King's College MA War Studies, LSE MSc International Relations, MPHIL IR Oxford

Hey everyone,

First off, I know that similar threads do exist, but I thought I'd post another in order to maybe get more nuanced input as to which of these programs I should be looking to go to.
As of now, I've been accepting to both King's (MA War Studies) and LSE (MSc International Relations), and am waiting to hear back for Oxford's Mphil in International Relations. Primarily, I'm interested in the field of war and security studies within the broader international relations context.
I suppose a bit more background: I'm from the US, I attended a small liberal arts school, and completed a year abroad at LSE (fairly familiar with the school as a result)
I'm well aware of the typical arguments (LSE is super well-known/ranked higher than King's/Oxford's the more academic program, whatever that means), but haven't found these to be particularly helpful. I was hoping to hear from students or past-students in any of these three programs... I'm really curious as to what access to office hours was like, as well as the advising process more broadly. Any help?

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

First off, I know that similar threads do exist, but I thought I'd post another in order to maybe get more nuanced input as to which of these programs I should be looking to go to.
As of now, I've been accepting to both King's (MA War Studies) and LSE (MSc International Relations), and am waiting to hear back for Oxford's Mphil in International Relations. Primarily, I'm interested in the field of war and security studies within the broader international relations context.
I suppose a bit more background: I'm from the US, I attended a small liberal arts school, and completed a year abroad at LSE (fairly familiar with the school as a result)
I'm well aware of the typical arguments (LSE is super well-known/ranked higher than King's/Oxford's the more academic program, whatever that means), but haven't found these to be particularly helpful. I was hoping to hear from students or past-students in any of these three programs... I'm really curious as to what access to office hours was like, as well as the advising process more broadly. Any help?

Thanks!

I'm an American who's studied/conducted research at these departments. If you're going for an academic/professional career in war/security studies, King's is hands down the best option. If you're going for an academic/professional career in IR, especially if you have an interest in IR theory or IPE, then LSE is the best bet followed by Oxford. All three do well with advising postgraduates. I think it depends more on the relationships you make with your professors than anything else when it comes to advising.

Great advice! Sorry to chime in, but between IR at KCL and IR at LSE, is LSE still the obvious choice?

I'm in a similar position myself with a variety of offers. If I had an offer from Oxford or Cambridge I'd take it no questions asked, just because it would be a real ambition to study there. But if you can't get into one of those you want to be thinking the London ones. I think for Engineering I'd go to Imperial, but for Politics/International Relations, perhaps a toss up between UCL and LSE? I mean LSE would be highest in UK rankings but UCL higher in global rankings. LSE is more exclusive than UCL in terms of 9,000 at LSE and 36,000 at UCL. I'm not sure about King's, I always considered that weaker than Imperial/LSE/UCL. I know the war department is renowned at King's, but I'd be more interested in uni prestige. I'd want a degree that is going to turn heads in the far east, so for you I'd say LSE (but if your Oxford offer comes through take that).

I'm in a similar position myself with a variety of offers. If I had an offer from Oxford or Cambridge I'd take it no questions asked, just because it would be a real ambition to study there. But if you can't get into one of those you want to be thinking the London ones. I think for Engineering I'd go to Imperial, but for Politics/International Relations, perhaps a toss up between UCL and LSE? I mean LSE would be highest in UK rankings but UCL higher in global rankings. LSE is more exclusive than UCL in terms of 9,000 at LSE and 36,000 at UCL. I'm not sure about King's, I always considered that weaker than Imperial/LSE/UCL. I know the war department is renowned at King's, but I'd be more interested in uni prestige. I'd want a degree that is going to turn heads in the far east, so for you I'd say LSE (but if your Oxford offer comes through take that).

Apologies for being so blunt, but most of this post is rubbish. University prestige doesn't mean all that much at the postgraduate level. All of these universities are great so it's all about the department. IR at UCL is middling at best. The best IR candidates tend to matriculate at LSE and then Oxford, not Cambridge. The idea that London would be a backup option is ludicrous. If you're into security studies then KCL would be the best department; it attracts the best researchers in the field and has better contacts for jobs in international security.

I would never choose UCL over LSE for politics or IR. Never.
As for global rankings, bear in mind that almost LSE's entire ranking is there for two areas - economics and politics/IR. And anyone working acdemically or professionally in these areas, anywhere in the world, knows that.

Why is postgraduate prestige not as important as undergraduate? If prestige goes hand in hand with competitive entry, then why would it not be the same? I think prestige is massively important at postgrad, it's the reason Oxford/Cambridge and LSE/UCL get the most applicants, rather than say, other universities. Works the same way. Students view postgrad often as a way of "moving up a tier" in terms of prestige on their cv.

I would never go to LSE over Oxbridge. The prestige of an Oxbridge degree is massively important. You go all over the world, everyone has heard of them. Never met anybody who turned down Oxbridge for LSE.

I know I said it in my earlier post, but I've never really seen any weight to the argument about departments. Employers don't know that. They know the university name, particularly globally.

LSE is weighted on the same criteria as UCL and Imperial and is lower than them both in the QS and THE.

Why is postgraduate prestige not as important as undergraduate? If prestige goes hand in hand with competitive entry, then why would it not be the same? I think prestige is massively important at postgrad, it's the reason Oxford/Cambridge and LSE/UCL get the most applicants, rather than say, other universities. Works the same way. Students view postgrad often as a way of "moving up a tier" in terms of prestige on their cv.

I would never go to LSE over Oxbridge. The prestige of an Oxbridge degree is massively important. You go all over the world, everyone has heard of them. Never met anybody who turned down Oxbridge for LSE.

I know I said it in my earlier post, but I've never really seen any weight to the argument about departments. Employers don't know that. They know the university name, particularly globally.

LSE is weighted on the same criteria as UCL and Imperial and is lower than them both in the QS and THE.

You missed the issue a few years ago where the LSE ranking slipped massively due to a change in methodology which penalised LSE for being a far more specialist university. LSE is the only british uni that consistently makes the top 10 IR masters list pubiished by Foreign Policy. LSE EME masters is a shoe-in for any top US econ PhD program, way ahead of its Oxbridge counterparts. In the fields of economics and IR specifically, I do in fact know a number of people who turned down Oxbridge for LSE in both these subjects. And I study at Cambridge by the way.

I agree that average person in corporate environment outside the UK knows Oxbridge better than Kings. The OP is not aiming at that kind of employer, though. Talking about perceptions of uni prestige in the far east when OP is perhaps looking at a policy job in DC is irrelevant.

All of these universities are in the top tier for research. It's not as though you're comparing top 5 universities to the bottom rung.

LSE and KCL have built their reputations in IR/War Studies. Many people in think tanks/government studied at these departments and know which are the best for postgraduate (I'd include Oxford in this group). The same is true for alumni in the US. Both LSE and KCL work closely with governments around the world. People from these two departments helped found the major UK think tanks (IISS, Chatham House, RUSI, etc.).

You don't think the prestige of LSE is massively important? You might not have met anyone who turned down Oxbridge for LSE, but that's because you're not a postgraduate at LSE. Each year a large proportion of the LSE's MSc in IR class has turned down Oxbridge; there are plenty of LSE IR rejects at Oxbridge each year. LSE is by far the best IR department in the UK and this has been the case for years.

I won't even get into international league tables...it's a waste of time. That being said, the TRIP Survey is the most authoritative international league table for IR departments. Google it...you'll find that globally LSE is viewed as in a league above all other UK universities for IR.

I wasn't aware of any of this and it does appear that I've got some more research to do. I'm just a final year undergrad looking for a prestigious uni to do postgrad at.

Do people really look at those specialised league tables though? Surely something like the QS would be viewed far more frequently than those? I've never heard of a league table for specific IR courses, it just sounds like the type of thing somebody would say to boost their own credibility? I wouldn't go to any US uni over Oxbridge. I am arguing that Oxbridge is better known globally than any of the London unis, not just King's.

By the way, I'd have preferred to apply for the MPhil Politics and International Relations program at Cambridge, but you need a first which I don't have. I assumed this would be more competitive? A number of people at my uni have got on the MSc International Relations program at LSE with mid to high 2:1s. I'm at a top 15 UK uni.