Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) at University?

4

Hi there,

I am considering studying PPE at university and was just wondering if anyone had any experience with it. The subject material for PPE courses really seems to interest me but I don't really think I would want to go into politics in the future. Would PPE be a good course if I'm not really sure what I want to do in the future? And what kind of jobs would I be able to get with a PPE degree from a russell group uni? Thanks.

Reply 1

kk1805

6

I do PPE at LSE. Nobody I know wants to go into politics (myself included). I would say probably around 75% of my cohort will be going into finance (investment banking, sales and trading, etc.), 10% into consulting and 15% other stuff (including further study). I may be overshooting my estimate for finance but that's the impression I have, for LSE at least. Maybe at other unis PPE students do different things simply because their university is not a target for investment banking/consulting, but basically if you do PPE at a top uni (Oxford, LSE, UCL, Warwick) your employment prospects are great. Obviously if you want to go into politics it is possible, just much less common.

Reply 2

aaravshah07

OP

4

Original post

by kk1805

I do PPE at LSE. Nobody I know wants to go into politics (myself included). I would say probably around 75% of my cohort will be going into finance (investment banking, sales and trading, etc.), 10% into consulting and 15% other stuff (including further study). I may be overshooting my estimate for finance but that's the impression I have, for LSE at least. Maybe at other unis PPE students do different things simply because their university is not a target for investment banking/consulting, but basically if you do PPE at a top uni (Oxford, LSE, UCL, Warwick) your employment prospects are great. Obviously if you want to go into politics it is possible, just much less common.

Thank you so much! And what sort of supercurriculars did you do to help with your admission? Did you do any work experience for it; if so, where?

Reply 3

kk1805

6

Original post

by aaravshah07

Thank you so much! And what sort of supercurriculars did you do to help with your admission? Did you do any work experience for it; if so, where?

Work experience is completely irrelevant for the statement, no other answer, you can do it for your own CV in fact it may be a good idea but it is not worth including in the statement they couldn't care less. As you may have heard, it is a personal ACADEMIC statement - this also means you should completely avoid mention of what sports you did, what instruments you played, leadership and skills etc. they purely care about your academic interest in the subject.

You need to be doing essay competitions - one for each of the subjects would be awesome, as it gives you so much reading which you can talk about and also allows you to demonstrate your own point of view within the statement itself, how that led to you explore X and Y further, etc. etc. I'd highly suggest looking at the modules of whatever uni you are most interested in and seeing whether there is anyhting that catches your eye, which you can then read up on further (also important because content can vary widely e.g., philosophy at LSE is very different to other places). Starting at their (whichever uni's) own recommended readings can be a good place, bear in mind a) you don't have to read the whole book whatsoever and b) you don't need to go ultra niche, what's more important is that you give equal weight to all three subjects, e.g., when you're focusing in on econ, talk about utilitarianism and different views on welfare, or when you're talking about democracy, mention how it impacts development, etc. etc. That's a mistake people make, is not linking the subjects enough.

If any of this isn't clear or you want more specific advice I'm more than happy to help.

Reply 4

James H 1977

Original post

by kk1805

I do PPE at LSE. Nobody I know wants to go into politics (myself included). I would say probably around 75% of my cohort will be going into finance (investment banking, sales and trading, etc.), 10% into consulting and 15% other stuff (including further study). I may be overshooting my estimate for finance but that's the impression I have, for LSE at least. Maybe at other unis PPE students do different things simply because their university is not a target for investment banking/consulting, but basically if you do PPE at a top uni (Oxford, LSE, UCL, Warwick) your employment prospects are great. Obviously if you want to go into politics it is possible, just much less common.

Hi, just out of interest, what is your view on Durham PPE course?

Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) at University?

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