PP for mE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics At Oxford University)

Member Name: a-true-ben

Product:	Politics, Philosophy and Economics At Oxford University
Date:	14/08/02 (2723 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I love this subject, and the course is interesting, wide ranging and flexible

Disadvantages: It is hard work, and doesn't lead straight into a career

As many of you will know, I’m about to start the third year of my PPE degree in October, and is it takes up a considerable amount of my time, I thought I’d tell you all all about it ;)

PPE stands for Philosophy, Politics and Economics. It’s one of the most popular degree courses in Oxford, with around 300-400 students a year opting for the course. As the name implies, it’s a ‘joint schools’ subject, involving three disciplines. None of these are offered individually in Oxford, so if you want to do any of them, PPE many be a good bet. There are numerous other options available though – such as Economics and Management, Modern History and Politics or PPP (Philosophy, Psychology and Physiology). If you want to do PPE, but can’t get into Oxford, it’s offered by several other universities – obviously it’s not as widespread as, say, History, but York do quite a good course (which is reserve for many Oxford applicants) and I know Essex offer it too (see later details on requirements).

The course itself is split fairly evenly in the first year, and I’ll concentrate mostly on this because that’s what applies to everyone. After your first year, it’s an immensely flexible course – allowing you to drop one branch completely, and major quite heavily in any area that interests you.

The First Year

The first year exams (Prelims) consist of three papers – one per subject. Each is three hours long and has four questions; papers are marked out of 85 each so the total is 255. A pass is around 120 (it varies depending on how you do on each paper – eg 39, 39 and 80 wouldn’t be a pass, but 39, 50 and 50 would) and distinctions are 200 (for the record, I got 198). The first year is devoted, obviously, to passing these exams.

Teaching consists of university provided lectures and tutorials. The usual in the first year is to have three tutori
als (one per subject) in each fortnight. Maths and logic (if applicable) will normally be taught in classes. Students aren’t likely to be given that much option in their first year – though they may have a choice such as French or German Politics, but often they will the topics set by tutors.

As for the exam papers (which dictate what is done):
The Philosophy paper features sections on formal logic (based on Hodges’ book), J. S. Mill’s Utilitarianism and Descartes’ Meditations, candidates must answer from at least two sections.
The Politics paper features a range of countries – Britain, France, USA, Germany and Russia – as well as several theoretical questions (concerning either thinkers Mill, Rousseau, Marx and de Tocqueville or themes such as liberty and democracy). Candidates must answer on at least two countries and one theory question.
The Economics paper covers both micro and macro, as well as having a number of maths/statistics questions, of which candidates can answer up to two (none compulsory).

Where there is choice, as I said, it’s often up to tutors. In Philosophy, for example, candidates may be taught all three sections, or just two. Politics will probably cover three countries (but maybe just two) and in Economics the macro/micro split doesn’t matter, but Maths classes are offered to complement tutorials should candidates wish to answer these optional questions (see below for details on course requirements).

Should the Prelims be failed, there is a chance to re-sit one or more papers in September. Should these be failed, you’ll be ejected from the course (re-sits are pretty rare – usually no more than three a year).

Another requirement is completion of an IT course. We (my year, and the one below) did this in the second year, but next year’s freshers will have to do a project using Excel as part of their Prelims, probably during the s
econd term. If it’s like ours, it won’t be too taxing, it only has to be completed ‘satisfactorily’.

Second and Third Years

As you can see, there’s quite a range of stuff covered in the first year. Thankfully in the second year you’re allowed to drop one branch completely (just doing Politics and Philosophy like me, for example). Incidentally, Politics is almost never dropped – it’s not that it’s easiest, but least technical and the best fit with either of the others (whereas Philosophy and Economics tends to be a bit odd!)

Whatever combination you do, you study eight papers for finals. Each subject has a number of core papers, as well as options. Candidates must study the prescribed core papers (though sometimes there’s a choice here) and make up the rest of their papers through options (including further core papers if they wish). Candidates doing the tripartite option (i.e. all three branches) can choose what they like, candidates taking just two subjects can split their papers either four and four, or five and three if they wish to ‘major’ in one branch. Candidates opting for Politics and Economics can also choose a single Philosophy paper if they wish.

Core Papers:

Philosophy:
Ethics AND
History of Philosophy OR Knowledge and Reality
(Tripartite candidates only have to do Ethics)

Politics:
Candidates must do TWO from:
Theory of Politics (also available as a Philosophy option)
British Politics and Government
Comparative Government
Political Sociology
International Relations

Economics:
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics

As you can see, the core papers generally build on work done in the first year. For example, in Philosophy, Mill’s Utilitarianism serves as an introduction to moral philosophy, while Descartes’ Meditations are an introduction to history or knowledge and re
ality (both focus on metaphysics and epistemology). Within each paper there may be further options – for example, the History of Philosophy paper covers Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley and Hume, but you’ll normally only study three of these.

Option papers build further on the core papers, and offer much more variety. You can do options that are closely related to the core ones – such as ‘Foundations of Modern Social and Political Thought’, ‘International Relations Between the Wars’ and ‘Sociological Theory’. You can also pursue quite specialist branches, such as Econometrics or Formal Logic.

The eight papers are normally taught two a term (with one tutorial per paper per week), taking up the second year and first term of the third year – there’s then a term set aside for revision before final exams in your last term. By doing the core papers first, you will usually have a reasonably firm idea what other areas you wish to pursue, and tutors and older students are always available to offer advice or guidance when choosing options.

In my opinion, one of the major advantages of this subject is its flexibility. When I came to Oxford, I had no experience in Philosophy, so I was glad I knew I would have the option to drop it. I actually expected to be doing Economics (having enjoyed the A-level). As with a lot of degrees, I found the degree work considerably different from A-level; so as it happened I was glad to be able to drop Economics and tailor my degree heavily towards Philosophy.

To give an example of how you can choose your degree, I’ll use my papers. I’m doing (for Philosophy) Ethics, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Aesthetics and Plato’s Republic and (for Politics) Theory of Politics, Political Sociology and Classical Political Thought. As you can see, I’ve arranged a fair tie in of my options, picked arguably s
even ‘philosophy’ papers and enjoyed a high degree of flexibility. This is because not only do the three branches on offer marry quite well, but papers and options can be tailored to suit your interests. Theory of Politics, for example, is very popular with students taking Philosophy and Politics – either (like me) taken by philosophers as a Politics option (to increase their Philosophy papers) or taken by those who want to do Politics as a Philosophy option to maximise their Politics papers!

My other overall thoughts are that it’s a really interesting degree, that offers three fascinating subjects, each of which complements the others and develops a broad understanding of modern social thought. It allows students a wide range of choice, and lets them pursue many areas of interest.

Requirements

The standard A-level offer for PPE (as with all other subjects at Oxford) is AAB (using the old A-levels – quite how the new AS/AS2 levels will effect this I’m not sure). There are no ‘required’ subjects; in particular it is not necessary to have studied any of the three branches before – it’s common, but applicants can do well having studied, say, Maths, Physics and Latin!

Subjects that may be useful (apart from any of the three branches of course) include History, Geography, English Literature, Maths and maybe languages (which could be particularly helpful for study of foreign politics at least!). It does depend what you want to do. Maths is generally reckoned more useful than Economics for anyone going on to a degree. I’d say if you intend to drop Economics after the first year, Economics is the better A-level as it should let you bluff your way through without needing much maths ahem, but if you intend to study Economics in the second year, Maths is probably a far more useful A-level. Otherwise, subjects like History and English involve similar analytical skills, and huma
n geography or sociology will familiarise you with techniques used in Economics and Politics.

Like I said, no A levels are required, and even science based subjects could develop necessary skills, so don’t be put off from applying because you’ve done the ‘wrong’ A-levels. Interviewers look for potential in applicants, so as long as you can show enthusiasm for the subject(s) you should be in with a chance. For this reason, I’d say show independent interest (outside school) and, if you are applying to Oxford for PPE, it may be worth putting a reserve application in for York. I can’t comment officially, but I think it’s best to look like you want to do PPE and aren’t just settling for it instead of Economics!

And the future…?

It goes without saying that because PPE can be such a diverse subject, leading to specialisation in various fields of philosophy, politics and economics, such as sociology, international relations and development, many potential career paths are open. You can go into law, teaching, business and many other avenues, as well as the obvious political career. William Hague had a first in PPE from Oxford, so you can’t go far wrong eh?

It’s worth mentioning though that PPE isn’t a vocational degree. There’s no career in mind, so though the skills you learn may impress many future employers, further training may well be needed.


So, all in all, that’s it. My ‘9-5 job’, well – it isn’t really, but something I spend most of my time doing. A challenging yet enjoyable degree. Don’t believe what they say

<JOKE>
Why don’t PPE-ists get up in the morning?

‘Cos then they’d have nothing to do in the afternoon
</JOKE>

PPE is hard work – harder than History for example (it’s true – last year one of my flatmates did a British Econom
ic History paper which is offered by both History and Economics, thing is it was a whole term’s work for him, but would have been run with another paper for PPE-ists!). Departmental policy says you shouldn’t have to write more than 12 essays a term, but some tutors do expect a full six so it can be 16 – and that’s without the occasional nightmare of people who end up doing three papers in one term. Despite this negative end, it’s work I enjoy, and if PPE sounds interesting it’s a course I’d certainly recommend.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not qualified to give careers advice. If seriously contemplating PPE take full advantage of careers advisors, open days, course prospectuses, interviews and the like. Arrangements vary between colleges to a certain extent (and even more so if you’re thinking of PPE at another university). Applicants receive much fuller introductory information from the university, but feel free to ask any further questions in comments/by email.

Note also: PPE is common enough in Oxford to be known as PPE. Consequently no one's ever sure whether it's Philosophy, Politics and Economics, or Politics, Philosophy and Economics. I believe I have it right (and Dooyoo wrong) going by my student loan statement (the only official bit of paper I have to hand). It's not that important, and I believe it's the other way round at York anyway...

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