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University of St Andrews

LSE or St Andrews

I am a Canadian student and I currently hold offers from both universities for International Relations and History. I can't decide.
Original post by AlexHradecky
I am a Canadian student and I currently hold offers from both universities for International Relations and History. I can't decide.




As a broad general rule, I would go with LSE over St Andrews, but for International Relations, it's a much closer issue, given St Andrew's good reputation in that field.

If your area of study was economics, for example, I would go with LSE.

And of course, the two environments are totally different.

For what it's worth, given that you are a Canadian, I know someone who passed up McGill to go to St Andrews.

I think to some extent that choosing St Andrews over LSE would be like selecting a prestigious liberal arts college over a large better known university. But have their pros and their cons.
St Salvators Quad, University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
Reply 2
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AlexHradecky
OP
Original post by floridadad55
As a broad general rule, I would go with LSE over St Andrews, but for International Relations, it's a much closer issue, given St Andrew's good reputation in that field.

If your area of study was economics, for example, I would go with LSE.

And of course, the two environments are totally different.

For what it's worth, given that you are a Canadian, I know someone who passed up McGill to go to St Andrews.

I think to some extent that choosing St Andrews over LSE would be like selecting a prestigious liberal arts college over a large better known university. But have their pros and their cons.


I have been accepted to McGill and University of Toronto, though I was just wondering what would be the better option between St Andys and LSE. I know both are great, though I hear LSE is considered more 'prestigious' and better...

thanks though!
Original post by AlexHradecky
I have been accepted to McGill and University of Toronto, though I was just wondering what would be the better option between St Andys and LSE. I know both are great, though I hear LSE is considered more 'prestigious' and better...

thanks though!


As the poster before me said, St Andrew's has particular strengths in International Relations, so both would be excellent choices. You should probably check out their faculties to see if there are particular professors you may want to work with, and likewise you might also want to decide if you would prefer to live in a giant city like London or a smaller city in a more rural setting like St Andrew's. Likewise you might want to choose the one that offers you more money in scholarships, if you applied for them. If i was going to choose which was more reputable I would say for Social Sciences, as a general rule, LSE. (I'm in Canada btw) I would say both are well known to the poeple I know, but that for anything like economics or other social sciences LSE has abetter "brand" so to speak, but again if the idea of living in a city bothers you or St Andrews has certain professors who have particular interests that suit yours, then you may want to choose St Andrew's. I doubt choosing one over the other will close any doors for you.

Good Luck!
Reply 4
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Archie2006
For Economics, definitely LSE, without a doubt. For IR, St Andrews 100%
Reply 5
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ukmed108
7
Original post by floridadad55
As a broad general rule, I would go with LSE over St Andrews, but for International Relations, it's a much closer issue, given St Andrew's good reputation in that field.

If your area of study was economics, for example, I would go with LSE.

And of course, the two environments are totally different.

For what it's worth, given that you are a Canadian, I know someone who passed up McGill to go to St Andrews.

I think to some extent that choosing St Andrews over LSE would be like selecting a prestigious liberal arts college over a large better known university. But have their pros and their cons.


Passing up McGill is no biggy. McGill is very easy to get into if you are Canadian. All you need is a top 6 90 average, no extracurriculars, no standardized tests which any decent student can get. In Ontario, there are even private schools where you can pay money to get marks. The universities in Canada have stated they still consider those marks. This is the sorry state of the Canadian higher education system today.

In Canada program reputation completely dominates university reputation. The most prestigious programs can often be at universities not ranked highly worldwide.

Waterloo and McMaster have programs that attract mostly students with high 90 averages. Any decent student in Canada can get into any university they want without any trouble.

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