Anyone here with DC at LSE (or UCL)?

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Hi, DS is thinking about applying to LSE and UCL. Both require the same grades, but I think, if offered, he would probably go for the LSE course, partly, to be totally honest, because LSE is more of an international “brand”, but also he slightly prefers the course and the idea of being amidst all social scientists.

We live in Putney, so not that far. What I’m wondering about is whether he would get the “going away” experience, in the same way as if he left London. Obviously it’s still moving into halls and independence and I can see it being exciting bring in Holborn for a teen (maybe too much so ) and it has a very different feel to SW London, but still, it’s only half an hour on the tube.

Also, I’m confused about accommodation as they seem to have “inter-collegiate blocks” that take students from UCL and LSE, but obviously with UCL being larger, I wonder if the LSE students would feel a bit swallowed up in this kind of accommodation?

On the plus side, he obviously knows the area very well, so at least wouldn’t be as phased as others in the first term.

The course is possibly second to none there, but I do worry it’s not exactly a calming environment for study

He’s probably also going to try Cambridge which would obviously be a very different student experience.

Do they make friends and manage to find one another at LSE? If anyone has undergrad DC there, have they been happy?

Thankyou!

Bumping for you as I am interested to hear what others have to stay. Ds is thinking of a course where the two unis you have mentioned feature strongly in the league tables. We are within commuting distance

Have you looked at the accommodation halls Decor. It works out over £10k per year for catered accommodation . Seems a lot when they could commute, but then they wouldn’t get the same experience.
There’s one called “Garden Halls” (more Kings Cross way), which looks beautiful, but it seems to be used for UCL, LSE, Imperial and KCL by the look if it. It looks like you could be in a corridor with anyone from any of these.

My information is a bit out of date, in that DS finished LSE 18 months ago. We are Zone 1 Londoners so within walking distance.

LSE suited DS. It does not suit everyone. The course proved perfect: economics so a huge choice of options. He was very course focussed, the type who, had he gone to Cambridge would have not been seen near a May Ball or a punt, and the LSE Library suited him fine. By the third year, he and his friends had colonised one of the upstairs rooms and worked together. He also took the initiative, joined societies (yes as the token straight white male he was appointed diversity officer for one), took part in voluntary and departmental activities, attended guest lectures, and went to office hours. It is all there, indeed the opportunities are second to none, but students need to take a level of responsibility in accessing it. At one point he started struggling to differentiate the different iterations of statistics he was being taught. He asked for help and the lecturer took him out for a coffee and gave him advice on how best to approach the subject. (Spend a couple of hours pre lecture going through the material so you can keep up with the pace of new information and then about four hours after, including problem sets, to make sure you have absorbed it.)

To be honest his experience was quite austere. Six days a week, ten hours a day, in the library but he got really into his subject. He also made lots of like minded friends from across the world. State, private etc don't really come into play when you are helping each other get your heads round concepts. There were a lot of active societies on campus and the campus is open late (the library 24 hours) so it is the social focus. And plenty of large groups heading for cheap food in China town. There were plenty of other social clusters. Athletics Soc was a whole social world in itself with the pre-pres for the annual big social event starting at 9.00am. Lots of music too.

All first years are entitled to hall accommodation, though DS' was allocated very late, and was one of the intercollegiate halls. He did not meet anyone there (a friend he made later had already moved out for the same reason) however it was close to the LSE and friends from a society had a flat nearby and he spent a lot of time there, and moved in for his second and third years. A lot of London based kids will move home in their second and particularly in their third years. DS did so in his Masters year, using the library, but making the most of parent provision of evening meals.

To be honest, I think London is big enough to allow for a very different student experience. It was helpful in the early days to have access to networks of school friends (DS used to join an Imperial friend in their gym) who were in London, taking gap years or returning regularly on the Oxford Tube. This petered out as his LSE network grew. We tended not to see much of him, though I really enjoyed being able to catch up over a coffee if I was passing and he was free, and he tended to time his collecting of Amazon parcels with a roast dinner.

The LSE has two long terms of about 12 weeks and then a short summer exam term. This means it does not really stop and many overseas students stay for the duration. DS tended to use the short Christmas and Easter breaks sort of as reading weeks, to go over the material covered in the term before. But then he had veered towards the very technical end of economics. Many LSE courses tend to be more mathematical than elsewhere, which may be a good or bad thing. There are also quite a lot of students who seem to have their eyes fixed on merchant banking for whom University is simply a means to an end.

The LSE served DS well. He is now taking a PhD in the US and probably has friends in just about every major economics department there. He was also offered an RA job with an very up and coming Professor at an Ivy, and was impressed to hear his very senior referee being referred to quite casually by his first name. Similarly his references went into bat personally over PhD offers and funding.

It can be a really great experience for some, but equally it can be quite isolating for others. Generally London cope quite well as they have a real advantage in that whilst the approach to education can be quite different from school, the City is not.

I hope that helped.

Wow, Needmoresleep. Thanks for that. I didn’t even realise LSE have a different term structure. Is the summer longer then? It’s so tricky because I think the course there would suit him down to the ground (if he were offered a place, of course)! But I do want him to have a good social experience too and wonder if the intercollegiate halls might be too big and impersonal and the whole vibe just too hectic. Also, he goes out round Chinatown etc most weekends as it is (by day, not by night)! I guess it’s weighing up course / employment prospects versus uni being an opportunity to experience something a bit different because I think a lot of London kids have no concept of life actually happening outside the M25

My twins are at Bristol (and we live in outer London). They deliberately didn't want a London one as just wanted to get away and the same with our older children. however one of my sons has a school friend again from London who is really enjoying one of the London ones (LSE?) and my son has been to visit him in his halls or whereve he stays - in fact they find it quite useful as they can go there if something finishes late rather than traipsing back. I think it is a more international experience there so not quite the same as some other out of London universities - better in some ways, worse in others. His friend like most of my sons' school (private) is Asian and probably wanting a fairly mixed race enviornment was quite important for a lot of my sons' non white friends and London obviously fits the bill on that very well and couple that with one of the best universities and it's a good choice for many.

My sons are close to people on their course and also from their original Bristol halls. My older daughter did apply to King's but ultimately rejected it and chose between Durham and Bristol (she chose Bristol). I cannot remember now why she didn't pick King's - perhaps again because it was in London.

Those of us who live in London are very lucky to have it all on our doorstep and I am sure the best London universities are great. University is what people make of it really wherever it is. My daughtedrs then moved home for 2 yeaqrs after graduating to go to law school in London which also worked out fine and one of the twins will be doing - he has his place for that for September this year.

Just don't do what my older son did (at Reading) - just went to lectures and lived at home from year 2 and commuted purely for the lectures - not a university experience at all. There might be that risk if someone lives in London and lives at home.

My sons' other school friend had a family who came to England purely for the boy's education and they moved up to the Midlands to follow their son to university - the whole family moved to be with the student. Each to their own but that is not likely to give the student independence.

No. Terms are structured, DS' course at least, with two 12 week teaching terms and one six exam term. It gave lots of time for teaching.

Who is saying that LSE students do not have a social life. DS emerged with a lot of strong friendships, though based largely on mutual interests (including gaming) rather than the clubbing and drinking type focus that can exist elsewhere.

The LSE AU could probably drink most students under the table so it is there if you want it, but my guess that LSE works best for students who are course/study focussed. And yes, fellow students came from everywhere but that seemed a positive, rather than a disadvantage. DS' two closest British friends were both from non English speaking backgrounds and first generation to go to University. Both very bright and committed. That is the uniting factor.

Thanks Xenia. I think Bristol may be a similar experience in a way because it’s not a campus uni either is it, so I guess you just have to hope to make lasting friendships in the hall you’re in. At least it’s a different part of the country to experience though, as you say.

In DS’ case, his best friend from school now lives near Holborn, but he’s off to Harvard, most likely do don’t be around and they have different terms. Also, DH’s office is in Soho, so within daily striking distance, which may or may not be a good thing. DS is mixed Middle Eastern / Euro “other” anyway and the fact there would be a lot of international students is something he’s enjoy, but again, nothing that new or different in terms of uni “experience” as his school is allsorts as it is.

I don’t want him moving back in for the second year because I don’t want all the moaning about how much work he has to do. It’s bad enough at A-level

Thankyou for your perspectives on this, it’s a tricky one.

They may not learn much about life beyond the M25, but will have a lot of exposure to life beyond Britains shores.

I went to LSE and then had an international career. I was forever tripping over LSE grads in the unlikeliest of places. It's a good club to belong to.

Our DD is at Bristol. The two Universities are probably as different as it is possible to be. DD found her first year very difficult indeed, the halls were cut off and some distance from the University and she was trapped in a large flat full of serious and nocturnal party animals. She is much happier now, and the City is lovely, but she did miss London's multiculturalism and its energy.

Your DS should visit both and make his own decision. A lot depends on him and the balance he wants between 'student life' and course.

Ds is in his final year at LSE. Wasn't happy in halls as nobody seemed to socialize. He found his sporty tribe though and has lived it since. Lives in ( very expensive) house in Islington and can walk to uni in 25 mins. He works 12 hours a week in retail ( has done since 16) but is giving it up at the end of the month.
He has a job lined up for September after a summer internship

Thanks NeedMore. Sorry cross post. I think he would be quite course-focused yes. He’s actually very outgoing, but not in a drinking / clubbing sense and I just want him to meet like-minded friends who don’t suddenly go crazy because they’ve got it all on their doorstep, I suppose. I’m probably over-thinking it, but he liked the idea of being at LSE because it’s a social sciences uni obviously, but what if you end up in intercollegiate halls in a corridor of medics from Imperial? Nothing whatsoever wrong with medics for friends of course , but would you feel part of your own uni in the same way? That’s what I’m trying to weigh up.

He’s not massively into team sports but if there’s a music scene at LSE he would definitely get into that a he plays instruments and sings. I’m sure he’d make friends, but I can see how it might take a bit more effort. But, as I say, it’s probably me fussing as usual.

I would not overthink it. Advice given to DS for economics, and he was predicted 4xA* including double maths, was to apply to the four "top" courses (Cambridge, LSE, UCL, and Warwick) and see what he got. He just got LSE. Someone he knew got none, but was offered a place at Cambridge, not LSE, on reapplication.

These courses are seriously competitive. LSE suited him, but so too might Warwick or Cambridge.