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Warwick or LSE?

LSE has the prestige and "brand name" which I hear would take me far. It also supposedly has better professors/academics in my field. Also, it's very impressive to have a degree from LSE.

However I know I would be happier at Warwick, and I would get a "student experience". I live in London currently, so I don't think I would get much of a student experience at LSE. Is it worth sacrificing the student experience I'd get at Warwick to get an LSE degree?

The course is Government/Politics.

Opinions?

Thanks in advance.

Reply 1

TruckBear

15

There's a theory abroad that LSE neglects its undergrads - and the Government department is allegedly one of the worst for it.

If you think you'd be happier at Warwick, go there. I don't think there's a significant enough difference in employment prospects to go to LSE over Warwick even though you'd prefer life in Warwick.

Reply 2

meowmix123

I was in a similar position but for history and politics. It would have been a non issue for me if it weren't for my school raving about presteige as I much preferred Warwick to LSE, both in terms of the environment and the course itself. My school generally talked about Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial and UCL having this unmatchable presteige, generally citing international rankings to support what they were saying. This worried me and I did a fair bit of research to try and weigh up the pros and cons of the two universities from which I was going to make one my firm and from the things I found out there isn't any significant difference in graduate prospects between the two with both being targeted by a lot of major banks and businesses. I actually know a couple of postgrads at LSE now, one of whom was an undergrad there as well, and another student who is currently in the second year of her international relations course and the general feeling I got from them was the same as the one frequently voiced on this forum: the teaching quality at undergrad level could be better and they often feel ignored by academic staff. Whilst I don't know anyone at Warwick, the general feedback around here and from other sources was that the focus on undergraduate teaching was very positive indeed. The prestiege issue is pretty stupid as well; LSE has a better international reputation no doubt, this comes as a result of it's longevity and single faculty focus which attracts a lot of top academics to the place. But Warwick, in just 40 years, has come to be regarded frequently within the top 5 universities in the country and often the top 3/4 multifaculty universities nationally. Internationally it's reputation is fast growing but still has some way to go. To secure the research funding it has (research commonly being the way by which international tables are done) in the time it has existed is very impressive and it hardly does badly as it is, coming in the top 70 frequently.

The other aspect that worried me about LSE was the social life. Whilst this may seem a little odd with it being slap bang in the middle of London, anecdotes from the undergraduate I know compounded again by some posts on here suggest that the undergraduate student body isn't very cohesive at all at LSE with a lot of people being fairly insular commonly because of language barriers (with some 50% of students being from abroad) and many people also having a very very strong work ethic that meant they were unwilling to socialise. The girl I know ended up spending a lot of time at UCL with friends she made through some old school mates she had there. I don't think this held her back this much, but she seemed to indicate it was inconvienient and she often found herself isolated within the LSE halls. If you choose LSE , I'd suggest intercolligate halls therefore. Warwick, whilst it's never going to be able to offer the range of social activities on tap that London can, seemed to provide a much more friendly and cohesive group of people. There are ample facilities onsite and beyond that there is Coventry near by and Birmingham near enough to get a train.

I placed Warwick as my firm in the end and I'm not going to regret it at all. If I decide to do a postgrad I'll consider LSE no doubt but for undergrad I kind of regret even putting it as a choice, Durham would have been a better back up for me.

Reply 3

NW8_SW1_EC3

I too was in the same situation with regards to Cambridge and LSE. Opted for Cambridge and don't regret it, I often wonder how things would be at LSE but I too am from London, so I doubt things would be that interesting tbh.

Reply 4

BetterThanHeaven

9

City or Field.

That's all the decision really comes down to.

Potentially, "more arts people to meet" vs. "no arts people to meet".
Fundamentally, City or Field.

Reply 5

02mik_e

14

Personally, I would choose Warwick. I was going to apply for LSE, but changed it on track due to a number of reasons, some which have been listed in this thread. 1. I live in London and just want a new experience. 2. When I went there I didn't really feel I was in a uni, it looked more like an office block. 3. I have been told by friend who go there that the international students tend to "stick with their own" and don't really integrate with the other UK students. Finally I feel that too much emphasis is placed on independent study. I know its uni, but when you're being neglected it doesn't really feel nice at all. Also, Warwick has an amazing rep with city job prospects. Consider that this has only been made up in the last 40 years or so, and it's still improving. In the Long run, maybe in 10/20 (ok maybe a bit longer) years or so I believe it will be on par with LSE. For now the prospects for Warwick are looking great.

P.S This has nothing to do with the fact that I put them down as my firm :P

Reply 6

BetterThanHeaven

9

02mik_e

Personally, I would choose Warwick. I was going to apply for LSE, but changed it on track due to a number of reasons, some which have been listed in this thread. 1. I live in London and just want a new experience. 2. When I went there I didn't really feel I was in a uni, it looked more like an office block. 3. I have been told by friend who go there that the international students tend to "stick with their own" and don't really integrate with the other UK students. Finally I feel that too much emphasis is placed on independent study. I know its uni, but when you're being neglected it doesn't really feel nice at all. Also, Warwick has an amazing rep with city job prospects. Consider that this has only been made up in the last 40 years or so, and it's still improving. In the Long run, maybe in 10/20 (ok maybe a bit longer) years or so I believe it will be on par with LSE. For now the prospects for Warwick are looking great.

P.S This has nothing to do with the fact that I put them down as my firm :P

Fact of life #1:
Job prospects for equivalent courses: LSE > Warwick.

Reply 7

02mik_e

14

BetterThanHeaven

Fact of life #1:
Job prospects for equivalent courses: LSE > Warwick.

Yes, you're right, but the job prospects are not too dissimilar. It would be different if you were comparing somewhere like Manchester to LSE. But what the OP is looking for and what he will gain out of the uni life would most probably be best at Warwick.

Reply 8

meowmix123

BetterThanHeaven

Fact of life #1:
Job prospects for equivalent courses: LSE > Warwick.

I don't get why everyone assumes employers are so stupid. Firms aren't going to hire people based off where they've gone to university alone, rather decisions will be made based off applicability of a candidate to a post and demonstrated achievement in qualifications. If the university is targeted by the firms/banks that we are referring to, as Warwick and LSE are, it comes down to the candidates qualities and achievements, not assumptions based their university education.

Reply 9

S_D_F

well my friend had this predicament, she loved warwick! but went with LSE for the prestige and "brand name" as you said.
Now she wishes she never even applied! she hates LSE, complains about student life, the course, the people, EVERYTHING, she has never said a positive thing other than it will get her a job!
its up to you! but LSE gets allot of negative rep, but then again it is the LSE and one of the best universities in the world! its a hard decision! good luck

edit: this was for a Law course as well which is one of LSE's highest rated course

Whilst the prestige is greater at LSE, its not that indifferent from the other "top" universities so personal preference is more important here, like said, when i visited LSE i was disappointed !

Reply 10

Cowtipper

12

The reputation alone is worth it, imo.

Reply 11

sdc29

OP

The job prospects are better at LSE, I accept that.

But I don't want to regret missing out on the whole university experience - something I've worked so hard for and waited so long for - just for a marginally better degree.

Yes, when you tell people that you were educated at LSE, it's amazing, because it's such a competitive institution. I accept that. But Warwick is almost as good and respected, right??

I'm a bit worried about Warwick in the sense that I don't know if I'd feel claustraphobic on campus. I've grown up in London and am so used to having all the amenities within literally walking distance - I don't want to feel like I'm trapped if I go to Warwick. Can any Warwick students shed some light on this? I suppose my concerns will be addressed when I visit next month.

Many thanks for the replies so far!

Reply 12

02mik_e

14

sdc29

The job prospects are better at LSE, I accept that.

But I don't want to regret missing out on the whole university experience - something I've worked so hard for and waited so long for - just for a marginally better degree.

Yes, when you tell people that you were educated at LSE, it's amazing, because it's such a competitive institution. I accept that. But Warwick is almost as good and respected, right??

I'm a bit worried about Warwick in the sense that I don't know if I'd feel claustraphobic on campus. I've grown up in London and am so used to having all the amenities within literally walking distance - I don't want to feel like I'm trapped if I go to Warwick. Can any Warwick students shed some light on this? I suppose my concerns will be addressed when I visit next month.

Many thanks for the replies so far!

Are you going to the open day on the 4th March? :smile:

(Warwick this is)

Reply 13

astudent

7

In any social science you will get the same ammount of contact hours per week (apart from oxbridge,durham). Also the general gist of the criticism towards LSE teaching is that 1) You are taught by PHd holders/students 2) They're crap. This is simply not true and in the event of a bad teacher you could always a) switch class b) get together with classmates and replace teacher. If you think you are going to be taught by your professors at warwick you should think again, the situation is very similar.

Social life is pretty good, just opt for larger halls and you will be fine. I cant imagine how you would go from London to nowhere and possibly slate lse social life. Politics at LSE are highly regarded, not just for employment - its one of the flagship departments.

Reply 14

Heckler and Koch

sdc29

The job prospects are better at LSE, I accept that.

But I don't want to regret missing out on the whole university experience - something I've worked so hard for and waited so long for - just for a marginally better degree.

Yes, when you tell people that you were educated at LSE, it's amazing, because it's such a competitive institution. I accept that. But Warwick is almost as good and respected, right??

I'm a bit worried about Warwick in the sense that I don't know if I'd feel claustraphobic on campus. I've grown up in London and am so used to having all the amenities within literally walking distance - I don't want to feel like I'm trapped if I go to Warwick. Can any Warwick students shed some light on this? I suppose my concerns will be addressed when I visit next month.

Many thanks for the replies so far!

I don't really want to criticise my own uni as it's not in my interest but if it helps you decide...

I was split between Warwick and LSE and chose LSE. Now I regret it.
I agree with most of what has been said above, it is a unique place but you don't get the "student" experience as you would at other unis although I'm not sure how good Warwick would be for this either.

At LSE all ethnic stereotypes are confirmed and you will very likely stay in a small group from year 1 to 3. Unless you're in the AU and are prepared to fail your degree.

Heavy workload+few british students+expensive London= not that great an experience.

Reply 15

Heckler and Koch

astudent

In any social science you will get the same ammount of contact hours per week (apart from oxbridge,durham). Also the general gist of the criticism towards LSE teaching is that 1) You are taught by PHd holders/students 2) They're crap. This is simply not true and in the event of a bad teacher you could always a) switch class b) get together with classmates and replace teacher. If you think you are going to be taught by your professors at warwick you should think again, the situation is very similar.

Social life is pretty good, just opt for larger halls and you will be fine. I cant imagine how you would go from London to nowhere and possibly slate lse social life. Politics at LSE are highly regarded, not just for employment - its one of the flagship departments.

Agree that some of the teachers are very good but disagree with your idea that it's easy to change them. Social life in halls is OK but what about the second and third year when you move out?

Reply 16

astudent

7

Heckler and Koch

Agree that some of the teachers are very good but disagree with your idea that it's easy to change them. Social life in halls is OK but what about the second and third year when you move out?

You can change them pretty easily mate. I know of a person who changed class on grounds of bad teaching and my classmates and I changed one of our subject teachers. Its not that hard.

Yeah I guess that if you didnt make too many friends in the first year and do not know too many people in london it might be hard for you to meet new people in later years, although I would probably think this would be the same for most unis.

Reply 17

ninety_nine

12

Everyone's slating LSE's social life but from what I've heard Warwick's isn't much better - the so called 'student experience' that your longing for is something that none of my friends who got into Warwick found when visiting the place, thus they all went to lower ranked unis that were better for this i.e Manchester, Leeds etc. I don't mean to bash Warwick because there are some positive stories about the social life there..as there are about LSE, your just going to have to see the place and decide to take a gamble on one of them.

IMO there are a few better places to study politics then LSE, just because of it's location and it's history in politics. Getting into Government at LSE is comparable to getting into any of their other top courses, so well done, and be sure before you throw that offer away. From what I've heard from current LSE students on here, they moan no end about the university and their course, but very few of them say they would want to go anywhere else.

Reply 18

Heckler and Koch

astudent

You can change them pretty easily mate. I know of a person who changed class on grounds of bad teaching and my classmates and I changed one of our subject teachers. Its not that hard.

Yeah I guess that if you didnt make too many friends in the first year and do not know too many people in london it might be hard for you to meet new people in later years, although I would probably think this would be the same for most unis.

OK if you say so I've never tried. Are you a first year?

Haven't you experienced the cliques that form in halls? Although cliques is probably too strong a word :tongue:

Reply 19

astudent

7

Yes and yes, although not to a very large extent.

Obviously wherever you go there's bound to be groups of Asian students who just hang around with eachother, but there still are loads of people you can meet/go out with.

Warwick or LSE?

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