Has anyone heard back from LSE yet?

[Poblano]

DD has applied to study International Relations and has heard nothing so far. Has anyone else had any response yet, offer or rejection?

[Penguinsa]

Not yet. Economics. 3 offers in, awaiting 2 including LSE.

[mondaytosunday]

Yes if you look at offers thread and redirected from Oxbridge thread there have been some, one just yesterday I believe. My DD is waiting too.

[SendmetoWales]

We did and it was a rejection unfortunately. Best of luck!

[Poblano]

Rejection here too 😔

[Penguinsa]

Sorry to hear that Poblano and SendmetoWales

[SendmetoWales]

Sorry to hear @Poblano. Did they give a reason? It's so pot luck with LSE isn't it?

[Poblano]

@SendmetoWales Her personal statement wasn't convincing enough that she was interested in the subject. How about you?

[SendmetoWales]

@Poblano Exactly the same. Personal statement not convincing enough. I bet it was the same email

[Ceramiq]

LSE very often says it was the PS - I think because it's pretty hard for anyone to quibble with. Some courses at LSE are so fantastically oversubscribed that it's quite hard to imagine how applicants are chosen from the very qualified pool. Think of it as a lottery.

[user15913]

Same unconvincing reason here! The PS reason doesn't make any sense and totally unverifiable that it's the actual applicants own work - LSE really needs to start interviewing/administering tests - Imperial does it, as of course does Oxbridge. If you look at the LSE TSR spreadsheet for 2024 it makes weird reading - someone with five a stars and has won international essay comps rejected - I assume they wrote a decent PS - and they also had a very high TMUA and then someone with a very low TMUA is in (and they are meant to care about maths ability??). This is for economics. I'm not sure its worth wasting a UCAS slot on LSE for some courses!

[Ilikefood1234]

@user15913

Same unconvincing reason here! The PS reason doesn't make any sense and totally unverifiable that it's the actual applicants own work - LSE really needs to start interviewing/administering tests - Imperial does it, as of course does Oxbridge. If you look at the LSE TSR spreadsheet for 2024 it makes weird reading - someone with five a stars and has won international essay comps rejected - I assume they wrote a decent PS - and they also had a very high TMUA and then someone with a very low TMUA is in (and they are meant to care about maths ability??). This is for economics. I'm not sure its worth wasting a UCAS slot on LSE for some courses!

Their admission dept have said interviewing would cost too much. And that they'd need multiple interviewers to mitigate biases.

[Exasperatednow]

Haven't heard here yet for Ds.
Dd is in her final year at LSE and if I remember correctly didn't get her offer until mid March.

[user15913]

@Ilikefood1234 hmmmmmm not convinced at all! So they trust a PS more than one of their academics. How many people read each PS? How do they mitigate bias there?

[Ilikefood1234]

@user15913

@Ilikefood1234 hmmmmmm not convinced at all! So they trust a PS more than one of their academics. How many people read each PS? How do they mitigate bias there?

Edited

I know it's read multiple times. How many I'm not sure. But it is read multiple times.

[Needmoresleep]

LSE is not nearly as rich as Oxbridge or Imperial. They have been investing in student and teaching facilities.

My assumption is that PS' are scored, and that things like knowledge of the course and interest in the LSE specifically would come into play.

That said getting a place for any of the very oversubscribed economics courses is a bit of a lottery. DS was advised to apply for Cambridge UCL Warwick and LSE and to be happy if he got one. He only got LSE which was enough. And not till mid March. What may have helped him on the margin, though we can't be sure, was that he was registered for LSE public lectures (now also online) and regularly attended and made a passing mention in his PS.

[Ilikefood1234]

@Needmoresleep

LSE is not nearly as rich as Oxbridge or Imperial. They have been investing in student and teaching facilities.

My assumption is that PS' are scored, and that things like knowledge of the course and interest in the LSE specifically would come into play.

That said getting a place for any of the very oversubscribed economics courses is a bit of a lottery. DS was advised to apply for Cambridge UCL Warwick and LSE and to be happy if he got one. He only got LSE which was enough. And not till mid March. What may have helped him on the margin, though we can't be sure, was that he was registered for LSE public lectures (now also online) and regularly attended and made a passing mention in his PS.

Why is imperial richer than LSE?

Stem grants?

[Needmoresleep]

I don't know too much about Imperial's history but certainly KCL and UCL are longer established than LSE. Imperial is known as the richest of the London colleges, with the best bursaries and the best sports facilities. LSE is a relative newcomer and those Fabians, though well meaning were not in a position to establish great endowments.

[Penguinsa]

Still waiting for LSE here and 1 other. Economics. 3 offers in. Also puzzled by who has been rejected.

[mondaytosunday]

Not sure how a PS tailored to LSE is possible with four other universities to apply to.
My DD added LSE at the 11th hour, PS written months earlier. She is PQA and well above the grade requirement though, but we shall see!

[Cremebrulee45]

I think when they say tailored to the course, the key thing is that your PS talks about the kinds of topics their course covers. So for Geography your PS shouldn’t have much about physical geog as they only teach human. Or for anthropology they don’t teach biological or material anthropology. History they focus on modern and political etc. Economics I have no idea!

My DD did manage to attend a lecture at another university by an LSE professor so she was able to reference that without mentioning Lse specifically. But she was targeting them from the start so obviously it was easier.

@mondaytosunday I hope your DD gets some news soon

[Needmoresleep]

Economics should be straightforward. LSE offers a wide range of possible options. Read the course structure carefully, and there ought to be something to write about. (And note the number of maths courses, that won't suit everyone.) Normally students apply to similar courses elsewhere. So a PS that works for LSE should work for Cambridge or Warwick. It will be harder to write a PS that shows an interest in PPE or E&M at Oxford and LSE'S economics course.

[Penguinsa]

DD looked up PS for LSE for Economics and it was interest in economics and a lifetime interest and success in maths as its a very mathematical course. Advice was not to mention management if you applied to E&M at Oxford (though it does ask about TSA I think which gives the game away a bit) so that's what she did a PS largely based on economics and maths competitions. Oxford were OK with that as don't put much weight on PS and management interview there and didn't apply for management elsewhere. FM was a tricky point as she has no FM and they sent a form saying why no FM and she had to put preferred other subjects from their drop down list. And offer rate is quite a bit lower with no FM.

[Sorethroatpain]

The wait continues here for geography. Has anyone else’s DC heard anything yet? My DC is really fed up of waiting now. I think it does dampen their enthusiasm for LSE over time. In comparison Durham have regularly emailed (even before DC received an offer) and seem much more engaging.

[Cremebrulee45]

@Sorethroatpain i know it’s such a frustrating wait and it’s made worse by the almost total radio silence from them. Durham was really quick and took us by surprise.
The reality is that more LSE offers go out in April than any other month from what I’ve seen, and they’ve only just started ramping up. Dd did get an offer from them about 2 weeks ago (not geography) but she applied mid oct so it was still a long wait.
Hope your DC hears soon.

[Penguinsa]

Also still waiting for Economics and DD knows about 20 people who applied for LSE Economics around October time and all still waiting or rejected. Odd who is being rejected too though often says personal statement. All the other universities were much quicker especially Bath who was almost instant for an offer and lovely on phone. Bristol were a bit slower but could see offers going out to 4 A star then 3 A star so could see the logic. Whereas LSE has been rejecting some excellent 4 A star candidates very quickly with Economics and FM.