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3 Weeks Ago: 30th October 2009 18:37
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#8
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Full Member
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Southwark
Posts: 76
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Re: applying to LSE from overseas
my background -
American, top liberal arts school, junior, at LSE doing the general course.
my recommendations -
i would advise against entering as a freshman. first off, you probably don't stand a chance being admitted (i think Econ has a 5% acceptance rate).
second, in the unlikely event that you do get in (i don't know your stats/home school), re-doing freshman year will not be a productive option for you and here's why i think so. the expectations at LSE are very high. yet your first-year courses only count for 1/9th of your final degree classification i.e. if you want to conceptualize this in GPA terms, whereas in the US all 4 years have equal weighting for GPA purposes, at LSE your frosh courses only count for 10% of your final grade. so you will probably end up wasting time your frosh year by partying more than you should at this point in your college career, lose your academic focus and then get owned in subsequent years by the steep jump in rigor from 1st to 2nd years at LSE.
british university education is conducted completely differently from college in america. it's all end of the year exams here assessment-wise, and that has wide ranging implications. you have to learn an entirely new style of learning as exams ask very polarizing questions which require you to make an argument, yet you don't have notes in front of you so you have to have enough basic facts in your head, PLUS a predetermined viewpoint, to answer questions. let me tell you, that's much harder than anything i was ever asked to do at home.
the LSE's emphasis on preparing graduates for academia means you're in for a rough time 2nd year. so i think you'd be better off doing your first 2 years in the US, acquiring a solid academic foundation of both study skills (argumentation, how to write essays, time management) and actual discipline-specific knowledge.
then come here for general course and you'll be significantly better prepared than if you wasted a year by being a repeat freshman. your transition will be easier because of your extra year of study at a higher level. most important, if you don't like LSE, which there is a significant chance of as LSE is very much an acquired taste (very low degree of student satisfaction - 106th in the UK), you can go back to your home institution and finish your degree.
possibly most important, it's easier to get in as a general course student than it is as a frosh. to get in you have to obtain certain numbers on your end of year exams. they're not sky high - the minimum is a low 2.1 (B+). hard, but not impossible by any means. that's what i'd recommend and in fact that's the course of action i think i'm going to pursue in my own case.
food for thought.
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Welcome to the LSE forum: where prospective and current students can discuss everything from the library stairs to the admissions process and the relevance of GCSEs.
Useful Resources:
applying to LSE from overseas
However, I don't see why not try apply. You might want to email undergraduate admissions for specific requirements/procedures beforehand though.
