alejo099

Hey everyone! So I got moved to the MSc Politics Research Track at Oxford (http://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/index.php/msc-in-politics-research/msc-in-politics-research.html). Given this new conditions I am still not sure if I take the Oxford offer or continue at LSE with the MPhil/PhD Development Studies. A point that dissuades me of going to Oxford is that the upgrade form the MSc Research to the DPhil requires a full new application to the university. At LSE the upgrade does not require a full application again to the university, but "just" moving forward with the research and having a 65 at two research classes. At Oxford the upgrade... I find it confusing because they expect a FULL re application to the university (submitting references, transcripts and everything else), despite the faq stating: "If I take the MSc, am I guaranteed a place on the DPhil? Applicants who are admitted to the MSc are expected to proceed to the doctorate. However, the transfer to DPhil status is by no means guaranteed. You will need to complete the MSc successfully and to provide evidence to the Graduate Studies Committee that you are suitably prepared for doctoral study". Any previous students of the MSc politics research track that successfully got upgraded to the DPhil status? Any that did not get upgraded? Any experience regarding this MSc Politics research track that you would like to share with me? Thanks a lot guys.

Thanks to all for the great help! At this point I'm more keen for LSE specially since my future supervisor is just great. The offer of LSE I have is conditional on my grade in June, if by some reason I don´t get the grade I´ll just proceed to Oxford, although the idea of having to do course work after two MSc is not nice but better Oxford than nothing. soulgrove What do you mean by flexibility? Thanks for the suggestions for professors I will have a look at them.

Hey, thanks for all the great responses. I think there’s a confusion, the MPhil/PhD at LSE is in Development Studies not political science. So I’m choosing between different animals. My take is that the international development department is smaller and less known but there is few really good people doing Political Economy, so I would fit there. Not sure about my fit in Oxford yet. As you said it might be less quantitative so I would be somewhat isolated…. Funding. Currently I'm being considered for scholarhips at both unis, but no word yet. However if I get it the LSE scholarship would cover both the 1 year MPhil and the 3 year PhD. Also because the LSE offer has the word PhD in it I can apply to a broader range of funds.... Yep that is my point, I already have two MSc so I do not need a third. So I want to reduce the coursework to minimum so the LSE 1 year MPhil seems more tempting... but still undecided! Well according to rankings I would say oxford goes fairly good in a global scale =): http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/2011/sep/06/top-100-world-university-rankings-politics-2011 http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/best-universities-politics-and-international-studies But lets not get into discussion about rankingsn of departments. Ultimately I think it depends if you have the top people on the topic you wanna work on.

soulgroove thanks for your great reply. It was really helpful. Let me clarify some stuff about me: I already have two MSc (one from LSE), so I´ve had plenty of class work, I have already a clearly defined research proposal and significant work experience. I did not apply directly to the DPhil because many people told me it was fairly difficult to go in unless I already had a supervisor ex-ante, so I went for the MPhil. Anyway, my take at this point is to move as fast as possible to the PhD as possible (no more class work!), and LSE gives a single year of MPhil plus no re application to move to the PhD except getting a 65, while Oxford gives me two years of MPhil, a re application process that has uncertainty and administrative work. By the way how engrossing is the administrative work? At this point I am more keen on asking to move to the MSc research at Oxford to move faster to the DPhil. However I am still open to suggestions... 2) I think I have a fairly good supervisor at LSE, however do you have any suggestions in Oxford? I like quantitative comparative politics, econometrics and political economy. Also I wanted to ask why didn´t you end up finishing your DPhil at oxford? (If its ok to ask). Thanks a lot for your reply! Very helpful!

I just got accepted to the MPhil Comparative Goverment at Oxford! Good news!... however.... My ultimate goal is to do a PhD. I was also accepted at LSE MPhil/PhD Development studies, and this programme seems more straightforward because the MPhil part takes a single year and after that, is all research towards the PhD. The only requirement to move towards the PhD from the MPhil is obtaining a 65% in the MPhil year. Does anyone know how feasible is to move from the MPhil to the PhD at the politics department? (What % of students does this?) Or is it easier to move from the MSc to the PhD? I only applied to the MPhil cause I thought it was easier to move from there to the PhD Politics at Oxford. However looking at the webpage apparently only from the MSc students can move to the PhD in a straightforward way. What is your take on moving from the MPhil to the PhD at Oxford? Should I take LSE offer instead? Thanks for your reply people!