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Carr Saunders Halls, LSE
London School of Economics
London

LSE or St Andrews

I am a Canadian student and currently hold offers from each university for International Relations and History. I simply can't decide...

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LSE, purely non academic though. LSE is in the middle of London, so expensive but a lot more to do than St Andrews. I use the LSE library sometimes, really good facilities and nice atmosphere. I did apply to St Andrew's but chose Bristol instead because it's a city and as I'm from London I don't think I could cope going somewhere that is sooooo quiet.

I think I'd get bored in St Andrews! Apologies to any St. Andrew's students :smile: Then again Prince William and Kate went there. Yay!
Carr Saunders Halls, LSE
London School of Economics
London
Reply 2
I prefer St Andies
Reply 3
Their really different places and I think a lot of it will come down to personal preference. (Big city v. small town; cloistered v. cosmopolitan)
Reply 4
Original post by AlexHradecky
I am a Canadian student and currently hold offers from each university for International Relations and History. I simply can't decide...


If you are seeking prestige, then LSE all the way.
I was at St Andrews post applicant day yesterday with my friend even though I didn't apply and it was BRILLIANT! It sounded as if they all had a ball there and was kinda jealous of my friend getting the chance to go there lol. They have a whole load of crazy traditions: you are in an academic family and the sunday before freshers week you traditionally gave them a bag of raisins and it was called 'raisin sunday', however we were informed that a bottle of wine goes down a lot better lol :wink: You also have a huuugee foam party/fight in fresher's week with your academic family and with other families. If you commit an academic sin you take a dip into the north sea at dawn on the 1st of may and that washes rid of them, or you can walk around the block naked backwards 3 times. There's also this stone called the pH stone which is supposed to set your degree in failure if you stand on it! :wink: So yeah, they basically have any old excuse to be mental haha, but everyone was really nice and the hall I visited was class! :smile: I'm a sciency person so I know nothing about what your course is like I'm afraid lol. I know nothing about LSE. Good luck with your choice! :biggrin:
Reply 6
LSE without a doubt if you ask me.
Reply 7
Original post by .raiden.
LSE without a doubt if you ask me.


LSE? That would be the rip-off "entrepeneur" university which will sell its soul to anyone (including Gaddafi). If you study there as an undergrad you have ZERO chance of actually speaking to the professors because they are NEVER in their offices. Instead, you may see them somewhere in the distance at the front of the lecture theatre once a week. The real teaching is done by PhD-less grad students. Everyone knows that! The in-class student experience is no better than you would get at the London Met - and at least there you can actually meet the lecturers.

Google "Erik Ringmar" and "LSE". The lecturer who got left LSE for telling the inconvenient truth.
Reply 8
Original post by AlexHradecky
I am a Canadian student and currently hold offers from each university for International Relations and History. I simply can't decide...


LSE dude, I'm going for IR this year too.
Reply 9
LSE is very good for your course. Maybe go to open day at each university and then decide which one is for you.
Reply 10
Original post by Archie2006


LSE? That would be the rip-off "entrepeneur" university which will sell its soul to anyone (including Gaddafi). If you study there as an undergrad you have ZERO chance of actually speaking to the professors because they are NEVER in their offices. Instead, you may see them somewhere in the distance at the front of the lecture theatre once a week. The real teaching is done by PhD-less grad students. Everyone knows that! The in-class student experience is no better than you would get at the London Met - and at least there you can actually meet the lecturers.

Google "Erik Ringmar" and "LSE". The lecturer who got left LSE for telling the inconvenient truth.


Speaking to professors at undergrad?
Why would you need that? Good Professors do research, bad ones teach, that's the "inconvenient truth" of the academic world.

Professors do not become professors to teach or provide feedback to hundreds of students, that would destroy any research university. They read lectures and write papers/books and this is where you should go for all the answers, because everything they can help you with is contained within those sources. This is the beauty of the British system of higher education - the focus on self-help that would train you to think independently and work with sources to extract the information you need.

Now, if you were working on a major paper for a good scientific journal and making some real contributions to the field you're studying you would get all the help from the senior academic staff, but very few undergrads are actually capable of that.

Professors are there to research their field together with their PhD students, not to comment on some undergraduate's essay.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 11
Original post by AlexHradecky
I am a Canadian student and currently hold offers from each university for International Relations and History. I simply can't decide...


Right well I'll attempt to compare them...
-St Andrews has many more traditions etc. and old buildings, if you like that sort of thing, but less of a nightlife than London.
-LSE is better regarded, however St Andrews is good too- the difference isn't massive
-Accommodation is cheaper at St Andrews
-A big factor imo is that at St Andrews the degree is 4 years, whereas it's 3 years at LSE
-LSE is more cosmopolitan than St Andrews
-Course differences- I can't speak for IR, but I know at LSE the history studied is 'modern international history'- if you prefer medieval history, this is one of St Andrews' strengths. I would definitely look again at course options available and see which you prefer

Hope this helps :smile:
Reply 12
you're asking in the LSE section lol
I'm an alumnus of St Andrews and LSE...studied IR a both institutions. Some of the posts on this thread are helpful and others are way off. Both are very strong in History; both are amongst the top 4 places in the UK to study IR. Much of your decision will come down to where you want to specialize. If you're focused on theory or international political economy, then go to LSE. If you want to specialize in international security, go to St Andrews. Both are very cosmopolitan, as St Andrews has a higher percentage of international students than nearly all other UK universities and LSE is one of the most diverse universities in the world. I would say they enjoy roughly equal prestige, depending on who you ask. In the US, St Andrews, LSE, Oxford, and Cambridge are viewed by many as in the same bracket of prestige. On the other hand, in parts of Asia LSE dominates and St Andrews is somewhat less well know. At both there is a clear focus on academic excellence, but the settings are very different. Think of St Andrews as a very small Scottish version of Oxbridge with all the balls, formal dinners, ancient buildings, gowns, and various other quirky traditions that entails. The LSE is more like a very large think tank in the heart of London. Outside of class people are exploring London to the fullest and many take up internships...at the LSE people appear to be more overtly driven by career goals. I hope this helps.
If you can get in, LSE! That's my dream


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Reply 15
Original post by smile:D
Right well I'll attempt to compare them...
--LSE is better regarded, however St Andrews is good too- the difference isn't massive

LSE better regarded than St Andrews? On what planet? For Economics maybe, but for IR St Andrews by a mile. Bear in mind if you study as an undergrad at LSE you will NEVER speak to your lecturer/professor as they are NEVER in their offices. Instead, your education will be provided by PhD-less post-grad students. LSE is best understood as an entrepeneurial brand, rather than as a proper university - hence the Libyan scandal (among others).
Reply 16
Original post by CEKTOP
Speaking to professors at undergrad?
Why would you need that? Good Professors do research, bad ones teach, that's the "inconvenient truth" of the academic world.

Professors do not become professors to teach or provide feedback to hundreds of students, that would destroy any research university. They read lectures and write papers/books and this is where you should go for all the answers, because everything they can help you with is contained within those sources. This is the beauty of the British system of higher education - the focus on self-help that would train you to think independently and work with sources to extract the information you need.

Now, if you were working on a major paper for a good scientific journal and making some real contributions to the field you're studying you would get all the help from the senior academic staff, but very few undergrads are actually capable of that.

Professors are there to research their field together with their PhD students, not to comment on some undergraduate's essay.


So you openly admit that LSE staff are utterly uninterested in their students. :rolleyes:
Reply 17
My brother went LSC and he really loved it!! But it's your choice dude.
[QUOTE="Archie2006;44278640"]
Original post by smile:D
Right well I'll attempt to compare them...
--LSE is better regarded, however St Andrews is good too- the difference isn't massive

LSE better regarded than St Andrews? On what planet? For Economics maybe, but for IR St Andrews by a mile. Bear in mind if you study as an undergrad at LSE you will NEVER speak to your lecturer/professor as they are NEVER in their offices. Instead, your education will be provided by PhD-less post-grad students. LSE is best understood as an entrepeneurial brand, rather than as a proper university - hence the Libyan scandal (among others).


There are some inaccuracies in this post. LSE and St Andrews are widely regarded as two of the best IR programs in the UK (along with Oxford, and Aberystwyth). Most surveys within the field conclude that LSE is top by a pretty wide margin. That being said, if you want to do IR theory or IPE, then LSE is highly regarded. If you’re in to diplomacy or development, then Oxford and LSE are strong choices. For security studies, St Andrews and King’s College War Studies are viewed as the best departments (unless you’re up for critical security studies, where Aberystwyth excels). LSE IR undergraduates do enjoy frequent interaction with professors, but since they’re busy people prior planning is required to meet up with them outside the classroom. Professors teach most LSE IR modules, with frequent guest lecturers. TAs, those characterized above as “PhD-less post-grad students,” are there to support the professors. Of course every module is different; some with a large cohort of students offer fewer opportunities for interaction, while others with a handful of students might involve so much interaction that your seminars get moved to George the IV (the LSE postgraduate/faculty pub).
Reply 19
Original post by Archie2006
So you openly admit that LSE staff are utterly uninterested in their students. :rolleyes:


Decent professors are never interested in undergraduates unless those are exceptionally gifted.

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