Chances of getting into LSE or Sciences Po?

[pablito]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to this forum and have never posted in places like this before so I apologise in advance if this is the wrong place for my post. I'm a Canadian student at an okay university in Canada. I would like to pursue a master's degree in IR/global politics/public policy or something along those lines. Ideally, I would like to study in Europe, preferably at LSE. I am also open to applying to other schools like Sciences Po, King's College, and maybe even the Graduate Institute in Switzerland. I have a year of school left and my cumulative GPA is a tad bit under 3.4 but I am hoping my extracurriculars can compensate for this. I am majoring in political science and have taken very basic courses in economics and quantitative research methods. I speak three Asian languages (one of them fluently), French, and English. 

Extracurricular Activities: 
-wrote articles for online international relations publications 
-served as a Regional Director for an international affairs publication
-started an IR publication at my uni
-served as president of a major political club 
-did model UN
-currently a student mentor 
-currently an advisor at a think tank
-volunteer at a legal research centre

 Work Experience:
-I have roughly 2 years of work experience 
-interned on programs, policy, and community engagement for a royal charity 
-interned at the federal foreign affairs ministry in the international trade section helping businesses export and in the FDI team

 

I don't intend to study beyond a master's degree and plan to work in government for some years and then maybe and international org like the UN or in government relations for a company. I was wondering if I could get some honest input on what my chances could be based on your experience or based on the experiences of people you know. Open to hearing any advice/suggestions you have and looking forward to hearing your experiences! Thanks!

 

  

[needanoffersobad]

 

1. don’t go to Science Po. It’s just a name. (Welcome any further discussions)

2. Graduate institute in Geneva is perfect if you want to work in UN. It’s just right next to UN. I have two friends studying there and they all got UN internship. One of them even stay there for a full time job. But don’t dream too big about UN. They don’t pay lower ranking staff much. And living in Geneva is very expensive. 

 

 

[pablito]

On 6/13/2020 at 9:20 PM, needanoffersobad said:

 

1. don’t go to Science Po. It’s just a name. (Welcome any further discussions)

2. Graduate institute in Geneva is perfect if you want to work in UN. It’s just right next to UN. I have two friends studying there and they all got UN internship. One of them even stay there for a full time job. But don’t dream too big about UN. They don’t pay lower ranking staff much. And living in Geneva is very expensive. 

 

 

Thanks for your suggestions! Any particular reason why I should refrain from Sciences Po? I have heard mixed things but want to hear what you have to say since it's a globally acclaimed school. 

I am interested in Geneva and agree that it's expensive. My concern is that while it's good for the working at the UN, the school doesn't have as far of a reach globally as LSE or something else. 

[needanoffersobad]

4 hours ago, pablito said:

Thanks for your suggestions! Any particular reason why I should refrain from Sciences Po? I have heard mixed things but want to hear what you have to say since it's a globally acclaimed school. 

I am interested in Geneva and agree that it's expensive. My concern is that while it's good for the working at the UN, the school doesn't have as far of a reach globally as LSE or something else. 

I think if you are aiming to work in organisations instead of academia, then your working/intern experience is more important than the reputation of your school. So Getting an internship or contract based work in the UN is much much easier if you study at Graduate Institute. Plus, if I remember it correctly, internship is even part of their program. 

science Po is famous indeed. I have never studied there but I have professors talking about it with negative comments. Like they are not updating their courses. They recruit just too many students. I also have a couple of friends studying there. They said the courses are too general for a master degree program.  It’s hard for them to look for a job or internship

 

Maybe also think about what major you want to choose       Friends who got UN working experience told me they should have chosen a more professional degree instead of something like “international public policy, international security, international organizations. ”  UN recruits people for their needs, such as data analysis, consulting.... so also check out their course syllabus instead of school reputation 

 

[pablito]

On 6/17/2020 at 7:31 PM, needanoffersobad said:

I think if you are aiming to work in organisations instead of academia, then your working/intern experience is more important than the reputation of your school. So Getting an internship or contract based work in the UN is much much easier if you study at Graduate Institute. Plus, if I remember it correctly, internship is even part of their program. 

science Po is famous indeed. I have never studied there but I have professors talking about it with negative comments. Like they are not updating their courses. They recruit just too many students. I also have a couple of friends studying there. They said the courses are too general for a master degree program.  It’s hard for them to look for a job or internship

 

Maybe also think about what major you want to choose       Friends who got UN working experience told me they should have chosen a more professional degree instead of something like “international public policy, international security, international organizations. ”  UN recruits people for their needs, such as data analysis, consulting.... so also check out their course syllabus instead of school reputation 

 

Thanks for your informative response! 

[2711383]

The *one* thing that matters for a masters program (if you're not aiming for academia) is job placements. Take a look at where graduates of the programs you're looking at work. Sciences Po is a very well respected institution in Europe. I don't know that much about their IR program specifically, but I've been reading up on their International Economic Policy MA and its graduates end up in pretty cool places like J-PAL and the OECD.

[pablito]

On 7/20/2020 at 12:47 PM, 2711383 said:

The *one* thing that matters for a masters program (if you're not aiming for academia) is job placements. Take a look at where graduates of the programs you're looking at work. Sciences Po is a very well respected institution in Europe. I don't know that much about their IR program specifically, but I've been reading up on their International Economic Policy MA and its graduates end up in pretty cool places like J-PAL and the OECD.

Thanks for your insights!