

Obviously, PPE includes both economics and philosophy (for at least one year). Economics is necessarily mathematical (also you realistically need to be doing A-level Maths to be a competitive applicant - this itself may be a deciding factor if you're not doing it!), while philosophy is a lot more abstract (as you'll be doing not just political philosophy but also logic, metaphysics and epistemology, etc, at least in first year). Note typically I gather students only continue doing 2 out of 3 of the streams, although even if you continued in e.g. philosophy and politics, I think there are some restrictions on combinations of political theory/political philosophy papers...? But in any event philosophy I think also includes some more text-based options and is more in the humanities than social sciences so has a somewhat different approach to some things than you might do in politics etc.

HSPS on the other hand encompasses sociology and anthropology in first year, has the option of criminology in the latter years, and also has I believe some flexibility in including some other areas like psychology or biological anthropology in first (maybe latter?) years and I understand there's a new(ish) social anthropology and religion track that lets you combine anthropology with some religious studies topics (on whichever religion you are interested in e.g. Buddhism/Hinduism, Islam, etc, which may allow you to also do some language work in e.g. Sanskrit, Classical Arabic etc). It's very much focused on the social sciences on the whole. Also perhaps besides the point a little but in principle the tripos system at Cambridge can facilitate swapping between courses while at the uni slightly more easily, subject to the approval of your director of studies (although that probably shouldn't be your initial plan).

If you're more interested in social theory and the social sciences generally HSPS might be a better option. PPE would be more if you're particularly interested in politics paired with either economics or philosophy as an intellectually complementary pair of subjects (and accepting you have to do all 3 initially).