LSE-Sciences Po Double Degree in Affaires Internationales

jcb1965

Hi All,

I'm making this thread as I'm wondering what the competitiveness of this course as well as my viability. I am painfully aware of how competitive places are for both of these universities so I would like yo know if there was even any point in me trying to make my way towards an application given my background. If any alumni or current students could offer me some advice, I would really appreciate it.

Here is my background for some context (It's long and lengthy, don't feel you need to read it all if you can give me a straight up answer. But if it helps, here we are):

- 26 years old, British native

- Graduated with a 2.1 in BSc Psychology from University of Leicester. Failed one module in second year but passed it in third. Gained a First in my dissertation on Meditation's Effects on Focus.

- Worked at a *****y travel agents doing customer service after uni then realised I was working at a *****y travel agents. Applied for a Masters after that.

- Gained a Merit for MSc Cognition in Science & Society Part-time from the University of Edinburgh. Had some really damning mental health problems at the time that means I only passed the compulsory statistics course through extenuating circumstances. However, I gained a Distinction in my dissertation which was furthering my research on Meditation's effect on Focus.

- Worked Part-time at a bar while doing my Masters. Got the bills paid and managed to get an assistant manager role.

- Did an internship for an NGO in Tokyo after finishing my Masters. However, this was cut short due to Covid so I was only out there for a month as opposed to two months.

- Currently working as an Analyst, 3 months in. Realised while working here what my career aspiration is (Can't share it due to private reasons), and so would like to start giving up all my free time to make this aspiration a reality.

- As a result of the above, I am currently learning foreign languages and cyber security to make myself an attractive employee or student for this dual degree.

- I am also doing make-up classes on data science to make up for the botched statistics course at Edinburgh.

- I plan to continue like this for the next two years and apply for the dual degree program in 2023 or 2024.

My question is this - Do I even have a chance on the dual degree program? I understand the admissions is done through Sciences Po and I can see in the FAQ that "Applicants must rank the best among their class". This equals out to at least 65% but I was a low 2.1 in my Bachelors, so don't even make the cut in that regard. I have no extracurriculars (I dossed around during Leicester) and I don't have any volunteer work. I believe my work experience and already having a Masters make up for this, at least somewhat. I'm still not fully confident, as you can probably tell from this post that was born out of serious built up anxiety.

That being said, I am 100% certain that this dual degree program would be imperative towards my career goals, moreso than any other degree from different unis would be. My question essentially boils down to:

Should I even bother working towards making myself an attractive enough student for this dual degree or should I just further my professional development and hope to land my career without it?

Any advice would go a long way in helping me make a decision.

Thank you so much <3