Politics and/or International Relations 2023 entry - OFFERS

Hi! I've applied for politics and IR.
Unis: UCL LSE KCL (politics) QMUL SOAS
Predicts: 45/45 IB
Top Uni: LSE then UCL
No offers yet as I applied just today!

Reply 2

sirenscalling

Original post by GGT518

Hi! I've applied for politics and IR.
Unis: UCL LSE KCL (politics) QMUL SOAS
Predicts: 45/45 IB
Top Uni: LSE then UCL
No offers yet as I applied just today!

Congratulations, that's a fantastic predicted grade. I got 43/45 achieved and my top 2 choices are also LSE and UCL for PIR. I've also gotten offers from KCL (IR) and Warwick (PAIS). All the best!

Reply 3

Original post by sirenscalling

Congratulations, that's a fantastic predicted grade. I got 43/45 achieved and my top 2 choices are also LSE and UCL for PIR. I've also gotten offers from KCL (IR) and Warwick (PAIS). All the best!

That’s amazing, congrats for the offers!! I heard that KCL tends to take their time so that’s great for u :smile:

Also, I’m a little bit anxious because I know that my personal statement isn’t as academic as LSE would like (80%) so I’m not sure how negatively that will impact my chances (it’s because I have a lot more to say about background, experience, and personal motivation).. And if I may ask, what topics did u include in your statement?
Good luck with your other choices! :smile:

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 4

sirenscalling

Original post by GGT518

That’s amazing, congrats for the offers!! I heard that KCL tends to take their time so that’s great for u :smile:

Also, I’m a little bit anxious because I know that my personal statement isn’t as academic as LSE would like (80%) so I’m not sure how negatively that will impact my chances (it’s because I have a lot more to say about background, experience, and personal motivation).. And if I may ask, what topics did u include in your statement?
Good luck with your other choices! :smile:

Thank you! I did hear that about KCL last cycle but I think they're making a concerted effort to send offers out faster this cycle -- there's a few offers given out on the KCL 2023 thread.

In my personal statement, I tried to demonstrate some of the qualities that LSE stated they look out for on their website. For example, I explained how my wider reading for an academic essay on World War II taught me how to identify how data can be manipulated in politics. I also tried to demonstrate a strong sense of academic curiosity throughout my PS from my experiences in debating and youth parliament. I picked some salient learning points related to PIR from those experiences and explained how I arrived at those conclusions.

I'm certainly not an expert on LSE's admissions process (I'm incredibly nervous myself) but from LSE's website on personal statements they do state that "How you show your wider engagement with the subject is entirely up to you". My gut feeling is that they are looking for candidates who show thoughtful reflection of academic ideas they've encountered (be it through their studies, academic writing, personal experiences, competitions etc.) as well as a genuine interest in the subject they are studying. If your background and experiences highlight interesting PIR issues and you show your intellectual curiosity towards these issues, I think your PS would fit what they are looking for.

Please don't take my opinions as gospel though haha, unless they work or have worked for LSE admissions I don't think anyone can say how competitive your PS is for certain. This is just my interpretation of their selection process as detailed on their website.

Waiting is very stressful (I've only been waiting since late Nov and I'm freaking out too) but your grades are definitely competitive enough to get you considered and what you've mentioned in your PS certainly isn't bad at all. All the best for your choices, hope you hear back from them soon!

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 5

blueskiess

7

Original post by sirenscalling

Thank you! I did hear that about KCL last cycle but I think they're making a concerted effort to send offers out faster this cycle -- there's a few offers given out on the KCL 2023 thread.

In my personal statement, I tried to demonstrate some of the qualities that LSE stated they look out for on their website. For example, I explained how my wider reading for an academic essay on World War II taught me how to identify how data can be manipulated in politics. I also tried to demonstrate a strong sense of academic curiosity throughout my PS from my experiences in debating and youth parliament. I picked some salient learning points related to PIR from those experiences and explained how I arrived at those conclusions.

I'm certainly not an expert on LSE's admissions process (I'm incredibly nervous myself) but from LSE's website on personal statements they do state that "How you show your wider engagement with the subject is entirely up to you". My gut feeling is that they are looking for candidates who show thoughtful reflection of academic ideas they've encountered (be it through their studies, academic writing, personal experiences, competitions etc.) as well as a genuine interest in the subject they are studying. If your background and experiences highlight interesting PIR issues and you show your intellectual curiosity towards these issues, I think your PS would fit what they are looking for.

Please don't take my opinions as gospel though haha, unless they work or have worked for LSE admissions I don't think anyone can say how competitive your PS is for certain. This is just my interpretation of their selection process as detailed on their website.

Waiting is very stressful (I've only been waiting since late Nov and I'm freaking out too) but your grades are definitely competitive enough to get you considered and what you've mentioned in your PS certainly isn't bad at all. All the best for your choices, hope you hear back from them soon!

Hi,

How did you write a personal statement that fit the specificity of an LSE international relations PS but also mentioned enough domestic politics to sound relevant for PIR at UCL? I’m wanting to apply to UCL but I just feel like I need to rewrite my PS now to include the politics bit and I don’t really know how.

Reply 6

sirenscalling

University of Surrey Student Rep

Original post by blueskiess

Hi,

How did you write a personal statement that fit the specificity of an LSE international relations PS but also mentioned enough domestic politics to sound relevant for PIR at UCL? I’m wanting to apply to UCL but I just feel like I need to rewrite my PS now to include the politics bit and I don’t really know how.

I applied for PIR at both LSE and UCL. In fact, 4 out of my 5 choices were PIR, I only applied for IR at KCL because they do not have a joint PIR degree.

As Politics and IR are complementary fields with significant overlap, I picked issues involving both of them to discuss in my PS, and made sure to highlight their relevance to each specific issue. For example, I talked about an academic essay I wrote, where I linked politicians' use of propaganda (a political idea) to how it increases domestic support for war (an IR idea). I then highlighted the principles of how Politics and IR interact from this example to show my understanding of PIR issues. I personally believe it is better to discuss PIR together rather than separately, to show your appreciation and understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the PIR course.

If you are stumped for ideas, what you could try to do is to look up the course structure of your desired uni, and identify the key PIR concerns the course seeks to address. You may find that some of the modules focus on concepts that draw on both Politics and IR to answer broad questions. As a bonus, your PS may seem more tailored and relevant to what your dream uni offers :smile:

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 7

Bobby05

6

Original post by McGinger

Who has applied for Politics or IR - and have you got an offer?

Course :
Unis applied to :
Predicted grades :
Top Uni choice?

Date/details of offers .......

Course - International Relations
Uni's I applied too - Leeds, Nottingham (P/IR), Surrey, Kent (P/IR) and UEA (P/IR)
Predicted Grades - AAB
Top Uni choice - Leeds 100%

I sent my UCAS off at the start of November and I have received offers from all universities except Leeds, which is very frustrating as it's my first, but they said that for IR they are oversubscribed and will get back to me by the end of March.

Reply 8

Official Rep

15

Hello,

I'm glad to hear you've applied for Surrey :smile:

I have worked closely with the Politics Department and they have a very welcoming community. The lecturers are students are so enthusiastic and they've hosted many events with guest speakers. Although I haven't studied the course itself, I have many friends on the course who love it. They have great placement opportunities and the Politics Society is very active with events too.

Let me know if I can help with any queries relating to the course or uni in general :smile:

Sam (she/her)
MSc Psychology Student

Original post by Bobby05

Course - International Relations
Uni's I applied too - Leeds, Nottingham (P/IR), Surrey, Kent (P/IR) and UEA (P/IR)
Predicted Grades - AAB
Top Uni choice - Leeds 100%

I sent my UCAS off at the start of November and I have received offers from all universities except Leeds, which is very frustrating as it's my first, but they said that for IR they are oversubscribed and will get back to me by the end of March.

Reply 9

UVX

6

Course : IR
Unis applied to : KCL, SOAS, QMUL, LSE, Goldsmiths
Predicted grades : A*AA
Top Uni choice? SOAS

Offers:
Goldsmiths - BBB
QMUL - ABB (this one came recently)
Still waiting on the others, no rejections yet

Reply 10

Original post by UVX

Course : IR
Unis applied to : KCL, SOAS, QMUL, LSE, Goldsmiths
Predicted grades : A*AA
Top Uni choice? SOAS

Offers:
Goldsmiths - BBB
QMUL - ABB (this one came recently)
Still waiting on the others, no rejections yet

Heyy we applied to almost all the same unis (I did UCL instead of goldsmiths) and for politics/IR! I applied on December 6th and so far I’ve gotten offers from QMUL and SOAS came recently so I’m sure they’ll get to u soon too :smile:

best of luck!
Also, how come SOAS is your top? Just asking because I don’t know much about them apart from the fact that they are quite oriental

Reply 11

UVX

6

Original post by GGT518

Heyy we applied to almost all the same unis (I did UCL instead of goldsmiths) and for politics/IR! I applied on December 6th and so far I’ve gotten offers from QMUL and SOAS came recently so I’m sure they’ll get to u soon too :smile:

best of luck!
Also, how come SOAS is your top? Just asking because I don’t know much about them apart from the fact that they are quite oriental

First off, recently got an offer from SOAS so I'm happy
Congrats on your offers too
As for why SOAS is my top choice, it's bc of the course's non western focus. International relations isn't a western dominated subject, so I want to learn about different perspectives that I might not find at other unis.
That said, I've looked at LSE and QMUL's courses and they do have modules and reading about non western ideas, so it's not like SOAS is completely unique. Truth is, while SOAS is my 'top' choice, it's not like it's significantly better than the others.

Reply 12

tsrtsrtsrt

9

anyone got offers for UCL or kings?

Reply 13

Original post by tsrtsrtsrt

anyone got offers for UCL or kings?

I just got kings two days ago!! Nothing from UCL though

Reply 14

tsrtsrtsrt

9

Original post by GGT518

I just got kings two days ago!! Nothing from UCL though

massive congrats! can I ask your predicted grades and what you put in your PR? (I got rejected from kings lol)

Reply 15

University of Kent Reps

Official Rep

16

Original post by Bobby05

Course - International Relations
Uni's I applied too - Leeds, Nottingham (P/IR), Surrey, Kent (P/IR) and UEA (P/IR)
Predicted Grades - AAB
Top Uni choice - Leeds 100%

I sent my UCAS off at the start of November and I have received offers from all universities except Leeds, which is very frustrating as it's my first, but they said that for IR they are oversubscribed and will get back to me by the end of March.

Hi there!
We're so glad you've chosen Kent as one of your choices, I am currently in my final year of my politics degree and I have had an amazing time studying at Kent. All of our lecturers are incredibly passionate and have spent their lives researching their own areas of the subject and you can tell they have a lot of passion for their subject.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to get in touch!
-Beth UKC Rep

Reply 16

Original post by tsrtsrtsrt

massive congrats! can I ask your predicted grades and what you put in your PR? (I got rejected from kings lol)

Agh I’m so sorry to hear that! I notice they have been more selective this year though..
I have a 45/45 predicted on the IB and for my PS I mainly wrote about my personal background and interest in middle eastern conflicts as well as volunteering experiences with refugees. I did get rejected from LSE though but it’s fine, “rejection is redirection” I guess😂

Reply 17

thisisneverthat

Has most heard back from QMUL?

Reply 18

Gethin Poacher