Warsaw School of Economics vs Jagiellonian University

Between these two universities which would you choose? Overall, I think Krakow is a more beautiful but something about Warsaw is telling me to go there instead.

Thanks for your insight!

What do you want to study? At what level? What programs are you thinking of? What is your educational background? What do you plan on doing with the degree you earn in Poland? Where are you from (citizenship)? How old are you? Do you speak Polish? Do you have any pertinent experience in the field? How do you plan to pay for your studies and stay in Poland? Why, of all places, do you want to study in Poland? The more generous you are with information about yourself, the more useful the answer you will receive. You've provided so little, that no one can even give a general answer.

I for one find it very strange, that someone would choose to study at a University just because the town where the University is, ....looks 'more beautiful'.

Sort of. But I don't find it strange at all that one would want to avoid an ugly city. For example, when I was in England, I visited a friend at Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry. I found the school and the town both to be mind-numbingly hideous. Maybe even more so than Bochum in Germany, which was purposely designed to be mind-numbingly hideous, with astounding success. Honestly, I couldn't imagine spending four years of my life in either of those places. I did study at UCSD, a college campus that, like Bochum, was designed to be utterly repulsive (they call the architectural style "brutalism" for good reason). However, unlike Coventry or Bochum, San Diego was a gorgeous city, and even the campus didn't seem all that bad because the weather was perfect practically every single day.

Same here - one reason why Warwick University (also Coventry) lacks something that York has, and why people choose Lincoln over Derby for example. Just a nicer place to be.

Why spend three or more years in a dump when you can be in a great place? I know I'd rather spend a summer's evening kissing in a punt (careful how you say that) along the Isis than slumming it in the Earl de Grey on Hull's waterfront (done both).

But Hull is a great university, while Oxford is a complete dump (much the same with WSE and Krakow really).

Everyone back on topic please.

@Dominic

I'm American and an EU Citizen, not someone from the 3rd world looking for a backdoor into Europe. To answer your questions:

An MA in International Business or Economics. As far as why Poland, it's overall a beautiful and interesting country. One that thing makes Poland standout from the crowd is its constant growth since the fall of communism and the reforms that have made it one of the most successful economics in the European Union. While countries like Hungary and the Czech Republic are also ideal candidates, I personally felt a better gut feeling when evaluating universities in Poland. Nor were the facilities modern to say the least in the other two countries. New businesses, malls, and constructions seem to thrive in Poland which is a good sign.

There is no sense of learning business/economics in a country like Hungary where you are drowned in regulations and absurd laws no one understands. For instance, in Hungary all stores and malls are now closed on Sunday. The only thing you'll find open are restaurants, coffee shops, and a select few franchises of a grocery chain that are "looked after" by the Prime Minster.

I don't speak any Polish, but there are definitely some similarities to Russian which I know nearly fluently so I'd probably be able to pick it up after a year or two.

If my assumption is correct, the private universities in Poland like much of Eastern Europe are merely shams for visas and don't really teach anything. Though I don't expect the education to be as refined as something in the US, it's all about the experience and a different culture. To do international business you have to be somewhere international, it wouldn't make sense to not have any real world experience. I've already studied abroad in Russia and a few other countries and I definitely like the exposure to different ways of how capitalism is interpreted, people, etc.

@terri

Maybe it's something personal but I don't find it weird at all. The thinking behind it is similar to how you would choose a vacation. Would you go to New York or San Francisco? Both are nice places in their own ways so it comes down to the little things.

Personally, I find Warsaw a bit gloomy compared to Krakow. As a tourist, I'd choose Krakow over Warsaw. Warsaw is nice and industrialized, but it kind of reminds me of Moscow. Moscow is dirty the place to go for a job, etc whereas St. Petersburg, the former capital is a beautiful cosmopolitan city that is superior in many ways to the capital. Maybe I'll get accustomed to Warsaw after a few months but who knows.

Never did I say it was based on the city, but again the little things now. Both universities have worldwide recognition so it's a hard choice. I want to enjoy where I will be living for the next few years, it's not like I will be sitting in a room with a book glued to my head 24/7.

Hopefully that helps. The initial reply was brief since I sort of expected this to get ignored which I am thankful it didn't.

@ Centrum,
Just to tell you where I'm coming from. I live in GB, but spend about 6 months in Krakow, so I know exactly what you mean about it being 'beautiful'. I worked in Warsaw, so know the city too. But going on holiday/vacation for 2 weeks is totally different to studying for three/four years.

My first choice when studying would be the general reputation of the Uni, Uni ranking, names of tutors/professors and chances of employment after Uni. In your case, UJ still has some pull in the world.

Am I correct in thinking that that means you will want to do one of the English-language programs? If so, save your money: those are very much second-tier programs and run only to make money for the university. As 'golden goose' courses, it's quite hard to flunk out, which further devalues the courses.


As far as I'm aware, neither make the top 300 in any of the major rankings, and that ranking would be for their superior Polish-language programs.


You'd need to pay me to go to Krakow at the weekend: way too many drunked morons from the British Isles there now at the weekends.