StudentGA

I think you have a very good shot at all of them. From the UK perpective. Obviosly Oxford and Cambridge are in a league of their own. LSE is the next best academically but it's famously bad for extra-curricular, sport and social life. Edinburgh is a great all round university. KCL has an inflated international reputation but it's not seen as a very good university dometically (it only ranks 21st). I'm guessing these are the top 5 UK unis occoring to Global rankings?? Have you consided St. Andrews or Durham? They have better domestic reputations than LSE, Endiburgh or KCL. SOAS is well known for IR too. So yeah domestic reputation wise: Oxford, Cambridge,... (big gap)... Durham, St Andrews, LSE,... (small gap)... Edinburgh, SOAS... (big gap)... KCL

Both are extremely strong UK universities. Globally, St. Andrews is better known but domestically Durham slightly edges it (it's slightly harder to get into Durham, most students from the UK would choose Durham over St. Andrews if they had offers from both). St. Andrews is quite a small city and very isolated. Durham is an even smaller city but has Newcastle, York and Leeds nearby. Both are very old universities with lots of traditions. Alike Oxford and Cambridge, Durham is one of the three collegiate universities in the UK, which has a massive impact on university life. Durham is also very good at sport. St. Andrews famously has scarlet red gowns and has a very international student base. Overall, I'd suggest Durham if you want to pretend you're at Oxbridge, you're good at sport or considering the slight academic edge. Choose St. Andrews for the international reputation or high % of international students (they're mostly American).

Sure, so your application to the MGA will include two "Statements of Intent". One of which is: "400-500 words that identifies a global affairs question, topic or problem" and reflect how it is or could be addressed. Because I read environmental science, I chose to do mine on climate change and water security, explaining how shared water resources are currently being managed by market forces, treaties etc. 400-500 words is approximately the same size as a report abstract. So essentially I wrote an abstract on the issue but unlike a normal abstract, I also cited key literature (because obviously there is no report to follow). Citing correctly and being able to summarise a topic into an abstract are key skills in academic writing style, so showcase that you have them. I will expand on what I mean by, "read for a degree". At my university, at least at undergrad, we are always reminded that we 'read' our subject (i.e. "I read 'X'"). This is a polite way saying "remember your place" or "don't get carried away" because at the end of the day, this is your first degree and all your professors and every paper you read are much more knowledgeable than you. At least in the traditional sense, undergrad isn't the place for creating your own theories, instead, your aim should be to thoroughly understand the topic or literally 'read' as much as you can. This is why citing peer-reviewed literature in your reports in so important. Good Luck!

Maybe this isn't what you want to hear, but I swear getting in has a lot to do with luck. What I mean is having something that made you stand out in the eyes of the admissions officer. In my application to Munk I tried to include such things. I actually missed the deadline and had to submit a rushed application. Therefore, I didn't have the time to write an academically focused application so I went down an emotive route. I'm still not sure what made me stand but somehow I conveyed my passion for international relations because they gave me a pretty large scholarship. My undergraduate grades are definitely not straight As. I do comfortably meet the grade requirements from a top 50 world university, but my grades vary massively (no consistency what so ever)! My bachelors degree hasn't even got anything to do with Global Affairs, I'm doing a bloody science degree! I think the most important thing to convey is a passion for the subject by taking it beyond the classroom. IMO, your extra-curricular is pretty strong but make sure you explain what motivated you to do those things and how they fit into your future (i.e. your application). I saw this mentioned earlier in this thread but I cited heavily in the 'global affairs question'. This seemed obvious to me because this your opportunity to show off your academic writing style. You need to remember that you "read" for a degree, at least that's how it's phrased in my country.