Need Advice: The Fletcher School or LSE

[Wiking13]

Hey all,

 

I was fortunate enough to be admitted to both the Fletcher School's MALD program and LSE's MSc in International Relations. Now I find myself in a difficult dilemma deciding between the two.

 

I was recently speaking this over with a professor who told me that if I wanted to enter the policy world I should enroll at Fletcher, and LSE for academia. However, at this point I'm very unsure of what I want to do. Would attending Fletcher close the door to academia for me?

I'd absolutely love living in London and I think very highly of the LSE "brand", however, Fletcher seems way more structured and I personally believe having a small class size is very important in graduate school. I'm also significantly younger than Fletcher's average age and have basically zero work experience. 

 

Any thoughts? Having a lot of trouble deciding. 

Edited April 28, 2015 by Wiking13

[CakeTea]

I am not familiar with Fletcher MALD and shall refrain from commenting on it, but I know people who were admitted or studied MSc IR at LSE. I heard from an US student (whose father is a college professor) the same conclusion that LSE MSc IR is a strong feeder to PhD programmes (UK and US). It is known for theory, methodology, DEV and foreign policy. LSE has a few known IR professors and some went on to high profile appointments with IOs, but it really depends on your areas of interest. For academia, LSE also publishes the Millennium Journal (UK version of Foreign Policy) and invite researchers to present work in brown bag seminars. For policy folks, LSE offers a superb guest speakers series and student organized IR panels with foreign PMs, cabinet members, ambassadors, editors and think tank professionals. There are a few research institutes and think tanks based at LSE and some students intern there. I attended a few IR events and found the Q&A sessions lively and  the LSE discussion papers helpful to stay informed. The key difference is the 1 year format and it is fast paced and not much time to digest or regroup. My friend told me that the prof told students in October to think about their dissertations. At the same time, students send out resume for jobs/internships after graduation. You would need a strong game plan (goals, modules, dissertation, internship or job) for LSE to get max return on investment. The size of IR class is 60, some are fresh out of undergrad and others have a few years' employment. With regards to syllabus, LSE goes for depth in your electives and you cover a narrow range of courses compared to a US program. If you look at various International Affairs rankings (FP, Williams U), only LSE, Oxford and Sciences Po from Europe manage to get ranked along with top US programs.

 

Facilities: Space in London's prime Westend is rare and expensive. LSE is really cramped and some students struggle to find suitable study areas for group work. The library is one of the largest Social Sciences Library in Europe, but very busy. During exam revision, one would struggle to find a vacant seat. Complaints about not sufficient textbooks or long waiting list for loans (supply and demand). But this applies to other European unis or London colleges. Some students notice that a few profs put their priorities in research rather teaching, LSE profs may be not as accessible compared to college profs at smaller Liberal Arts schools. You need to be proactive to get things done. Each module has a reading list for each week and your responsibility is to prepare before class and get the reading done. Mix of textbook chapters, journal articles and documents from international organisations. I think LSE offers also a Trek to IOs (Brussels or Geneva).

 

 

Good luck

Edited April 28, 2015 by CakeTea

[Wiking13]

Wow, thanks so much for the reply. Super informative. 

[Ungjaevel]

I am a current MALD student at Fletcher. While the MALD is intended to be a professional program, I don't think it will close the door to a career in academia. If that is your goal, I wouldn't recommend getting your PhD here, since the doctoral program is not intended to produce academics, however plenty of MALD grads go on to academic careers.

[went_away]

Hard to give advice given your lack of details on where you want to go. Given your age and uncertainty, my first reaction is you should go to a top-notch American program. These do a much better job in terms of career guidance and exploration (hand-holding if you will) than the British programs. Top American programs generally also have more international 'pull' or carry than European programs. Personally, I like the LSE brand as much as you do, but suspect Fletcher will be more widely respected. The best American schools invest much more time, effort, and money into building and maintaining strong alumni networks and this will come into play in the course of your subsequent career.  

 

Both options are great schools, but you'll probably have an easier time of it in the working world with a Fletcher degree and associated summer internship. If however your heart is set on London and if you are not all that worried about your job search possibly taking a bit longer (ie you have family money/connections/personal wherewithal) then perhaps LSE would be a better bet.