Warwick vs LSE

Hi everyone,

I have offers for Warwick PPE and LSE Gov and Econ and I'm in a massive dilemma. I'm 85% sure about Warwick but I don't want to miss out on LSE either and it has an amazing international reputation, but it seems like LSE has terrible social life. I hear a lot that LSE students hate their lives because it's such a toxic environment, but is it really true?

I know I'd be really happy at Warwick, but I'd also like to think that I could make the most out of an LSE experience too, which makes me really undecided. I don't really have a preference in terms of the course, so it comes down to the social life and careers - I want to get involved in lots of societies and have good career prospects (although I'm still unsure about what career I want to pursue - I'll probably want to do a masters in Economics first), but I also want to have fun and enjoy uni.

Are there any Warwick students who declined LSE and can explain why, or LSE students that can talk about their experience?

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

Trapz99

Lol no, it's not a toxic environment and I haven't met anyone who hates their life at lse
Warwick is probably more depressing given that it's in the middle of nowhere

Reply 2

Celestiall

Original post by Trapz99

Lol no, it's not a toxic environment and I haven't met anyone who hates their life at lse
Warwick is probably more depressing given that it's in the middle of nowhere

Do you study there?

Reply 3

Trapz99

Original post by Celestiall

Do you study there?

Yeah

Reply 4

PostGrad221

Original post by Celestiall

LSE is much better for politics and economics. I'd pick it over Warwick any day.

Reply 5

study_blr

LSE is definitely a choice between Warwick and LSE by far. It's got a lively social life, Warwick is in the middle of no-where and if you're planning to get far with Politics/Econ, etc. LSE is the one as it's more appreciated.

Reply 6

Celestiall

It’s not just TSR hearsay, it’s what I hear from friends who have friends there too and the general reputation - seeing how subjective it is, there’s not much more “solid” evidence you can use than students’ opinions... so what I wanted was to see some positive opinions too. In terms of statistics there’s the student satisfaction.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 7

Celestiall

I'm not going to use student satisfaction statistics as the main factor to turn down a university, but the fact that LSE consistently ranks so low does say something.

But anyway, I made this thread to see the other side of the coin (because I realise that there must be another side to it too), not to have the sources that I do have undermined. You're not proving me otherwise, and therefore of course I have to go by the information I do have, even if they're not the most reliable sources...

Reply 8

Celestiall

Sorry, you're right - I realised I didn't actually specify what I want out of it, I updated it now.

I know that student satisfaction includes the teaching too, but that's also a factor to consider. But as I said, I definitely wouldn't make it an important factor to base my decision on (when you see that in the Guardian league tables Coventry and Loughborough are way above Warwick, LSE and UCL in Economics), which is why I just want as many impressions as possible.

Reply 9

LeapingLucy

People talk about the terrible social life at LSE, but that hasn't been my experience at all - halls like Passfield and Carr-Saunders are really social in particular, lots of people go out at least once a week, if not twice.

In my opinion, if you're a sociable person and you make the effort, you'll have just as good a time at LSE as you would anywhere else.

Reply 10

LeapingLucy

I also had to make the decision between LSE and Warwick (For Government and History).

Reply 11

nusquam

Original post by Celestiall

Hi! I'm facing a similar dilemma, and was wondering which uni you ended up going for and why?

Reply 12

milmilmil

I went for Warwick over LSE because I read a lot and was told by students of LSE that there tends to be a lot of independence and competition between students there, and also obviously life in London is really really expensive which was a major consideration for me. Obviously if you want that competition and don't mind being like in on your own with your studies then I'd go for LSE. Personally though I feel like campus is better for me for comfort, already thinking about a masters at LSE though so I can experience it when I'm older and wiser hahaa

Reply 13

Lobsterknowspeed

I go to LSE and, honestly, I don't really feel it's that competitive, at least amongst my friend group, but that might be bc relative to the LSE student body, we're pretty much idiots with no career prospects lol. Most people are just pretty career-centric and care a lot about internship ops, which may or may not be a good environment to surround yourself with, depending on the type of person you are.
I would also take all opinions about student life at LSE with a pinch of salt bc ultimately, LSE is what you make of it. With regards to nightlife, London is pretty sick, though, as expected, cost of living is really expensive, so that would be something worth considering.

With regards to teaching quality, LSE is a bit hit or miss, in the sense that some tutors are amazing, whereas others are terrible- my stats teacher openly admitted that he wasn't too familiar with hypothesis testing - which is kinda A-Level stats...

Honestly, I don't know too much about Warwick, but I don't think you could go wrong with either!
Good luck!!

(edited 5 years ago)