What is the No1 economics course in the UK? (In terms of academic rigour and graduate prospects)

[eggsbenedict23]

DS is in year 12 and last month attended the LSE open day. He liked the place and the department seemed nice. He told me (and showed me the talk recordings) that one of the professors giving the talk was saying they are a "top tier research university" etc. DS told me the professor briefly mentioned something along the lines of "we write the textbooks the second tier universities use". Apparently the professor mentioned Oxford and Cambridge as being 2nd tier.

To me it seemed as if the professor is arrogant.

I studied at the LSE, not economics though. My bf at the time studied in Cambridge so I visited often.

I'm now a hiring manager with a big corporate and was previously in the City, and I can safely say - as long as long as you're in a red brick university with a 2:1 - your employability depends on how you interview, clear assessments and can demonstrate something beyond academics. Some professions like strategy consulting still prefer Oxbridge but even they are having to change up recruitment to stay relevant in a future that wants more diversity and different ways of thinking. So between LSE and Oxbridge - the choice should be the type of uni experience your son wants. LSE is very much a city uni with all the benefits that has - it's not an artificial uni environment like oxbridge. So I did think I matured and adjusted better to working life in London than students who came from more campus based environments. Surprised someone upthread says lse isn't a party uni..

It's London! Of course students socialise and party (their student club used to attract all the London student scene) and it's not international students v uk students - you make friends on your course and wherever you live. I found it very vibrant and less sheltered as it's quite a diverse student body. Bit of course if someone wants a more traditional uni experience of spires and greens than it's not suitable. Also cost of living day to day is more expensive, though part time jobs are plentiful.

The most important advice I can give a student now is to pick a uni they will enjoy and be happy in - as that's what motivates them into extra curricular activities, grows confidence and helps build social networks: that stuff counts a lot more than just grades. Also pick a course that has more case study/applied learning and continuous research based teaching - you want to stay current and not just be reading outdated textbooks.

@ganvough what's the socialising like between different unis within London? Are you allowed to use their facilities?

@eggsbenedict23 What facilities do you want? I’m sure others will know the answer but most students tend to stay within the facilities offered by their university such as libraries snd societies. Sports might be different.

@ganvough Im so pleased you mentioned all the other aspects of getting a job beyond academics. I think HE threads dominated by teachers and academics often totally miss the point about a degree being part of the picture. Other attributes count! A first isn’t everything that matters. Neither is being so invested in your subject you do nothing else to put on your cv.

I went to a different London uni only several years ago and met and interned with LSE kids and the rep that they have is that everyone is keen to go into IB and that it is definitely not a party uni (UCL and Kings have better social lives). Maybe it's changed since you went...?

Curiouslama, your sample may have been skewed by the fact you interned with students from the LSE, presumably in some sort of IB/IB adjacent role. Taking a similar sample of DS' friends the dominant ambition would have been some sort of research and forecasting role either in academia, or within a research consultancy/think tank.

The LSE recognised the interest in IB careers and a few years back started offering a dedicated Finance degree which presumably helps the the economics department focus on a broader study of economics.

In terms of social life, LSE did host one of the most popular student discos (Saucy) in town but looking for it, there seems to have been a problem with too many outsiders and some problem incidents, and the disco has moved to another location, though the bar remains. It is common for students to go to social events at other Universities. In my day the top places were the School of Mines and the London College of Printing, though I remember seeing a very stoned Nico at Imperial.

In some ways London has an advantage, students are scattered so social life tends to happen on campus which leads to societies being more active (our comparison is Bristol where only the would be politicians and actors ever seemed to go to the student union.) Sports fields are some way out, though the train journey from Waterloo is relatively straight forward. The advantage then is matches are mainly played against other London Universities. (DD at Bristol saw most of Wales and even got as far as Brighton for an away match.) Imperial is the richest University, probably followed by UCL and has the best facilities. LSE, UCL etc however have access to ULU which includes a good pool. (Note Imperial and UCL offer some generous bursaries - and if living in London is going to be a struggle it is worth potential students asking LSE if they can give them something.) The same applies to other student competitions, though DS' gaming teams were on to a hiding to nothing when pitched against Imperial or UCL.

One of DS' friends went to Imperial so in his first year DS joined one of the Imperial sports societies with him, though I don't know the mechanism. I do know that DD has turned out a couple of times for a non-competitive Imperial team a couple of times when no longer a student.

Another advantage is that the library, thus the campus is open 24 hours and remains busy though vacations. It is quite common for international students to join friends studying in London for vacations rather than finding themselves isolated in Bath or Cambridge or wherever. The pattern of the academic year is also good with two 12 week teaching terms and then a shorter exam term.

@Needmoresleep did some googling. I think the ULU pool is gone. But imperial have their own pool

Ahh, the ULU pool was there a few years back when DD was at school. Pity if it is gone. You have the Oasis pool nearby - open air and quiet during the day.

Imperial has very good sports facilities. The LSE not, other than its sports grounds. DS used to play in an open 7 a side league, mainly students from different Universities and using local commercial facilities. London University sports teams are not always very competitive, so the serious sports types often ended up playing for local clubs, ie Ealing, Camden or one of the other swimming clubs or Wimbledon Harrow or Surbiton hockey clubs. Ditto music. LSE has active music groups, but you also have the whole of London on your doorstep.

Cost is another issue. Oxbridge is almost the cheapest in the UK as you pay fairly subsidised rent only for very short 8 week terms and may be able to live in college in each of years 1 - 3. That is very different from the opposite end of the scale London with London rents etc.

I personally think universities outside London can be a better staging post for an 18 year old in an Oxbridge or other out of London environment but I would certainly have had no problem had mine chosen LSE - it is a brilliant university and I have no skin in the game at all as 3 of mine went to Bristol so neither LSE nor Oxbridge nor even the colleges of Durham

Went to Imperial myself and the rep isn'f just among people I interned with 🤷‍♀️ Likewise, Imperial frequently gets a rep for bad social life

Have spoken to DS and he is worried he'd feel out of place in Imperial. "A social scientist in a world of natural scientists". Imperial doesn't even have an economics society. But then I suggested to DS "it would look amazing on your CV if you started one up". Probably goes with the fact they are just starting to teach an economics degree.

He should go with his instincts. Imperial has a specific feel as does the LSE.

But again, it is probably something to worry about if/when you need to choose. DS was fine with LSE which he already knew well from public lectures. He did not like Warwick as much, but had Warwick offered and LSE rejected, he would have gone there and in all probability been perfectly happy.

There is probably no need to worry which uni to choose out of all the top ones until offers come in. Just apply to 3/4 of them, with one or two insurance ones, and see which offers your son is lucky to get. This year Imperial was surprisingly competitive for their new economics course- one of my DS friends who got an offer was told on offer day that only 5% of applicants got an offer (course is tiny with about 70 people). Warwick have also been really picky this year, alongside LSE/UCL/Oxbridge so don’t worry too much about which one to pick until offers come in.
Do make sure there is an insurance choice such as Nottingham/ Bath- even though your son will probably get one of the top ones it is always worth preparing for the worst case scenario.

@Theworld12 DS is thinking Southampton for his insurance choice due to an integrated master's in economics.

@eggsbenedict23 Yes that does look like a great insurance choice. Shame none of the top unis offer an integrated masters too! Would save 25k plus as the fees for an economics masters at LSE/Oxbridge are extortionate!

@Theworld12 DS and I looked for them! Only Essex and Southampton.

Or you do as DS was advised to do, and just apply to top courses to maximise the chances of getting one, with a gap year and reapplication as a fall back.

One of the LSE professors of economics has his degree from Cambridge so it can't be that Bad.

Mind if I ask who?

No problems socialising at LSE for DD. Loves the international vibes. Dc1 at different London uni joined a non uni sports group

DD in 3rd year at LSE.

Being in London allows you to be as social as you like. DD has enjoyed so many West End Shows at very low prices, lots of free London events and joined non-LSE clubs like Gymshark run club. She is a member of the LSE swimming society and swims 3 times a week just off Drury Lane for £70 a year LSE membership. She has enjoyed many club nights, house parties, hockey club socials (yet she has not picked up a stick in the 3 years she has been at LSE). Hockey club trains and plays at the Olympic Park.

DD often studies in the UCL library as it is close to the LSE halls. She also uses the Wellcome Trust library as a study space as well as Pret. As LSE is part of the university of London, you can have access to all the libraries in the university of London group.

Only the senate building of the university of London in my time. There were shared facilities with Kings as it's across the road and the student union club allowed all uni of London students. I must admit I didn't spend much time at other uni campuses. This was 19 years ago now so of course it might have changed since then - campus is certainly a lot bigger with more buildings. We shared sports grounds with queen Mary's and imperial - I remember that much. Because people are so spread out unlike a uni campus you do have to invest more into making friendships and it's not as easy. But you'll buddy up with your course mates, flat mates and any societies you join. The societies were good fun and the study abroad opportunities too on some courses.

I only asked this because DS was wondering if London uni students could wander into other unis campuses. That's all.

I work at LSE. It is predominantly a postgrad insitution, and we have a large proportion of international students. This means the UG experience is quite different to a lot of universities. We generally do quite poorly in the NSS (3rd year UG survey) compared to other Russell Group unis, though this has been improving with a big push on the education strategy and student experience. There are many other courses than economics though, so he would meet people doing other subjects. I personally wouldn't want to go to LSE as an undergrad. The saying is that it is a great place to have been (in terms of getting jobs in the City etc), but not a great place to be. It really depends what he wants out of uni - if the focus is entirely on getting a job in the City then it would be a very good choice.

Oh and yes many of the (male) professors are very arrogant, but having worked in other universities, that is not unique to LSE!

Hi OP. I would say LSE is probably better for postgrad.

On applying for Economics at Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, Warwick, please do be realistic and bear in mind that nearly all applicants will be applying with 4 A stars. This is a given.

At LSE, the only thing to distinguish between applicants is the PS. Look on the website about the course - there are guidelines about what to include and he will need to specifically tailor his PS to this. It will still be fine for Oxbridge, which put less emphasis on the PS as they also interview and hold their own admissions assessments.

Probably the Oxbridge process favours students who perform well in interview and can think on their feet?

In any event, it's a very imperfect process and all these institutions are turning down hundreds (thousands) with perfect grades every year.