[Glen_coco]

Right i've been dragging this decision out for quite a while now but I need to decide, so what do you guys think?


How they differ:
LSE
Title of programme: European Political Economy
Duration: 1 year
Number of modules: 5
Career prospects: better for private sector
Social life: easier to find friends (as there are more societies and halls accommodation)
City: London
Accommodation: likely to be halls (unless I don't get allocated a room)


Sciences Po
Title of programme: International Economic Policy
Duration: 2 years
Number of modules: 24 + internship (so 16 in first year i think)
Career prospects: better if i want to live in France afterwards or for EC (as I would know French fluently by the end and there's an internship)
Social life: more difficult to find friends, the French don't (apparently) mingle much with international students
City: Paris
Accommodation: private, meaing i'd have to be in Paris in August and run after each available room as it's really hard to get a decent one

(this is for Masters by the way)

Any comments / suggestions?

[DonCarter]

pff tough one as I share the same decision...


It depends on your career goals. Both programs are highly regarded. If you would like to work for the UN both schools will offer this chance, but studying at Sciences Po gives you 2 benefits in my opinion that LSE doesn't give. The intership and the french language. Remember that French is highly used within the field of IR etc.

Second. It depends ony our age. If you are under 25 starting the MA it would be fine as your peers will be average 22/23 years old. If you over 25 like me (27) I am not sure it will be that great as you rather socialize with your age group.

Both cities are VERY expensive. Most French students will live at home or relatives. If your parents can support you for the 1st year it would be great, if not you need to work part time.

Anway's you are interesting in a different course than I am but I am glad to see I am not the only one who has to make this tough decision.

I am too late for LSE the IR course for this year and Sciences Po I decided almost immediately it would not benefit me unfortunately as I see myself as too old.

But goodluck !!!

[Glen_coco]

(Original post by DonCarter)
pff tough one as I share the same decision...


It depends on your career goals. Both programs are highly regarded. If you would like to work for the UN both schools will offer this chance, but studying at Sciences Po gives you 2 benefits in my opinion that LSE doesn't give. The intership and the french language. Remember that French is highly used within the field of IR etc.

Second. It depends ony our age. If you are under 25 starting the MA it would be fine as your peers will be average 22/23 years old. If you over 25 like me (27) I am not sure it will be that great as you rather socialize with your age group.

Both cities are VERY expensive. Most French students will live at home or relatives. If your parents can support you for the 1st year it would be great, if not you need to work part time.

Anway's you are interesting in a different course than I am but I am glad to see I am not the only one who has to make this tough decision.

I am too late for LSE the IR course for this year and Sciences Po I decided almost immediately it would not benefit me unfortunately as I see myself as too old.

But goodluck !!!

Thanks! I gave myself 2 more days to decide eek
Goodluck to you too

[bookfaces]

I know the course is closed now but how come you didn't apply for the double degree in International Political Economy? Then you get the best of both!
link:
http://http://www2.lse.ac.uk/study/g...alEconomy.aspx

[roh]

Just on the social thing, though it's true the French don't socialise much because they all live at home, I've found Sciences Po to be a lot more sociable than my fac (Université Strasbourg) because there are a lot more internationals there. I'm not sure if this applies to Paris too but I don't see why it wouldn't.

[Degrees Ahead]

You may find French friends on your course who want to socialise with you... I lived in Paris for 6 months when I was about 22 and had a French boyfriend.

I first found the French quite unfriendly and made friends with some really nice girls from Spain...who then returned to Spain, so I made friends with a girl from Greece...who then returned to Greece...and it continued like that! I started to understand the Parisians a bit and how they can be quite stand-off-ish

I wasn't studying there, so this might have been the reason why I didn't meet other people...just thought I'd put this point of view into the mix!

Amy

[Glen_coco]

(Original post by bookfaces)
I know the course is closed now but how come you didn't apply for the double degree in International Political Economy? Then you get the best of both!
link:
http://http://www2.lse.ac.uk/study/g...alEconomy.aspx

Because it costs as much as both put together and already individually they're really expensive

[okale]

Hi GlenCoco!

I hope you made your decision and decided on Sciences-Po. I got my acceptance letter for the same program yesterday, and I am so excited. I am just waiting to hear about any tuition waivers they might offer under the Boutmy bourse. Did you get any?? I hope to see you this fall!! Good luck at LSE if you have chosen that.

[Ghost6]

Are you interested in European political economy or international economic policy? These are different, albeit related, subjects. All else being equal LSE for the name and the shorter time to graduation. Many people focus on the fees, but living expenses will generally cost you more and there shorter programs win.

[Glen_coco]

(Original post by okale)
Hi GlenCoco!

I hope you made your decision and decided on Sciences-Po. I got my acceptance letter for the same program yesterday, and I am so excited. I am just waiting to hear about any tuition waivers they might offer under the Boutmy bourse. Did you get any?? I hope to see you this fall!! Good luck at LSE if you have chosen that.

Hey! wow cool!
I haven't decided yet (sorta postponing my decision), but I'm leaning towards Sciences Po cos it's Paris
Where are you from if you don't mind me asking? I know I wasn't eligible for any Sciences Po scholarships blurgh .. i'm applying to one from my government though, but I find out in November (lol)

Also, what do you plan to do regarding accommodation? Are you applying to a campus or finding place on your own?

[okale]

(Original post by Glen_coco)
Hey! wow cool!
I haven't decided yet (sorta postponing my decision), but I'm leaning towards Sciences Po cos it's Paris
Where are you from if you don't mind me asking? I know I wasn't eligible for any Sciences Po scholarships blurgh .. i'm applying to one from my government though, but I find out in November (lol)

Also, what do you plan to do regarding accommodation? Are you applying to a campus or finding place on your own?

Hey Glen_coco,

I am from Mumbai, India and although I'll be applying for university housing at Cite U, I plan to look for an apartment. Cite U would be nice but they generally forward applications to your country house and I have no intentions of staying with Indians after moving to half way across the world. Where are you from??

Cheers,
Owi

[izoar]

Hi there I applied to the International Economic Policy programme at Sciences Po about a month ago as well as the dual degree progamme in IR with LSE. As I haven't heard back yet, I was wondering if you could tell me when you guys applied and most importantly how long after your application did you hear back? Also do they send you an email?

Cheers

[Glen_coco]

(Original post by izoar)
Hi there I applied to the International Economic Policy programme at Sciences Po about a month ago as well as the dual degree progamme in IR with LSE. As I haven't heard back yet, I was wondering if you could tell me when you guys applied and most importantly how long after your application did you hear back? Also do they send you an email?

Cheers

Oops, sorry, completely missed this.

I also applied to International Economic Policy, heard back after a month or so.. and they send the offer by email (not 'there has been a change to your application'), which is good cos otherwise i would have probably been too scared to log in for a while lol..

And good luck

[LysFromParis]

(Original post by Glen_coco)
Right i've been dragging this decision out for quite a while now but I need to decide, so what do you guys think?


How they differ:
LSE
Title of programme: European Political Economy
Duration: 1 year
Number of modules: 5
Career prospects: better for private sector
Social life: easier to find friends (as there are more societies and halls accommodation)
City: London
Accommodation: likely to be halls (unless I don't get allocated a room)


Sciences Po
Title of programme: International Economic Policy
Duration: 2 years
Number of modules: 24 + internship (so 16 in first year i think)
Career prospects: better if i want to live in France afterwards or for EC (as I would know French fluently by the end and there's an internship)
Social life: more difficult to find friends, the French don't (apparently) mingle much with international students
City: Paris
Accommodation: private, meaing i'd have to be in Paris in August and run after each available room as it's really hard to get a decent one

(this is for Masters by the way)

Any comments / suggestions?

On the socialising part, it is not that French do not socialise with foreigner is rather that most people live in their own accommodation (being in their family or the private sector) as there is very few student accommodation, so you tend to spend more time with your friend out of uni, rather than your "classmates" (at least it is my feeling since I came to study in UK). If you are worried about that, maybe settling in a student accommodation or joining societies would help.

[izoar]

(Original post by Glen_coco)
Oops, sorry, completely missed this.

I also applied to International Economic Policy, heard back after a month or so.. and they send the offer by email (not 'there has been a change to your application'), which is good cos otherwise i would have probably been too scared to log in for a while lol..

And good luck

Thank you. I received an email saying I was admissible for my second choice and that they were soon to meet LSE to discuss my dual degree application. Did you receive that "admissible" email before you received an offer too? I am a bit confused as to what it means...

[Glen_coco]

(Original post by izoar)
Thank you. I received an email saying I was admissible for my second choice and that they were soon to meet LSE to discuss my dual degree application. Did you receive that "admissible" email before you received an offer too? I am a bit confused as to what it means...

I did, yes ... i'm guessing since they have a lot of requirements (e.g. the 2.1) so if I had put I got a 2.2 I wouldn't be considered admissible and they wouldn't even look at the rest of my application, that was my guess, anyway

[Glen_coco]

(Original post by LysFromParis)
On the socialising part, it is not that French do not socialise with foreigner is rather that most people live in their own accommodation (being in their family or the private sector) as there is very few student accommodation, so you tend to spend more time with your friend out of uni, rather than your "classmates" (at least it is my feeling since I came to study in UK). If you are worried about that, maybe settling in a student accommodation or joining societies would help.

Yes, I guess you're right. Unfortunately there isn't much student accommodation (Sciences Po even emphasizes that they don't offer any) .. how is the society life in Paris compared to that in English universities?

[LysFromParis]

(Original post by Glen_coco)
Yes, I guess you're right. Unfortunately there isn't much student accommodation (Sciences Po even emphasizes that they don't offer any) .. how is the society life in Paris compared to that in English universities?

Not that good, but it may vary from uni to uni. However, if you like sport or stuff like that it is generally quite good. If you want to socialise join the BDE (Student Office ?! Do not know the English equivalent), their job is basically to organise parties . Generally you also have something organised for foreign student, they should peer you with a local student (at least I knew some friends who volunteered to be peered and show oversea students around). Finally, it is Paris, if you do not find your stuff at school, you have the whole city to meet people ^^.

You have website like that http://www.icade-immobilier.com/ which provide student accommodation. It is owned by bank (I think some law in France force them to fulfil a kind of "social" role) and you have ensuite room in a building full of student, lived in some of those accommodation for 5 years. If you can afford it, try to not go to the suburbs and stay in Paris itself.

[M_a_y_s]

Hello all,
I came across this thread and noticed that you've been discussing accommodation in Paris. I'll also be doing International Economic Policy in Sciences Po this September and need help finding accommodation. Did you happen to come across any helpful websites (besides science po's listings)?

Thank you!