Ask a LSE Student - AMA

Original post by Jerryduyunli

Hi, I have just got an offer for PPE 2016.
1) Is the drop out rate really high every year?
2) When should I apply to accommodation? And do you have any recommendation?
3) As I'm a Chinese student, is it hard to fit in there?

Many Thanks

Firstly, congratulations on your offer!

I have not heard of any students who have dropped out of PPE at LSE this year, although this isn't to say there haven't been any (although I would say it is unlikely).

Apply for accommodation as soon as possible. Once you put down your top 3 choices, they operate on a luck of the draw sort of basis, but the later you leave it, the more spaces fill up. I'm living at Rosebery this year and would definitely recommend. It's a sociable hall and has a more homely feel than other halls I've visited.

I'm not an international student, but there are plenty of international students at LSE who don't seem to have any trouble fitting in. It's really not something I would worry about, at any university you will find people with similar interests depending on the societies you join and things you get involved with.

Reply 22

User1983593

4

I'm currently waiting to hear back to study Politics and Philosophy, but I just wanted to ask whether it is possible to change courses and if so would I more likely be allowed to switch after enrolling or should I email straight away after receiving an offer? I want to switch study International Relations. The only problem is that I don't want to come off as hesitant or lacking interest if I email the staff as I wouldn't mind still doing Politics and Philosophy. Would it be better to email now as I'm still waiting?

I know this isn't necessarily PPE-related but I would appreciate any advice you might have from speaking to staff or experience.

Posted from TSR Mobile

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 23

thetachameleon

1

Are the three areas of PPE taught completely separately from each other or are there areas of the course that combine them?

Reply 24

Original post by thetachameleon

Are the three areas of PPE taught completely separately from each other or are there areas of the course that combine them?

In the first year the modules are kept separate, however there is some overlap, for example in political theory and reason, knowledge and values.

From the second year, the modules you do begin to combine the subjects, which is something which makes PPE at LSE different from many other unis that offer it. If you have a look at the course outline you can see the modules which do this:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degreeProgrammes2016/philosophyLogicAndScientificMethod/L0V0_BSc_PPE.aspx

Reply 25

Original post by mxlik

I'm currently waiting to hear back to study Politics and Philosophy, but I just wanted to ask whether it is possible to change courses and if so would I more likely be allowed to switch after enrolling or should I email straight away after receiving an offer? I want to switch study International Relations. The only problem is that I don't want to come off as hesitant or lacking interest if I email the staff as I wouldn't mind still doing Politics and Philosophy. Would it be better to email now as I'm still waiting?

I know this isn't necessarily PPE-related but I would appreciate any advice you might have from speaking to staff or experience.

Posted from TSR Mobile

I have heard of quite a few people switching courses after joining LSE, however you have to have the right pre-requisites for the course (e.g. A-level subjects/results).

I would email someone and ask about the options, however I would say it may be better to wait until you hear back regarding P&P.

Reply 26

OP

Original post by mxlik

I'm currently waiting to hear back to study Politics and Philosophy, but I just wanted to ask whether it is possible to change courses and if so would I more likely be allowed to switch after enrolling or should I email straight away after receiving an offer? I want to switch study International Relations. The only problem is that I don't want to come off as hesitant or lacking interest if I email the staff as I wouldn't mind still doing Politics and Philosophy. Would it be better to email now as I'm still waiting?

I know this isn't necessarily PPE-related but I would appreciate any advice you might have from speaking to staff or experience.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Hello,

I would definitely recommend waiting until you're at LSE. A good friend of mine switched from Economic History to Accounting and Finance without any problem. Once you're in, it's a lot easier to change courses but I'm not sure if they even let you change courses before you've met the requirements. I know other people who have swapped from PPE to P and E, or from social policy to economic history. Once you're at LSE you're good enough to be there, so they're a lot more lenient for you to swap courses!

Reply 27

OP

Original post by Jerryduyunli

Hi, I have just got an offer for PPE 2016.
1) Is the drop out rate really high every year?
2) When should I apply to accommodation? And do you have any recommendation?
3) As I'm a Chinese student, is it hard to fit in there?

Many Thanks

To add on to the previous answer, apply to Saunders not Roseberry :wink:

It's definitely not hard. LSE is very diverse, and there are many international students including a very large Chinese community if that is what you are looking for. Everyone is very friendly and welcoming creating a good environment for international students (I am one myself).

Reply 28

mcf

i know it's not the best thing to try and make generalisations but i have heard that students here are generally quite materialistic / right wing ... would you say this is true?

Reply 29

EdwardsGZ

Hi there, I got an offer last week, and will definitely firm it. On the LSE website it says you can't take Economics B without Economics A-level. I was just wondering if there might be some slack on that, as I have done a fair bit of economics? Will it affect later economics modules if I can't take it?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 30

sellerofdreams

13

Original post by mcf

i know it's not the best thing to try and make generalisations but i have heard that students here are generally quite materialistic / right wing ... would you say this is true?

Most Tories in my hall keep it very quiet

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 31

Original post by EdwardsGZ

Hi there, I got an offer last week, and will definitely firm it. On the LSE website it says you can't take Economics B without Economics A-level. I was just wondering if there might be some slack on that, as I have done a fair bit of economics? Will it affect later economics modules if I can't take it?

It depends which economics course you have studied. If they deem it similar to Economics A-Level, or the same standard, you'll be allowed to take Econ B. However, it won't effect which modules you can take later on, as Econ A is meant to take you to the same standard, just going at a slower pace.

Reply 32

Original post by mcf

i know it's not the best thing to try and make generalisations but i have heard that students here are generally quite materialistic / right wing ... would you say this is true?

I'd say with some people you can clearly see the right wing/future investment bankers and equally those on the opposite end of the spectrum, but wouldn't say students are 'generally' materialistic or right wing at all, so it really shouldn't influence your decision.

Reply 33

EdwardsGZ

Original post by ebro96

It depends which economics course you have studied. If they deem it similar to Economics A-Level, or the same standard, you'll be allowed to take Econ B. However, it won't effect which modules you can take later on, as Econ A is meant to take you to the same standard, just going at a slower pace.

That's great thanks. I was also wondering, do many people live in intercollegiate halls? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to doing so?

Reply 34

readyt

Which subjects are appropriate to take at A levels for convenient entry into lse ppe program? Is lse actually worth attending especially for someone who loves to be challenged academically? How is the atmosphere of london? So far, how has the ppe courses you've taken been; is it challenging? Are the instructors well-grounded in the disciplines being taught? Finally, how do you view the ppe program at lse? What characteristics basically do you
think a candidate must possess to be a well-suited lse ppe student.

I

think a candidate must have to be a well-suit

Reply 35

Beckski123

Hey, I just went to the LSE open day this week, pretty sure I want to apply for PPE :smile:

Three questions:

1) Is there a lot of political philosophy incorporated in the course? (I'm really into it!)
2) Do you find living in London isolating at all? Especially as I've heard that from 2nd year onwards, you don't live on halls
3) How mathsy is the economics part of the course?

Reply 36

OP

Original post by EdwardsGZ

That's great thanks. I was also wondering, do many people live in intercollegiate halls? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to doing so?

Hey,

Yes, many people do tend to live in intercollegiate halls. The benefits are that you get to meet people from many different universities, whilst the drawback may be that it is less of an "LSE" experience. It really depends on what you are looking for, but everyone I know from intercollegiate halls love it.

Reply 37

OP

Original post by readyt

Which subjects are appropriate to take at A levels for convenient entry into lse ppe program? Is lse actually worth attending especially for someone who loves to be challenged academically? How is the atmosphere of london? So far, how has the ppe courses you've taken been; is it challenging? Are the instructors well-grounded in the disciplines being taught? Finally, how do you view the ppe program at lse? What characteristics basically do you
think a candidate must possess to be a well-suited lse ppe student.

I

think a candidate must have to be a well-suit

Hey,

Maths A level is a requirement and you need an A* in it to be accepted for PPE. I would recommend Economics, History, Geography, English Literature and any other humanities subject that is challenging (I myself did Maths, Econ, History and Geography with Further maths AS level).

It is very academically challenging, which from my experience has mostly been caused by the independence you are given. The academic staff is top notch, and a lot of the reading list will be from their publications (LSE consistently ranks in the top universities of the world for research) so you really feel like you're where it's all happening. As an example, attending a talk organised by the German Society by the German finance minister I ended up sitting a few seats away from a nobel prize winning economist and didn't even realise until the very end.

London is great, as it is a very driven city. You are forced to be more responsible but it is in a hall environment with hundreds of other 18 year olds who are in the same situation as you, so it is a good combination of both being thrown into the real world and still being in a home-like environment.

PPE is very challenging, especially because I chose the harder maths module which has by far been the hardest. Overall, 1st year philosophy is extremely interesting, whilst economics is much more interesting when it comes to the macro part (second term). Maths, as aforementioned, is very very hard and politics (I chose political theory) is basically just reading 6 to 7 books by political theorists and analysing them in a lot of depth (very English Lit-y).

From what i've seen, good candidates have to show why they want to study all 3 subjects until the end. It is a 4 year course where you cant drop one of the three, so your interdisciplinary interest must be highlighted very strongly. Try and show that you are aware of how the three disciplines interact in an international context.

Hope I could help.

Reply 38

OP