Or a similar course.
I've been looking into Politics for a while now, and was hoping (assuming my as' and then a-levels come out well) to start the course in 2012, at one of Leeds, Bristol, Exeter and Nottingham. Obviously theres no guarentee that i'll do sufficiently well to go to one of those mentioned, but thats what i'm hoping for.
I do have a firm interest in the subject, but the problem i have is that im unsure of where such a degree will lead me to when im 21/22. I've been looking through what the course entails and its background, and as such have found very little bar the usual waffle, which points to careers opportunities directly from the degree. Its something i want to do, but not if there's little employment opportunities once its over.
If i felt as though this was still the case before the application procedure, then i would instead look to an economics degree which i enjoy less, but feel as though there are greater opportunities once the course is over.
With fee's going up the year i wish to start, i really can't afford to make the wrong decision.
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Just think he's finished a phd around it all. I think.
Politics degrees aren't so much about discussing the rights and wrongs of the Marxist dialectic, but more about studying governmental and political systems, and comparing and contrasting etc, although that depends on the course and whether you take political science rather than governmental organisations options. Some governmental systems can be interesting and have a direct infuence on our daily lives, but on the other hand you could find yourself attending lectures on and writing essays about the Lok Sabha. Fascinating if you like that sort of thing, but pretty dry.
Politics degrees are in a similar category to other Arts degrees like history, English lit etc, they rarely lead to direct jobs in the subject unless you want to teach in the subject area, but they will develop your ability to frame an argument, study and be articulate. As such they are degrees in education, but not vocational in that they lead automatically to a career job, which means that on graduation you may well find yourself doing more studying, or doing something totally unconnected with your degree. In these days of high tuition fees, is that something you feel comfortable doing? Especially as you'll be dragging that student debt around with you.
The choice is yours, but in this climate I'd be looking at doing that would make me employable in three/four years time.
Ive just fnished a Politics degree from Nottingham about a month ago. I couldnt recommend it any more, especially if you already have a firm interest in it. Don't be too concerned about what area of Politics you wish to study, because you can usually tailor your course to include all of the things that you wish to explore, ranging from the merits of representative democracy and political theories to the fundamental causes behind terrorism and organised crime, it really does cover a HUGE range of topics, loads more than you will be experiencing currently at school or college. It's one of the most interesting courses to do, but it involves a huge amount of research, less in-depth than law, but usually about twice as many sources needed to be covered per essay/exam.
As for it not being helpful getting you a job, I would have to say I disagree. As long as your not inumerate, all major banks of all kinds can offer a wide variety of roles and only want a 2:1 degree in any subject. Politics is probably the best well thought of non-vocational degree behind law and economics/maths. I know people that have degrees in maths that go into politics and people with english degrees that have gone into insurance companies and banks. There are loads of transferable skills and dont be shy about doing a Politics degree because you have to do something that vaguely interests you, otherwise you will hate getting up every morning/afternoon! I would say that it matters just as much WHEREyou go. With a non-vocational course like Politics, the standard of education matters more if you're going to gain those transferable skills. Nottingham is in the top 1% in the world, so employees know I had to have done very well at A Levels and uni to come out with the degree I have. No offence to people who go to uni's lower down the rankings, but it really isn't worth your time unless you're doing a specialist degree i.e. engineering, sciences.
The other added bonus is its the best thing I've ever done. I met so many people, lived on my own for 3 years, and had the best days of my life. Sounds like a cliche but u wont find too many people that have a crap time at uni. So go!
(If you need any more help, whisper me).
I'm weeks away from getting my final year results, studied Politics at UCLand Hunter College (NY). I have to disagree with Black Forest Reds, U.K universities are becoming more political philosophy intensive. Little in the way of studying political systems and contemporary governmental practices. I came from a school where most went on to study either classics, politics, economics or PPE. General consensus amongst those who went on the do politics is that you cover the above in your first year, and the remaining two years focus on political theory, ideology and political critique, modern political thought; so in fact discussion of Marxist theory is the lynchpin to most politics courses in the country.
As a course it's great, I have friends finishing up in Exeter who loved their course, i'm from Nottingham and I can tell you that they have a brilliant politics department.
Like Lost Red said, politics as a course is multifaceted, there are elements of anthropology, international relations, economics, business, history - some might say english, though that can only be said for structuring essays and sussing out/employing political discourse.
I won't ramble on, I love the subject, i'm sure you will too. It's a good idea to research the courses and see what interests you most.
In terms of looking beyond the three years, you make of it what you will. In three months i'm heading off to Argentina to assist a policy unit on Drug War politics, a couple of my friends are going straight into Whitehall to intern for local MPs, many go into academia... Having said this, its a well perceived course by name, you can go into almost anything.
Good luck with your A-levels.
Hi mate,
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Mainly repeating what has gone before but…
I just finished my PhD (last week) in Political Science, I did my undergraduate degree in Politics at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Exeter and a Masters in European Social Policy at Bath. My experience of all the courses was fantastic, I really enjoyed them all and each one helped me take the next step. I’ve only just finished so just doing bits of lecturing work at the moment but applying for academic jobs all over the place. Since my undergraduate degree I’ve held jobs as a research officer, postgraduate administrator, local government officer and marketing/finance jobs.
As I’ve continued down the academic route I can only really talk about the job options I’ve had and where I see my friends now. The majority of graduates with a solid Politics degree will be in a good position to apply along with everyone else for the various generic graduate programmes (from accountancy to marketing etc). Although the majority of my friends went straight into the Civil Service fast stream (Gov’t/ONS/Diplomatic Service/M15/LocalGov/GCHQ etc.). There are plenty of places to work but with it plenty of competition.
I’ve been doing a piece of work for Birmingham this month about where our PhD graduates go and can say its just as competitive at all levels. Too few jobs and too many graduates. I came across this at Nottingham a good post undergraduate degree careers leaflet. http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/shared/shared_careers/leaflets/pdf/Politics_leaflet.pdf
I wouldn’t particularly take economics or law over politics, many graduates in social science subjects do law conversion courses (although this is obviously additional time and expense). At Exeter I was able to make sure I managed to take a broad range of modules (you can take one or two modules outside your department each year), in this way I managed to modules in economics, history and sociology. Have a good look at the module lists of the different institutions and see which are on offer.
What I think counts for a great deal in recent years in my experience (when scoring CVs and interviewing graduates) is additional experience. With so many good quality undergraduates it is about what extra you can add. Firstly we look for a clear and well written CV, secondly check the person fits the person specification. This I think is where a ‘well rounded’ student can show how their experience beyond the academic can add to each role (ability to work, leadership, broad commercial experience) so to improve employability on any degree, take on some paid work if you can, get actively involved with societies etc.
All those institutions you hope to go to are great institutions; my personal experience of Exeter was superb, I know the new head of the Politics department at Nottingham well and I think the department is only going to get better with her at the helm. Bristol is a solid course with some good specialism in public policy and social policy. I don’t know too much about Leeds I’m afraid. A good degree Politics or Economics from any of those Unis will stand you in good stead alongside the majority of others beyond that its what you can add along the journey.
Like others, I'm say go with your instincts and interests - i.e. politics. i did an economics degree, but my heart was never really in it. I didn't get a brilliant degree result because of thid, and never really enjoyed the course - endless hours of reading the Economic Journal. The only proviso is that if economics is your passport to a better uni, then you can't/shouldn't ignore that (in fact you might sneakily try & get in to the best uni and then try & switch courses, which is what I wish I'd done).
Maybe economics has a slight edge in employability, but a 2:1 in pol trumps a 2:2 in econ these days
Power is politics, knowledge is power. So as Foucault, Hobbes, and Bacon would argue - by the process of inversion, knowing a lot about it means you are good at it....
This is what five years of politics does to you, I can now disagree with everything and anything often through employing sheer and utter BS.
I did politics and philosophy, albeit two decades ago.
I really enjoyed it but I don't think it leaves you many direct options vocationally. I ended up for a year in graduate entry admin jobs before deciding to do another two years study to become a lawyer.
Personally, I think you are best off using the three years to so something you find interesting. Sure, you could study accountancy or law or engineering to open up a career but it doesn't sound as if you have made your mind up what job you want.
It completely depends on what exactly you consider to be politics in 'actual' practice. If you were to sit down and spend time considering the scope of politics (that's not to say you have not) you would most likely come to the conclusion that it is far-reaching, almost all-encompassing. My comment; 'politics is power, as is knowledge' admittedly was a self-depricating aside, almost a stereotypical illustration of a politics student quoting passages from his favoured philosopher/s - as a fundermentalist Christian might do - in order to make a point.
Anyway, I can't help but disagree with your claim that politics as a subject (at university level) isn't vocational. Yes, accountancy and management are subects that are 'job-specific', but politics offers many direct avenues as a course. For instance, it's incredibly hard to become a policy analyst without a politics degree (as you say). Couldn't quite make sense of the latter stages of your reply, probably because i'm knackered.
For me, knowing politics is a prerequisite for exercising it, seeing as the purpose of university is to increase your knowledge and focus your attention on any given subject, understanding and discussing politics in this sense allows the student to pursue a career IN and practice IT.
However, i'm sure we can both agree that it is a course worth doing based on our experiences, the fact that politics as a subject can spark debate is illustrative of the domain itself, the fact that it can be debated over on our team's forum makes it even more brilliant.
Jints You're right in saying that i'm not sure what i want to do after Uni.Which is why i've wanted to do something which opens up a variety of career paths, which some of you have suggested that politics does.
However the problem i have is that perhaps politics doesn't lead to something more specific after Uni, even though it does open many doors. Regardless its still something i enjoy, and who knows what demands there may be in the future for people in such a field.
But sure, i 'geddit'.