Anyone know anything about degrees in international relations?

[Lemonblossom]

DS has long said he wants to do history and politics and all of our visits have been on the basis of this and he thought he’d firmed up his choices. Having spent some time drafting his personal statement ready for going back to school (they have to have first draft ready), he’s now wondering about international relations. He is really interested in politics but didn’t do politics A Level and his interest is more about the international side of politics than domestic.

A Levels are History, English Lit and Economics with core maths and an EPQ. He’s predicted A. A. A. Thinks he will ultimately do law (family business! DH and I are both lawyers)

we are wondering if international relations with history would be a better choice for him but none of us really know much about it.

Fortunately he has quite a bit of work experience (all law focused though). He comes to court with me a lot and works in my office in the holidays. We’ll look at the placements though since that’s an important point.

DC studies PIR at Bristol. A levels were History, Politics and Economics. Yr 1 was, as previous poster said, a bit repetitive, so they are looking forward to Yr. 2 modules. They are not politically active, but very interested in the subject (I'd say more civil servant/ academic than politician, if that makes sense?).

They applied to Bristol, LSE, UCL, Exeter (can't recall the 5th - another London one I think). The London schools are super-competitive and didn't offer on predicted A* A A grades, unfortunately.

DSs top choice was Exeter but that’s before he started looking at a different course. He now needs to do some more investigation

don't think the rank of uni is that important

This is bad advice if he wants to do law. I’d look at LSE.

I did Politics and International Relations at Kent, the International Relations modules were definitely more interesting than the Politics one, but in general it was mostly quite interesting. Especially liked the module on East Asian politics and relations. I dropped out after my Erasmus year so never got to see what the final year was like though. Regret that :(

@Lemonblossom
Clearly a joke!!!! Apologies.

If the location is suitable for him I would suggest St Andrews, very strong reputation for IR plus allows flexibility for other subject options including history.

Middle East studies can also appeal to some if they are interested in IR and history.

www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/arabislamic/mideast/

I hire politics graduates regularly though and have done recent hiring for competitive national grad schemes, so it is genuine advice.

OP's son wants to do law. I'm a lawyer involved in trainee recruitment. I promise you that the rank of uni is important- law is a fairly traditional field. It may be that other sorts of grad recruitment are more flexible.

He’s looking at Russell group with Lancaster and Loughborough in for his potential reserves

Or at least he was before he started looking at a different course!

For IR, your DS might want to think about Keele as a reserve. They have an excellent international relations degree with a lot of expertise (Keele was the first university in the UK to offer an IR degree). A lot of their graduates go into law (although a fair few become diplomats or work for the UN or NGOs).

The best university for international relations is LSE, certainly if Oxbridge is excluded.

If your DS would like a less intensive university experience, with more time to pursue his extracurricular activities, he could look at a four-year programme in Edinburgh or St Andrews. He would be able to explore his options in the first year and would be able to combine IR with another subject. He would also have
the opportunity to study abroad in the third year.

With A* A* A predicted, the above universities are viable options if they appealed to him.

I did IR at Salford 10 years ago. Loved it and it had a good reputation at the time, not sure how it ranks now. There was a lot of history, compulsory modules and optional, so he could easily go down that route if he prefers.

My dd is studying Politics and IR at LSE. You don't need politics A level. It is a competitive course. The standard offer is AAA which is less than KCL even though its a harder course to be accepted for. It all depends on your personal statement which needs to show why they should accept you - additional reading, independent thought etc.

Dd is at LSE, but had York as insurance

Notagardener mine did too.

DD is studying PPE at Oxford (without lots of super curriculars, relevant work experience etc) after A levels in history, maths and Eng Language. She would have applied for HisPol but didn't think she would have a hope of getting in. It is only one out of five on your UCAS form though & the places go somewhere.

She dropped the E after her first year and is essentially studying IR, some history modules & philosophy. Her modules are essentially taught 1 to 1 or 1 to 2, specialising in China, Cold War etc.

Oh...is she going into first or second year? May have some same lectures/modules 😁

DS turned down LSE and IR for King's and War Studies (which has quite a bit of IR in it and you can do a joint degree, I think). Didn't regret it at all - but then he has never been at all interested in going into law!

Notagardener just going into second year.

What type of law does he want to do? If city firms, yes, focus on the RG universities. If it's something that's more linked to the IR world, look for the universities that have the strongest specialisms in that area - St Andrews, Kings, Sussex - Aberystwyth had a outstanding rep for IR a decade ago, don't know if that's still the case but worth investigating, particularly if he might also consider postgrad study.

My DS is starting IR/ History at St St Andrews in a few weeks. No politics exams taken (or offered) but reasonable evidence of personal interest. Was pooled from His/Pol at Cambridge.

Agree LSE would be top choice for IR but strongly recommend either the IR or History and IR degrees at King's (in the war studies department), they are excellent as well. There is a strong international law component in the department as a bonus.

Huge advantages to being in London for IR too, in terms of internships, jobs, events etc.