Work vs. Graduate School vs. GAP

[Trinidad]

Hi,

I am going to graduate with a MA in IR from LSE in 2009. I will be 24 years old then. I have been thinking about starting my first job in the States instead of England these days as my siblings are all there and I am close to them. I also think life is better in NY as London has less job opportunities. So I am thinking about reapplying to schools in the States after LSE. I know I have to take the GRE for this so I plan to take a year off after LSE to take the GRE and apply to US schools such as SIPA, SAIS, Tufts etc and travel for the rest of the year as a gap. However to do all this I will have to use a lot of money and the US studies will also be very expensive. My fear is that I will be doing this double MA for no reason as LSE is already well known and just wasting money plus the degree in the US will be a lot of hard work. On the other hand I think a degree from SIPA MIA for eg. will help me land a better job than just an LSE degree. I could be wrong though. Maybe all the extra studying (economics, statistics and foreign language) will be one year of hell for not much, meaning the same job I could get with just an LSE degree...Also when I graduate from SIPA, I will be 26 years without any professional job experience while my friends have already started working...Thats why my family is advising me to just start a life in London after LSE and try to transfer to States later on though my job. However this might take a long time as there is very limited work permits granted to European nationals in the US and I would like to live in NY while I'm young. Do you thinK I should go ahead and waste a year and go to states then work or just work in London after LSE? I am therefore looking into getting scholarship money for my further studies but who and why would anyone grant me money. I dont know where to start looking for these kind of things. Does anyone know of any good scholarships, fellowship programs for political science related fields. SIPA i believe will not give any money. I am very confused so any advice is welcomed.

Thanks very much to all.

[rising_star]

It would probably be useless to study at SAIS, Tufts, etc with a degree from LSE. Even more so if you're just going to be duplicating the degree you already have. Going to school in the states does not guarantee you a job. You still have to deal with the permitting/visa stuff and have an employer willing to sponsor you for the visa (many are unwilling due to the expense on their end).

[docstudent]

I don't think a U.S. degree is the answer, and I think the LSE degree would still have substantial clout here in the states. Regarding the job situation, have you considered starting a job with an international firm in the UK and then transferring to one of its U.S. offices?