Am I competitive for UK MSc International Relations & MA War Studies?

[Nickman20]

I am a third year student studying in a comprehensive university in Ontario, Canada. I currently possess a GPA of 10.7/12 (roughly 3.85 or 87%). I have experience working in the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C, in a Fortune 500 Mutual Fund Company, and President of my school's Student Union Pre-Law Society. 

It has always been my dream to move to the U.K (I am a British passport holder) and continue my PhD there in the future. That being said, I wanted to know whether I am competitive for these Masters programs: 

1. MA War Studies, Kings College London

2. MSc International Relations, University of Cambridge 

3. MSc International Relations, The London School of Economics & Political Science 

Thank you for taking the time to reply! Thank you! 

 

[ugurcanevci]

Lots of people I know got accepted to the programs you mentioned with less competitive files than yours (no funding though). As long as you get good references and write good letters, I don't see any reason for you to be rejected. 

[rjkingston]

22 hours ago, Nickman20 said:

I am a third year student studying in a comprehensive university in Ontario, Canada. I currently possess a GPA of 10.7/12 (roughly 3.85 or 87%). I have experience working in the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C, in a Fortune 500 Mutual Fund Company, and President of my school's Student Union Pre-Law Society. 

It has always been my dream to move to the U.K (I am a British passport holder) and continue my PhD there in the future. That being said, I wanted to know whether I am competitive for these Masters programs: 

1. MA War Studies, Kings College London

2. MSc International Relations, University of Cambridge 

3. MSc International Relations, The London School of Economics & Political Science 

Thank you for taking the time to reply! Thank you! 

 

Are you aware that the Cambridge MSc is a two-year part-time course? Given your other choices you may want to look at the MPhil International Relations & Politics instead (9 months, full-time). The minimum grade for applying is the equivalent of UK first class honours, and their website specifies 3.85/4.0 for applicants from schools with the GPA system – if your conversion is right than you should be eligible. From what I can tell, there seems to be less of an emphasis on extra-curriculars/work experience vs. grades and the quality of your research proposal.

I was accepted this year and so were a couple of my friends in previous years, so let me know if you have any questions about the application process.

Edited March 28, 2017 by rjkingston

[Nickman20]

Thank you for your replies!

[irmaestro2020]

Hi, I'm also curious about my chances of admission at the following UK institutions: 

1. Oxford University, MPhil in International Relations. 

2. LSE, MSc in International Relations.

3. King's College London, MA in International Relations.

4. St. Andrew's University, M.Litt in International Security Studies.

College GPA: 3.6 GPA, started at top 10 liberal arts college, finished at top 50 liberal arts college (didn't transfer because of academic difficulty but second school had better programs I wanted in both my majors). Majors: International Relations and Music. Minors: French and History.

GRE: Taking in September. Very strong indicators in verbal and writing so far, math should be strong but need to bring up to same high percentage.

Work experience: 1 internship in international marketing, 1.5 years marketing assistant for concert series w/international focus, 1 Hill internship for congressman focusing on foreign policy research and writing, 1 NGO internship in microfinance in International business Development, 1 internship with DC think tank helping write book on Chinese and Russian military buildup, 8 months experience as research assistant in both French and Spanish (one focusing on music history research, the other on Latin American foreign policy research). Current job: 8 months and counting at a law firm as a legal assistant. 

Extracurriculars: President and Co-Founder of international business and politics society, Chair of Campus Executive Council for top 10 think tank, Competitor on both BP and NPDA Circuits on Debate Team (won numerous honors), Co-Founder of Undergraduate Law Review, Pi Sigma Alpha Poli Sci. honors society, Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society. Did summer honors programs in NYC, Boston, and DC.public policy, international affairs, and entrepreneurship.

Publications: Write semi-regularly for nonprofits in the area of Middle East religious freedom, but for their blogs. I also wrote an article in the Washington Post once but haven't really contributed to any scholarly journals.  

Languages: Full professional working proficiency in French (14+ years), 6+ years conversational proficiency in Spanish, 1 year Mandarin, 3 years Arabic (that was high school, forgot a lot of it). Spanish and French are the ones I really keep up, and I am trying to learn German now and it is going well.

Volunteer experience: ESL Tutor for refugees through top NGO, Translator for International Music Education Organization, business skills teaching assistant for organization combatting homelessness and drug addiction in urban area, volunteer on a couple of mission trips to Central America and Eastern Europe. Longtime musician (violinist and pianist), have performed in many outreach settings nationally and internationally. 

Study abroad experience: 2 week study program in France in music and French after high school graduation, summer program in southern France (language immersion and history/culture of France), 4 week fully funded fellowship studying Middle East and traveling to Poland, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine, one semester fellowship/study abroad at Oxford after graduation studying political economy and philosophy. I've traveled a lot so I'm hoping to do overseas study for grad school and possibly PhD later.