Hi! I’m from India. I want to go abroad for college. I’ve gotten into Duke University (Trinity College of Arts and Sciences) and London School of Economics for the BSc in Government and Economics. If I go to Duke I’ll probably major in Economics/ Public Policy/ Political Science. I’m currently torn between the two schools, any suggestions that would make my choice easier?
What are costs? Are they onerous?
Where might you be after graduation?
Personally, I am biased towards a flexible broad liberal arts education if you can afford it.
Are you a transfer? Is this for Fall 2016 or Fall 2017?
well yeah, US costs a LOT more and it will be a bit hard on my parents but they are willing to go the extra mile as they feel the quality of education is worth it.
I definitely want to work after graduation. I dream of bringing about change in my country (India) so I’ll either try to get involved in policymaking here or in an international institution like UN, WBO etc (I know it is extremely difficult to get a job at any of these)
And as for the broad liberal arts curriculum, a lot of people studying in the US have said they might’ve actually preferred the UK style of teaching, in retrospect. The whole idea of studying diverse subjects is often defeated as students just take the easiest classes in subjects other than what their majoring in to fulfil requirements and keep their GPA high. Some of my students currently studying in the US wouldn’t have minded just concentrating on the subject they wish to pursue in the future.
I’m not a transfer. Just graduated from school in May 2016. This is for Fall 2016 so I don’t have much time!!!
LSE. No brainer, since you are an international. Lower costs, better name recognition back home. Better subject matter depth in three years.
^ Yes. I wouldn’t pay that much extra. If costs were the same, I would choose Duke. Very few kids at 18 actually know what they want to do even if they think they do, and the flexible liberal arts curriculum is what you make of it. It basically allows you to craft your education and try different things, which may be very powerful (obviously not if you just mindlessly take easier classes to protect your GPA). And a rich elite private like Duke will have a ton of resources and stronger school spirit. But I believe that those are more luxury goods. If you are self-motivated, LSE will equip you just as well educationally. Much less hand-holding at (public) UK unis, where they treat you as an adult responsible for your education.
VeryLuckyParent, Duke is just as well known and regarded as LSE, and offers, in my opinion, a far superior undergraduate experience. If anything, Duke over LSE would be a no-brainer, assuming cost of attendance is not a concern. But since cost is a concern, I would recommend LSE.
Duke is ranked higher than LSE on virtually every major international league table. LSE has a decent brand but Duke is very highly regarded in the US (which is the place to be in my opinion).
LSE simply doesn’t have the resources to compete with Duke as far as student life is concerned. If you want an immersive college experience on a real campus, Duke is your best bet. If you want to stay in North America, go to Duke. If you want to go on to get an MBA from HBS or Wharton, Duke makes more sense.
If you want to live in the UK, LSE is the better option. If you want to go into academia, it might make sense to attend LSE.
If you can’t afford to go to Duke, you don’t have much of a decision to make. Try appealing your financial aid.
@VeryLuckyParent I’m very familiar with India and while LSE might have a marginally stronger brand currently due to the fact that India was a British colony, that will no longer be the case in 5-10 years time. The educated Indian elite recognizes the value of an American education and Europe (with the exception of Oxbridge and possibly Imperial College) no longer has the appeal it once did.
@NerdyChica Just some honest feedback here. LSE has a much better brand name in India than Duke does. Duke just is not a MIT, Stanford, Caltech or Harvard which also have huge brand recognition in India. That’s just indisputable. Duke is a great university, but that doesn’t mean it is the right university for every student in every situation. In this case, LSE is a better choice than Duke for the OP, from the perspective of cost, brand, ease of travel etc.
If you think LSE is on par with HYPSM in India you know nothing about the educational landscape in that country.
When I successfully establish that Duke is objectively better than the other school in question, people have no recourse but to call me biased (which I admit to being). Prove that I’m biased by citing data. I may sometimes be guilty of cherry picking data but I never fabricate anything.
For going to an M7 b-school (or LBS/INSEAD), both LSE and Duke would be fine. LSE places a ridiculous number in the City and management consulting. IMO, the amenities of Duke are kind of a luxury good. Both would be good career-wise.
And not everyone is able to get fin aid.
See, this is what I mean. You just fabricated something I never said @NerdyChica. Then you used that fabrication as a straw man and attacked it. I said Duke doesn’t have the same brand in India as LSE or HSM. Duke’s brand in India is not that strong compared to some other schools and no amount of hand waving on your part is going to change that. Get over it.
Choose LSE if you want more math, living in a big city, organizing your own fun.
Choose Duke if you want what Americans call “the traditional college experience”, with residences, campus life, parties, organizations, discussion-based classes, sports, etc.
Both are excellent academically but their environment is very different one from the other.
@MYOS1634, you can get plenty of math at Duke. In fact, someone could double major in econ and some other quant field at Duke if they wanted to. That’s the power of a more flexible curriculum.
In any case, IMO, costs should matter.
And in general, I would not put LSE on the same level of HYPSM & Oxbridge, but note that LSE has extremely strong representation in the City and MC. On a per capita basis, LSE has more alums at McKinsey than any of HYPS or Oxbridge or anyone else besides MIT, in fact.
^yes, but you can’t NOT get math at LSE. That’s all I meant.
@MYOS1634, depends on the course. I haven’t looked at government & econ there in detail.
Oh, and actually, LSE beats out MIT in per capita McKinsey representation as well.
I know that for econ, entry requirements are A-Level Math (which I think is post-calcBC), with an A*, and Further Maths is recommended. It’s highly quantitative.
Not sure for Gov’t.
PurpleTitan, it is pointless to compare LSE with MIT or Duke or any other university by looking at job placement without knowing the number of applicants to begin with. That being said, I have no doubt that LSE students will do well in life, regardless of their pursuits…as will students from other top universities in the UK, France, Germany, the US etc…
But will LSE students have the same quality undergraduate experience as students at top US universities?