<p>My son is considering either London School of Economics or the University of Melbourne, from a strictly academic point of you, which is a better choice?</p>
<p>LSE for sure</p>
<p>LSE…ditto</p>
<p>LSE is a very good school, but it is also limited in its offerings. Some programs allow visiting students to take classes at the other London universities (particularly UCL), but many do not. Melbourne is a highly regarded university that I’d place on par with some of the better American universities – Penn State or Minnesota, maybe. He’s likely to find good classes at either. I’d focus on other differences. </p>
<p>Besides the obvious differences in location, you should note that the Australian academic calendar runs February-May (sem 1) and July-November (sem 2), unlike the UK system, which begins in the fall as American schools do. If he needs to take a full sequence of courses, he’d have to study abroad across two years (spring sophomore or junior + fall junior or senior).</p>