A Week in the Life: LSE edition

Can anyone explain why LSE has such a low student satisfaction rating?

Can anyone explain why LSE has such a low student satisfaction rating?

Can anyone explain why LSE has such a low student satisfaction rating?

This is gonna sound harsh though, but a lot of people blame their own problems on the school. Before I applied, during my application process, on the open day, on the offer holder's day and after I accepted I repeatedly got a very clear message from the University:

This isn't like school, it's maybe not like some other universities which are very academically supportive. It's a challenge and it's not for everyone. On some courses (like mine, government) it's implied that you will need current affairs knowledge to do well. On a lot of courses, you may be expected to go beyond the syllabus to get really, really good grades and there may be (very small) elements of the exam which you haven't directly studied.

Basically, I felt aware from the beginning (because LSE wouldn't STFU about it) that the teaching approach was quite hands off, but that was in part the reason why LSE has a rather good reputation with graduate employers.

Some people react badly to this and take it out on the school when the simple fact is that the school's style just isn't conducive to them as learners.

Plus, at a uni like LSE which is both prestigious and only associated with one discipline, research is always going to be their first consideration. Which sucks.

There's a lot of other factors which shouldn't be overlooked though:
- Pastoral/mental health support is - IMO - shocking and much more could be done; especially in terms of facilitating peer to peer support.
- Some teachers are just rubbish. Personally I've been lucky and all my teachers have either been senior academics or PHD candidates, but in some courses the teachers may only be post grad students who really don't want to be there. A friend of mine had no classes in a maths module for 2 weeks because the teacher quit and the school was slow in arranging a replacement - totally unacceptable when students are consumers paying at least 9k a year!
- Some lecturers might be quite literally the biggest name in their field on the planet doing world-leading, ground-breaking research and you're learning not out of a textbook but from their live data and theorising. Unfortunately, their English might suck and you understand about 20% of what's happening in lectures.
- The school could do so much more for students with SEN and disabilities. For example: this year LSE100 (the module every LSE undergraduate has to take) was held in a building with no disabled access lift and toilets; meaning that some students faced the possibility of being segregated. Pretty humiliating, totally unnecessary and absolutely unacceptable.
- The school ignores/rebuffs the same reasonable requests that are made on a yearly basis. Quicker exam turnaround, more detailed exam feedback, all lectures recorded and available online. This is something which really irritates a lot of students.

Lastly, experiences can vary department to department. I've had a really great experience in the gov department. One of my best mates is doing phil & econ and loves dealing with the phil dept and hates the econ. I think that big disparity is something that really frustrates people too.

Sorry for the huge reply, hope his helps.

Hey I'm an international student. Do I have to worry about accomodation placings now or settle it only when I'm at LSE (prob around early September). Also, I'm into archery, so is there any archery range around LSE ?