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Original post by dostoyevsky
This is WAR STUDIES at King's!
'>>>>>>' is an exaggeration in the grand scheme of things, although I will admit that Economics isn't one of King's' strengths. But the War Studies department is on a whole new level, it is strongly linked to and supported by national security and intelligence.
I don't do anything remotely similar to War Studies but even I will admit that the WS department grants you access to valuable experts in international security. Yes, LSE is marginally better than King's for Law. It is a lot better than King's for Economics. Even in matters of overall prestige and the more general field of International Relations LSE beats KCL. But the War Studies department at King's is a force to be reckoned with; I have friends in other fields who would do anything just to take mere a module in this department!

Graduates have ended up working in high positions for NATO, the British government and numerous international organisations. Some of the the most powerful and influential figures in global politics and the military have been through the doors of the War Studies department at King's.


LSE is still better.

When it comes to careers, you cannot deny that LSE is much more broader.

So /thread

Original post by Anonynmous
LSE is still better.

When it comes to careers, you cannot deny that LSE is much more broader.

So /thread



Extremely immature. War Studies at King's is recognised throughout academia and within the upper echelons of prestigious international organisations. It has been a huge pioneer in the turning points of international relations throughout the twentieth century and can be considered an institution (or governmental department) in its own right. Know your stuff.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by dostoyevsky
Extremely immature. War Studies at King's is recognised throughout academia and within the upper echelons of prestigious international organisations. It has been a huge pioneer in the turning points of international relations throughout the twentieth century and can be considered an institution (or governmental department) in its own right. Know your stuff.


@ LSE

Careers to: IB, Management Consulting, Corporate Law, Civil Service.

So my point about much broader career options is true.

/thread.
Original post by Anonynmous
@ LSE

Careers to: IB, Management Consulting, Corporate Law, Civil Service.

So my point about much broader career options is true.

/thread.


And I made it quite clear that this field (economics and finance) isn't one of King's' great strengths, but War Studies certainly is and always has been.
And also, there isn't a *huge* gap between the prospects of KCL students in the fields of IB and Law (particularly Law) compared with those of LSE. And I don't see how a career in civil service wouldn't benefit from a degree in War Studies from King's. With universities that are not far from each other in terms of prestige, it's down to the student's personal opportunism and capabilies than to the name of the university itself, since both are regarded generally as being 'very good'. The difference in prestige isn't quite big enough to make a profound influence on employer selections - a lazy LSE grad won't be able to ride on the LSE name to score victory over an experienced, trustworthy KCL grad in earning a law apprenticeship. KCL is also a recognised brand name in its own right, at least enough for a KCL grad to rival an LSE contemporary at an interview. Maybe not in economics but certainly in Law and IB and civil service.
End/thread.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by dostoyevsky
And I made it quite clear that this field (economics and finance) isn't one of King's' great strengths, but War Studies certainly is and always has been.
And also, there isn't a *huge* gap between the prospects of KCL students in the fields of IB and Law (particularly Law) compared with those of LSE. And I don't see how a career in civil service wouldn't benefit from a degree in War Studies from King's. With universities that are not far from each other in terms of prestige, it's down to the student's personal opportunism and capabilies than to the name of the university itself, since both are regarded generally as being 'very good'. The difference in prestige isn't quite big enough to make a profound influence on employer selections - a lazy LSE grad won't be able to ride on the LSE name to score victory over an experienced, trustworthy KCL grad in earning a law apprenticeship. KCL is also a recognised brand name in its own right, at least enough for a KCL grad to rival an LSE contemporary at an interview. Maybe not in economics but certainly in Law and IB and civil service.
End/thread.



1) LSE is without a doubt, targetted much more than KCL for those jobs. Period

2) Lmao kings is not on a level with LSE. IB's/MC Law hardly target them (I have friends in both institutions) and don't even think about MBB lol.

3) I agree with the lazy grad party and that KCL is a good brand
I have an offer from the LSE for BSc IR and History, but I have an offer from Kings for WS and History. Can anyone give me any advice on this Catch-22??
Tough call man.
Reply 67
Original post by Jackfoley99
I have an offer from the LSE for BSc IR and History, but I have an offer from Kings for WS and History. Can anyone give me any advice on this Catch-22??


I could potentially end up in pretty much the same "Catch-22" situation as you mate, I've applied to both KCL and LSE for IR, got an offer from King's, still waiting on LSE (they are sooo slow....)

As a result, I've done a bit of research on this myself and am beginning to lean more towards King's than LSE (controversial?).

Overall, as an institution I'd probably say LSE was more "prestigious" than KCL, but on International Relations I'd say they were about even. Maybe one place leads the other slightly or maybe not, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think there's enough of a difference for it to matter, for employers, LSE and KCL are both solid University of London, top tier unis for IR and this is really all they will see.

To be honest, I've always disliked this obsession with how prestigious a university is, it's totally a matter of personal opinion and not really that relevant to the task at hand, which is picking the right place for you. Maybe its a bit different at post-graduate level, but let's be frank here, does it really matter if you go to a University that has slightly less Noble Prize winning academics or produces slightly less "5* research papers" than some other place? I'm not so sure.

After all, you're probably very unlikely to be actually taught by these people and whilst lots of high quality research might look like a good thing, from what I gather, sometimes certain universities have a tendency to concentrate a bit too much on research, at the detriment to their student population. I know the unis say all this stuff about good research informing what goes on in the classroom and thus improving the student experience, but I, personally, am not very convinced. Outside of School, I've worked for several years as a salesman and it just sounds like something I would say to try when trying to insincerely get someone to buy something :smile:.

So, take home message is: If you care deeply about "prestige" (which, in my view, you shouldn't (at least not a lot!)) then LSE and KCL IR Departments probably come about AROUND the same in the eyes of future employers.

As a result, it might be useful to start looking at other measures. I've found the official government statistics website - unistats.direct.gov to be really useful for this, it tells you everything from Student Satisfaction to Graduate earnings etc, allowing you to directly compare courses really easily (it's so good I was actually shocked when I realised it was a government run website).

A quick browse on the site and you discover some very nasty home truths about LSE. Student satisfaction (at least for BSc International Relations) is absolutely shocking, the overall student satisfaction is 53% and it was similarly awful when they had last year's results up. Certain specific stats are also alarmingly low, for example, the percentage of students that agreed that the course was "well organised and running smoothly" was only 23% of those surveyed (try comparing this to some of your other UCAS choices to see how bad this truly is). IR with History is a bit better, presumably because the History department isn't as buggered up as the IR department, but it's still not amazing.

Looking at KCL's BA War Studies, however, the picture is much better. Overall student satisfaction is 93%, significantly more than LSEs, there doesn't seem to be any problems with organisation and generally speaking, KCL seems to outperform LSE on almost all measures of student satisfaction, and often by quite a big margin too.

Another interesting thing to look at is the information on salary. Here both institutions are about level again, with KCL slightly edging ahead.

Also, don't forget to check out the course content, accomodation and all of that other good stuff, as it might tip the balance between the two in the end.

So to summarise:

How "Prestigious" a place is seems to be a matter of personal opinion. My personal opinion, having spent the last few months trying to get my head around all this rubbish, is that LSE and KCL are about the same, but other people would argue lots of different things.

Because the prestige of the two unis are the same, and because there are other more important things to look at from an undergrad point of view, I've based my reasoning on other measures.

On student satisfaction LSE (at least for that particular course) is abysmal, with one of the lowest scores I've ever seen and could suggest that there are some sort of serious problems in the IR dpt. On the other hand, KCL's score is really high, well above average into the 90% region.

On salary both are about the same, although KCL does edge it slightly.

As a result, I think that I'll probably reject LSE if they send me an offer (I know, heresy!!) and accept KCL (or maybe one of my other choices, not entirely sure yet!). However, having said this, I'll still probably visit them if they send the offer and, if they don't, well I suppose that just means it's a decision I don't have to make! :smile:

Sorry this was very long, writing this has actually helped me make up my own mind about what I want to do and so I went on a bit of a rant...

From a fellow (confused) London IR Applicant
I want to study either maths or business at university and I hear both are good but which one would suit my subjects better?
Reply 69
Hi!! I'm applying for IR this year (2017/18 entry) and I would like to thank you for your post (though its one year late haha). I've also applied to KCL and LSE and was unsure of where to go. I was drawn in by the War Studies department in KCL, however all of my peers and teachers told me that LSE was a safer bet. I've always felt more connected to KCL and your post made me more sure of my choice :smile:

Btw, I'm not sure if you're currently at KCL but if you don't mind, could you share some of your experiences in KCL?
Thank you very much!! :smile:
I realise I’m somewhat late to this discussio, it I’m havig the same issue as OP. I’ve been accepted to both, for Imperial History MA. I accepted my kings place and paid the deposit to secure my place, tomorrow is my last day to cancel and get my money back. I’m still torn for some reason and I really don’t know why, but I’m still not feeling that comfortable with my Kings choice. Anyone studied History at either place at a masters level and can weigh in?
Reply 71
Several years ago, I had a choice between LSE International Relations and KCL War Studies. I chose LSE. For those who might follow and face the same dilemma, I share the reasons why I decided on LSE and why I did not regret in retrospect. (I just focus on the comparison between LSE IR and KCL WS because there is no question that LSE IR is better than KCL IR).

First, LSE offers a broader intellectual landscape. I was genuinely interested in security studies, but I thought it made more sense to study IR theory properly before narrowing down to security studies. All the professors I talked to agreed with me. Plus, you can seek advice from KCL experts with regional/technical expertise whenever you want, as these schools are next to each other (I actually visited some KCL professors, who kindly welcomed me during their office hours). So, unless you are a PhD student and have a specific KCL professor in mind, it’s better start broader at LSE.

Second, LSE offers excellent methodology courses. If you intend to go on for research, you should get ready for methodology asap, no matter how boring it is. LSE’s social science methodology courses are second to none.

Third, at LSE, I met some of the most brilliant students I’ve ever seen. A friend of mine had rejected an offer from Oxford and came to LSE instead. Many of my former classmates have proceeded to PhD at Oxbridge or other good schools in North America. It might sound crude, but it really helps to have smart friends. You can exchange comments for essays and develop ideas together.

Fourth, LSE definitely has a better reputation around the world. LSE ranks constantly higher in major university rankings, and is better known in the US.

Fifth and finally, I’ve got a research job I wanted. Period.

Of course, I cannot do a counterfactual experiment (“what if I had chosen KCL?”). Nobody can. The point is to make a decision that you are less likely to regret later. In my case at least, LSE worked well.
So I've had the same problem having to chose between both. Notice that the difference in prestige really isn't going to make our fall your career. Where you feel most at home, meet the right people to do the right things and get on to the right track is much more important. This is why all the top people in the world are not only from ONE university, and although some universities are said to be
If you look at this page, the random times this thread has been brought back from the dead with no relation to the OP directly, but still somehow relevant (to King's and offers). Pretty impressive.
Original post by Blitzkrieg15
Reputation wise, LSE by miles. KCL is still excellent in it's own right, is bigger as a uni and probably offers a better all round student experience. LSE is tiny, more like a small school than a university, but the prestige in the UK and overseas is solid.


how many students are at LSE?
i love menyeh
Original post by rachelsohphia
Im an international student and I have received offers from both King's and LSE, reading War Studies&History and Government&History respectively.
It's really hard for me to choose from, could anyone gimme some pieces of advice on their differences in terms of teaching, learning atmosphere, hall/residential atmosphere, reputation etc?

thanks!


This is a hard one.

Normally, I would say LSE because it is more prestigious than KCL.

But War Studies at KCL is a world class and unmatched. It is the most prestigious university to study such in the world and is like getting into Oxbridge or Harvard.

Look at your other factors and decide based on that.

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