<p>I am looking into Ph.D programs in Political Science and in particular IR. I was wondering if anyone had any info regarding Canada / England based schools. I am looking for middle of the road to solid schools, I do not want to only look at "prestigous" programs and am open minded to anything that is viewed as a good education . I graduated my undergrad with a 3.5 from a top 30 national university (us news) and am looking at a 3.5-4.0 in my M.A program.</p>
<pre><code>Any insight into schools that I might be in their range solely on GPA would be appreciated. I am looking into becoming a professor back in the U.S or Canada if that helps.
</code></pre>
<p>I would check out the website and look at the statistics of the departments you're interested in - some programs are more competitive than others. My initial inclination is that your GPA is at the level where you will make a competitive applicant, but you will almost surely need solid GRE scores, as well. Again, if you're into politics, economics, and global affairs, there is no place better than LSE - the culture of the school is pervasively wrapped up in these issues (almost to the point of obsession). <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/graduateAdmissions/%5B/url%5D">www.lse.ac.uk/collections/graduateAdmissions/</a></p>
<p>fitzgerk, your 3.5 puts you around a 2.1 in terms of British Honours, so you're in pretty good shape. Just write a really really good SOP (statement of purpose) and you can override a little glitch in GPA. I think you can still apply, BTW.</p>
<p>I'm a final year undergraduate in the School of International Relations at St Andrews, Scotland. I'm British, but the school is full of Americans! In one tutorial I have ten people and eight Americans. The jury is out as to whether St Andrews or Edinburgh is Scotland's top university, but in St Andrews, the IR programme is very highly regarded (inexplicably in my view -- there are plenty of other great departments -- but there it is!) I'd also recommend Essex and particularly Aberystwyth. (In fact, if the prestige factor is important, I wouldn't look beyond Oxford, Cambridge, Aberystwyth, LSE, or St Andrews.)</p>
<p>The School of IR here is moving to a brand new, purpose built building right in the centre of town (and next to the library) later this year (right after I leave!) ... If there were ever a time to come here, I'd say now was it. The department is expanding --- they redesigned their website this week/are adding new postgrad programmes: I bet they'll be looking for plenty of new students!</p>
<p>I can't pretend to know the ins and outs of admissions, but a 3.5 on the official St Andrews conversion chart (oooh!) comes out as a 14.5, which is a fairly middle-of-the-road 2.1. I don't think this is a huge problem, but it might mean you'd have to up your game elsewhere in the application.</p>
<p>I'm afraid I would have to disagree with UCLAir. LSE IR is very competitive, I was offered conditional admission on the condition that I maintain at least a 3.5 GPA. However, it would be hard to get in without a gpa around 3.7 or so. It is a possibility, but it is definitely a reach. You might have a better chance at History of IR or Global Politics. Both of them are good programs and far less competitive than IR.</p>
<p>Does the fact I will already have my Masters in IR with a 3.5 and not just a Bachelors at 3.5 help? I was hoping having my masters would help as it really has helped me focus on what I want to do and I hope it would be given some weight, at least more than just applying fresh out of undergrad.</p>
<p>ps: I am considering Ph.D programs only. I have never been one aiming just for prestige so I am open to any schools that are very good but they dont have to be the harvards of the world.</p>
<p>Well it helps, but a problem you might have is that places will be keen to take you on as a masters student, with upgrade to PhD conditional on progress. So long as you don't mind hacking it as a Masters student all over again! I shouldn't have used the word 'prestige' since you said you didn't mind, but seeing as you'd like to be an academic it is important. In addition to those already mentioned, other UK unis worth looking at include:</p>
<p>Sheffield
Durham
Edinburgh
Birmingham
Bristol
Warwick
Keele
Westminster</p>
<p>Does anyone have an idea how University College London might fit in with some of the other schools already mentioned. Is it on par with the likes of LSE, Edinburgh, or St. Andrews (and even Oxbridge), or would it be considered less prestigious/academically rigorous?</p>
<p>Yea I was aware that I may have to be admitted to Masters status at first, oddly it doesnt really bother me. I was not ready after undergrad to pursue a Ph.D directly. After graduating I just wasnt sure thats what I wanted to do for 4-6 years (U.S based Ph.D length) so I pursued a 1 year masters degree in order to make sure it was for me, focus my area of interest and get in some work/research experience. I think as long as I mention the stuff I said here in a personal statement I should be ok. Thanks for all your help.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm afraid I would have to disagree with UCLAir.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Sigh... I see some pretty bad misspellings of my name, but you win. :p</p>
<p>
[quote]
LSE IR is very competitive, I was offered conditional admission on the condition that I maintain at least a 3.5 GPA. However, it would be hard to get in without a gpa around 3.7 or so. It is a possibility, but it is definitely a reach. You might have a better chance at History of IR or Global Politics. Both of them are good programs and far less competitive than IR.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I was unconditionally accepted, but I did have a GPA that equates to 1st class honours... Anyway, I talked to the admissions folks for a bit, and they said that a 2.1 level GPA can certainly be enough if the SOP is strong.</p>