I'm LOST (please help) and maybe you are too?

Hi everyone

I'm kind of sending this like a message in a bottle but I feel like I need strong advice and testimonies about what to do/where to go.

Context :

I am a french student and graduated from a French international baccalaureate with an american option, with highest honours. I have strong extracurriculars and all. After high school, as I was accepted to Henri IV (the best preparatory course of france in literature) I decided to go because my family kind of talked me into it, even though I was accepted in Edinburgh for PPE. I did one year and during my second year I had complications with my illness and decided to stop. I am currently working in a souvenir shop in Paris haha. I had a lot of regrets concerning Edinburgh, but I decided to turn the page because I needed to pull myself together.

My plan has always been to go abroad, and I was scared that because I did a preparatory course, which is a very FRENCH thing, no one would take me again. I applied through UCAS for PPE bachelors, again, and I am still waiting for KCL (which are apparently known for keeping you in the complete silence, even though I have little to no hope for this one). I got an alternative offer from Warwick, in politics and philosophy, but I'm scared that it will only be theory basically (the same programs and authors that I did in the preparatory course). I got accepted into Royal holloway and exeter (PPE) but my family prefers Warwick.

I firstly would like to know, if there are any people that could share their experience(s) at warwick, exeter and royal holloway? And also which one of the three has the biggest "employability rate" I guess. (im scared to not find any work in the UK after, as I know that it is complicated with the sponsoring visa thingy).

I also sent a plethora of applications (ucd, trinity college, mcgill, university of amsterdam, and I'm gonna apply to Ku Leuven also).

Here is the complete list :
University of Amsterdam : cultural studies, european studies, PPLE
CAO : trinity college (PPES), UCD social sciences, humanities
mcgill : faculty of arts (Political science and international development)
Ku Leuven : european studies.

A program I really like is European studies at KU leuven but I'm scared because it is a new program (I talked with someone that is studying this and she said that there was a lot of disadvantages to it).

Also I dont really understand the CAO website. Like I sent my application and all and I was surprised by how little information there was. As I already received my diploma, do you know when they will approximatively give their answers? I read that it was supposed to be late like july/august, just wanted to make sure.

As you can see by the number of different programs, I am lost and I feel a bit alone so if any students want to share their testimonies, it would be really helpful to me, and maybe if students are lost like me we can all help each other!

Idk where I want to study or do rn, but I know I would love to work in the sectors of international culture/politics (my dream is to become a cultural attaché, I'm half ukrainian).

anyways sorry for talking so much and merci !

Reply 1

Royal Holloway, University of London

Official Rep

Original post

by uncontrollable-i

Hi everyone
I'm kind of sending this like a message in a bottle but I feel like I need strong advice and testimonies about what to do/where to go.
Context :
I am a french student and graduated from a French international baccalaureate with an american option, with highest honours. I have strong extracurriculars and all. After high school, as I was accepted to Henri IV (the best preparatory course of france in literature) I decided to go because my family kind of talked me into it, even though I was accepted in Edinburgh for PPE. I did one year and during my second year I had complications with my illness and decided to stop. I am currently working in a souvenir shop in Paris haha. I had a lot of regrets concerning Edinburgh, but I decided to turn the page because I needed to pull myself together.
My plan has always been to go abroad, and I was scared that because I did a preparatory course, which is a very FRENCH thing, no one would take me again. I applied through UCAS for PPE bachelors, again, and I am still waiting for KCL (which are apparently known for keeping you in the complete silence, even though I have little to no hope for this one). I got an alternative offer from Warwick, in politics and philosophy, but I'm scared that it will only be theory basically (the same programs and authors that I did in the preparatory course). I got accepted into Royal holloway and exeter (PPE) but my family prefers Warwick.
I firstly would like to know, if there are any people that could share their experience(s) at warwick, exeter and royal holloway? And also which one of the three has the biggest "employability rate" I guess. (im scared to not find any work in the UK after, as I know that it is complicated with the sponsoring visa thingy).
I also sent a plethora of applications (ucd, trinity college, mcgill, university of amsterdam, and I'm gonna apply to Ku Leuven also).
Here is the complete list :
University of Amsterdam : cultural studies, european studies, PPLE
CAO : trinity college (PPES), UCD social sciences, humanities
mcgill : faculty of arts (Political science and international development)
Ku Leuven : european studies.
A program I really like is European studies at KU leuven but I'm scared because it is a new program (I talked with someone that is studying this and she said that there was a lot of disadvantages to it).
Also I dont really understand the CAO website. Like I sent my application and all and I was surprised by how little information there was. As I already received my diploma, do you know when they will approximatively give their answers? I read that it was supposed to be late like july/august, just wanted to make sure.
As you can see by the number of different programs, I am lost and I feel a bit alone so if any students want to share their testimonies, it would be really helpful to me, and maybe if students are lost like me we can all help each other!
Idk where I want to study or do rn, but I know I would love to work in the sectors of international culture/politics (my dream is to become a cultural attaché, I'm half ukrainian).
anyways sorry for talking so much and merci !

Hi @uncontrollable-i

Congratulations on your offers, that’s great news 🎉

At Royal Holloway, you’ll find a really supportive community with lots of resources to help you make the most of your studies and prepare for life after university. Our Careers Service offers guidance on everything from internships and placements to graduate roles and visa advice for international students.

If you’d like to explore more about employability and student support at Royal Holloway, you can visit either royalholloway.ac.uk/student-life/support-and-wellbeing/ or royalholloway.ac.uk/careers/.

Whatever you decide, you’ve got some good options ahead of you so best of luck with your choices!

Best wishes,
Royal Holloway, University of London Official Rep

Reply 2

Kingston Grace

Official Rep

Original post

by uncontrollable-i

Hi everyone
I'm kind of sending this like a message in a bottle but I feel like I need strong advice and testimonies about what to do/where to go.
Context :
I am a french student and graduated from a French international baccalaureate with an american option, with highest honours. I have strong extracurriculars and all. After high school, as I was accepted to Henri IV (the best preparatory course of france in literature) I decided to go because my family kind of talked me into it, even though I was accepted in Edinburgh for PPE. I did one year and during my second year I had complications with my illness and decided to stop. I am currently working in a souvenir shop in Paris haha. I had a lot of regrets concerning Edinburgh, but I decided to turn the page because I needed to pull myself together.
My plan has always been to go abroad, and I was scared that because I did a preparatory course, which is a very FRENCH thing, no one would take me again. I applied through UCAS for PPE bachelors, again, and I am still waiting for KCL (which are apparently known for keeping you in the complete silence, even though I have little to no hope for this one). I got an alternative offer from Warwick, in politics and philosophy, but I'm scared that it will only be theory basically (the same programs and authors that I did in the preparatory course). I got accepted into Royal holloway and exeter (PPE) but my family prefers Warwick.
I firstly would like to know, if there are any people that could share their experience(s) at warwick, exeter and royal holloway? And also which one of the three has the biggest "employability rate" I guess. (im scared to not find any work in the UK after, as I know that it is complicated with the sponsoring visa thingy).
I also sent a plethora of applications (ucd, trinity college, mcgill, university of amsterdam, and I'm gonna apply to Ku Leuven also).
Here is the complete list :
University of Amsterdam : cultural studies, european studies, PPLE
CAO : trinity college (PPES), UCD social sciences, humanities
mcgill : faculty of arts (Political science and international development)
Ku Leuven : european studies.
A program I really like is European studies at KU leuven but I'm scared because it is a new program (I talked with someone that is studying this and she said that there was a lot of disadvantages to it).
Also I dont really understand the CAO website. Like I sent my application and all and I was surprised by how little information there was. As I already received my diploma, do you know when they will approximatively give their answers? I read that it was supposed to be late like july/august, just wanted to make sure.
As you can see by the number of different programs, I am lost and I feel a bit alone so if any students want to share their testimonies, it would be really helpful to me, and maybe if students are lost like me we can all help each other!
Idk where I want to study or do rn, but I know I would love to work in the sectors of international culture/politics (my dream is to become a cultural attaché, I'm half ukrainian).
anyways sorry for talking so much and merci !

Hi @uncontrollable-i

Congratulations on your offers!

Unfortunately I don't have much knowledge on these course and unis, but you may be able to find more on uni and course specific forums on the student room.

However, I do have a post that you may find useful Tips on Making a University Choice - The Student Room

I hope this helps and good luck in your research and decision making!

-Grace (Kingston Rep)

Reply 3

Muttley79

Original post

by uncontrollable-i

Hi everyone
I'm kind of sending this like a message in a bottle but I feel like I need strong advice and testimonies about what to do/where to go.
Context :
I am a french student and graduated from a French international baccalaureate with an american option, with highest honours. I have strong extracurriculars and all. After high school, as I was accepted to Henri IV (the best preparatory course of france in literature) I decided to go because my family kind of talked me into it, even though I was accepted in Edinburgh for PPE. I did one year and during my second year I had complications with my illness and decided to stop. I am currently working in a souvenir shop in Paris haha. I had a lot of regrets concerning Edinburgh, but I decided to turn the page because I needed to pull myself together.
My plan has always been to go abroad, and I was scared that because I did a preparatory course, which is a very FRENCH thing, no one would take me again. I applied through UCAS for PPE bachelors, again, and I am still waiting for KCL (which are apparently known for keeping you in the complete silence, even though I have little to no hope for this one). I got an alternative offer from Warwick, in politics and philosophy, but I'm scared that it will only be theory basically (the same programs and authors that I did in the preparatory course). I got accepted into Royal holloway and exeter (PPE) but my family prefers Warwick.
I firstly would like to know, if there are any people that could share their experience(s) at warwick, exeter and royal holloway? And also which one of the three has the biggest "employability rate" I guess. (im scared to not find any work in the UK after, as I know that it is complicated with the sponsoring visa thingy).
I also sent a plethora of applications (ucd, trinity college, mcgill, university of amsterdam, and I'm gonna apply to Ku Leuven also).
Here is the complete list :
University of Amsterdam : cultural studies, european studies, PPLE
CAO : trinity college (PPES), UCD social sciences, humanities
mcgill : faculty of arts (Political science and international development)
Ku Leuven : european studies.
A program I really like is European studies at KU leuven but I'm scared because it is a new program (I talked with someone that is studying this and she said that there was a lot of disadvantages to it).
Also I dont really understand the CAO website. Like I sent my application and all and I was surprised by how little information there was. As I already received my diploma, do you know when they will approximatively give their answers? I read that it was supposed to be late like july/august, just wanted to make sure.
As you can see by the number of different programs, I am lost and I feel a bit alone so if any students want to share their testimonies, it would be really helpful to me, and maybe if students are lost like me we can all help each other!
Idk where I want to study or do rn, but I know I would love to work in the sectors of international culture/politics (my dream is to become a cultural attaché, I'm half ukrainian).
anyways sorry for talking so much and merci !

Why does what your family prefer matter? Warwick is not in Warwick itself and the fact they did not offer the course you want would be a 'No' from me.

Exeter is a good university and they have offered the degree you want - go there. It's a lovely place to live.

You can speak to current students and have a virtual tour of the campus:

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate-degrees/ba-politics-philosophy-and-economics/

Look at the stats - it's a good course.

Reply 4

UoW Jasmine

Official Rep

Original post

by uncontrollable-i

Hi everyone
I'm kind of sending this like a message in a bottle but I feel like I need strong advice and testimonies about what to do/where to go.
Context :
I am a french student and graduated from a French international baccalaureate with an american option, with highest honours. I have strong extracurriculars and all. After high school, as I was accepted to Henri IV (the best preparatory course of france in literature) I decided to go because my family kind of talked me into it, even though I was accepted in Edinburgh for PPE. I did one year and during my second year I had complications with my illness and decided to stop. I am currently working in a souvenir shop in Paris haha. I had a lot of regrets concerning Edinburgh, but I decided to turn the page because I needed to pull myself together.
My plan has always been to go abroad, and I was scared that because I did a preparatory course, which is a very FRENCH thing, no one would take me again. I applied through UCAS for PPE bachelors, again, and I am still waiting for KCL (which are apparently known for keeping you in the complete silence, even though I have little to no hope for this one). I got an alternative offer from Warwick, in politics and philosophy, but I'm scared that it will only be theory basically (the same programs and authors that I did in the preparatory course). I got accepted into Royal holloway and exeter (PPE) but my family prefers Warwick.
I firstly would like to know, if there are any people that could share their experience(s) at warwick, exeter and royal holloway? And also which one of the three has the biggest "employability rate" I guess. (im scared to not find any work in the UK after, as I know that it is complicated with the sponsoring visa thingy).
I also sent a plethora of applications (ucd, trinity college, mcgill, university of amsterdam, and I'm gonna apply to Ku Leuven also).
Here is the complete list :
University of Amsterdam : cultural studies, european studies, PPLE
CAO : trinity college (PPES), UCD social sciences, humanities
mcgill : faculty of arts (Political science and international development)
Ku Leuven : european studies.
A program I really like is European studies at KU leuven but I'm scared because it is a new program (I talked with someone that is studying this and she said that there was a lot of disadvantages to it).
Also I dont really understand the CAO website. Like I sent my application and all and I was surprised by how little information there was. As I already received my diploma, do you know when they will approximatively give their answers? I read that it was supposed to be late like july/august, just wanted to make sure.
As you can see by the number of different programs, I am lost and I feel a bit alone so if any students want to share their testimonies, it would be really helpful to me, and maybe if students are lost like me we can all help each other!
Idk where I want to study or do rn, but I know I would love to work in the sectors of international culture/politics (my dream is to become a cultural attaché, I'm half ukrainian).
anyways sorry for talking so much and merci !

Hi!

I was in a similar position looking at lots of different universities and courses so I can definitely relate! I’m currently in my final year at Warwick studying EPP (Economics, Psychology and Philosophy) so can provide some insight on what it’s like here as well as employability.

Getting visa sponsorship is definitely becoming increasingly more competitive in the UK, especially depending on what field you go into. Most visa-sponsored roles are in finance, consulting, tech etc and there’s certain salary thresholds for a role to even be eligible for sponsorship, so that’s also something to keep in mind. Nonetheless, I can definitely say Warwick has strong career support with both the university careers service and various student-led societies being points of support. These both offer things like CV reviews, mock interviews, and application advice. Warwick also ranks quite consistently among the top universities targeted by employers in the UK. You do need to be quite proactive in seeking out opportunities and sending out internship/job applications as well as staying on top of deadlines, but the university provides plenty of support and advice. The overall culture of the university is quite academic/career-oriented (at least in my experience of economics-based degrees), which I found was quite motivating in keeping me on top of applications.

Warwick is also a campus-based university and isn’t located directly in a city, so that’s a big part of the student experience here to consider - I personally have really enjoyed it as it feels like more of a close-knit student community, but I know others may prefer a more busy city lifestyle as London unis offer, or places like the University of Amsterdam.
Since you’re between a few different courses, I’d also suggest taking a closer look at what modules each course covers and what interests you the most. Oftentimes even courses with the same name will have some differences in modules depending on the university. You mentioned being cautious that the Warwick Philosophy and Politics course may be too similar to your preparatory course, so looking at the modules/reading lists might help get a better idea of this.

Different countries also have different systems and going somewhere like McGill in Canada would of course be a different experience from living in the Netherlands or the UK, so I’d also look at things like cost of living, student life, student societies/activities, accommodation, etc.

Hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions!

Best wishes,
Jasmine (Student Ambassador)

Reply 5

UoW Flowry

Official Rep

Original post

by uncontrollable-i

Hi everyone
I'm kind of sending this like a message in a bottle but I feel like I need strong advice and testimonies about what to do/where to go.
Context :
I am a french student and graduated from a French international baccalaureate with an american option, with highest honours. I have strong extracurriculars and all. After high school, as I was accepted to Henri IV (the best preparatory course of france in literature) I decided to go because my family kind of talked me into it, even though I was accepted in Edinburgh for PPE. I did one year and during my second year I had complications with my illness and decided to stop. I am currently working in a souvenir shop in Paris haha. I had a lot of regrets concerning Edinburgh, but I decided to turn the page because I needed to pull myself together.
My plan has always been to go abroad, and I was scared that because I did a preparatory course, which is a very FRENCH thing, no one would take me again. I applied through UCAS for PPE bachelors, again, and I am still waiting for KCL (which are apparently known for keeping you in the complete silence, even though I have little to no hope for this one). I got an alternative offer from Warwick, in politics and philosophy, but I'm scared that it will only be theory basically (the same programs and authors that I did in the preparatory course). I got accepted into Royal holloway and exeter (PPE) but my family prefers Warwick.
I firstly would like to know, if there are any people that could share their experience(s) at warwick, exeter and royal holloway? And also which one of the three has the biggest "employability rate" I guess. (im scared to not find any work in the UK after, as I know that it is complicated with the sponsoring visa thingy).
I also sent a plethora of applications (ucd, trinity college, mcgill, university of amsterdam, and I'm gonna apply to Ku Leuven also).
Here is the complete list :
University of Amsterdam : cultural studies, european studies, PPLE
CAO : trinity college (PPES), UCD social sciences, humanities
mcgill : faculty of arts (Political science and international development)
Ku Leuven : european studies.
A program I really like is European studies at KU leuven but I'm scared because it is a new program (I talked with someone that is studying this and she said that there was a lot of disadvantages to it).
Also I dont really understand the CAO website. Like I sent my application and all and I was surprised by how little information there was. As I already received my diploma, do you know when they will approximatively give their answers? I read that it was supposed to be late like july/august, just wanted to make sure.
As you can see by the number of different programs, I am lost and I feel a bit alone so if any students want to share their testimonies, it would be really helpful to me, and maybe if students are lost like me we can all help each other!
Idk where I want to study or do rn, but I know I would love to work in the sectors of international culture/politics (my dream is to become a cultural attaché, I'm half ukrainian).
anyways sorry for talking so much and merci !

Hi there!

Firstly congrats on your offers and I completely understand how stressful or confusing this situation can be! I'm also an international student (from Indonesia) and I'm in my third year (on a placement year) studying engineering at Warwick. I can't tell you what politics and philosophy is like as my course is completely different, but if you're worried about the content of the modules/course, I'd recommend doing live chats on meetandengage.com to directly talk to politics and philosophy students.

On employability, this is one of Warwick's biggest strengths. Warwick students tend to be very career-focused, and that culture really pushed me to think early about internships or post-grad plans. I honestly didn't give it much thought prior to coming to uni; I didn't know anything about internships but ended up doing a year long placement.
A big part of this is Warwick's society culture, which is generally very well regarded by employers. For PPE/politics-adjacent students, there are societies like Warwick Think Tank, Warwick Politics Society, Warwick Consulting Society, and more. These societies give you the chance to go to speaker events with people working in government, NGOs, etc, gain research experience, and be in committee/leadership roles which can boost your CV.
Warwick is also very international, there are lots of students who come from abroad (mainly Europe and Asia). That creates a strong environment for global perspectives, networking, and also feeling less isolated as a non-UK student.

Your visa concern is also valid as finding sponsorship in the UK is competitive no matter where you study, but Warwick's reputation, network and strong links definitely help. I recommend doing spring or summer internships/placements to help secure a return offer which can lead to sponsorship. Warwick has lots of resources to help with this!

You should keep in mind though that Warwick is a campus university and your experience is going to be very different in a small city compared to London. Although there isn't as much to do, I found that I became so much closer to my friends and I love the close-knit community feel.

Wishing you luck with this process!

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