MPA at London School of Economics

[kartoone]

Hey everyone! I'm a new poster here, so please forgive me if this isn't the right place for this post and I will delete/move it accordingly.

 

I graduated from college last year (2013) and unwittingly took a year off (waiting for a clearance that has yet to materialize). I'm starting to explore some options and am seriously considering applying for the MPA at LSE, mostly because they have rolling admissions and are still accepting applications for the fall of 2014 in the subject I was interested in. I was just wondering if anyone else here had applied/is applying/currently studying there. (I only found an older thread from a couple years ago.) Obviously I'm sure it's quite competitive and it's a bit of a whim to apply, but I feel that I have nothing to lose and may gain future graduate application experience at the very least. 

 

So basically, anyone else out there interested in MPA at LSE? Got any secret information about the program? Tips, tricks? 

[MaxwellAlum]

I can't speak specifically to the MPA program at LSE, but I would just be cautious about investing in a professional program abroad if you want to work in the US directly afterwards.  In my experience having completed graduate degrees in the UK and the US, the education in the UK was great, but in terms of networking and career guidance the US degree was far more valuable.  This may be a bit different for LSE given its name recognition in the US and the fact that they do get a lot of US students (I used to joke that going to the LSE campus was like going to the US), so take what I say with a grain of salt.  Also, if you're interested in working in the UK or an international organization, that changes things a bit.  Just don't underestimate the value of studying in the country where you want to work.

[kartoone]

I can't speak specifically to the MPA program at LSE, but I would just be cautious about investing in a professional program abroad if you want to work in the US directly afterwards.  In my experience having completed graduate degrees in the UK and the US, the education in the UK was great, but in terms of networking and career guidance the US degree was far more valuable.  This may be a bit different for LSE given its name recognition in the US and the fact that they do get a lot of US students (I used to joke that going to the LSE campus was like going to the US), so take what I say with a grain of salt.  Also, if you're interested in working in the UK or an international organization, that changes things a bit.  Just don't underestimate the value of studying in the country where you want to work.

Thanks for your response! That makes a lot of sense and factors into why I was looking specifically at LSE as opposed to other universities in London. I could see myself working in either place, actually, or even for international organizations, so that's why I was interested in an international degree to complement my US undergraduate degree. If you don't mind me asking, what did you study?

[MaxwellAlum]

I did a degree in Latin American studies in the UK, so to be fair it wasn't a professional degree. My (very small) program in the UK had great classes and professors, but it was bare bones in terms of other stuff like career guidance or any kind of managing of an alumni network. Being an alum of my grad program (Syracuse-Maxwell) in the US, I have multiple opportunities to connect with other alumni, and when I was job searching more often than not there was usually at least one and often multiple alumni in the organizations I was targeting. Also, when I started my MPA, I thought I'd want an international career, but my interests and personal preferences changed and now I'm working in local government, for which my US program was great preparation. So just some thoughts to consider - I have no doubt that an MPA from LSE can open up lots of exciting opportunities.