Please, in desperate need of advice: which school to choose (all in U.K.)?

[Amy44]

I have been accepted to 3 schools in the U.K. for my Masters:

1. University College London (UCL) : MSc Global Migration

2. School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS): MSc Migration Mobility and Development

3. University of Sussex: M.A. Migration Studies

Any advice about which school to choose would be much appreciated. I am totally confused. I think I am more interested in the first two schools in London, however I am not sure which one to choose and I am running out of time. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

[ZeeMore21]

Is money an issue in your decisions? I know getting funding for British universities can be tough. As far as migration studies is concerned, do you have a specific sub-field? it might help posters choose a schools out of the 3 you listed. I know that SOAS is a pretty good school.

[Amy44]

Thank you for responding! All of this will be funded by U.S. loans. (that I will be spending the rest of my life paying back!) so at this point I don't know if I should even worry about the price difference. I know UCL and SOAS are both much more expensive than Sussex because of the location. I am trying not to think about the money right now and just think about the quality of the school and which will be better for me for job prospects after. A strong alumni network would be great, for example. I do not have a subfield. I am interested mainly in forced migration though (so, Refugee Studies). Any further thoughts? Do you know of UCL?

Thank you!

[vitaminquartet]

I am not familiar with that particular program, but UCL is so much more prestigious and competitive than SOAS and Sussex. While its place on various league tables fluxates from year to year, I think generally UCL is considered the third most reputable multi-faculty (or generalist) university in the UK, after Oxford and Cambridge (and amongst the top five universities in the UK along with the specialist colleges, Imperial College London and LSE).

By comparison, both SOAS or Sussex are highly reputable universities but neither is probably in any typical top ten list - though both might be top 20 or (though they sometimes place lower in league tables, which unlike the US News & World Report, have less social influence in the UK just because there are many UK university rankings lists that have significant variation between them - but none of them would have SOAS or Sussex above or equal to UCL - some might switch the places of SOAS and Sussex though).

UCL is a huge, early 19th century university in central London's Bloomsbury neighborhood (which is itself dominated by the University of London 'campus'). It is the oldest University of London constitute college and awards its own degrees while remaining in the University of London. It has some absolutely beautiful old buildings as well as some ugly buildings. It has many student bars but most of them are gross (it has one excellent one, th Print Shop Cafe). UCL is also notable as being among the very top few universities for research funding.

SOAS is relatively small (maybe 1/5th the size of UCL in student body and campus area) social sciences only specialist university that is also located in Bloomsbury about five minutes walk from UCL. Like UCL it is a University of London college but unlike UCL it still awards University of London degrees. The buildings are unremarkable, simple brick buildings. The student bar is wonderful.

Sussex is physically distant from its town, Brighton, and has a large campus set apart from Brighton - giving a totally different feel from UCL and SOAS which are in London. Brighton itself is a marvelous cute town. Sussex buildings are all relatively new, the university is only 50 years old, and the facilities are generally contemporary, airy, and nice - though not especially attractive. In terms of student body it is mid way between UCL and SOAS in size - in terms of campus size it is much larger than UCL and SOAS put together.

UCL, SOAS, and Sussex all have very politically active student bodies, and all three have a reputation for being leftist activist centers (though, of the three, this reputation has been established at SOAS for a long time and only relatively recently at UCL and Sussex - and UCL retains significant conservative groups although the leftwing groups are more visible).

Personally I would always choose UCL above SOAS and SOAS above Sussex, but its obviously a very personal choice.

[Amy44]

I am not familiar with that particular program, but UCL is so much more prestigious and competitive than SOAS and Sussex. While its place on various league tables fluxates from year to year, I think generally UCL is considered the third most reputable multi-faculty (or generalist) university in the UK, after Oxford and Cambridge (and amongst the top five universities in the UK along with the specialist colleges, Imperial College London and LSE).

By comparison, both SOAS or Sussex are highly reputable universities but neither is probably in any typical top ten list - though both might be top 20 or (though they sometimes place lower in league tables, which unlike the US News & World Report, have less social influence in the UK just because there are many UK university rankings lists that have significant variation between them - but none of them would have SOAS or Sussex above or equal to UCL - some might switch the places of SOAS and Sussex though).

UCL is a huge, early 19th century university in central London's Bloomsbury neighborhood (which is itself dominated by the University of London 'campus'). It is the oldest University of London constitute college and awards its own degrees while remaining in the University of London. It has some absolutely beautiful old buildings as well as some ugly buildings. It has many student bars but most of them are gross (it has one excellent one, th Print Shop Cafe). UCL is also notable as being among the very top few universities for research funding.

SOAS is relatively small (maybe 1/5th the size of UCL in student body and campus area) social sciences only specialist university that is also located in Bloomsbury about five minutes walk from UCL. Like UCL it is a University of London college but unlike UCL it still awards University of London degrees. The buildings are unremarkable, simple brick buildings. The student bar is wonderful.

Sussex is physically distant from its town, Brighton, and has a large campus set apart from Brighton - giving a totally different feel from UCL and SOAS which are in London. Brighton itself is a marvelous cute town. Sussex buildings are all relatively new, the university is only 50 years old, and the facilities are generally contemporary, airy, and nice - though not especially attractive. In terms of student body it is mid way between UCL and SOAS in size - in terms of campus size it is much larger than UCL and SOAS put together.

UCL, SOAS, and Sussex all have very politically active student bodies, and all three have a reputation for being leftist activist centers (though, of the three, this reputation has been established at SOAS for a long time and only relatively recently at UCL and Sussex - and UCL retains significant conservative groups although the leftwing groups are more visible).

Personally I would always choose UCL above SOAS and SOAS above Sussex, but its obviously a very personal choice.