Some serious questions about LSE

And I demand brutally honest answers.

1) LSE100. Objectively, how is the famed [and apparently hated] course?
2) Are the professors approachable? [law in particular]
3) Do the professors really teach well?
4) How is the study atmosphere?
5) How are the exams structured?
6) How hard is it to get a first?
7) Can one get a first without compromising on a good social life?
8) Is LSE's emphasis on "independent learning" really just codeword for "Nobody gives a crap about you"?
9) Is the Student Union effective?
10) Are many students really that irascible and radical about their political views?
11) How is the social life?
12) Is there a generally snobbish attitude towards international students?
13) How competitive does it get?
14) What's with all the "scandals"?
15) LSE has 40 graduate scholarships for only Indians, but not a single undergraduate scholarship for international students. Looking at the fee structure, I can only ask emphatically, WHY?

Any one question, or all. Doesn't matter. But I need answers.

Experiences vary. Attitudes are subjective. I get it. I just really, really want to know what I should expect before I firm [or even consider firming] LSE, because I've heard a lot of things from friends.

I'm sorry if I seem a bit... authoritative. But, you know, big irreversible steps are going to being taken at this stage, so I can't afford to leave any stones unturned.

A decent social life, a good degree, and strong employment prospects. Is this an impossible trinity?

And I demand brutally honest answers.

1) LSE100. Objectively, how is the famed [and apparently hated] course?
2) Are the professors approachable? [law in particular]
3) Do the professors really teach well?
4) How is the study atmosphere?
5) How are the exams structured?
6) How hard is it to get a first?
7) Can one get a first without compromising on a good social life?
8) Is LSE's emphasis on "independent learning" really just codeword for "Nobody gives a crap about you"?
9) Is the Student Union effective?
10) Are many students really that irascible and radical about their political views?
11) How is the social life?
12) Is there a generally snobbish attitude towards international students?
13) How competitive does it get?
14) What's with all the "scandals"?
15) LSE has 40 graduate scholarships for only Indians, but not a single undergraduate scholarship for international students. Looking at the fee structure, I can only ask emphatically, WHY?

Any one question, or all. Doesn't matter. But I need answers.

Experiences vary. Attitudes are subjective. I get it. I just really, really want to know what I should expect before I firm [or even consider firming] LSE, because I've heard a lot of things from friends.

I'm sorry if I seem a bit... authoritative. But, you know, big irreversible steps are going to being taken at this stage, so I can't afford to leave any stones unturned.

A decent social life, a good degree, and strong employment prospects. Is this an impossible trinity?

And I demand brutally honest answers.

1) LSE100. Objectively, how is the famed [and apparently hated] course?
2) Are the professors approachable? [law in particular]
3) Do the professors really teach well?
4) How is the study atmosphere?
5) How are the exams structured?
6) How hard is it to get a first?
7) Can one get a first without compromising on a good social life?
8) Is LSE's emphasis on "independent learning" really just codeword for "Nobody gives a crap about you"?
9) Is the Student Union effective?
10) Are many students really that irascible and radical about their political views?
11) How is the social life?
12) Is there a generally snobbish attitude towards international students?
13) How competitive does it get?
14) What's with all the "scandals"?
15) LSE has 40 graduate scholarships for only Indians, but not a single undergraduate scholarship for international students. Looking at the fee structure, I can only ask emphatically, WHY?

Any one question, or all. Doesn't matter. But I need answers.

Experiences vary. Attitudes are subjective. I get it. I just really, really want to know what I should expect before I firm [or even consider firming] LSE, because I've heard a lot of things from friends.

I'm sorry if I seem a bit... authoritative. But, you know, big irreversible steps are going to being taken at this stage, so I can't afford to leave any stones unturned.

A decent social life, a good degree, and strong employment prospects. Is this an impossible trinity?

And I demand brutally honest answers.

1) LSE100. Objectively, how is the famed [and apparently hated] course?
2) Are the professors approachable? [law in particular]
3) Do the professors really teach well?
4) How is the study atmosphere?
5) How are the exams structured?
6) How hard is it to get a first?
7) Can one get a first without compromising on a good social life?
8) Is LSE's emphasis on "independent learning" really just codeword for "Nobody gives a crap about you"?
9) Is the Student Union effective?
10) Are many students really that irascible and radical about their political views?
11) How is the social life?
12) Is there a generally snobbish attitude towards international students?
13) How competitive does it get?
14) What's with all the "scandals"?
15) LSE has 40 graduate scholarships for only Indians, but not a single undergraduate scholarship for international students. Looking at the fee structure, I can only ask emphatically, WHY?

Any one question, or all. Doesn't matter. But I need answers.

Experiences vary. Attitudes are subjective. I get it. I just really, really want to know what I should expect before I firm [or even consider firming] LSE, because I've heard a lot of things from friends.

I'm sorry if I seem a bit... authoritative. But, you know, big irreversible steps are going to being taken at this stage, so I can't afford to leave any stones unturned.

A decent social life, a good degree, and strong employment prospects. Is this an impossible trinity?

I had a bash... Only what I've heard/read as I'm not a current student, try posting on the ask an LSE student thread (if I was you)!

Best of luck with the decision!

Why did you even bother applying to LSE in the first place?

9) Is the Student Union effective?
In what regard?

13) How competitive does it get?
In what regard?

I can answer your last question--the Indian students who even consider doing their UG abroad tend to be from rich families who can afford it anyway. Far more Indian students from all backgrounds do their PG abroad.

Thanks for your input! I'll try doing that.



I had a different impression of it, initially. The public lectures were an immense plus and its high international student composition was a bit more preferable. I also thought that the quality of education would be much better, given its reputation, and I also that I could freely discuss things with the professors. Honestly, the academic side of things isn't much of a bother for me; I just hope that I'd be able to interact with people instead of skulking around in the library. I'm not saying that I don't hold it in high regard anymore. Just, some perspective was needed.



I've heard a lot of things about the SU making promises that they couldn't really keep. And how incredibly annoying it gets during elections. And for competitiveness, I'm talking both in terms of academics and graduate employment. People jokingly say that the only thing that matters in the third year is getting more internship offers than your mate.

But thanks for everything else, it was really helpful!
I think everything boils down to what I make of my experience there, and I really like a good intellectual challenge. Sucks to see that LSE100 wasn't everything it's cracked up to be, though.



Indeed, that might be true for most courses. But for a degree in law, with the intent of getting into the industry soon, it doesn't really make sense to do PG in the first place. So, UG at full international fees for me.

And I demand brutally honest answers.

1) LSE100. Objectively, how is the famed [and apparently hated] course?
2) Are the professors approachable? [law in particular]
3) Do the professors really teach well?
4) How is the study atmosphere?
5) How are the exams structured?
6) How hard is it to get a first?
7) Can one get a first without compromising on a good social life?
8) Is LSE's emphasis on "independent learning" really just codeword for "Nobody gives a crap about you"?
9) Is the Student Union effective?
10) Are many students really that irascible and radical about their political views?
11) How is the social life?
12) Is there a generally snobbish attitude towards international students?
13) How competitive does it get?
14) What's with all the "scandals"?
15) LSE has 40 graduate scholarships for only Indians, but not a single undergraduate scholarship for international students. Looking at the fee structure, I can only ask emphatically, WHY?

Any one question, or all. Doesn't matter. But I need answers.

Experiences vary. Attitudes are subjective. I get it. I just really, really want to know what I should expect before I firm [or even consider firming] LSE, because I've heard a lot of things from friends.

I'm sorry if I seem a bit... authoritative. But, you know, big irreversible steps are going to being taken at this stage, so I can't afford to leave any stones unturned.

A decent social life, a good degree, and strong employment prospects. Is this an impossible trinity?

1) Honestly it's pretty much a waste of time. I understand the intention behind it (allow quantitative students to develop essay skills, critical thinking etc.) but in my opinion it completely fails to achieve them. When I did it your final grade was determined by 3 summative assignments and an exam, for the summative essays we were given the topic in advance and I know way to many quantitative students who basically spent hours writing an essay and memorising it which in my opinion completely defeats the purpose. For the exam it was just a matter of name dropping authors of the readings. All in all it just seemed like a way for LSE to force undergrad students to read papers published by LSE professors (because literally the entire reading list was by LSE professors). It also seemed supremely unfair that this took up a fair share of quantitative students time (i.e. memorising dates/names/acts associated with the cold war which they had 0 interest in and would never use again) while it completely overlapped with many qualitative students curriculums. I feel like if LSE were to continue with LSE100 they should not make it mandatory for qualitative students and instead make basic mathematics/statistics (ST107/MA107) compulsory. I think they've edited the syllabus for this year so maybe it's better now?

2) I would say most are, but you do have to make the effort to go to their office hours and talk to them. Also think it varies between departments, I've taken modules from a bunch of different departments and there are some in which you can tell the professors are passionate about the module, but honestly do not know how to teach it and just generally do not like people which obviously make them less approachable.

3) Varies a lot between departments/modules etc. Really hard to generalise I've had some amazing ones and some **** ones. When you get the chance to choose modules I suggest you ask around on which professors people enjoyed because it really make a difference in the quality of the teaching.

4) Intense. Personally didn't go to private school so was a big jump for me. All about finding the right people though. Overall though I find people overly competitive and cut-throat, which I guess is an atmosphere which some people thrive in?

5) Exams are all in Summer Term, except LSE100 which is week 0 of LT. For the majority of modules I've done it's been solely exam-based. Exams are 3 hours for a full unit, 1.5 - 2 hours for half units. I've never taken an exam where I've needed to study an entire module, generally you get to pick out of a selection of questions and they follow pretty consistent formats, so it's a good idea to look at exam papers early on in your revision and get a sense of the pattern.

And now I really need to go back to attempting to revise for my exams, hope those answers helped! Feel free to message if there's anything in particular you still need answered. Obviously all of the above are just my own opinions, really hard to generalise for all of LSE.

And I demand brutally honest answers.

1) LSE100. Objectively, how is the famed [and apparently hated] course?
Hated but actually interesting tbh
2) Are the professors approachable? [law in particular]
Not really
3) Do the professors really teach well?
Mixed bag
4) How is the study atmosphere?
Serious
5) How are the exams structured?
Marks entirely determined by exams, so high pressure
6) How hard is it to get a first?
Think about all the AAA students who dont, you need to work hard.
7) Can one get a first without compromising on a good social life?
Of course but at exam time no.
8) Is LSE's emphasis on "independent learning" really just codeword for "Nobody gives a crap about you"?
Pretty much
9) Is the Student Union effective?
Meh
10) Are many students really that irascible and radical about their political views?
Small minority are really political(leftie, feminist etc) but majority not fussed
11) How is the social life?
Poor compared with other unis but London is London...
12) Is there a generally snobbish attitude towards international students?
Not sure what you men
13) How competitive does it get?
Very
14) What's with all the "scandals"?
15) LSE has 40 graduate scholarships for only Indians, but not a single undergraduate scholarship for international students. Looking at the fee structure, I can only ask emphatically, WHY?

Any one question, or all. Doesn't matter. But I need answers.

Experiences vary. Attitudes are subjective. I get it. I just really, really want to know what I should expect before I firm [or even consider firming] LSE, because I've heard a lot of things from friends.

I'm sorry if I seem a bit... authoritative. But, you know, big irreversible steps are going to being taken at this stage, so I can't afford to leave any stones unturned.

A decent social life, a good degree, and strong employment prospects. Is this an impossible trinity?

2) Are the professors approachable? [law in particular] Don't do law.
6) How hard is it to get a first? Very very hard for law, from what I've heard.

15) LSE has 40 graduate scholarships for only Indians, but not a single undergraduate scholarship for international students. Looking at the fee structure, I can only ask emphatically, WHY? Yes it does. Look again. http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/scholarshipsAndFinancialSupport.aspx