LSE as an undergrad.. experineces and tips

[ChateauMargaux]

My son is heading to LSE as an undergrad.. all new to us, he plays sport, has lived a sheltered life in rural France for the past 10 years, more sheltered than normal because of covid.

Any tips for settling in, finding a tribe and making the most of the first year without being overwhelmed?

No tips as such. Although from a small village DC loves London and likes to just walk and explore various parts. One of the reasons she likes LSE is the international feel of it. She tried out/became member of various student societies. They fit in with the course she is doing. She became member of a sports club but don't think she used it much . Did not get on with most of the other students in her corridor but there are so many more students in the building.

It is now eight years since DS started at LSE, so tips are a bit random.

1. There is a big French community in London and a large French cohort at LSE. At various points politicians on both sides have claimed that London is the sixth largest French speaking city in the world. DDs year at school had over 20 French bilinguals, and a third of her out of school sports squad was French speaking (giving her a surprising fluency, at least in Parisian slang). French at LSE can be quite insular, treating it as a slightly exotic Grande Ecole. The shock of the new is tough for all overseas students and there will be a temptation to stick to the familiar, especially when on LSEs larger courses where core lectures will have very large numbers of students. He ought to be perfectly happy if he decided to stick with French speakers. If he decides to branch out he will have to make a bit of an effort but may be pleasantly surprised that some of the apparently cliquey Chinese, Brits etc will be happy to reciprocate.
2. Join societies. A word of warning. Unless he is of first or second team standard, football and rugby teams can appear to be drinking societies, with selection dependent on prowess at the bar. Too much for tee total DS who had three trials before being rejected, but then happily played in a Central London based seven a side league. The rest of LSE social life is probably less alcohol based than elsewhere, and there are lots of other sports societies. Societies seem to play a larger part in social life than elsewhere and the campus is open late, so it is worth trying out any that sound interesting, and dropping the ones that don't fit. (DS found the climbing society in his day was very Post Grad heavy, so he joined a school friend who belonged to the Imperial equivalent.)
3. Be prepared for a very different approach to learning. Though French students will be used to be working hard for the Bac, some of the Asian students will be putting in astounding effort from the get go. He should not be put off. The trick is to work clever. DS found he was floundering on one of the maths courses, but the course tutor gave him the good advice of spending a couple of hours in advance so he was familiar with the topic for the lecture and then spend four hours after going through it afterwards, so he had cemented his knowledge before his class/the following week's new material. DS got into a good routine of working office hours which he was able to maintain through to Masters level, and did fine. However you need to be a self starter. LSE tries with student welfare and, at least on DS's course, kept an eye on attendance etc. Skipping lectures is pretty common, but he should try to attend everything for the first couple of months at least. Not least, it is a good way of meeting people, including reliable study-buddys.
4. Look out for the extra stuff. LSE is at an international cross roads, and lots of people, from PhD students to Nobel prize winners and leading politicians give visiting lectures. The more you put in, the more you get out. Also consider joining the subject society. (He was also student rep for his department, which happened to be going through a major review, so learnt a lot from that.)
5. Don't be shy of attending office hours. Not many first years do, but DS found it was a good way of asking questions (he did a lot of maths) and receiving additional material. It paid off when he needed references as people knew who he was, and knew he was interested and engaged.

Wow... thank you @Notagardener and @Needmoresleep ... great information and reassurance.

He is half English, half Irish and has been at an international IB school. I know from others that often students feel like foreigners here and then arrive in England and to find they don't feel English either so all of that context about international students is useful..

DD is just about to go into her 3rd year at LSE.

Tips:
Make the most of the big city. There is lots to do and see. DD loves going up to Primrose Hill with friends, going to the lido, doing Parkruns around the city, going to West End shows for £15 etc.

Go to campus each day, the library and study areas are great for meeting others. DD has been in halls for the last 2 years and ate in the dining hall each evening. It is very social. Some eat in their room which isn't great for meeting others. The halls put of lots of events like pizza nights or freshers drinks.

Your DS's subject will probably put on events too. DD studies Geography and they have a parent system, where you are linked up with 2nd and 3rd years in the dept. DD found this a great help and used these contacts rather than office hours for asking questions.

Join societies. DD joined swimming society and swam 3 times a week in the pool on Drury Lane. She was a long way off the swim team but loved the fitness and social side. She also went to lots of 'try-me' events - such as rock climbing, boxing, spin etc.

Nearly everyone will be obsessing over spring weeks, summer internships and discussing block chain, web 3 etc from the get-go. It is easy to get intimidated by this, especially if you have no interest in this stuff. Your DS will find his tribe!

Hi no tips .. yet but joining as DD just had placed confirmed after A level results and heading to LSE

Congratulations to your DD @doubleshotcappuccino. What subject?

Hi, my DS will be also heading to LSE in September after getting his results today :)

Heh there other LSE to be Mums!! Congratulations to your children!! The adventure is about to begin!!

DS will be studying Social Anthropology.

@Oldowl Thank you :-) Pol&IR

@ChateauMargaux thank you ! And great to have a thread to share thanks to you :-)

DS is studying History and Politics so they may cross paths @doubleshotcappuccino

@Understartersorders brilliant !

Hello! DS is heading to LSE to study Maths,Stats & Business. He’s very excited.

For the Pol and IR students DC really enjoying the societies, visiting various embassies, etc.

The number of French students at LSE has declined considerably in the last year or so.

The reason is that they are now required to pay international fees of over £25,000 per year at LSE since September 2021.

In comparison, the fees in Paris Sciences et Lettres range from around €250 euro per year (income<€50,000) up to €2,500 per year (income>€160,000).

@ChateauMargaux
Oh dd3 who is starting a levels wants to do that course at lse.
I hope he enjoys it - sounds awesome and just up dd's street.
Her other sisters did Ppe and maths so rather different for her.

I forgot to add to me previous post,@ChateauMargaux, congratulations on your DS on getting a place in LSE. I think it will be an excellent university for social anthropology.

Congratulations all. DS, who is studying for a PhD in the US after four years at LSE, may be seen skulking around the LSE for part of the coming year, probably muttering about data sets. Both his experience, and mine many years before is that the diversity of LSE means that even as a first year you can make friends in other years, including amongst post grads, really useful both in terms of networks, but also in knowing how others got to where they might want to go post-university.

One tip is that if they still invite parents, it is worth joining your DC for the induction day. It sounds pretty mad and I only went because it was down the road, but it proved really interesting. Plenty of overseas parents will be visiting the UK for the first time as they come over with their DC, and the LSE provided a parents only programme including talks by the Director, welfare and careers leads and lots more. Some bits were amusing. Parents of Americans embarking on their junior year abroad trying to grasp the idea that it was safe to use the NHS. The bursar explaining the myriad ways students (or rather the parents - one tip was never to give the money to students for them to pay) could pay the fees. (Another tip here is that if you are paying fees directly, you used to be able to use credit cards, and so pick up loyalty points. I don't know if that still applies.)

We then had a tour, with our group led by a lovely second year Portuguese student, who echoing Old Owls tip, explained that in your first term students were limited to three appointments with the careers office. I was boggled that my 18 year old would even consider approaching the careers office in his first term, and in the event the career orientated culture at LSE dampened any vague interest he might have had in working for a bank. There will be lots with sights set on Goldman Sachs. Ignore them! That said there are a wealth of breakfast networking meetings and the like, with economists from major banks giving talks and students required to wear a suit and hand in a CV in return for free food. Keeping half an eye open for these and for well paid Easter and summer internships gives LSE students a head start when seeking employment, so pack a suit. However my advice is focus first on enjoying being a student and being active in as much stuff as you can handle.

Thank you @Needmoresleep .. He already has two rather dapper suits ready!! And the parents introduction spunds great.. is that in Induction week? I will investogate further.

@JocelynBurnell Thank you. He is pleased. It took him a LONG time to work out what and where he wanted to studied and almost missed the deadline for UCAS applications procrastinating over his personal statement that he didn't think was good enough for LSE .. worth the extra time it seems.. then he missed the offer by 1 mark so had a nailbiting week waiting for the remark.. thankfully all worked in his favour.

JocelynBurnell, I am not surprised. For a while LSE seemed to have become the go to place for well born Parisians, before a Masters in France and a job with a French bank. Given there are lots of good places for tertiary education in France, cost is likely to be only one of several factors, to also include the sheer competitiveness of getting a place, and the fact that UK experience is probably not considered as valuable. Not knowing where Margaux's DS came from I was trying to gently warn that if he were from that background he perhaps needed to make a decision about whether to stick to the familiar, or to actively seek to branch out and to enjoy London for its own sake, not just as a sort of Parisian suburb a train ride away from home.

However this applies to everyone. My strong tip would be to embrace the diversity, though also building on the familiar. LSE has, or used to have, a Northern Society, which apparently was fun - not that DS had any claim to membership.

@Needmoresleep .. He is English / Irish lives France, schooled at an IB school in Switzerland with friends who have also lived all over and have little connection to the home of their parents. So definetly not well born Parisien heading for a French bank but equally I think he might find that much of the UK culture will feel a little foreign to him and he will lack some understanding of cultural references, despite the impact of social media.

@Needmoresleep that is great advice thank you .. would love to go to the induction if they will still have us

I hope those with students starting at LSE were all happy to be dropped off and settling in. DS seems to be having a nice time so far, he is so happy to be in a place where there are lots of different people. He met some Francophone people at his introduction evening on the first night which made him happy, he found the hockey team, played at the weekend and was subjected to his first university downed pint, his course mates seem nice. The first 24 hours for us were a bit of a shock due to the number of people, an abundance of overwhelming choices and constant 'messages' of advertising everywhere - we live in an area of low population density and little choice. The next two days were a more positive experience of joy at the ease of buying things, the abundance of choices and multitude of experiences. Still trying to figure out phones and bank accounts without being able to prove 3 years of UK residency - which he does not have - but being a UK citizen. One step at a time.

Ditto for Dd .. busy week but really loving it. Heard a bit about the lectures that started today and they sound amazing..all in all a packed but positive week..