SOAS or Edinburgh or Manchester for Chinese studies?

[lanalon]

Hello everyone, I hope to hear some views on our dilemma. DC did Chinese Pre-U at A level, predicted all A*. SOAS asks for AAB and Edinburgh/Manchester for ABB so should be able to get in all of them. Whilst Edinburg and Manchester are in a Russel group, SOAS is a specialist uni for Chinese, although is less known as a uni.

Which one is better from the academic and employment perspective? I’ve read mixed reviews about SOAS that it is a marxist place (which does not bother us), but also heard that it is small and friendly and everyone knows each other which is nice.

At the same time due to lowering interest in modern languages there were articles that SOAS might close.

Would be grateful for all your thoughts and feedback.

@ThePlantsitter

I love SOAS but I would rather be a student in Manchester than London (and I live in London). Think Chinese pretty well respected there too?

Me too. And I was a student in London.

I did Chinese in Manchester just over ten years ago, and had to do ab initio lessons despite having an A-Level, so the standards are high. It was a very small cohort doing pure Chinese studies though, the majority of people taking the course had a familial background and were doing Chinese and business/other modern language.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but longer term my job has nothing to do with my degree and my language skills are very rusty with disuse. I picked Chinese studies because it was my favourite subject and as a bright student it was expected that I went to uni, but I didn’t really have a career plan.

[quote lanalon]@DistrictCommissioner thank you for your reply. What do you mean by particular?[/quote]
Oh - SOAS is a small university, with a lot of more mature postgraduate students. I was a postgrad there myself so didn't really engage - all seems very political. I was an undergrad elsewhere in London, because it's so large (understatement) you don't get the more collegiate feel you get at other universities I think eg even in halls in the first year your classmates can be living an hour away from you. Whereas at Manchester university, where lots of my friends live, all the students are very concentrated in one area - socially a much easier experience IMO... But it varies from individual to individual of course.

Oh, and my first choice was actually Edinburgh. Mostly for the cheaper degree and the fact that it was an MA in 4 years not a BA but also because of the less focused first two years. Some of the courses that come under the Chinese studies umbrella I felt were very loosely linked and as a language student just weren’t interesting to me.

At the school my DDs went to, it was a favourite of the overseas students. They lived at “home” in London but stayed in their ethnic communities, if that makes sense. SOAS is very different to Edinburgh and Manchester.

I too would be wary of Chinese studies as a subject. Language degrees full of native speakers wanting an “easy” degree. The non native speaker can feel very much on the back foot. I would always put another language or subject with it to broaden employment prospects. If someone wants to employ a Chinese speaker, they have vast numbers to choose from who have been educated here and wish to stay.

SOAS does appear very highly in league tables either. Edinburgh and Manchester usually are higher up in general. It is very niche.

@PresentingPercy did you mean to say SOAS does not appear highly in league table?

DC applied for Chinese and Linguistics. Will try to amend the original post now

Yes. It is pretty much mid division. I think it depends what type of career dc wants and what student experience. London is very different and all the SOAS students from DD’s school were rich and not British. I think they have very high foreign student numbers. That, in itself might not remotely be a worry, but long term friendships can be compromised. What would he do with this degree?

Liverpool has a massive (the biggest in the UK?) Chinatown so I assume you can do Chinese there too? Or has your dd already applied?

Is a SOAS degree a University of London degree or is it standalone? I can't see it closing. The School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies became part of UCL I think so I suppose something similar would happen to SOAS if it doesn't the resources to support itself.

@looptheloopinahulahoop she did not apply to Liverpool. There is a big China town in London too. I understand the degree will be from SOAS