PPE vs Politics and Economics help!!!

Hi, I’m a sixth year student studying in Scotland and I’m struggling to figure out if I should do philosophy or not. I know only a couple really competitive unis even offer PPE and that’s also putting me off. Last year I got 5A’s in higher maths, english, history, chem and physics. This year I’m studying AH history, AH maths, AH English and higher politics! Literally any help is appreciated since I’m so confused rn

Reply 1

lildishh

Original post by lildishh

Also got straight A’s at Nat 5 if that means anything

Reply 2

GEUoS

Official Rep

Hi @lildishh

I'm a PPE student at the University of Southampton.

It is worth mentioning that doing PPE will mean you will do slightly less Politics and Economics than just studying Politics and Economics. So, if you know you definitely want to do more of these subjects, rather than doing philosophy, I would say do Politics and Economics.

However, if you think you will enjoy Philosophy then I recommend PPE. Out of the three subjects, writing philosophy essays has probably improved my essay writing skills the most. Philosophy improves you critical thinking more than other two. It's also the only subject out of the three that's a humanity while the other two are social sciences so it's something a bit different. I can see you're studying History and English which if you enjoy those, then you would enjoy philosophy too.

I'm not sure if you are only looking at universities in Scotland or throughout UK. But throughout UK, there are several universities that offer PPE.

Even so, if you are considering applying only to Scotland, you have good marks so far. The subjects you are currently studying are very well suited to studying PPE at degree level.

Hope this helps,
Gulcin
Student Ambassador

Reply 3

lildishh

Original post by GEUoS

Hi @lildishh
I'm a PPE student at the University of Southampton.
It is worth mentioning that doing PPE will mean you will do slightly less Politics and Economics than just studying Politics and Economics. So, if you know you definitely want to do more of these subjects, rather than doing philosophy, I would say do Politics and Economics.
However, if you think you will enjoy Philosophy then I recommend PPE. Out of the three subjects, writing philosophy essays has probably improved my essay writing skills the most. Philosophy improves you critical thinking more than other two. It's also the only subject out of the three that's a humanity while the other two are social sciences so it's something a bit different. I can see you're studying History and English which if you enjoy those, then you would enjoy philosophy too.
I'm not sure if you are only looking at universities in Scotland or throughout UK. But throughout UK, there are several universities that offer PPE.
Even so, if you are considering applying only to Scotland, you have good marks so far. The subjects you are currently studying are very well suited to studying PPE at degree level.
Hope this helps,
Gulcin
Student Ambassador

thank you!!! honestly I’m just gonna do a bit more research into PPE and then I’m going to an Edinburgh uni open day. I think I might just apply in Scotland since uni is free here

Reply 4

zm06

Original post by GEUoS

Hi @lildishh
I'm a PPE student at the University of Southampton.
It is worth mentioning that doing PPE will mean you will do slightly less Politics and Economics than just studying Politics and Economics. So, if you know you definitely want to do more of these subjects, rather than doing philosophy, I would say do Politics and Economics.
However, if you think you will enjoy Philosophy then I recommend PPE. Out of the three subjects, writing philosophy essays has probably improved my essay writing skills the most. Philosophy improves you critical thinking more than other two. It's also the only subject out of the three that's a humanity while the other two are social sciences so it's something a bit different. I can see you're studying History and English which if you enjoy those, then you would enjoy philosophy too.
I'm not sure if you are only looking at universities in Scotland or throughout UK. But throughout UK, there are several universities that offer PPE.
Even so, if you are considering applying only to Scotland, you have good marks so far. The subjects you are currently studying are very well suited to studying PPE at degree level.
Hope this helps,
Gulcin
Student Ambassador

Hello!
how are you finding philosophy in particular at university level, is it worth it? im thinking of studying either philosophy, criminology or law in uni..

Reply 5

GEUoS

Official Rep

Original post by zm06

Hello!
how are you finding philosophy in particular at university level, is it worth it? im thinking of studying either philosophy, criminology or law in uni..

Hi @zm06

I find it very interesting. I would say out of the subjects I study, Philosophy has developed my writing skills the most. It's quite good for developing critical reasoning and analytical skills. The social sciences do also develop these skills. But I feel that with Philosophy there's more depth when it comes to the analysis and it gets you to really question your beliefs.

Parts of philosophy can be quite abstract like metaphysics or logic. They are not applicable to the real world. Ethics and moral philosophy components are applicable to the real world, but, the majority of the other topics aren't necessarily. So, if you were looking for a degree where more of it could be applied to real world then maybe you might prefer a criminology or law degree.

Ultimately, I recommend you look at the modules offered for the degrees to see which one you are most interested in.

Also, at Southampton, most of the modules for philosophy are assessed by essays as opposed to exams. Whereas, I know Law does have exams. Obviously this varies depending on the university - you can find out on the course pages. But if the assessment structure was important for you, that might be something worth considering also.

Hope this helps,
Gulcin
Student Ambassador