The trouble is there doesn't seem to be any direction at all. Is there any, like.... well-known path? Take this, this, this, that, this, this, that, and you have your degree? What schools are good for a thus-far academically average American to get a political science degree?
Posted May 18, 2021, 2:24 AM UTC
In British universities we nearly always concentrate on one core subject only... we don't choose lots of little classes for credit and we aren't allowed to chop and change. So, if you want to get a degree in politics, you need to be searching for politics degrees.
Luckily for you, politics is one of the subject areas where it is usually combined with another subject (should you wish to have a broader learning experience) ie.politics and history, PPE, politics with a language etc. But again, this is chosen at the beginning, so make sure to check the exact course title.
So is a course a single semester class or is the word course used for the whole degree?
A course is the whole degree. We would call a 'class' we only take for a short period of time a 'module'.
So each year of your degree course will be made up of multiple modules. Most are compulsory (there is no choosing classes based on tutors and grading etc.), but there are sometimes optional modules. The best way to find out is to have a look at the course description on the University website.
Oh! That makes much more sense now. See in the US we call the modules "courses" so when the UCAS was asking me to choose courses I had literally no idea how to start
Thank you!
This is unrelated, but as a fellow architecture student, I love your flair.
It's even more applicable at this time of year ... hahaha
Start looking at the best unis for politics here:
https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/politics
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking - are you having trouble finding 'political science' degrees? I think they're usually just called 'politics' here.
Idk where to start, who to ask, I feel like I need to no more to even just finish the UCLAS because idk what courses I need
Start with the UCAS guide here and contacting these folks.
If you're having trouble understanding what qualifications you need to apply for uni, you need to look at the admissions pages for each uni you're interested in. For example here is what St Andrews requires of US applicants.