PPE (Manchester) or International history and politics (Leeds)?

[Ketzele]

Hi all, I had a recent thread on Leeds/Bristol/Manchester and my dd found it so helpful she has begged me to ask for your advice again.

Her final choice is between international history and politics at Leeds or PPE at Manchester. She likes both cities, she likes both courses. They're very modular so I think she can get the kind of content she wants from either.

I thought (hoped!) she was settled on Leeds but she is being swayed by people telling her that PPE is more prestigious than IHP and will lead to better graduate employment.

Is this right?

I know that PPE at Oxbridge has a particular cachet but not sure that is also true of PPE elsewhere?

No, I don't think they are right. PPE is as you say an Oxford 'thing'. Other places offer it and it's great but not 'ooooooh'! These are both great choices to have.

Only thing I'd say is Manchester has better soc sci reputation.

They may be right about the employability, mind, simply because of the E element.

I have a dc at Manchester doing the P&P of PPE. The social science Dept is great and there’s a great choice of modules / specialisms.

I work with graduates if both - both are excellent workers!! I'm not sure you can to wrong with either.

Thank you all. I think she is desperately looking for something to make the choice easier. I'll sit down with her later and draw up some criteria!

I would suggest she thinks about how much she likes philosophy (as it appears that’s not included in the Leeds course). Philosophy is in many ways a very challenging subject although also very important and rewarding.

has she studied philosophy at all? I would suggest looking up philosophy modules on the Manchester website and looking in detail at the content and maybe doing a little reading around the subject.

Likewise economics to be fair!

Very true. No experience of economics in our household although we cover the majority of the fluffy social sciences 😂

OP Manchester is a great city to study in - if your dc is into music / clubs there are some really cool places! Regarding 2nd year housing it seems plentiful and not extortionate. I know there was a problem a couple of years back with availability in halls but I see the Uni has taken on a couple of new places in Victoria Park.

I think the economics in PPE would lead to wider employability options if she wanted to follow that route. History and Politics is more mainstream so employers will see a lot of these grads. I’d advise Manchester on that basis. I’d also suggest work and building up a good cv too. Degree alone might not get dc as far as those with degree plus plus. Employers don’t always know the nitty gritty of modules! Or care!

Would she be interested in work placement or study abroad opportunities that she can do as part of each course? E.g I know that most of Manchester’s courses allow an extra year to do a work placement or study abroad year. There used to be summer internships for social sciences students, related to data analysis too. Do Leeds offer something similar? This might help in the decision making process!