Choosing between LSE and McGill

[bonnszai]

Hi! I have a bit of a weird question, but I’ve spent a lot of time ruminating and would like to hear more perspectives. For the 2017-18 admission session, I was accepted to both the London School of Economics and McGill for the MSc Comparative Politics and MA Political Science programs respectively. My ‘discipline’ is a combination of IR and comparative politics with a focus on historical and small-n analysis.

Right now it seems like it is a tradeoff between a more affordable in a familiar education system (with better funding) for McGill versus a better name on my resume but higher quality education (LSE, though I was a bit concerned with the entrance cohort size). 

 

[guest56436]

Why do you assume LSE is better quality at the masters level?

[bonnszai]

It's based on the general reaction I've heard, but I've read other complaints re: access to instructors and the hands off nature of instruction. I guess it's just the bigger name factor. 

[guest56436]

I don't think the quality is higher tbh, but before I give my reasons why, why are doing this masters? Is it a path towards doing a Ph.D.?

[COGSCI]

LSE is internationally recognized as one of the top institutions for social sciences (especially economics and IR). If the cost isn't an issue, I would go with LSE. 

McGill is a good school for polic sci too so you are not choosing anything less if you decide to go there. As you said, it is more to do with people's perception.

If you are interested in doing PhD, I would stick with McGill because you can always go to LSE or other schools with "wow factor" for your PhD. If you are thinking about ending your studies with your Master's I would look into funding/scholarship options at LSE. 

Again, you cannot go wrong with these two  Congrats!