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Is it easy for Americans to get into postgrad programs in UK unis?

I am an American student in my last year of Uni. I will graduate with a 2:1 in the spring. I am going to submit postgrad applications for International Relations master degrees in January. Is it difficult for Americans to get admitted into postgrad programs? No one I know has done this before. Thank you!

Reply 1

Tcannon

Original post by purpledog15

Any specific MA IR programs? There are some US educated students at popular UK IR programs, particularly the well known and competitive (Oxford, LSE, St Andrews). If you fulfil or even exceed entry requirements, it is doable. I think it is easier for US applicants as admissions are familiar with the US education/grading system and welcome a US perspective in foreign policy discussions. Unis also receive each year applications from US students. Some unis have student ambassadors from the US.I recall when I contacted admission, the manager gave me the email of a MSc student from the US who shared my areas of interests.

Good luck

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by purpledog15

You get a GPA, not a classification, at US universities - as you know. Your application will be assessed on this, and each university will indicate what they consider equivalent GPAs for a given UK classification, and will use that as their basis; there is no need or benefit for you to equivocate your results in that way...Beyond that, nominally there is no real difference between the usual process of getting a good GPA, and if required, taking the GRE/GMAT and getting good scores that satisfy the admissions teams. Although usually neither is required, some universities (e.g. LSE) use either/both.

Something to consider is almost all UK students will undertake an undergraduate dissertation/final year project, which is often used to gauge their ability and preparation for formal research (which is part of almost every masters course in the UK I'm aware of). Thus if you have the option you should pursue a senior thesis or some kind of independent research project if you can. Do also look at the individual universities undergraduate programmes and see if they have e.g. quantitative/statistical methods courses taken as a core part of the course, as they may then be more likely to assume/require that background for the masters students, and if you haven't already taken a similar course, see if you can one this year. These points are not "hard and fast" and you may well be perfectly suitable without doing a senior thesis etc, but given the UK students (and typically EU/other students) will have had similar experiences, it's probably beneficial to have done some work in that vein.

That said to answer your more general query, yes; US students do apply (successfully) to grad programmes in a variety of subjects including political ones. Most universities (certainly "major" universities) will have a lot of experience in assessing applications from US students and your background won't be "unusual" to them. They might also be able to help answer any more specific questions, so do contact any universities you are planning to apply to if you're unsure of anything, as their admissions teams may well be able to answer your question authoritatively (do also look on their admissions pages for FAQs and policies for international applicants, and qualifications from the US). It's no harder for a US student to be admitted than a UK one, provided they have comparable backgrounds/achievement. As noted above, there are particularly large populations of NA students (bother American and Canadian) at the "top" universities e.g. Cambridge so you will be in good company, both conceptually in the application process and actually if admitted.

Reply 3

madferits

I'm a dual citizen (US/UK) living in the US. I graduated undergrad from a top 50 US University in 2010 with a 3.2 GPA (which is equivalent to a 2:1) and then work experience thereafter. I got into Queen Mary University of London, and did one semester before withdrawing due to a medical issue. Several years later - this year - I applied to the University of Manchester (a much better school) and got in, but had to defer my admission to 2019 due to the same medical issue. Both were/are for my MA in International Relations.

Basically, a 3.2 GPA or above from a reputable US University should see you through and accepted to a good UK postgrad program, in my opinion.