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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Panicking now re LSE no news

146 replies

MiddleOfThePack · 02/02/2021 22:09

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.

OP posts:
Aubaine · 03/02/2021 19:03

I think I now catch your drift Needmoresleep. You mean students who are less focused than your DS specifically?

Needmoresleep · 03/02/2021 19:04

Nor had I. The employment prospects are very good.

DH studied PPE at Oxford, with an emphasis on the E, so was pretty aghast (disapproving) of the way economics seemed to have been reduced to formulae. And that DS could complete a Masters without writing an essay. The options within the economics degree are huge.

chopc · 25/02/2021 11:38

Does anyone know of any student in real life who has got an offer from LSE? Or a rejection in fact. Not in TSR but in real life.

nancypineapple · 25/02/2021 12:06

I just put on the uni thread that my DS is still waiting to hear from LSE,UCL and Warwick for economics.

chopc · 25/02/2021 12:09

Yes I saw that @nancypineapple

I don't believe LSE has given out any offers and wondering if in fact what TSR reports about rejections are also true....... but I only know a few people who have applied

user1494050295 · 25/02/2021 14:24

The website says by 29.3

Chasingsquirrels · 25/02/2021 18:27

@user1494050295

The website says by 29.3
Thanks for that info.
OrangeVelour · 25/02/2021 19:14

@nancypineapple

I just put on the uni thread that my DS is still waiting to hear from LSE,UCL and Warwick for economics.
Exactly the same for my son. He's had offers from Bristol and Exeter, but really wants LSE.
ShaunaTheSheep · 26/02/2021 07:37

Joining in, it's nail biting stuff.
DS has Exeter, Bristol and Sheffield offers , which he's happy with. But LSE is the dream, and he's also waiting on UCL. All politics and IR.

I hope that there'll be some movement after yesterday's TAG announcement.

fiveoldteddies · 01/03/2021 21:28

Joining in as well, LSE first choice if offered....

quest1on · 02/03/2021 08:31

LSE haven’t sent any offers out yet.... but surely it can’t be long now? They state that they aim to have issued all decisions by March 31st. At this rate, they’ll be releasing all decisions on the same day!

What subjects are all your DC waiting for? DS is Geography.

Decorhate · 05/03/2021 08:18

Can I ask a question of @Needmoresleep and anyone else with a dc who has or is planning to study Economics?

Ds2 has done GCSE Economics and is doing it for A Level. I am wondering how he would find an Economics degree in terms of the content being repetitive - DS1 is doing an engineering degree and says the maths in 2nd year is similar to FM A Level. However he has lots of other subjects so there are plenty of new things to learn.

How would someone doing Economics find the degree course if they have already done a lot of Economics at school? Obviously there is always more to learn in any subject but I’m assuming they take students who have not done Economics A Level so have to start with the basics. Would a course that is higher ranking & with higher entry requirements have different/harder content to a lower ranked course?

I’m assuming there won’t be open days again this summer & even though the websites give the course modules that doesn’t really answer my question!

quest1on · 05/03/2021 08:49

Decor - by all accounts, degree level economics is nothing like A-level. Maths (preferably further maths if applying somewhere like LSE) is a pre-requisite and it gets very mathematical very quickly. A-level economics is more about the concepts and theory. Interestingly, the head at DS’ school said that of all A-levels, A-level economics has the most content and is the most challenging, in terms of difficulty levels. I guess that depends on the student though!

Decorhate · 05/03/2021 09:23

Thanks. Ds2 is doing Maths & FM & is very able in that regard. He may prefer to do a joint degree or something like MORSE in any case...

portico · 05/03/2021 14:06

LSE are dragging it out.
My DS is awaiting to find out if he’s got/not got a place to study BSc Economics at LSE. Hate going on TSR LSE thread, as you can really feel the angst that prospective students are going through.
My son has a place at UCL and wants to go there. He does not see the brilliance of LSE: he just sees it as a place full of serious swots who don’t socialise. I think he’s being silly. I would live him to go there. If only LSE admission teams would pull their finger out!

nancypineapple · 05/03/2021 17:14

@portico well done for your DS to have his UCL offer! We are still waiting here UCL , LSE and Warwick to either offer or reject.

quest1on · 05/03/2021 18:42

Portico - Oh my god, I saw I the TSR thread yesterday there seemed to be loads of students in India who had done the CB-something exams, being rejected one after the next. You can actually witness the global stress this is causing!

I’m surprised they still don’t seem to have made any offers this week.

DS does have offers from UCL, Durham and Bath.

Is it true they’re all super-serious at LSE?

portico · 05/03/2021 19:04

nancypineapple
@portico well done for your DS to have his UCL offer! We are still waiting here UCL , LSE and Warwick to either offer or reject.

We have not heard from Warwick. Very high rep University.

portico · 05/03/2021 19:08

@portico

nancypineapple *@portico* well done for your DS to have his UCL offer! We are still waiting here UCL , LSE and Warwick to either offer or reject.

We have not heard from Warwick. Very high rep University.

I guess the CBSE exams must be same as A Level or IB level.

I don’t think LSE is super serious. Perhaps my son is trying to undermine LSE in case he does not get it. It’s more that DS1 never toes the line at school, and so wants an easy ride. He’s also keen to sample the student life

chopc · 05/03/2021 22:10

As per my friend whose son is a recent graduate from LSE and from watching you tube videos of LSE students - I feel that it is a very competitive university and everyone works very hard and the competition for internships and grad schemes will be felt more fiercely than at other universities. Plus the 70% international student population worries me as I know generally they won't interstate and will choose to stick to their own community. Simply because they feel more comfortable.

However it is a highly ranked university internationally and I think the History course there is good. Let's see. I personally like the fact LSE are taking their time considering all the applications. However I think it is very unfair of other universities to already be open to book accommodation which puts even more pressure on our already pressured year 13's

Needmoresleep · 09/03/2021 10:43

A belated reply to @Decorhate. Very much a layman's view so happy for others to contribute. Psion (sp) will know a lot more than me about mathematical economics courses and alternatives.

Like many subject degrees, there are huge differences in course content between one University and other. Which does not mean better or worse. Just different.

I think the trick is for him to think one step beyond, and consider what he might want to do with his degree.

For DS this was reasonably simple. He was fascinated by economics and potentially wanted to be involved in economic forecasting. Lots at LSE simply wanted to work for Goldman Sachs and earn lots of money. Others wanted a good understanding of economics, along with other management type skills like being able to read a balance sheet or understand the workings of a marketing campaign. Then you get the interfaces between economics and history, economics and geography, economics and politics, or economics and psychology etc.

Back to supply and demand. There is an awful lot of data underpinning the more technical understanding of economics. There are only so many A level student with the aptitude to gain a good grade in FM, and who want to study economics. Economic forecasting is important for Governments, banks, hedge funds, consultancies etc, and so well qualified quants are in high demand.

Generally four Universities are recognised as having the most mathematical courses: Cambridge, LSE, UCL and Warwick. I assume in part because there are only so many strong mathematicians available to be recruited. DS' experience was that the maths went at a cracking pace. He says they covered half a FM paper in a single lecture. He struggled a little in his second term as the field is quite narrow and concepts tended to be iterations on a theme. His tutor was kind enough to give him some useful study tips, mainly preparation in advance of a lecture, practice afterwards and revise regularly.

LSE has lots of options. DS graduated, as ChasingSquirrels DS wants to, in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, which is as quantitative as you can get. He took more maths courses than his friend studying engineering at Imperial, and indeed reckons you can get away with only taking two economics courses out of the 12 needed for a degree. A smallish tip is that you can get onto Econometrics from Maths courses (Maths with Economics etc) which can be slightly less competitive at UCAS stage, but either way you need to make sure you have taken the right courses in your first and second years and get the right grades. Most students don't want that much maths, but even still LSE, and I assume the others, have some tricky compulsory maths courses in first and second years.

DH studied PE at Oxford, which he claims is real economics. (I also went to LSE so take DS's side.) Back to depending on what you want to do. If you are recruiting literate policy makers who understand the language of economics, then PPE is a better bet. Bath has some great courses with economics and scope to study accountancy and finance with a year in industry and a good reputation with employers. York is similar. And lots: Bristol, Exeter, Durham, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Southampton, and, and and, have well regarded broader less quantitative courses where graduates go on to be recruited by good employers.

And if you really want to go down the quant route, you probably need to take a Masters, so there is always scope to switch to somewhere with a stronger research focus.

HTH.

Decorhate · 09/03/2021 18:28

@Needmoresleep Thank you so much! That is really, really helpful & lots of things for Ds to think about.

As we live near London my kids have often struggled with identifying unis they want to apply to - they want to avoid London. And if they rule out Oxbridge & Scottish unis too it can be quite a challenge!

Ds1 is at Bath so I doubt Ds2 will want to go there! I have already talked to him about not ruling out London...

Needmoresleep · 09/03/2021 19:38

Correction. DH studied PPE not PE. (He wishes.)

I think the issue is not so much London or not-London but whether the very international and very focussed culture at LSE suits. It is perfect for some, including DS who was very course focussed and enjoyed being surrounded by like minded people, but Warwick would suit others more. Bristol used to be the only other University that offered a degree in Econometrics and claims to have quite a mathematical course. But I assume others will have some form of maths with econ.

And good luck again to everyone waiting.

OrangeVelour · 11/03/2021 20:27

Mine's just had an offer from Warwick (Economics)!

quest1on · 11/03/2021 20:53

Congratulations Orange!

LSE have started with offers today.., at last.

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