This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

USyd or LSE?

should i go to the university of sydney or to london school of economics and political science? i am from the states and have not visited either school. any insight into the schools and their natures will be much appreciated. thanks.

Reply 1

Earlham

1

Which country do you like better or want to spend the time in the most? Think about airfare and tuition costs, too...is there a clear difference or does it not make a difference to you? There's a difference in the exchange rates, too.

What subject are you going to study? Is there a big difference in teaching styles at the two schools? Is this for undergrad or post grad.? Which program/curriculum sounds more interesting to you and better fits your academic goals?

This are all great things to think about...I don't know how helpful we can really be without at least a little more information. Otherwise, there's a whole LSE forum which might be of some assistance.

Good luck! :smile:

Reply 2

john williams

15

Acedemically LSE would have a much better repuation worlwide than Sydney, unless the lure of living in Aussy land is too much.

Reply 3

ohahoh

OP

Earlham

Which country do you like better or want to spend the time in the most? Think about airfare and tuition costs, too...is there a clear difference or does it not make a difference to you? There's a difference in the exchange rates, too.

What subject are you going to study? Is there a big difference in teaching styles at the two schools? Is this for undergrad or post grad.? Which program/curriculum sounds more interesting to you and better fits your academic goals?

This are all great things to think about...I don't know how helpful we can really be without at least a little more information. Otherwise, there's a whole LSE forum which might be of some assistance.

Good luck! :smile:

this is for undergrad. at lse i would be studying international relations and history, and at sydney...a bachelor in social sciences, so government/international relations and either a language or art history. thanks for your earlier post! :wink:

also, gratz on your lse postgrad.

Reply 4

ohahoh

OP

john williams

Acedemically LSE would have a much better repuation worlwide than Sydney, unless the lure of living in Aussy land is too much.

the allure is almost too much :frown:

i wish i could go to a school with lse's rep in sydney.

Reply 5

Xanthe

1

Have you applied yet? When do you plan to begin your studies at these schools?

Reply 6

rubysolstice

ohahoh

the allure is almost too much :frown:

i wish i could go to a school with lse's rep in sydney.

LSE, although I'm not sure which one'd be cheaper for you or anything, so this is purely based on recognition. What do you like about sydney? I remember it taking forever to get to anywhere from anywhere else when I visited last year.

Reply 7

ohahoh

OP

Xanthe

Have you applied yet? When do you plan to begin your studies at these schools?

yes. lse would begin late next month, and sydney in march...

Reply 8

ohahoh

OP

rubysolstice

LSE, although I'm not sure which one'd be cheaper for you or anything, so this is purely based on recognition. What do you like about sydney? I remember it taking forever to get to anywhere from anywhere else when I visited last year.

sydney's friendly and fun environment. i think that's what i would like about it (haven't ever been).

Reply 9

C_M_S

I don't really know anything about either school but if you go to LSE, whatever you do, don't stay in Rosebery Hall. I stayed there for a few weeks this summer. It's shiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Also, I think they hate Americans because I was staying in a "double" room with one of my friends who is American (like me) and we had a friend there who was English and she had a single room which was twice as big as our double room and about five times as nice!

Reply 10

spenglersghost

Coincidentally, I'm an American who is also considering U Sydney and LSE. Except, it is for postgraduate masters work in economics. I went to Melbourne for a semester and would love to go back down-under. I also envision that the quality of life would be better there than in London. :smile:

But LSE's name recognition makes it feel like I would be stupid to pass it up. Like you said, I wish there were a "school with lse's rep in sydney."
Good luck and let us know how you decide.
Cheers

Reply 11

jordanv

1

Well I actually attend Sydney, studying International Relations and Political Economy.

It really depends on whether you intend to continue with postgraduate study.

If you do, sydney undergrad, LSE postgrad (simply because sydney is cheaper, nicer, and lets you have more fun).

I'm intending to do postgrad either at LSE or ANU (ANU is free for Australian citizens and ranks higher than oxford in pol sci according to a recent LSE study).

Reply 12

spenglersghost

Do you have a link to that study? I'd be very interested in seeing it. I looked at at ANU but I didn't check out their PhD offerings because I was more interested in Master's. (PhD seemed out of reach b/c I have no significant research experience yet)
The area of economics which interests me lies on the intersection between Econ and Poli Sci departments. (Heterodox/ classical political economy). Sydney's MA seemed to fit that nicely.
Do you intend to go straight for the Phd or do a master's first?

Reply 13

Leifde

2

C_M_S

Also, I think they hate Americans because I was staying in a "double" room with one of my friends who is American (like me) and we had a friend there who was English and she had a single room which was twice as big as our double room and about five times as nice!

I'm going to LSE this month and I don't hate Americans, infact I've been to America many times before and all in all I think they are very friendly people. Mind you, I don't hate British people either. And just to clear the air I am not American nor am I British. Regarding allocation to your rooms, did you consider the fact that she may have applied earlier and recieved preference???

Anyway, to the topic starter... I was in a similar dilema myself. Had to decide between the Australia, for the lifestyle (and my best friend was going there) , or LSE for the reputation and acedemic excellence. In the end, as you can see, I choose LSE. I just thought I would get more out of the 3 years spent here. As the saying goes, work hard now and play hard later. I would just say carefully consider the effects of your choices before making a decision. You don't want to do something you'll regret later. I still plan to spend some time in Australia though to experience the lifestyle, probably through work experience for a couple of months while my friend finishes up uni (their year is march-november). Anyway good luck in your decision.

Reply 14

roff

2

To put it simply.
USyd: what?? wheres that?? where??
LSE: Oh i know where that is!

You know where to go :wink:

Reply 15

jordanv

1

spenglersghost

Do you have a link to that study? I'd be very interested in seeing it. I looked at at ANU but I didn't check out their PhD offerings because I was more interested in Master's. (PhD seemed out of reach b/c I have no significant research experience yet)
The area of economics which interests me lies on the intersection between Econ and Poli Sci departments. (Heterodox/ classical political economy). Sydney's MA seemed to fit that nicely.
Do you intend to go straight for the Phd or do a master's first?

The study is available at:
www.politicalstudies.org/pdf/psr/hix.pdf

Actually turns out I was slighty wrong: ANU is ranked EQUAL with Oxford at = 19th in the world. Coincidently, LSE is 15th.

ANU is certainly a far greater research institution than sydney in most fields however for a coursework masters Sydney could be an option (we have a few decent economists with PhDs from MIT and the like). Our Political Economy Professor Frank Stilwell is a brilliant man.

In terms of going straight for PhD or masters, the answer is neither. I will probably work for the Australian government for several years and enroll during that time for a B Sc Economics from LSE via distance. Then I will probably do a masters by coursework and then a PhD in political science if I am still interested.

Reply 16

ohahoh

OP

spenglersghost

Coincidentally, I'm an American who is also considering U Sydney and LSE. Except, it is for postgraduate masters work in economics. I went to Melbourne for a semester and would love to go back down-under. I also envision that the quality of life would be better there than in London. :smile:

But LSE's name recognition makes it feel like I would be stupid to pass it up. Like you said, I wish there were a "school with lse's rep in sydney."
Good luck and let us know how you decide.
Cheers

whoa spenglersghost. you are my elder compadre. i am so happy to hear from you.
yeah. i want to go to lse in sydney. fyi, i found an international comparison of schools at www.thes.co.uk, and for the world's top social science universities lse ranked second and usyd twenty-fourth (out of the top hundred). so lse is the best academically, but usyd is not so shabby.
and i share your feeling of not wanting to pass up the lse opportunity.
i have to decide soon :frown:

and will let you know. i'd love to know what you decide, as well. good luck!

Reply 17

ohahoh

OP

going to lse, becaaaaaaaause i have been so torn between the two, and if i start lse now and it is not a good fit for me, i can still go to sydney. however, the reverse is not true. if i start sydney next semester, i can't go to lse if the university of sydney is not a good fit for me.
also, i found out that the ratio of american graduate students to undergraduate students at lse is about 10 to 1. studying there now seems pretty special.
good luck to everyone in school.

Reply 18

xmaspoop

1

LSE hands down. great international reputation and LONDON - greatest city on earth! its very cosmopolitan and u'll find soo many other americans here. about 400 thousand americans living in central and greater london... ranging from bankers to students from uni's like BU/NYU/brown/MIT, etc.

Reply 19

spenglersghost

sorry i didn't post my decision here earlier, but the truth is i didn't really make one yet. I deferred my entry to LSE for a multitude of reasons. The main one was because I was hoping to be reconsidered for a merit award that would decrease the cost of LSE. But I also thought I wanted some "real world" experience before going to grad school. I guess part of it was so I could buy some time and resolve my indecision about whether to go to LSE or Sydney. Australia is still alluring, but I will probably end up going to LSE.
Anyway, I was wondering what your experience at LSE was like ohahoh. Are you happy with the decision you made?
Cheers

USyd or LSE?

Related discussions

Articles for you