The Student Room Group
Carr Saunders Halls, LSE
London School of Economics
London

A Week in the Life: LSE edition

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Reply 140
bobby_Zz
ooooooh it's that ice cold british wit cutting me down to size (haha, get it? size? tiny dicks? hahaha triple entendre!!!)

hahahahaha....

suck my dick.


lmao triple entendre
Carr Saunders Halls, LSE
London School of Economics
London
Reply 141
Background: I'm a fresher at LSE studying Business Mathematics and Statistics (so very similar to Economics, Accounting & Finance if you do the full modules, Maths and Economics, Actuarial Science and others), living in Bankside House and writing based on Week 9 of Michaelmas Term (that's the first term of the year :p:).

Monday:


Up at 9:30 AM to get to my 11 AM economics lecture.

This was followed by an abstract maths lecture where I actually paid attention after a long time because the past couple of weeks I've been sitting next to some girl who I talk non-stop to during the lecture and so miss everything said! That and/or spend the whole time taking photos of people sleeping in the lecture.

It's 1 PM now and I don't have anything till 4 PM, so back to halls. Finish off my mathematical methods homework.

4 PM I have my mathematical methods class, which I like.

This is followed by ANOTHER abstract maths lecture (why do we have 2 on the same day?!).

6 PM and I'm actually exhausted (only slept at 5 AM previously). Back to halls, eat, sleep.

Wake up at 12 AM and watch the abstract maths lectures from last week because I literally didn't listen to a thing and my homework is due in tomorrow, which I can't even start right now.

Alternatively, every other week or so, there tends to be a good career event on on Mondays, so I'm often there till about 9.



Tuesday:


Up at 11 AM to get to my 12 PM economics lecture.

Get an hour long break after it, followed by mathematical methods (calculus) lecture, which is immediately followed by a stats lecture for which most people leave, but I stay.

Start to leave at 4 PM for halls.

Should be working, but can't be bothered. I'll hand in the abstract maths homework late (it's due in Tuesday, but she accepts Wednesdays too - I usually haven't even started it at this point).

Often go out Tuesday night - this week to a stand up comedy night at LSE (it's very good).

Back and now I really do need to get the abstract maths done. However, I procrastinate a few hours by watching Heroes and stuff. Spend about an hour and a half actually working.



Wednesday:

I have no lectures or classes on Wednesdays and yet I never get to lie in (where lie in = wake up at 4 PM).


I'm on the Finance Society committee, and the weekly meetings are held at on Wednesdays, so go in for 12 PM.

I usually also have a sports match on Wednesdays, but not playing this week.

Go back to halls and just waste time as usual.

5 PM I'm off again to get to a social dinner thing at 6:30 PM.

Feeling pretty tired, so don't bother going down to the bar in halls and just sleep very early to make up for the past few days.



When I do my sport, the standard is to leave LSE around 2 PM, then off to a pub after the match finishes, then we meet at the Tuns (an LSE pub/bar type thing) around 8 PM and then it's off to Zoo Bar (a club with free entry for people who're part of LSE's Athletics Union)

Thursday:

Only one lecture today. I've decided to no longer go to the Thursday stats lecture because it's just not worth waking up for - it's recorded online anyway. I went this week anyway because I had lots of other stuff to do anyway.


But before the stats lecture, I had to help out with the Finance Society stall (I usually do either the stall or an actual event on Thursdays)

Stats lecture at 12 PM.

Passed some time in the library (for the heating, not for the work - got absolutely nothing done), before going to a career event.

Couldn't be bothered to go to a networking event in the evening, so went back to halls and didn't do much for the rest of the day.

At some point, got my stats homework done for my class tomorrow and also started the economics problem set (you get 2 of these each term and they're the bane of all Economics B students' life). Much less than 2 hours spent working.



Friday:

This is a killer. I have 3 classes! A lot of other people do too.


Starts off 10 AM with a stats class - don't like it very much.

Followed by mathematical methods (linear algebra = :yucky:)

Then I get a small break, after which I go to my economics teacher's office hours because I'm struggling a lot with the course.

Soon after the office hour ends, I have my economics class, which I really like. The teacher and people are awesome.

I now have a stupid 2 hour break where it's impossible to fill the gap. Either I can sit in the library for 2 hours (but it's the weekend so lol no) or I can go back to halls, but I have to come back later so it's an hour wasted purely on travelling.

I normally go back to halls (so waste an hour on travelling) anyway because there is literally nothing better to do.

5 PM I have my abstract maths class - no one seems to like my teacher but I think she's good - she probably goes faster than the others can keep up with, but she's British (so excellent English) and competent.

Friday night is Crush (they turn what's called The Quad at LSE into a sorry excuse for a night club) - I think it's alright though. This week especially, because of the AU Carol/"bhangra Crush" thing (which means lots of people will be going). To be honest, I've only been to Crush once, during freshers' week, but I plan on going more often from now on.



In the past, I've usually gone home to family (in London) for the weekend.

Weekend:

Not much goes on in my weekends. Only noteworthy things are that I have to get my weekly economics quiz done and mathematical methods homework, both which I leave to the last minute on Sunday.


Notes

How does this compare with other LSE students?

I think you get 3 types of LSE students.

1) Those who don't go out at all and/or don't have (m)any friends at LSE. People who are international and in this category usually spend their lives on Skype. People who aren't international and in this category - I have no clue what they do. It can't be work because I haven't met many exceptionally bright or hard working people in this category... yet. I guess they go out with their old friends?

2) Those who go out virtually every night. I don't know too many people who fall in this category, but kudos to them, to be honest. That's pretty much how Michaelmas term of freshers should be spent. That said, they'll probably be working their arses off in Christmas. Although I reckon I could keep up with the amount of work I've been doing and go out every night as well, but I lack the energy for that.

3) People in the middle somewhere (which I guess includes me). I think this category captures most people and I think my week is similarish to most of theirs. The major difference would be that I probably go to far more career related events than even second and third years, but that's because, for me, LSE was a choice between a better education in maths vs better career prospects (I picked the latter), so I'm trying to make the most of it. Most people go out one or two nights more than me I'd say.

How much work do you have?

Basically, I go to almost every lecture (so 8 hours for me) and every class (4 hours).

In my own time, I spend maybe a couple of hours on the weekend and around 2 to 5 hours (usually about 3) in the weekdays.

We have to do one exercise sheet each week for mathematical methods, abstract maths and statistics. It isn't a coincidence that, whenever I've written that I did work, it was for a class the next day/a deadline. I only really tend to do the minimum amount of work - that is only the exercise sheets and the weekly economics quiz. I really ought to be doing more I think.

Compare this with school - you do about 7 hours a day right? So 35 hours a week? Add on time spent on homework and you're looking around 45ish right? For me it's more like 12 hours of teaching time and 5 hours of individual study, so 17 hours! I'm not saying this is recommended or anything, but it's what I do at least and I'm coping alright except for in economics (and when I say coping, I mean getting higher grades in the weekly exercises than other people in my class).

How would you change this?

Maybe do something more on weekends? At Bankside, there's a football thing, but not really into it.

Also, I should really make much more use of the bar.

I need to find time to work more on economics and abstract maths.
Reply 142
Swayum

How much work do you have?

Basically, I go to almost every lecture (so 8 hours for me) and every class (4 hours).

In my own time, I spend maybe a couple of hours on the weekend and around 2 to 5 hours (usually about 3) in the weekdays.

We have to do one exercise sheet each week for mathematical methods, abstract maths and statistics. It isn't a coincidence that, whenever I've written that I did work, it was for a class the next day/a deadline. I only really to do the minimum amount of work - that is only the exercise sheets and the weekly economics quiz. I really ought to be doing more I think.

Compare this with school - you do about 7 hours a day right? So 35 hours a week? Add on time spent on homework and you're looking around 45ish right? For me it's more like 12 hours of teaching time and 5 hours of individual study, so 17 hours! I'm not saying this is recommended or anything, but it's what I do at least and I'm coping alright except for in economics.


Great post :smile: Also dont worry too much about your work habits. Doing the amount of work you do now and carrying it over next term + doing some concentrated revision a week or two before each exam will get you a first this year (although next term the courses get harder, but still just doing the homeworks is plenty).
Reply 143
The contact time hardly sounds taxing to be honest. From the sound of it I'd be lucky to push double digits most weeks.

But that means more time to spend in the pub... wait, I mean in the library. Reading, and making notes and working hard... Ahem.
Reply 144
The contact time is not taxing at all but the work you have to do outside of those contact hours (this coming from someone who does the absolute bare minimum) is quite tough. It's manageable though if you manage your time, I go clubbing at least 2 times a week and I socialise on the other nights. It's possible as long as you keep on top of the work and try not to fall behind.....although the occasional all nighter goes a long way :wink:
My LSE Week (Typically) as a Govt/Hist 2nd Year.

Monday: Two classes, one at 10am (Cold War and European Integration) and another at 5pm (Politics of Economic Policy). Ridiculous gaps are a specialty of the timetabling morons at the LSE. I deliberately live in a student-free area (Camden, for those of you who are thinking of it, is so overrated it hurts, and if you live anywhere in West London...) and I leave Clapham at 9:30 to get in just on time. Spend most of the afternoon between class and next class frittering away in the Library and go for the next one. I would start about the 'library stereotypes' you will being to become painfully familiar with but they probably use TSR as well. Actually, who cares. European Work Machines- female postgrads who slave away endlessly. The Mad Asian- badly dressed Chinese or Indian pimply-boys with their Dell laptops. AU Types- peroxide orange-faced types who 'work' (read: play around on facebook) while staggering endlessly and strolling around in UGGs and baggy Willis crap. You get the picture.

Tuesday: The Day from Hell. You will usually have one bad day a week. Two lectures, two classes, in for 10am. Same routine- class, library, class, lecture. Usually sneak off to a Sam Smiths with some friends in the afternoon to 'cool off'. Spend a good amount of time avoiding the straggling groups of Mainland Chinese undergrads who seem to cluster around bits of the LSE like termite swarms. Don't ever expect to get to know them- they hate everyone who doesn't hang in their clique, and that includes every Home student.

Wednesday: One lecture at 10 am (Thanks, Timetable morons) and then off to City Hall to toil for the anonymous member of the London Assembly I do transport policy work for. If I'm very lucky I get to share a lift with Richard Barnbrook (I am ethnic Chinese, and yes, this has happened three times in the past two months) in his sexy tan suit, otherwise it's just another day at the desk sifting through whatever new scheme the Mayor is trying to pass off under the radar. Last year I used my free Wednesday doing the same thing but for a Shadow Minister in the Lords. Honestly, use your free days wisely, it helps immensely in the long run.

Thursday: Free Day. City Hall again. Much fun, especially if there's a meeting of the Assembly on, where I get to watch Brian Coleman AM being an utter :snow::snow::snow::snow:. UGM is on this day as well, but I leave that to the people who play Sandbox Politics- the hacks and hackettes who clearly fail to realize there is a all-encompassing thing called 'London' around the LSE.

Friday: One class at 12, then off for a drinkie.
One of these typical weekly guides for a Law undergraduate would be much appreciated :smile:
Reply 147
sad core
A&F will be good and i want to know about life in LSE societies and sports.


hey,
i know this is totally out of context but..
both your firm and insurance have the same offer requirements?!
how does that work?
as in, what if you end up with AAB, can you choose which uni you want to attend or will you have to go to your firm only?

and what if someone (i'm not saying you :P) who has the same situation as you ends up with ABB? then do they miss both their choices?

i've heard sometimes, and i'm not sure which unis exactly, uni's are lenient and don't mind if you miss their offer by a grade or so?

i'm planning to do the same as you, hence all the questions, thanks in advance!
Monday:
Wake up for 10am lecture, sometimes hungover as a result of random Sunday night drinking but usually feeling the best one will feel all week.
Spend all day at LSE with another two lectures, library time and coffee chats with mates filling up the time.
Back to halls around 6pm, grab and quick dinner and go out - Mondays are great - Tiger, Maya, 24, Mahiki....

Tuesday:
More lectures - wake up incredibly hungover, wanting to kill the lecturer who put it at 9am.
Just one more lecture after and before lunch so grab lunch at LSE or on the way back to halls and scoff it down there. Then usually back to bed unless some sort of essay needs doing.
Wake up and usually have a night off the partying unless there's a big Ministry/Pacha night and everybody's going. Time is spent eating out with a mate or chilling in the bar playing pool.

Wednesday:
Day off - which I am thankful for if I've been out particularly. Wish my day off was on a Tues as Mon nights are so good out though! Spend most of the day in bed watching TV on Megavideo or Iplayer. Do a bit of reading, some shopping, washing - try to get all that boring stuff done cos I'm too tired on the days I've had uni. Sometimes out to Zoo in the evening for AU night - the one night where you can feel like a normal uni student and not one at LSE! I also sometime meet mates from other London Unis on a Wed afternoon as none of us play sport and everybody has that wednesday aft off for sport.

Thursday:
9am ughhhhhh leave me alone. Some people I know have no 9ams whereas I have 2 - Tues and Thurs. Don't go to this class a lot as Wednesday nights are pretty messy - AU night is always pretty bad. When I do, I'm nearly asleep so don't really see the point. Doss around LSE till my other afternoon class -- spend about 2/3 hrs in lib doing reading for aft class and meeting mates for lunch. After my class, I go to Covent Garden or Oxford St for some shopping. Eve is either out to SEone or somewhere else or spent inthe bar.

Friday:
Lie in as I only have afternoon classes :smile:
Nothing gets done in the morn apart from sleeping and eating. Classes which I usually haven't read for so must blag. Evening is pretty chilled - less likely to go out on a Fri as more expensive. Penthouse is ridiculous for drinks despite it having a student night on Fris. Chill with mates or go home as I live in London - try not to do this often though as it's kind of antisocial. A lot of Londoners do it though and it can get kind of annoying!

SAT/SUN - NOTHING. I 'm either at home or do a little work or dossing around with mates. Literally all my work and play happens in the week and nothing in the weekend - gonna change this next year cos i've probs wasted half my year doing nothing!

Make the most of your 1st year, it goes FAST. try not to go home if you live nearby too often as it can stop you from socialising as much as you could.

Tips: get a sandwich toaster, mine was invaluable this year for cheap eats :biggrin: or buy the Wrights Bar burgers - so yum and cheap
After classes,
Omg, is LSE the most unsociable university in London, generally?
Reply 150
Alex000007
Omg, is LSE the most unsociable university in London, generally?


Whose post is giving you this impression? I wouldn't say LSE is any less sociable than Imperial.

It depends on the individual though - I can think of people who virtually never leave their rooms besides to study/eat/go home, I can also think of people who go out 4 times a week. However, the majority of people, like at any university I'd imagine, fall somewhere in the middle. It totally depends on what YOU want to do.
Reply 151
Alex000007
Omg, is LSE the most unsociable university in London, generally?


No. Like Swayum said, LSE is as social as you want it to be. LSE caters to people who never socialise and also to people who want to party all the time.
Reply 152
The Edwinnator
My LSE Week (Typically) as a Govt/Hist 2nd Year.

Monday: Two classes, one at 10am (Cold War and European Integration) and another at 5pm (Politics of Economic Policy). Ridiculous gaps are a specialty of the timetabling morons at the LSE. I deliberately live in a student-free area (Camden, for those of you who are thinking of it, is so overrated it hurts, and if you live anywhere in West London...) and I leave Clapham at 9:30 to get in just on time. Spend most of the afternoon between class and next class frittering away in the Library and go for the next one. I would start about the 'library stereotypes' you will being to become painfully familiar with but they probably use TSR as well. Actually, who cares. European Work Machines- female postgrads who slave away endlessly. The Mad Asian- badly dressed Chinese or Indian pimply-boys with their Dell laptops. AU Types- peroxide orange-faced types who 'work' (read: play around on facebook) while staggering endlessly and strolling around in UGGs and baggy Willis crap. You get the picture.

Tuesday: The Day from Hell. You will usually have one bad day a week. Two lectures, two classes, in for 10am. Same routine- class, library, class, lecture. Usually sneak off to a Sam Smiths with some friends in the afternoon to 'cool off'. Spend a good amount of time avoiding the straggling groups of Mainland Chinese undergrads who seem to cluster around bits of the LSE like termite swarms. Don't ever expect to get to know them- they hate everyone who doesn't hang in their clique, and that includes every Home student.

Wednesday: One lecture at 10 am (Thanks, Timetable morons) and then off to City Hall to toil for the anonymous member of the London Assembly I do transport policy work for. If I'm very lucky I get to share a lift with Richard Barnbrook (I am ethnic Chinese, and yes, this has happened three times in the past two months) in his sexy tan suit, otherwise it's just another day at the desk sifting through whatever new scheme the Mayor is trying to pass off under the radar. Last year I used my free Wednesday doing the same thing but for a Shadow Minister in the Lords. Honestly, use your free days wisely, it helps immensely in the long run.

Thursday: Free Day. City Hall again. Much fun, especially if there's a meeting of the Assembly on, where I get to watch Brian Coleman AM being an utter :snow::snow::snow::snow:. UGM is on this day as well, but I leave that to the people who play Sandbox Politics- the hacks and hackettes who clearly fail to realize there is a all-encompassing thing called 'London' around the LSE.

Friday: One class at 12, then off for a drinkie.


I see you did gv227 - i'm thinking of choosing it. Is it good??
Swayum
Whose post is giving you this impression? I wouldn't say LSE is any less sociable than Imperial.

It depends on the individual though - I can think of people who virtually never leave their rooms besides to study/eat/go home, I can also think of people who go out 4 times a week. However, the majority of people, like at any university I'd imagine, fall somewhere in the middle. It totally depends on what YOU want to do.

Vesta
No. Like Swayum said, LSE is as social as you want it to be. LSE caters to people who never socialise and also to people who want to party all the time.

Thanks for answering my concerns.

I understand this but it's hard to socialise with people if I'm stuck on a floor with unsociable people. I applied for HH, mistakenly, I went there and it was a pathetic fallacy.... LOL Is HH popular for international students, which halls do home students tend to go for?

Also, is the student vibe lost because it's in London?

I can imagine how irritable my dramatic nature can be so I'd like to apologise profusely.
Reply 154
Alex000007
Thanks for answering my concerns.

I understand this but it's hard to socialise with people if I'm stuck on a floor with unsociable people. I applied for HH, mistakenly, I went there and it was a pathetic fallacy.... LOL Is HH popular for international students, which halls do home students tend to go for?


Vesta and I were at Bankside. I can't say for her, but I knew virtually no one on my floor and still most of my friends were Banksiders! You'll make friends in halls through the social events and things, not through your floor.

There's no such thing as "home students go to Northumberland, internationals go to HH, poor students go to Bankside, rich students go to Passfield, etc" (these stereotypes were literally all made up in this post randomly, btw, if anything, the stereotypes are a lot different!).

Also, is the student vibe lost because it's in London?


I don't know what the student vibe is, but seeing as I was constantly around students, I'd say no?

I can imagine how irritable my dramatic nature can be so I'd like to apologise profusely.


You just need to relax. LSE really isn't that bad! Most people who make an effort do enjoy their time here. Enjoyment means different things to different people; for some it's getting high first class grades, for others it's getting that Goldman Sachs internship, for others it's a few close friends, for others it's a large group of party animals, etc etc etc. You can find all that at LSE.
Swayum
Vesta and I were at Bankside. I can't say for her, but I knew virtually no one on my floor and still most of my friends were Banksiders! You'll make friends in halls through the social events and things, not through your floor.

There's no such thing as "home students go to Northumberland, internationals go to HH, poor students go to Bankside, rich students go to Passfield, etc" (these stereotypes were literally all made up in this post randomly, btw, if anything, the stereotypes are a lot different!).



I don't know what the student vibe is, but seeing as I was constantly around students, I'd say no?



You just need to relax. LSE really isn't that bad! Most people who make an effort do enjoy their time here. Enjoyment means different things to different people; for some it's getting high first class grades, for others it's getting that Goldman Sachs internship, for others it's a few close friends, for others it's a large group of party animals, etc etc etc. You can find all that at LSE.


Thanks for this :o: I wish I can REP you again, for this is the only way I can show my appreciation in a TSR standard.
Lol, LSE is pretty sociable :tongue:

In 2 years, I have wasted more time with friends then I can possibly imagine I would have done. Its been jokes.

Should get my studying act together this year tbh though. Or, I could enjoy the last year of freedom.... decisions decisions...
Reply 157
Alex000007
Thanks for answering my concerns.

I understand this but it's hard to socialise with people if I'm stuck on a floor with unsociable people. I applied for HH, mistakenly, I went there and it was a pathetic fallacy.... LOL Is HH popular for international students, which halls do home students tend to go for?

Also, is the student vibe lost because it's in London?

I can imagine how irritable my dramatic nature can be so I'd like to apologise profusely.


Swayum
Vesta and I were at Bankside. I can't say for her, but I knew virtually no one on my floor and still most of my friends were Banksiders! You'll make friends in halls through the social events and things, not through your floor.

There's no such thing as "home students go to Northumberland, internationals go to HH, poor students go to Bankside, rich students go to Passfield, etc" (these stereotypes were literally all made up in this post randomly, btw, if anything, the stereotypes are a lot different!).

I don't know what the student vibe is, but seeing as I was constantly around students, I'd say no?

You just need to relax. LSE really isn't that bad! Most people who make an effort do enjoy their time here. Enjoyment means different things to different people; for some it's getting high first class grades, for others it's getting that Goldman Sachs internship, for others it's a few close friends, for others it's a large group of party animals, etc etc etc. You can find all that at LSE.


Same as Swayum - I made a lot of friends at Bankside (although most of my close friends are not from Bankside, but that's different). But I was on the worst floor in the world - even worse than yours Swayum!! I made one good friend on my floor and the rest were postgrads or never left their rooms. Despite that, though, I still made loads of friends at Bankside. It's really no big deal moving between floors - HH has stairs and lifts so it's not so bad :wink:

I really wanted HH but I got Bankside instead. I was really upset at first but in hindsight I'm so unbelievably glad I got Bankside and want to hug the person in the accommodation office who was responsible for this allocation (if it's done by a person...)

The student vibe isn't lost. OK maybe it's not as prevalent as somewhere like Warwick or Nottingham, but whatever. A lot of students go for the student nights with UCL, KCL, SOAS etc which definitely have a student vibe (i.e. loads of drunk people partying on a Monday night :biggrin:). And a big hall like HH will definitely have a student vibe.

A lot of home students go to Rosebery, btw
Reply 158
Vesta
But I was on the worst floor in the world - even worse than yours Swayum!!


Are you drunk again? :p:

The person you were sharing a bathroom with was cool + you had Neil + Dan + I bet a few others as well on your floor. I spoke to literally no one on my floor! I've never been in any room on my floor besides mine!

I met your soon flat mate to be at RBS a week ago by the way - she's really nice! Never really spoke to her at Bankside (Nicola).
Reply 159
The Sherminator


In 2 years, I have wasted more time with friends then I can possibly imagine I would have done. Its been jokes.



Starting drinking at 4pm became a staple on fridays after a while. Definitely worth the hours of study time lost

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