I made applications for the following online / DL degree -programs: a. BA (Hons) degree in Ancient History and Classical Archaeology from The University of Leicester https://le.ac.uk/courses/ancient-history-and-classical-archaeology-ba-dl/2019 b. BA degree in Political Science from The University of Iowa https://clas.uiowa.edu/polisci/undergraduate/online-political-science-ba The latest QS ranking showed Leicester ranks much higher than Iowa, but I know Iowa is also a decent school. I am looking to study hard and make use of this qualification to go for graduate schools, like MBA, MPA, MPP etc., would like to see your kind advice if both I received offers form both programs.
What are your career goals? Do you aspire to attend a prestigious business school? Keep in mind that the MBA may require prerequisites if your undergrad isn't in business or a closely related field.
Both are very good schools. If your career goals are in the US I would go with US-based school. In my uneducated opinion US-based degree from name recognized US school will resonate better with US-based employers and customers. I also heard opposite opinions. I encounter on the government side of employment that some agencies have strict rules when it comes to accreditation, especially professional or specialty accreditation. People with valid degrees from overseas a lot of times have to take additional classes because their program doesn't match the requirements. Some Sherif jobs in my state don't accept foreign degrees, they prefer degrees accredited by the RA agency of the state, region. BTW I see BA(Hon) from the UK is a 3 year FT program. This also can be an issue - comparing to US 4 year degree programs.
I got some college-level credits about history and politics and got a excellent grade, so I would like to move on these two choices. But I am now considering if I should look and apply more programs.
That's also a point to consider. The Leicester degree cannot grant any credit transfer so I have to start from square one, I think it is possible to grant some credit transfer for the Iowa one, but I am seeking a official advice from the university.
I sometimes think of these things in terms of trajectory. There is some fairly straight line trajectory going from Poly Sci to MPA. Ancient History, as interesting as it might be, doesn't have a lot of straight line trajectories into grad school except grad History programs or maybe Law School. Plenty of people have jumped from a BA in History to an MBA, it's just not a straight jump. If you think you'll end in the world of MBA/MPA then I'd start in the most relevant place. That's why you get questions about career goals. Of course, if you're just in love with Ancient History then I guess that's your choice. In that case you can take a few Business courses along the way and it might make the jump to an MBA a little easier.
My advisor said there's not a must to get a business undergraduate degree if you want to go to business sector. He also said arts graduates are welcomed on Graduate degrees like JD , MPA.
As far as I know, that is absolutely correct. Some MBA programs may insist that you have certain prerequisites but if you plan carefully you can take care of that without any special difficulty during the course of your Bachelors program.