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A Week in the Life of an LSE StudentTSR Wiki > University > University Guides > London School of Economics > A Week in the Life of an LSE Student
Business Mathematics and StatisticsUsername: Swayum Year of Study: 1st Background: I'm a fresher at LSE studying Business Mathematics and Statistics (so very similar to Economics, Accounting & Finance if you do the full modules, Maths and Economics, Actuarial Science and others), living in Bankside House and writing based on Week 9 of Michaelmas Term (that's the first term of the year). Typical Week Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: I have no lectures or classes on Wednesdays and yet I never get to lie in (where lie in = wake up at 4 PM).
Thursday: Only one lecture today. I've decided to no longer go to the Thursday stats lecture because it's just not worth waking up for - it's recorded online anyway. I went this week anyway because I had lots of other stuff to do anyway.
Friday: This is a killer. I have 3 classes! A lot of other people do too.
In the past, I've usually gone home to family (in London) for the weekend. Weekend: Not much goes on in my weekends. Only noteworthy things are that I have to get my weekly economics quiz done and mathematical methods homework, both which I leave to the last minute on Sunday. Other CommentsHow does this compare with other LSE students? I think you get 3 types of LSE students. 1) Those who don't go out at all and/or don't have (m)any friends at LSE. People who are international and in this category usually spend their lives on Skype. People who aren't international and in this category - I have no clue what they do. It can't be work because I haven't met many exceptionally bright or hard working people in this category... yet. I guess they go out with their old friends? 2) Those who go out virtually every night. I don't know too many people who fall in this category, but kudos to them, to be honest. That's pretty much how Michaelmas term of freshers should be spent. That said, they'll probably be working their arses off in Christmas. Although I reckon I could keep up with the amount of work I've been doing and go out every night as well, but I lack the energy for that. 3) People in the middle somewhere (which I guess includes me). I think this category captures most people and I think my week is similarish to most of theirs. The major difference would be that I probably go to far more career related events than even second and third years, but that's because, for me, LSE was a choice between a better education in maths vs better career prospects (I picked the latter), so I'm trying to make the most of it. Most people go out one or two nights more than me I'd say. How much work do you have? Basically, I go to almost every lecture (so 8 hours for me) and every class (4 hours). In my own time, I spend maybe a couple of hours on the weekend and around 2 to 5 hours (usually about 3) in the weekdays. We have to do one exercise sheet each week for mathematical methods, abstract maths and statistics. It isn't a coincidence that, whenever I've written that I did work, it was for a class the next day/a deadline. I only really tend to do the minimum amount of work - that is only the exercise sheets and the weekly economics quiz. I really ought to be doing more I think. Compare this with school - you do about 7 hours a day right? So 35 hours a week? Add on time spent on homework and you're looking around 45ish right? For me it's more like 12 hours of teaching time and 5 hours of individual study, so 17 hours! I'm not saying this is recommended or anything, but it's what I do at least and I'm coping alright except for in economics (and when I say coping, I mean getting higher grades in the weekly exercises than other people in my class). How would you change this? Maybe do something more on weekends? At Bankside, there's a football thing, but not really into it. Also, I should really make much more use of the bar. I need to find time to work more on economics and abstract maths. Government and History Year of Study: 1st Background: I live in Hampshire and commute every day to London, from the New Forest. I love my life in the Forest but by commuting I get the best of both worlds. I did live in Rosebery Avenue halls but city living just didn't suit me. Also my Grandparents are elderly and ill and I like being able to drop in on them lots, especially as my Grandad has cancer. I also have a part time job home in the Forest and am training to ride from Land's End to John o Groats next summer! Just want to show people that it is possible to have other commitments and still do well. Monday: This is the worst part of my week but at least I get it over quick! I get up at 5.30, shower and leave the house at 6.20 to catch the 6.40 train to Waterloo. On the train I get out my Kindle to do the reading for my 9am class. Monday is a really busy day for me. It starts with an hours Political Theory class so something like Hobbes which some of my coursemates love but I can't stand, I'm much more a scientist. 10am I have a Law lecture, this is my outside option and the lecturer is great. I then get an hours break which I never find enough to do proper work so I get coffee and my Kindle out again. Then it's the two hour LSE100 lecture so it could be great, could be pointless. In my two hour break I head to the basement of the NAB where there are sofas and plugs and get my laptop out to do some work. It usually takes my half an hour to focus and then I loose focus again over the last hour. My worst lecture of the week is coming up so I get coffee/coke and a sugary snack to keep my going but when the two hours of political theory are over I head to the station and get the 6.30 train home! I get home about 8.30, have dinner and watch TV. Tuesday: A much better day! I don't have my law lecture until one so I lie in after yesterday's mega early morning. I usually start reading my law cases for the week on the 10.40 train. I have Law at 1pm, then carry on reading cases in the NAB (my preferred work space!) until my 4pm History lecture. This lecture is always a bit hit or miss because the lecturer changes regularly. It's usually interesting but there's always one that sends you to sleep. I take all my notes for History and Law on my laptop. I'll then do another hours cases or just look at rubbish on the internet until I head to Debate Society at 6. It was a really good society to join, everyone there is really friendly, we have a real laugh and there are lots of interesting international students to get to know. We talk about IV's coming up and have a debate before heading to the pub. The Knight's Templar is round the corner and we continue to talk about the debate and have a drink. I usually get dinner here as it's cheap. I take the last train home at 10.40, get home about midnight and am usually relieved that my two busiest days are over! Wednesday: My day off! I'll either work a breakfast (7am-12) or dinner (6pm-12) in the hotel I work in. I spent my gap year here full time, my boss is lovely and my main social life comes from here! I am good friends with all my colleagues and we go out fairly often. It's nice to have a life outside uni because it can all get a bit insular. I love waitressing and have dreams that when I've benefitted from my LSE degree I will buy a restaurant. I would really miss working here, not to mention I need to work to afford the train fare! I will also make sure I get out on my bike for 2-3hours training and end up at one of my grandparent's houses where I have a chat and make sure they don't need anything doing for them. Between me and my parents we make sure they get to all their hospital appointments and have everything they need if they can't get out. One of us drops in every day. I also sit down and do my History reading as I have a 9am class but this only takes 2hoursish so I usually feel quite refreshed after a Wednesday as I have been to work and out on my bike. If it's an essay week however I will have spent the whole day slaving over an essay! Thursday: Another early morning! I get the 6.40 train and finish the reading for my 9am History class! My teacher is great and I always feel guilty if I haven't done it! I have a Political Science lecture at 12 so I read for that in between. By one I'm finished and I'm back in the Forest by 3! I head to one of my grandparents for an early dinner and may go to work again but I never work more than 15 hours a week. I'll do some more Politcal Science reading if not. If I'm lucky I'll get to see my boyfriend who is a student at Southampton, lives at home but is also extremely busy as a District Councillor! Friday: I get the 7.40 train so an early start but a busy morning and then I'm home! I have a Law class, an LSE 100 class and then a science class! I am home by 3 and usually read a novel or something unrelated to my degree on the way home to wind down from the week. If it's an essay week I will spend the evening on that, I may go to work but this is usually the best night of the week to see the other half. We've been together four years and still never see each other more than once a week! It's hard but we both understand that hard work will pay off in the end so make up for it by speaking lots on the phone and seeing each other more in the holidays. Weekend: My weekends are always busy! If it's an essay weekend I spend all weekend working to get it done as quickly as possible. I like to write essays in one big chunk, not gradually. If there's a debate tournament I get up early on Saturday and drive there. It may be close, like Bristol or Oxford or further afield. I never drive more than three hours away though, if it's further than that I go up the night before and we arrange accomodation! I either drive back late at night or early the next morning. If I have Sunday free or even the whole weekend I may go and visit my best friend who is at Bournemouth, a half an hour drive away. I also make sure I get in two bike rides on a free weekend or one if I'm busy. If I can I work Sunday 7-5 or if there's a wedding 2-2. I have to be careful with work as I get to chose my hours and I must not get carried away thinking of the money and prioritise my degree! I get to bed early Sunday night ready to get up at 5.30!
EconomicsUsername: The Sherminator Year of Study: 1st year
Finally i will be filling this in! Monday: Wake up tired from the weekend, and not really excited about the week ahead. After a couple of hours in lectures, sit in the Quad and chat to anyone and everyone, eat paninis and pretend to read the FT. Come home in the evening and start some homework for the week, but don't get far as we haven't studied a lot yet. Hang out in someone's room, go out or play some pool. Tuesday: Hectic day filled with lectures. Two one hour breaks, go eat a panini and contemplate whether to skip the Stats lecture in the afternoon. Half the times, skip it, the other times go in the lecture and wish why you didn't skip it. Because of the hectic day, take the night off and don't do any work. Relax, and play some pool or hang out. Wednesday: Skip the accounts lecture most of the times, otherwise turn up and then rush back home and start the weeks assignments. As you have the whole day, most days go out somewhere, watch a movie (Orange Wednesday) or attend a public lecture. Do some of the essential reading as well. Thursday: Lectures and classes, and a mad rush to finish assignments before the weekend so you can take the whole weekend off!!! Friday: Last class for the week, finish off all the work for the week, so no homeworks are left for the weekend. Go out somewhere, either eat out or go for a movie or something. Saturday: Go play cricket all day and eat out, get really knackered and take an early night after possibly the best day of the week. Sunday: Take it easy, do some prelim reading for the upcoming lectures, mostly for the Econ lectures.
This is almost always the schedule, perhaps throw in an extra public lecture here and there. The only time it gets hectic is week 5 and 10 when you have to hand in Problem Sets, essays and other marked work. If you are worried about a work/life balance, don't be. Its about making the most of university life, and I assure you, that you have enough time to do everything you would really want to do. Just make sure you REALLY want to do it, otherwise you get dragged into doing things that you don't find interesting at all. The first term is an experiment for everyone really but by the 2nd term you get the hang of doing things the right way. I think I am still learning, as I enter my second year in September, but that is how university is. There is no certainty about anything, in a way, that is the fun and the problem with it. Government and Social PolicyUsername: kashmir.noir Year of Study: 1st year
A week - Well, I have 8 hours a week. And take, GV101, GV100, IR100 and SA100. One lecture, one class for each course. Monday, I have one class on monday, which is at around 1. And a lecture at 4-6. I just get to Uni at around 12 - and work for my Tuesday Classes (reading etc) during all the hours im not in class or in a lecture. Or hang at starbucks, pretending to study. After my lecture in the early evening, I usually go for a public lecture, which there are some ridiculous amounts of. Its difficult sometimes to even find time for them. Go for dinner with friends afterwards, return to the library and pull a 4am-er. Tuesdays, I could commit suicide on. I have a class from 10-11 then one from 1-2, then a lecture from 3-4 and another class from 5-6. I am always in the library on Tuesdays, finishing reading i really should have done on the weekend, or essays that are due in an hour. Or finishing a presentation. Ugh. Hate tuesdays. But then, after the day is over, im still in the library - finishing the essays I didn't eventually finish doing, and handing it in before 12, so it TECHNICALLY cannot be late. Then I go out for dinner, or bum around with friends in halls, and pass out cause of lack of sleep. Wednesdays I have nothing, i sleep in, go for lunch, go shopping, go for drinks, go out. Same for Thursdays. I have a lecture, but I always bunk it, its 10 am, and i'm always hung over. Same for Fridays. I have a lecture, but its recorded online. I don't see the point in waking up at 10 am. Saturdays Ditto. Sunday, I eventually get to the pile of work, that I should have done. But this was till, like, week 15 of LSE, after that, my freedays, were spent in the library. Freaking out because,2.2 - 2.1's are depressing to look at, because everyone around you has risen waaay up to like, the 1st mark, leaving you, where you were hung over. Coming into summer term, i hope that my body doesn't start to reject Red Bull. The Library will be my new home And bed since its 24hrs. |
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