LSE MSc International Relations Theory Vs KCL International Relations

I have been offered a place at LSE to study the MSc in International Relations Theory. I have also received an offer from King's College - MA International Relations. Which course should I opt for??

Ideally, I would have liked to study IR not IR Theory at LSE. The IR Theory course is new for this year at LSE, and is quite similar to straight IR with the exception of a core course.

The LSE website states that the IR Theory course is intended primarily for those planning to pursue further study, but that it is suitable for anyone interested. I plan to work the in an international organisation/diplomacy and am concerned the focus on theory will be a disadvantage. The LSE course is also £9,000 more, I would struggle to afford it and I am not sure it is worth the extra expense.

Thanks!

Reply 1

Kitty Pimms

17

prospectivegraduate

I have been offered a place at LSE to study the MSc in International Relations Theory. I have also received an offer from King's College - MA International Relations. Which course should I opt for??

Ideally, I would have liked to study IR not IR Theory at LSE. The IR Theory course is new for this year at LSE, and is quite similar to straight IR with the exception of a core course.

The LSE website states that the IR Theory course is intended primarily for those planning to pursue further study, but that it is suitable for anyone interested. I plan to work the in an international organisation/diplomacy and am concerned the focus on theory will be a disadvantage. The LSE course is also £9,000 more, I would struggle to afford it and I am not sure it is worth the extra expense.

Whist we can debate the worth of a degree, I personally think you've already answered your own question in the ay you've presented the information. You don't want to study the course at LSE, and you don't want to pay £9,000 more. Certainly from my standpoint LSE is not more prestigious or more likely to aid your career or postgraduate plans to the extent that it's worth near-bankrupting yourself for. It's rare that I want to offer firm advice, but I think given what you've said, you should go to Kings.

Reply 2

e-lover

16

prospectivegraduate

I have been offered a place at LSE to study the MSc in International Relations Theory. I have also received an offer from King's College - MA International Relations. Which course should I opt for??

Ideally, I would have liked to study IR not IR Theory at LSE. The IR Theory course is new for this year at LSE, and is quite similar to straight IR with the exception of a core course.

The LSE website states that the IR Theory course is intended primarily for those planning to pursue further study, but that it is suitable for anyone interested. I plan to work the in an international organisation/diplomacy and am concerned the focus on theory will be a disadvantage. The LSE course is also £9,000 more, I would struggle to afford it and I am not sure it is worth the extra expense.

Thanks!

I can see why. The modules sound dreadful lol. Well, phone up LSE and explain the situation and ask if it would be possible to switch to IR (or other programmes that do the same modules such as GP), then make your decision. I disagree with the person who said LSE is not more prestigious. It certainly is and any degree from the Dept of IR or Gov. at LSE will get you somewhere when it comes to public policy/diplomacy quicker than an Msc in IR at Kings imo. Ask if you'd be able to swap or change modules then make your decision :smile:

Personally, if I wanted to work in NGO's, I would have applied to Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, SIPA etc etc

Hope that helped :smile:

Reply 3

Kitty Pimms

17

e-lover

I can see why. The modules sound dreadful lol. Well, phone up LSE and explain the situation and ask if it would be possible to switch to IR (or other programmes that do the same modules such as GP), then make your decision. I disagree with the person who said LSE is not more prestigious. It certainly is and any degree from the Dept of IR or Gov. at LSE will get you somewhere when it comes to public policy/diplomacy quicker than an Msc in IR at Kings imo. Ask if you'd be able to swap or change modules then make your decision :smile:

LSE is more well known overall and undoubtedly has better governmental contacts, but Kings is better for IR and War Studies due to their greater specialisation in the field. I would be extremely surprised if a Kings IR degree would severely harm their chances of working in an IO. Plus there's the question of the £9k - it's a heck of a lot of money (I couldn't afford an LSE masters programe, ouch!), and it's difficult to imagine laying that kind of cash out without knowing that there was definitely going to be a payoff at the end of it. *shrug*. It's all relative, I just don't see the value in forking out so much extra money for a course the OP doesn't want to do.

I'm not sure what LSE's policy is like about switching degrees - I believe their usual application process is to pick two course choices, so I assumed that in being allocated IR theory it was the OP's second choice (and they were therefore not allocated a place on the regular IR course, which is now closed). If so switching to the first choice is unlikely to be an option unless there are dropouts. It's worth asking, of course, but I don't think it's as simple as switch to IR and Bob est ton oncle. :wink:

Reply 4

KingLeary

I have studied at King's College before coming to the LSE. For all you guys arguing against the prestige of the LSE, I would like to advise you just to walk up and down Houghton Street in autumn or trying to get a hold of the brochures for one of our careers fairs. It might blow your mind. We get actively recruited by companies/NGOs that students at other places (except Oxbridge, of course) have hard to fight for to even get noticed. I am not saying that you could not get the job you want with the king's degree, but it will certainly be much harder for you.
BTW, the LSE careers service is in a league of its own. King's cannot compete at all in this area.

My advice is: get the money, take up a loan if you need to, but go to the LSE. Your long term career projects will be so much better and the investment will easily pay off.

Reply 5

shanghaithai

"Kings is better for IR and War Studies due to their greater specialisation in the field" --I really dont think that's the case.

I agree with KingLeary: go for the LSE and get taught by top IR & IPE profs like Coker, Buzan, Brown, Hutchings, Allison, Cox, Sally, you wont be disappointed. Yes, I know you have to do one IPT course...but you still can choose to do 2 IR courses as your electives. Loads of great public lectures too - Joseph Nye, Chris Patten, David Milliband, and George Soros were at the LSE last month.

Reply 6

unknown demon

15

Take whatever loan you need to, even a career development loan would help. In the long run, you will get that money and more.

Reply 7

Bismarck

13

prospectivegraduate

I have been offered a place at LSE to study the MSc in International Relations Theory. I have also received an offer from King's College - MA International Relations. Which course should I opt for??

As far as I known, LSE only forces you to take one unit in your specialization. That means the other two units can be in general IR. KCL is nowhere near LSE reputation-wise to be honest, so if that's a major consideration, you should pay the extra money.

Reply 8

prospectivegraduate

OP

1

Thanks everyone. It seems like most most recommend enduring financial insolvency and studying at LSE. I realise the IR Theory programme is similar (in terms of course choices) to the MSc IR at LSE. My main concern is the title of the programme and how prospective employers would respond to it.

I understand the LSE brand name is perhaps paramount, but would the FCO, UN, NGOs etc be put off by the theoretical focus of the MSc 'International Relations Theory'? Would they be far more attracted to the MSc in IR?

Reply 9

shanghaithai

To be honest, many employers dont really care that much about the title of the programme: IR and IRT doesnt make much difference really - they could see from your transcript what courses you have taken for the MSc and honestly the only diff between MSc IR and MSc IRT at the LSE is just one course, i.e. IR410.

If this is going to make you feel better, my friend read English at Oxford and he managed to get into the FCO a couple of years ago: thing is they dont even consider your quali until the much later rounds.

Good luck and dont worry too much.

Reply 10

popepius

IlexAquifolium

Whist we can debate the worth of a degree, I personally think you've already answered your own question in the ay you've presented the information. You don't want to study the course at LSE, and you don't want to pay £9,000 more. Certainly from my standpoint LSE is not more prestigious or more likely to aid your career or postgraduate plans to the extent that it's worth near-bankrupting yourself for. It's rare that I want to offer firm advice, but I think given what you've said, you should go to Kings.

Now thats a silly comment, of course LSE will get you places much more easily, the professional links alone are worth every penny not to mention the careers service and brand name.
I would ignore that advice and stick it out for a year, im sure you will like LSE IR anyway, if job prospects are you main concern.

Ouch.

popepius

Now thats a silly comment, of course LSE will get you places much more easily, the professional links alone are worth every penny not to mention the careers service and brand name.
I would ignore that advice and stick it out for a year, im sure you will like LSE IR anyway, if job prospects are you main concern.

I haven't really defended my original post although many have disagreed with me, which is fair enough. I did say 'from my standpoint'! However, I think 'silly comment' is taking things a bit far. :p:

I don't deny that LSE's job support in terms of securing careers for their graduates is dramatically more present than at King's (I have heard numerous people say this). However, certainly from what I have heard of IOs an LSE degree is not necessarily likely to be regarded as significantly more 'prestigious' in academic terms (However far you wish to take that rather vague word!).

However, that wasn't by a long stretch my main point. My reasoning (which most of the above posters seem to have ignored) was that the OP said:

1) They didn't especially want to do the course at LSE,
2) They didn't especially want to pay for the course at LSE.

Therefore my reasoning was that the job prospects were not likely to be so dramatically better as to ignore points 1) and 2).

Fair enough, you don't agree with me :smile:

. The OP can do whatever the heck they like, and if they fancy shelling out 14k to go to LSE that's their prerogative. Personally I'm being paid more than that to do my Masters so the idea of coughing up that much money for the honour of taking an MA course is complete anathema to me!! That's my bias and I'm perfectly open about it. What can I say, I'm a cheapskate.

Reply 13

kancheongspider

1

Actually, I faced the same dilemma. But as I plan to go into academia, LSE IRT was reasonably better than KCL IR (due to brand name, academic/alumni links, etc.).

Only concern was what if I somehow don't make it to academia? Then is the 'theory' in LSE IRT a concern...?

In the grand scale of things, I think not, especially for a person like myself who will come into the programme with academia as an eventual goal. If things don't turn out that way, at least I can explain why I took up IRT instead of the normal IR masters... AND you can always make up for the 'theory' in IRT with policy-based/practice-based internships relating to IR, if that is a concern.

Bumping this up for LSE IRT applicants/offer holders. Not much threads about LSE IRT.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 14

Heatherdaniel13

3

Original post by prospectivegraduate

Thanks everyone. It seems like most most recommend enduring financial insolvency and studying at LSE. I realise the IR Theory programme is similar (in terms of course choices) to the MSc IR at LSE. My main concern is the title of the programme and how prospective employers would respond to it.

I understand the LSE brand name is perhaps paramount, but would the FCO, UN, NGOs etc be put off by the theoretical focus of the MSc 'International Relations Theory'? Would they be far more attracted to the MSc in IR?

Hi, sorry I know this post was a long time ago now, but I'm wondering what you chose in the end and if it did affect your career prospects at all? I got an offer from King's and turned it down because I didn't like the course, I've turned down Edinburgh too as it's where I did my undergrad and I want to go somewhere different. But I'm torn between the IR Theory course at LSE and Bristol's International Law and International Relations course. I know Bristol is not as good as LSE for IR but I'm wondering if having an LLM with a different skill set might be better in the long run than doing a theory course at LSE?

Any thoughts?

LSE MSc International Relations Theory Vs KCL International Relations

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