Want to drop out of LSE

Stop moaning and get on with it. LSE is one of the top social science universities in the world, it will look great on your CV. I was there this evening for a lecture. I wish I could afford to do a masters there....

Thank you everyone for all your advice I have since visited my GP and been diagnosed with anxiety disorder. I'm applying to LSE for an 'interruption of studies', allowing me a year out to sort myself out and to return next September. Hopefully my application will be successful, if not will be forced to drop out entirely as I'm not in a place in my life right now where I'm able to cope with this. I am see student services and my academic adviser to get the ball rolling. I appreciate all your comments, some varied viewpoints were just what I needed.

In need of some unbiased advice.

I am currently in my first year of studying Government at LSE and I hate it. I'm living in halls and have made some really good friends, but that is pretty much the only good thing I can say. I HATE the atmosphere of the university and the majority of the people who aren't the ones I've made friends with. I can't get on with any of the people who are on my course because they're all ridiculous snobs and know it alls, the type who go 'oh no I didn't even do the reading' then you get into class and they practically recite The Communist Manifesto word for word (or any other political literature - I'm not starting a debate here).

In addition, the course itself really isn't what I expected and I'm not enjoying it at all. Of my four modules, only two of them are actually Government and of those two I only really enjoy one of them. The rest of it I don't find interesting at all, and I hate the two outside options - what is the point?! I came to study Politics not to spend half of my time on two other random courses!

The general aura of LSE is horrendous. Once freshers' week is over they do nothing to encourage university life. I've joined three societies and only one of these is actually beneficial.

I'm generally extremely unhappy. The workload already in the first week was obscene, and while I knew this about LSE and was prepared, I thought it'd still be possible to have a social life - it's not. If my immediate next door neighbour in halls didn't happen to be a good friend, I would never see anyone because I am constantly doing work.

Every day I have to do reading until at least 10pm in order to have done the bare minimum. I've asked my class teachers and other students for tips about reading and note-taking but nothing they've suggested has worked in the slightest.

To summarise - I'm incredibly depressed. I've been physically sick at least four times in the last month due to stress and anxiety. I've developed glandular fever which I'm unable to rest and recuperate from because I have so much work to do all the time. I get absolutely NO chance to rest and relax no matter how hard I try to put aside time for this, it's impossible.

At the moment I feel hopeless. My mum is perfectly happy for me to do whatever makes me happy, my dad on the other hand sees me as throwing away a massive opportunity if I drop out. While I see his side of it, I don't think I can manage 3 years feeling so intensely unhappy. Talking to friends and socialising is not a long term solution and this is really the only thing that anyone has suggested to help me.

While I'm perfectly aware that LSE is amazing and I should be grateful, I don't see why I would waste 3 years hating life in order to get a degree I'm not even that interested in. I feel as though I was rushed straight from A Levels into the university process with no time to think about what it would actually be like and I'm convinced I should have gone to Bristol instead and would be far happier there.

If I drop out, I will probably apply for different universities for next year, and in the mean time do voluntary work, a French A Level, resit my Maths GCSE and possibly try to find an internship.

Anyway, I'd simply appreciate any thoughts on the matter.

Background information:
Female, 18, also applied to and got an offer from Bristol, Exeter, Surrey and Goldsmiths, studied A Levels in History, English and Politics and got 3 A*s.

Hey, I'm in week 3 of my first year at LSE and I hate it, frankly speaking. The people, the course, etc. (and no, it's not that it's too hard for me, the workload is manageable). I sort of begin to understand why it is actually called a "School" and not a university, as in most cases we rush through the material and there is no real place for an academic discussion or going deep into issues and that's exactly the opposite of what I wanted from a university. It's also not that I'm enormously homesick, although the decision to move abroad for uni was the hardest decision I've ever made as I hated the thought of it and I still can't come to terms with it, I would be really ok with staying at my hometown uni. My family relations fell apart because of that, as throughout the summer I have had continuous fights with my parents when I cried that I don't want to go and now we barely speak. But still I felt so pressured to go, because it's LSE, that I went in the hope that things will get better when I get here. Unfortunately they didn't, they're getting worse. I have no motivation to get up in the morning or to go to my classes, not to mention self-study, reading etc.

So my question is, did they eventually grant you the interruption? If so, was it hard to get it? And did you go back after the year or decided not to? I deeply regret not applying to do a deferred entry and now I just feel that an interruption is the only way out if I want another year to think things through, otherwise I feel like I'll end up dropping out...