<p>Hey all. I have no clue how hard LSE is to get into so I'm just trying to get an idea of how realistic my chances are. I recently was accepted into St. Andrews with the Common App but decided to apply with the UCAS to LSE after I was deferred from Middlebury. So here's what I've got.</p>
<p>Possible majors:
International Relations
International Relations and History
Government and Economics
Government and History</p>
<p>I believe APs are a big deal so here is what I have/expect:
European History: 5
US History: 5
Comparative World Politics: 5
Calculus AB: 5
3d Design Portfolio: 4 (I know, I know, won't make a difference either way :P)
--------------------- My expected senior year APs
Environmental Science: 5
Statistics: 5
US Government: 5</p>
<p>And I'm taking 2 self studies to meet LSE's AP requirements.
World History: 5 (I've heard it isn't very bad, I looked through the practice test and determined that I would get a 4 without any studying)
English Lit: 5 (Going to come down to constant practice, I hear it's a bit tricky)</p>
<p>Now for my SATs which aren't as great:
CR: 740
W: 770
M: 680
Composite = 2190</p>
<p>SAT IIs
US History: 790
Math II: 690 :/</p>
<p>My school doesn't compute GPA but I don't think LSE looks at it either. Mostly A's and B's at a super hard private school...</p>
<p>And as for extracurriculars which they don't look at:
Debate team captain (national circuit TOC caliber team)
Model UN (won best delegate at a local conference and won an honorable mention at largest conference in the world)
Head of Tuesday Night Art (which is my community service endeavor)
Head of Conservative Club
plus some other smaller things that don't warrant much mention.</p>
<p>I'll probably have a relatively good personal statement, some of it might be a bit ripped from my St. Andrews app but who knows.</p>
<p>Relax, you will probably be admitted. However, IR is extremely competitive. Just be certain you have sufficient financial resources. LSE is expensive and London is very expensive. You will not receive any financial aid and must prove to British immigration that you have sufficient resources for all three years. I’d think carefully unless you are British or have a British connection since career services at LSE will be aimed at British/EU students with the right to work in Britain.</p>
<p>This ridiculously huge number of "5"s you have on AP tests can pretty much get you admitted to any college or uni in the UK. (Not necessarily any program, because you are missing the hard sciences, but it doesn’t sound like you are interested in those).</p>
<p>We are pretty sure you are probably in that 6%.</p>
<p>Any grad school will know who LSE is, and will be impressed by someone who has a degree from LSE, so I don’t see how that could affect your admission to grad school.</p>
<p>Academically, you’ve done very well, and I think you have a good chance of being admitted. Where else are you applying to though? You get five choices on your UCAS form, so it would be a shame not to use them all. It’s too late to apply to Oxbridge, but you can add choices on your form up until Jan 15th. </p>
<p>PS London isn’t the be-all and end-all. I much prefer living outside the capital.</p>
<p>I’m only allowed to apply to 10 schools because of my high school’s policy and I’ve used 9 of those spots already by applying to schools in the U.S. so I have one spot left other than LSE. UCL seems somewhat interesting and I’ve been told that King’s College has a great War Studies program so I might check it out but honestly, I’ve already been accepted to University of St. Andrews which would be my second choice for a school in the UK other than Oxbridge (which I’m kicking myself for not applying to…)</p>
<p>Just make sure your personal statement isn’t crazy. No personal journeys, no philosophy. It should be factual and to the point, demonstrating specific and focussed interest in the subject you wish to study. “I would like to study subject X because …” is a good way to start. Nothing like a US essay.</p>
<p>Khalilzhad, what will your high school do to you if you break their rules and apply to more then ten colleges?</p>
<p>(And if you are kicking yourself for not applying to Oxbridge, have you considered taking a “gap year”, that is, taking a year off to do something interesting, then applying next year to Oxford or Cambridge?)</p>
<p>My school won’t send my applications and transcripts off to the extra schools so I don’t really have a choice in the matter sadly. </p>
<p>And as for the gap year, I don’t think its in the cards for me. My parents hate the idea and I’m very content with my current options. Thanks for the idea though.</p>
<p>I might check out some other schools then… I’m just not sure what else I would apply to. Maybe University of Edinburgh? I haven’t heard much about their IR program.</p>
<p>You can get your high school to send off your UCAS application and then add more universities after it has been sent off, by contacting UCAS. The details are here [UCAS</a> - Making changes](<a href=“http://www.ucas.com/students/offers/makingchanges]UCAS”>http://www.ucas.com/students/offers/makingchanges) but be aware that whilst it says you can add more choices until 30th June, you need to get any extra choices in by 15th Jan for equal consideration). I presume that your HS doesn’t want you to apply to >10 colleges because each college app takes time (both yours and theirs!) However, there’s no more work involved in applying for 5 universities through UCAS than 1. </p>
<p>I agree with Cupcake about the personal statement - make sure you seek advice from UK sources (such as The Student Room) as it is very different to anything that you would be asked to write for a US college application. </p>
<p>Gap years are very common in the UK - I had one and I know lots of other people who did. Normally people will work for the first half or so, and then use the money to go travelling around somewhere like SE Asia for the rest of it. Parental permission really doesn’t enter into it - as KEVP says, you’re a grown adult now.</p>
<p>Plus, I really have no desire to wait another year. I’m content with my present schools and have no intention to wait another year. I have added King’s College however and gotten the OK from my school.</p>
![http://cl.jroo.me/z3/9/y/8/d/a.baa-Obama-Not-Bad.jpg[/url]](http://cl.jroo.me/z3/9/y/8/d/a.baa-Obama-Not-Bad.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
