Panicking now re LSE no news

[MiddleOfThePack]

My son applied in October and still hasn't had any 'email with an application ID'? He has emailed and had no response. He's now filling in a contact form and planning to phone tomorrow. Should he have heard something more concrete by now?

They asked him to send a questionnaire back which he's done, but that was a while ago now.

[chopc]

As per student room LSE has not given out any offers and will be giving them out from the end of this week. When did your DC apply? There was an email stating their offers will be delayed this year

[sadpapercourtesan]

DS1 hasn't heard from LSE either yet. Nor Edinburgh

[Chasingsquirrels]

I posted on a different thread earlier today mentioning that ds had received a "response delayed" type email a few weeks ago as chopc mentions. Did he receive that?

[Chasingsquirrels]

Hadn't heard it would be from the end of this week though, I'm not telling him - he had offers from his other 4 choices quite quickly but LSE is the one he really really wants.

[Oldowl]

My DD was waiting for a LSE offer this time last year.

Her offer came mid-February, but for most highly competitive courses offers came in big batches around 17th March.

Last year offer day tended to be a Thursday 1pm-5pm, and most rejections came on Friday. With LSE, no news is good news, as you are still being considered. However, the wait is awful and I sympathise with you just wanting a decision. Hopefully, the first offers will be made tomorrow.

[Needmoresleep]

Old Owl is correct about batches of acceptances on Thursday, rejections on Friday as they slowly whittle down the numbers. If you got till 4.00pm Friday without hearing, you were safe for another week. When DS was applying eight years ago as well as a thread on TSR LSE applications had their own Twitter thread. DH and I followed both simply to know what was going on and to reassure DS that others were in the same position. He finally got an acceptance on about 17 March. It was awful, compounded by the fact he had been rejected by Cambridge and was also waiting on UCL and Warwick (also rejections!)

Last year seems to have been even worse, presumably because of the late cancellations of A level exams and changing demand from EU and overseas students as a result of Covid and Brexit.

Fingers crossed for everyone.

[Frodont]

@sadpapercourtesan

DS1 hasn't heard from LSE either yet. Nor Edinburgh

Dd hasn't heard from Edinburgh either other than a flurry of panicked emails double checking her fee status.

[nancypineapple]

Ds waiting for LSE, UCL and Warwick. He could be rejected from all 3 which would be really upsetting for him. Such a worry isn't it?

[chopc]

@Needmoresleep gosh that sounds so stressful.

I feel our DC have suffered enough. However the equal consideration deadline only passed last week so LSE are also not wrong to take their time and truly consider their applicants either

[chopc]

@nancypineapple it is a worry - hope they come through

[quest1on]

“Old Owl is correct about batches of acceptances on Thursday, rejections on Friday as they slowly whittle down the numbers. If you got till 4.00pm Friday without hearing, you were safe for another week”

Well this is going to be a delight, isn’t it? Can’t wait.

[Oldowl]

It is horrible waiting, but LSE look at every application in great detail.

Last year TSR thread got very angry and quite nasty about LSE admissions. Students were saying they were going to withdraw and others were jeering them on.

[Needmoresleep]

DS found it pretty awful. Applicants are usually A* kids, used to doing well academically, and choosing which courses to apply for are often the first major decisions of their adult lives.

Rejection first time out is hard. Made worse when your friends are starting to make plans for next year. (Exacerbated, no doubt by the uncertainty and chaos of the pandemic.)

DS, possibly like Nancy's DC was advised to apply for Cambridge/UCL/Warwick/LSE and though he was capable of getting a place at any, it was equally possible that he was rejected by all. As I said on another thread, one of his classmates received four rejections but was accepted by Cambridge (not LSE) the following year. The difference between acceptance and rejection can be tiny.

In retrospect I think it was good that he had his first major disappointments when he was still at home. The school picked up that he was finding it tough and were supportive. He was lucky and eventually got his place, but had he gone elsewhere, or had to take a gap year he would still have been fine. And perhaps this knowledge helped him with later rejections (internships, jobs etc.)

LSE was a good fit for him, though possibly not for everyone. The wait was awful, and I confess that I was not displeased when he decided not to apply to Cambridge, UCL or Warwick at Masters level, because, apparently, their courses weren't as strong, and then chose LSE over Oxford.

Then DD decided to apply for medicine, and we had it all over again. She applied in October and her interviews were not till March.

Again fingers crossed!

[chopc]

@Needmoresleep that sounds like a horrendously stressful time! Could I ask if he was in a position with no offers whilst waiting for LSE? Don't think I could have coped ....... but yes of course you do. Hats off to your DS though - if you don't mind can you share what his time has LSE been like and how he got on?

[Needmoresleep]

It was about eight years ago and took us a bit by surprise. Though DS was considered 50:50 for Cambridge we assumed he would be fine for the others.

He got an early offer from his fifth choice, but they then announced they were expanding their department and changing the course, so he was not keen. Apart from that, no offers till LSE in mid March. As people on this thread will confirm, there are so many other things going this term, more with COVID uncertainty, that the last thing you need is still to be worrying about a place.

DS was lucky in that he has always been fascinated by economics, so made a good number of friends, from just about everywhere, both UG and PG, who shared this interest. The LSE is quite small (I also read economics there) and those who engage can get to know others quickly. It might work less well for those who are less focussed or who are uncomfortable about stepping forward. Or those who are seeking dreaming spires and May balls, or a more traditional student life ( the athletics soc was the exception to the rule and and seemed to involve serious drinking.). DS does not drink, but was active in several on campus societies, most of whom seemed to adjourn to Chinatown afterwards for cheap food. It is also worth noting that, for economics at least, there is a lot of maths and some of the weaker mathematicians struggled.

Academically the experience for him was fantastic. Internationally LSE has a very good reputation, possibly higher than it has in the UK. DS is now studying for a fully funded PhD in the US, and it is clear the LSE gave him sound technical skills. whilst his LSE network seems to have moved on to most major campuses in the US. (If COVID allowed him to travel.)

We still could have done without the wait. It was really difficult. With DD we were better prepared, and talked about things she might do if she had to take a gap year. In late March when she finally got an offer, she was sufficiently keen on the gap year that she deferred her place.

[Chasingsquirrels]

That's really interesting to read Needmoresleep as ds has applied for Econometrics.

[PurpleDandelions]

Please remember that many uni staff are currently at breaking point juggling home schooling with converting all their teaching materials to online format. An average lecture is taking about 3 times as long to prepare and deliver as in a normal year. We're doing our best but it is really really hard.
Staff are staying up all hours to make sure that the right admissions decisions are being made. And in some cases waiting for higher ups to make decisions about target student numbers.

We're completely aware of how stressful this is for applicants. I'm sorry if yours is delayed.

[chopc]

Thanks for that @Needmoresleep. All the best to your DC

[Needmoresleep]

Chasingsquirrels, DS started with economics but switched to econometrics for his third year. There were only nine of them, so formed a well bonded group. They all seem to have done very well.

[Frodont]

@PurpleDandelions

Please remember that many uni staff are currently at breaking point juggling home schooling with converting all their teaching materials to online format. An average lecture is taking about 3 times as long to prepare and deliver as in a normal year. We're doing our best but it is really really hard.
Staff are staying up all hours to make sure that the right admissions decisions are being made. And in some cases waiting for higher ups to make decisions about target student numbers.

We're completely aware of how stressful this is for applicants. I'm sorry if yours is delayed.

Dd1 didn't hear from Bath until March a couple of years ago. It's normal not to hear for ages sometimes isn't it?

[Chasingsquirrels]

Needmoresleep I understand that is the nature of the LSE course, and there is no guarantee that you'd be able to do the econometrics in the 3rd year.

[Aubaine]

It might work less well for those who are less focussed or who are uncomfortable about stepping forward. Or those who are seeking dreaming spires and May balls

Often those who are seeking dreaming spires and May balls are also focused and uncomfortable about stepping forward. With Oxford & Cambridge’s tutor system there isn’t much choice but to focus and be under the spotlight .

Maybe what you meant to say is it might not suit people who are more well-rounded?

[Aubaine]

I meant comfortable not uncomfortable DOH!

[Needmoresleep]

Aubaine, I possibly didn’t phrase it well.

DS got a lot out of the extras. Attending a voluntary first year course, where either PhD students or they themselves presented papers; doing a voluntary research project with others in his first year which was close to being accepted for a US conference highlighting UG research, teaching statistics as part of a student led course supporting those who needed to brush up their maths, turning up regularly for office hours, attending all sorts of public lectures and lots more.

I think the Oxbridge tutorial system demands engagement. The LSE is different. A proportion simply want to get their first and their job in investment banking. Others will be overwhelmed or have other priorities. You will get a great education by turning up for teaching and putting in reasonable effort, but it is also possible to get lost. However for those who are enthusiastic and proactive there are distinct advantages in being in a smallish international, research led institution.

Chasingsquirrels. There is also no guarantee that by your third year you will want to study econometrics. DS calculated that he could have graduated and only have taken two economics courses. (In the event he took three.) He took more maths than his friend studying engineering at Imperial.

[Chasingsquirrels]

Chasingsquirrels. There is also no guarantee that by your third year you will want to study econometrics.
Very true!
I've always thought he'd do maths, that's been his thing all the way through, but he took economics A'level and is really enjoying it. The econometrics appeals to both sides. I'd never heard of it until he started looking at course.
I did Maths with Economics myself.