adnauseam

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding where to do my masters. Short background info about me: I did a triple bachelor (in my country thats possible) in economics, statistics and political science at a continental european university (internationally not very prestigious). During this time I spent a semester abroad in Europe, did an internship at a central bank, was TA a couple of times and parttime RA/TA for one professor at my department for about one and a half years. Now about the master: I got accepted at LSE MSc in International Political Economy and for the LSE/Science Po Double Degree which includes one year at Sciences Po at the master in in International Economic Policy and the second year the MSc in International Political Economy at LSE. I am not sure which of these master programs I should attend. Basically the decision comes down to doing a one year master at LSE or studying first a year in Paris and then doing the same one year master at LSE. The dilemma is now due to the fact that I want to apply for a Political Economy PhD at US/UK universities in fall 2016. If I do the one year program at LSE I can finish my master thesis during the summer and apply afterwards. This would hopefully give me some quite strong LORs (especially from my thesis supervisor). However I then have one year off where I have not yet decided what to do (work at an NGO, private company, you name it...). If I do the two year program instead I can apply after the first year in Paris while studying in London. This would me give the advantage of not having one year off in between master and PhD. My concern is however, that the LORs of Sciences Po might not be that strong compared to the ones I could potentially get from LSE (Although Sciences Po is very good in PolSci their reputation in economics is somewhat mediocre). I don't know whether having two prestigious universities in my CV outweighs the potentially worse LORs. Any helpful advise is greatly appreciated :).