[ellyrie]

I have posted a similar thing in the Durham University forum.

I am currently torn between LSE & Durham and with the deadline fast approaching it's becoming more and mor eimportant to decide. I have an offer from LSE to study Geography and Economics and an offer from Durham to study Geography Bsc. So the courses are quite different as well as the universities and their locations. I would appreciate if any current / future students could give me some reasons why they think LSE is the place to go. Thank you so much for you help.

[yothi5]

LSE all the way.

[North Irelandman]

You probably expect to hear this, but LSE will give you the better job opportunities after graduating. Unless you have strong feelings against living in London, or you really would prefer and think you would do better in a pure Geography course, I think LSE is the obvious choice. Congratulations on getting both offers anyway, hope you can make a decision you're happy with

[River85]

(Original post by North Irelandman)
You probably expect to hear this, but LSE will give you the better job opportunities after graduating. Unless you have strong feelings against living in London, or you really would prefer and think you would do better in a pure Geography course, I think LSE is the obvious choice. Congratulations on getting both offers anyway, hope you can make a decision you're happy with

Perhaps outside of front office IB, it really doesn't make a difference.

The majority of employers do not discriminate heavily according to university name and both LSE and Durham are highly targeted universities.

The difference in course (JH Geography and Economics; Single Honours Geography) is more likely to have an effect than any difference in university brand name, as the JH will be more versatile and quanititve. Though the OP will be able to take economics modules at Durham, alongside Geography, if she/she has AS/A-level maths (which I assume he/she either has or will have).

[North Irelandman]

(Original post by River85)
Perhaps outside of front office IB, it really doesn't make a difference.

The majority of employers do not discriminate heavily according to university name and both LSE and Durham are highly targeted universities.

Maybe I am in the wrong position to advise in this case as someone following the Economics path to IB; however the overwhelming advise for me was to value the university name as much as if not more than the degree title. This also being backed by an LSE lecturer when I was discussing what impacts a transfer to Economic History would have.

The way I see it, if two candidates have a roughly equal CV standard, the candidate with the more prestigious university name (even marginally as in this case) will be at an advantage. This is the situation I imagine to arise with many graduate positions, and additionally in terms of building up your CV I find London provides the perfect opportunities as a student, one of the first points I considered when deciding to apply.

[River85]

(Original post by North Irelandman)
Maybe I am in the wrong position to advise in this case as someone following the Economics path to IB; however the overwhelming advise for me was to value the university name as much as if not more than the degree title. This also being backed by an LSE lecturer when I was discussing what impacts a transfer to Economic History would have.

The way I see it, if two candidates have a roughly equal CV standard, the candidate with the more prestigious university name (even marginally as in this case) will be at an advantage. This is the situation I imagine to arise with many graduate positions, and additionally in terms of building up your CV I find London provides the perfect opportunities as a student, one of the first points I considered when deciding to apply.

Sorry for the late reply. I don't think I saw the notification and have been busy anyway.

Does the LSE academic have any experience of anything outside academia? You really need to take that with a pinch of salt. Not only is he from LSE, so has a vested interest, but he's also an academic. Many of them have never had a job outside academia and can be out of touch.

It is frankly almost impossible that two candidates will be equal in terms of their CV. There are many ways to distinguish between applicants including admissions tests (Psychometric testing, verbal and numberical reasoning). Applying for a job is more than just sending off a CV and, even then, people are unlikely to be identical (different degrees, academic results, work experience).

As for opportunities available to you in London, that's a difficult on with no easy answer. What opportunities are you referring to? Exactly the same firms will target Durham students as they do LSE students, and will often interview in Durham to avoid the student needing to travel. Internships aplenty are offered at Durham, just as they are at LSE, and these can be regional or in London.

I'm not saying that university name isn't a factor in employment, it's just a factor many on this site exaggerate and employers are often more likely to discriminate, which is the minority, are more likely to discriminate according to their own personal preference which may no correlate with league tables. Your degree subject will have more of a bearing on your success than whether you chose Durham or LSE.

[weetabixmonster]

I guess the two main factors I would take into account are the environment of the university and the course. Obviously, LSE an Durham are both great universities; so I would say choose the course you think you'll most enjoy.

I would imagine you've visited both the universities by now... so as annoying as this sounds: go for the one you feel most at 'home' in. For me, LSE is constantly lively, but also sometimes I feel a bit out of place, considering that graduate students make up most the student body. I still love it anyway and it felt right for me. I'm not sure what Durham is like though; maybe you'll enjoy it more.

Oh, and Rivers85, thanks for getting really touchy and inboxing me to say you were annoyed with my neg. How sweet.

[River85]

(Original post by weetabixmonster)
I guess the two main factors I would take into account are the environment of the university and the course. Obviously, LSE an Durham are both great universities; so I would say choose the course you think you'll most enjoy.

I would imagine you've visited both the universities by now... so as annoying as this sounds: go for the one you feel most at 'home' in. For me, LSE is constantly lively, but also sometimes I feel a bit out of place, considering that graduate students make up most the student body. I still love it anyway and it felt right for me. I'm not sure what Durham is like though; maybe you'll enjoy it more.

Oh, and Rivers85, thanks for getting really touchy and inboxing me to say you were annoyed with my neg. How sweet.

You're welcome. It's not the neg, though, as it's only virtual rep (and worthless anyway). It's that, if you don't agree with a post, you say why and offer a contrasting view as this may be helpful to the OP. It just seemed that you negged it as you saw it a slight on LSE (or goes against any belief that, as an possible LSE graduate, you'll find getting a graduate job much easier). But you've posted now so fair enough.

[The Polymath]

(Original post by weetabixmonster)
I guess the two main factors I would take into account are the environment of the university and the course. Obviously, LSE an Durham are both great universities; so I would say choose the course you think you'll most enjoy.

I would imagine you've visited both the universities by now... so as annoying as this sounds: go for the one you feel most at 'home' in. For me, LSE is constantly lively, but also sometimes I feel a bit out of place, considering that graduate students make up most the student body. I still love it anyway and it felt right for me. I'm not sure what Durham is like though; maybe you'll enjoy it more.

Oh, and Rivers85, thanks for getting really touchy and inboxing me to say you were annoyed with my neg. How sweet.

Virtually everyone I ask tells me that Durham is a fantastic place to study, and that it is more enjoyable than LSE. The phrase "Oxbridge of the North" is one I hear very often. LSE will of course give you higher employability and reputation, and the fact that you'll be doing Geography and Economics rather than just Geography will be even more beneficial. The decision is between a better experience or a better future Although Durham will still give you excellent prospects, as it also has an outstanding reputation in the UK (it's just that LSE's is higher, and it has a reputation worldwide too).

[River85]

(Original post by Junaid96)
Virtually everyone I ask tells me that Durham is a fantastic place to study, and that it is more enjoyable than LSE. The phrase "Oxbridge of the North" is one I hear very often. LSE will of course give you higher employability and reputation, and the fact that you'll be doing Geography and Economics rather than just Geography will be even more beneficial. The decision is between a better experience or a better future Although Durham will still give you excellent prospects, as it also has an outstanding reputation in the UK (it's just that LSE's is higher, and it has a reputation worldwide too).

Worldwide reputation? Just because someone on the street in Karachi, New York, Tokyo or Cape Town hasn't heard of Durham (a minority will know LSE) it doesn't mean Durham lacks recognition worldwide. It regularly ranks highly in international employer reviews and I believe it currently has as many graduates working for major Fortune 100 companies than LSE (I'll try and find the source).

I've already covered the UK situation.

People need to stop expecting that their university will get a job for them, or even give a significant advantage. The subject is more likely to make a difference than the brand name of the university.

[aftrglw]

There's more than just the name of the university in getting the job. Obviously, in the UK Durham and LSE are both known as top tier unis, although I do agree that LSE's name carries a bit further internationally. However, there's also the careers service (which at LSE is the best I've ever seen) and the fact that you're living in London, so I know loads of people who spend their breaks interning at banks, law firms, auditing companies, etc... which I can't imagine that Durham has available in any sense to rival London, although I'm sure there's opportunities. There's a reason why LSE almost always has the highest graduate prospects and percentage of people on a career path six months after graduation...

That said, I feel like as an UG uni is as much about the experience as it is about the degree. Personally, I wouldn't want to be an UG in London whereas Durham seems to have a good student life and is in a beautiful area. If the courses are more or less the same, although LSE may help you slightly with getting started on a career (which becomes more irrelevant if you're planning to go to grad school), then I would make my choice based on the location I could see myself being happiest in... big city v uni town,

[weetabixmonster]

Overall it's how much you enjoy the course and the university. If you enjoy it more, you're more likely to do better, then you're more likely to get a better job at the end of it. My personal opinion is NOT to treat universities like job factories (though, of course, you need to take employability into consideration) and go for the best experience for you.

[Death.]

They're both brilliant Unis, but LSE is by far in the best location! Central London <3

Congrats you lucky rascal.

[North Irelandman]

(Original post by River85)
People need to stop expecting that their university will get a job for them, or even give a significant advantage. The subject is more likely to make a difference than the brand name of the university.

Hi again, I see where you're coming from in the points you made in your reply post and you have given me another useful viewpoint; but you are up against the overwhelming advice I've received so far (even with somewhat bias LSE lecturers aside).

I would love to provide a link but I'm on my phone and can't find the page, but there was a recent article on Forbes about job interviews in the financial sector. They heatmapped the eyes of someone reviewing cvs to decide whether to interview or not, and during an average of 6 seconds per cv they looked at current position, previous position and institution the applicants degree was from.






This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[funkydee]

(Original post by Junaid96)
Virtually everyone I ask tells me that Durham is a fantastic place to study, and that it is more enjoyable than LSE. The phrase "Oxbridge of the North" is one I hear very often. LSE will of course give you higher employability and reputation, and the fact that you'll be doing Geography and Economics rather than just Geography will be even more beneficial. The decision is between a better experience or a better future Although Durham will still give you excellent prospects, as it also has an outstanding reputation in the UK (it's just that LSE's is higher, and it has a reputation worldwide too).

How can you know someone will have a better experience? I originally applied to durham but changed for nottingham cos I couldn't bare the thought of living in a dead town.

London's vibrant, great opportunity to meet students from other unis and there'll be somewhere to go every night without getting bored/ repetitive.

[Tsunami2011]

I think people are slightly deluded if they think going to LSE will give you a 'meaningful edge on someone from Durham unless if you're maybe talking about FO IB. Oxbridge are the only universities, which IMO have considerable daylight between themselves and any other group of universities. For the vast majority of jobs, employers will not distinguish between Durham and LSE, the difference between 1 or 2 places in the league table is meaningless. LSE will not work you any harder than someone from Durham doing a similarly rigorous subject. The notion about London is true, but shouldn't be overstated. London universities do not provide a golden ticket for internships in the capital.

[dannylfc_1]

(Original post by ellyrie)
I have posted a similar thing in the Durham University forum.

I am currently torn between LSE & Durham and with the deadline fast approaching it's becoming more and mor eimportant to decide. I have an offer from LSE to study Geography and Economics and an offer from Durham to study Geography Bsc. So the courses are quite different as well as the universities and their locations. I would appreciate if any current / future students could give me some reasons why they think LSE is the place to go. Thank you so much for you help.

If you want a good life at uni go to Durham

[dannylfc_1]

(Original post by Tsunami2011)
I think people are slightly deluded if they think going to LSE will give you a 'meaningful edge on someone from Durham unless if you're maybe talking about FO IB. Oxbridge are the only universities, which IMO have considerable daylight between themselves and any other group of universities. For the vast majority of jobs, employers will not distinguish between Durham and LSE, the difference between 1 or 2 places in the league table is meaningless. LSE will not work you any harder than someone from Durham doing a similarly rigorous subject. The notion about London is true, but shouldn't be overstated. London universities do not provide a golden ticket for internships in the capital.

most of what you say is true apart from the fact that you will definately do more work at lse than durham

[River85]

(Original post by North Irelandman)
Hi again, I see where you're coming from in the points you made in your reply post and you have given me another useful viewpoint; but you are up against the overwhelming advice I've received so far (even with somewhat bias LSE lecturers aside).

I would love to provide a link but I'm on my phone and can't find the page, but there was a recent article on Forbes about job interviews in the financial sector. They heatmapped the eyes of someone reviewing cvs to decide whether to interview or not, and during an average of 6 seconds per cv they looked at current position, previous position and institution the applicants degree was from.

Even if that's the case it doesn't mean they'll draw a distinction between LSE and Durham - two strong universities. I'm speaking very generally. Graduate employment is a very broad sector covering so many different career areas, with the importance of university name varying from not important at all to reasonable importance but even when it has reasonable importance a distinction between LSE and Durham is rarely made. Finance and banking, certainly FO IB, is an exception and LSE will most likely give an edge. In another career sector, law for example, both are roughly equally well regarded and targeted. If you want to go into finance or IB, and can't decide between location and course, then LSE is probably the better choice. Not just for reputation but also the course. Away from this I still maintain that there's little difference between the two.

I know of, and will try to find studies showing, that university name has no influence (or, if it does, employers are unlikely to discriminate against most Russell and 1994 Group universities plus some others). There are also managers on TSR involved in recruitment who will attest to this.

Again, when applying for a graduate job it's usually about far more than just sending in a CV.

(Original post by dannylfc_1)
most of what you say is true apart from the fact that you will definately do more work at lse than durham

Not necessarily as Durham's terms are more intensive.

Though they are two different courses so perhaps not easily comparable.