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Carr Saunders Halls, LSE
London School of Economics
London

LSE Economics Student AMA

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Reply 20
Original post by Anonymous
It's no problem, thanks for the question!

BSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics is a course that you can only transfer to after your second year in BSc Economics (at least this is how you would typically get into the programme, not sure if there are other routes.) This is of course conditional on having great grades (on track for a first or a 2:1). Hence, you most probably cannot just apply for the programme directly through UCAS because proving very high and strong academic abilities first is absolutely required.

What makes this programme different, and I mean more demanding and challenging, is that it allows you to choose EC331, a module that is only available to EME students in the third year. Students are assigned a supervisor who is a very dedicated and experienced researcher of course and you get to write a quantitative thesis. Hence, people who tend to get into the programme are all very keen on economics research and they really do prepare you well for - whether its research at university, government, etc.

Hope this helps!


Thanks again, very helpful pointers about EC331.
Carr Saunders Halls, LSE
London School of Economics
London
Original post by csc2020
Thanks again, very helpful pointers about EC331.

No problem, happy to help!
Original post by Anonymous
Hello!
Firstly, I would like to start by saying that I can only speaking confidently about the experience at LSE, my university, whilst my insights about Cambridge's economics degree are solely based on my research and the experience of some of my friends. Okay so let me get into some of the differences. Number 1, LSE econ is designed to be very mathematical, no matter your outside optional modules. Especially the second and third-year compulsory modules I would say can be very mathematical and rigorous in nature. For example, if you choose to do Microeconomics 2 EC202 or Principles of Econometrics EC221 (which is a very prestigious and a gold standard course, which provides a great foundation for graduate studies) are a lot more mathematical than the micro and metrics courses taught at Cambridge. That said, the alternatives, so EC201 and EC220, are still very rigorous and mathematical but are not much different from those taught at Cambridge. Third-year courses, given what I've heard from older students, of course, are very very challenging and you can think of the first two years, as prep for the third year, where you put all the mathematical and somewhat basic ideas into the test, through applications to the real world of course. Secondly, something which is quite different and known, is that LSE economics is designed to be taught in a way, that fully prepares you for graduate studies, which isn't really the case at Cambridge. That means that, if you know that might be something that you're interested in, LSE provides a great opportunity to prepare for that, for example through EC221 as I said, or MA203 a real analysis course taught at LSE. I do not think opportunities such as these, so to take courses that prepare you for grad study or simply take courses that provide you with a challenging economics education at undergrad, are available as much at Cambridge. Three, at LSE you can choose to steer your degree in the way you want really, so it's a lot more flexible. Yes, some of the courses are a lot more mathematical and challenging than Cambridge's, but through your outside options, you're really given the opportunity to explore modules from other departments, such as law, politics, anthropology, international relations, and so on. I know people who do out compulsory courses and are doing those that are more on the qualitative side and have chosen to completely stay away from econ for their outside options. They still graduate with a degree in econ :smile: Not that much flexibility at Cambridge. Although I seem to be very biased here haha, no one can argue about the standards of education and rigor at Cambridge, it's all about what you want to get out of your econ degree.

In terms of student satisfaction, it's mainly really what you make out of it. Of course, you do want to have a good think about whether the differences in the place, for example, whether you prefer the diverse, fast and busy city or not, because these will contribute greatly to your satisfaction at university. But in terms of societies and making friends, they're both places that have some of the world's best students in their chosen fields, so of course, you'll find those that are more on the introvert or anti-social side but you'll also find those that are eager to make friends and have strong relationships with people. The point is if you go to either university and decide to put yourself out there and make friends, then I guarantee you'll find the right people through societies or halls for example.

Onto the new economics degree structure. Firstly, there isn't any change to the third year, which is great because this is mainly where you bring everything you were taught at the first two years and choose where and in which field you'd like to apply that knowledge. So it's still quite flexible. Generally, I do think it's a change for the better and you guys will probably find this to be a better educational experience, especially for the first year. For one, you're all now being taught the same introductory economics courses, unlike in previous years where we had a course for those who studied A-level econ and another for those who didn't. This is great because no one really understood how two different courses are meant to take everywhere to the same start point for the first year, and it didn't. Something like game theory, which is explored in quite some depth in Micro during the second year, was covered in the economics module for those with prior econ knowledge. While the other portion of students is introduced to game theory for the first time in the second year. You now do not have to go through this. One other change that I notice is that the first term in the first year seems to be a preparation for the second term, which is again, something great. Easing into the courses is something that you'll really appreciate if you join LSE, given that you have some time to adjust with fairly simple ideas. In the first year, we were never taught econometrics, and we did micro in the first term and macro in the second. This means that you're taught stats in the first term and then taught how to apply that knowledge to an economics problem (econometrics.) This also means that, while we previously did micro first, got it over with, and kind of just forgot about it until the start of the second year, you do not go through that anymore as well. Instead, doing these two side by side, having studied an intro to econ in the first term, will help you see how these two come together to really shape society. it will definitely also set the tone for the courses in the second year because you do study these simultaneously as well:smile: Finally for the second year, it seems they have chosen to remove the option of which micro or metrics module to study and this means that they'll probably find a better balance between sustaining the mathematical and rigorous nature of the more challenging options, while still making it a little more qualitative and less complex. I am a little doubtful about this change because it no longer allows students to, as I said challenge themselves or just simply get by. So, to accommodate for both, it could be seen as a little simple for some but a little complex for others.

Hope this helps :smile:


Wow. Thank you so much for the detailed response. I am an international student who will be self funding my education at lse. May I know what the average monthly cost of living (rent and food) and wat are the main differences between the various LSE and UOL halls?
Original post by csc2020
Thank you very much for taking time to share your views.

I have a question about "BSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics"

From the past data, I have hardly seen people getting offers in this course. Do you know the reason?

Some one mentioned that BSc Economics students changed to this course in second year. Is it true?

I’m a BSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics (EME) graduate!


Everything that the poster stated is true. But I’ll add some more comments.

You more or less need to be getting all first class marks. You should also be doing EC202 and EC221 instead of the less technical versions, though I actually was the only person who didn’t do either course. I think the course codes are changing. Most people also will have done optional modules in maths/stats in the first and second year.

Also, it’s not as easy as having good grades. You need to submit a detailed research proposal over the summer for the EC331 dissertation. Every year about 10 or less people are admitted to transfer.

Also the main difference is in final year you have to take the EC331 dissertation as mentioned, but also you must take one extra econometrics modules. The programme description says you can take Games and Economic Behaviour instead though no one has ever been approved to not take an extra econometrics module. I don’t know why the programme description says you can...

Also for your remaining modules, you can do maths and stats with permission but most people limit this to just one unit or none, otherwise they’d be doing no field courses in economics.

If you get into LSE BSc Economics, pm me and I can guide you on the optimal path to transferring to BSc EME
Reply 24
Original post by Anonymous
No problem, happy to help, and thanks for the question!

I would say that the work pressure and expected effort for every degree tends to vary a little at LSE. More qualitative courses, yes tend to have loads of reading material for example, but do have less work pressure relative to more quantitative courses for sure. For economics, I would say it's one of the most demanding courses at LSE, objectively because I have about 3 hours of lectures and either 1 or 2 hours of classes for my quantitative and economics courses (while its mainly 2 hours of lectures and a 1 hour class for qualitative ones) and perhaps a little more subjectively because economics at LSE like you said, is meant to be very challenging. That being said, it's definitely manageable, and while some struggle in terms of keeping up, there are those out there who are active members in like 3 societies and go out multiple times a week. It's all about how you manage your time and how fast you can grasp those ideas of course! But what I'm trying to say is, even if you struggle with that, it's not impossible to keep up :smile:

In terms of independent study, I am not the hardest working person during the term by any means, especially with online university lol, but what I do for every course every week is as follow: watch my lectures and attend my classes (not really independent work hehe), I then review the things we've covered, which I don't really do in great or any depth, but if there is something fundamental that I really don't understand then that takes a little more of my time (I'd spend some time asking friends or my class teacher etc) and finally, I attempt my weekly problem sets. This process differs in time every week of course, but I'd say maybe this takes about 5 hours of independent study (excluding lectures and classes) weekly for every course (and we do 4 courses.) I would say this is average, I know those who spend a lot less or a lot more time on each course and it's not an indication of how great you're doing in your courses. It's more about how quickly you grasp things like I said

I don't put in the most effort during term time by any means, but I do try to keep up and clear some of my biggest doubts. Instead, holidays for me are where I ease off some of the pressure of having to keep up and spend my time consolidating the ideas, making sure I get them, etc. Some people grind during term time, to only work hard again right before exams. But this doesn't really work too well for me. Overall, LSE is definitely more demanding than other universities, but it's manageable to do well in your studies while still have a good social life :smile:

thank you so much for the reply! that is very helpful!! :smile::smile::smile:
Reply 25
Original post by econ.person
I’m a BSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics (EME) graduate!


Everything that the poster stated is true. But I’ll add some more comments.

You more or less need to be getting all first class marks. You should also be doing EC202 and EC221 instead of the less technical versions, though I actually was the only person who didn’t do either course. I think the course codes are changing. Most people also will have done optional modules in maths/stats in the first and second year.

Also, it’s not as easy as having good grades. You need to submit a detailed research proposal over the summer for the EC331 dissertation. Every year about 10 or less people are admitted to transfer.

Also the main difference is in final year you have to take the EC331 dissertation as mentioned, but also you must take one extra econometrics modules. The programme description says you can take Games and Economic Behaviour instead though no one has ever been approved to not take an extra econometrics module. I don’t know why the programme description says you can...

Also for your remaining modules, you can do maths and stats with permission but most people limit this to just one unit or none, otherwise they’d be doing no field courses in economics.

If you get into LSE BSc Economics, pm me and I can guide you on the optimal path to transferring to BSc EME

Thanks @econ.person, that is really useful addition to understand EME.
I will certainly pm you when I hear from LSE.
If I get LSE offer, I also need to choose between LSE and Cambridge, where I have a conditional offer. I am sure you also can help me in this aspect.
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(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by ellieman1
when applying to Investment banking spring weeks, did you have to enter a levels in first sitting for any banks? if you did, do they get to see the second sitting grades at any point when applying? I am currently retaking a levels that is why

Hello!
I believe in most cases, it does not specify whether they're asking for your results from the first sitting or otherwise. So, you'd probably be fine with submitting your second sitting grades. This wasn't something that I paid too much attention to in my applications, so sadly I'm not 100% confident. However, something that you can do is contact the early careers recruitment teams in banks you're most interested in to get a more accurate answer because application forms do tend to differ from bank to bank of course.
Best of luck with your A-levels!
Original post by econ.person
I’m a BSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics (EME) graduate!


Everything that the poster stated is true. But I’ll add some more comments.

You more or less need to be getting all first class marks. You should also be doing EC202 and EC221 instead of the less technical versions, though I actually was the only person who didn’t do either course. I think the course codes are changing. Most people also will have done optional modules in maths/stats in the first and second year.

Also, it’s not as easy as having good grades. You need to submit a detailed research proposal over the summer for the EC331 dissertation. Every year about 10 or less people are admitted to transfer.

Also the main difference is in final year you have to take the EC331 dissertation as mentioned, but also you must take one extra econometrics modules. The programme description says you can take Games and Economic Behaviour instead though no one has ever been approved to not take an extra econometrics module. I don’t know why the programme description says you can...

Also for your remaining modules, you can do maths and stats with permission but most people limit this to just one unit or none, otherwise they’d be doing no field courses in economics.

If you get into LSE BSc Economics, pm me and I can guide you on the optimal path to transferring to BSc EME

Hi, I was wondering if there is a real difference between the mathematical rigour of LSE's Economics program and Cambridge's. From my understanding, cambridge also has additional/optional and more advanced math amd econometrics modules (such as Part IIA Paper 6 and PartIIB Paper10). I was wondering how this compares to EC202 and EC221.
Finally, an LSE Econ AMA! :h:
What advice would you give to those getting an offer in terms of preparation for the beginning of their degree in their first term? It is obviously one of the most challenging courses in the LSE, so if I get an offer I would like to be as prepared as possible for the difficulties ahead :biggrin: Would you recommend something like going through the 1st year textbooks or revising maths?
Also, how different is the experience for those who did further maths at A level and those who just did single? Do further mathematicians find the maths aspect of Econ easier?
Oh and btw, if I am not that keen on investment banking, will I be an 'outlier' compared to others? I do want to work in the finance industry but not IB in particular. And everyone says that LSE Econ is basically for those who want to do IB which is kinda worrying me about whether there are people who have other career prospects like me
Original post by Anonymous
Finally, an LSE Econ AMA! :h:
What advice would you give to those getting an offer in terms of preparation for the beginning of their degree in their first term? It is obviously one of the most challenging courses in the LSE, so if I get an offer I would like to be as prepared as possible for the difficulties ahead :biggrin: Would you recommend something like going through the 1st year textbooks or revising maths?
Also, how different is the experience for those who did further maths at A level and those who just did single? Do further mathematicians find the maths aspect of Econ easier?

Hello!!
I wouldn't say there is much that you 'should' be doing before the start of your degree. Personally, I would suggest just relaxing after A-levels (getting the required grades is no easy job!), and joining Facebook groups for LSE offer-holders (you'll probably find groups for specific courses, halls, etc) to make some friends before you get here! A lot of people don't realize how much you'd come to appreciate meeting all these people online first, because it would definitely make the transition and moving your whole life to a different place less daunting. So, you wouldn't really feel the pressure of having to make friends in the beginning because apparently 'LSE is the WORST place for your social life' haha.

In terms of preparing FOR the degree, you could definitely brush up on your mathematical (so complex differentiation, integration, turning points, matrices, etc) and statistical skills. Personally, I only did my stats papers for maths and further maths in year 12 so it was definitely a long time before starting uni at LSE, and I had to spend a little more time trying to remember things, compared to others haha. If you've done econ at A-level, then you should be fine, but if not, then maybe do have a look at econ textbooks (and I am guessing you can probably access the reading list for the econ module in the first year, so do use that one.) But to be honest, only do these things if you're very very keen on being prepared, the courses take a very gradual approach, and as long as you keep up, you'll most definitely be fine.

Now on to further mathematics. Personally, I've done further maths and while it does help you build on your mathematical problem-solving skills, I would say basically none of the maths I studied in further maths was ever used in my first year of econ. So, in terms of content, you have no advantage really, but it could be helpful in terms of how you deal with mathematical problems in general. Did I ever notice a difference between those who studied the subject and those who didn't? Not at all, no. Those who did not study the subject most definitely do not find the maths courses any harder than those who did, simply because we're all seeing these things for the first time. So overall, it means nothing for your econ degree and maths courses but I guess LSE asks for it because it probably means you're someone who can do maths and likes maths more than the average person. Also, because they like over-achievers haha.

Hope this helps! :smile:
Original post by Anonymous
Oh and btw, if I am not that keen on investment banking, will I be an 'outlier' compared to others? I do want to work in the finance industry but not IB in particular. And everyone says that LSE Econ is basically for those who want to do IB which is kinda worrying me about whether there are people who have other career prospects like me

That is 100% true. LSE economics students really are obsessed having with a career in IB, and you'd think that's an exaggeration until you see them in societies, networking events, etc. Funny how we all write such great personal statements about our passion for economics, our dreams of ending poverty, and making positive changes in society when about 95% of econ students would sell their souls to Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan in about 0.2 secs.

That being said, you would not be an outlier, no. While the majority are after jobs in IB, there are many out there who are seeking jobs in consulting, the bank of England, the government, organizations such as UN, IMF, etc. Some end up working in something so unexpected such as technology. It most definitely is diverse, and I would say a lot of people are influenced by those around them to do something as typical as IB. My group of friends is all Econ students and none of us are that keen on IB really so you will find people on the course and in LSE in general with different career goals.

While the environment at LSE is very career-oriented and there is a certain focus on IB, the school definitely brings in many different firms and organizations, other than IBs, for networking events, etc. Personally, I have landed an internship at an IB, where I will be joining the finance division of the bank. So although I am not keen on investment banking, M&A, etc, I am interested in financial services, hence why I have applied and would like to explore something such as finance. Hope this helps!
Original post by Anonymous
Currently, a second-year economics student at LSE and would love to help and answer some questions that people out here may have. So ask anything related to economics, LSE, London or anything really :smile:

Hi, I'm waiting on a decision from LSE and wanted to ask a few things: :smile:

1) What is the teaching quality like as it has been rated quite poor for student satisfaction? Apparently some teachers are research students who don't offer much support or is this a wrong assumption?
2) What would you say is the maximum number of sports and academic societies you can join whilst maintaining solid grades? What are the societies like at LSE?
3) What is living in halls like? I've heard that 4 of them are more sociable than others. Also do most people live at home in 2nd and 3rd year or rent with friends?
4) How do you feel about the gender ratio and international student ratio?
5) Is it worth choosing easier outside options so you get a better grade/have an easier time with the harder modules or does it not make much difference which outside options you pick?
6) Anything you wish you knew about LSE before joining?

Sorry for the onslaught of questions, I completely understand if you can't answer them all.
Thanks so much for your time!
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, I'm waiting on a decision from LSE and wanted to ask a few things: :smile:

1) What is the teaching quality like as it has been rated quite poor for student satisfaction? Apparently some teachers are research students who don't offer much support or is this a wrong assumption?
2) What would you say is the maximum number of sports and academic societies you can join whilst maintaining solid grades? What are the societies like at LSE?
3) What is living in halls like? I've heard that 4 of them are more sociable than others. Also do most people live at home in 2nd and 3rd year or rent with friends?
4) How do you feel about the gender ratio and international student ratio?
5) Is it worth choosing easier outside options so you get a better grade/have an easier time with the harder modules or does it not make much difference which outside options you pick?
6) Anything you wish you knew about LSE before joining?

Sorry for the onslaught of questions, I completely understand if you can't answer them all.
Thanks so much for your time!

Best of luck with your application, hoping you hear the good news soon!

Firstly, teaching quality. I can only really speak about econ, but I do know friends who have problems with teaching in departments such as International Relations, Statistics, etc. So far, I can confidently that teaching quality, at least for the first 2 years of econ is amazing! I have no problems with the way any of my lecturers deliver the course, I do prefer some over others of course (shoutout Dimitra Petropoulou for EC201(micro) and Ricardo Reis for EC210(macro) haha) but overall lecturers are very experienced, and can explain things very intelligently. This is quite important because simply holding degrees from great universities does not mean you're fit to teaching students. However, for econ, lecturers are intelligent and genuinely passionate about what they do, they're always open to questions and offer a lot of support during their office hours. However, regarding class teachers and research students, you can end up with someone who is quite intelligent of course, but simply cannot deliver the content and manage the class confidently. But then again, classes are simply for going over problem set questions, and we do overcome such a problem by going to another (better) teacher's or even the lecturer's office hour. Like I said in the beginning, I did hear about problems with teaching in other departments, which could possibly explain the low rating in student satisfaction, but I can definitely say there are no fundamental issues within the econ department :smile:

In terms of societies, I know people who are active members in about 3 or 4 societies and normal members in another 3 whilst still maintaining excellent grades. By active I mean, holding positions of responsibility and leadership. To be honest, this all depends on how you manage your time and how quickly and efficiently you can do the academic side of university. But, the short answer is, yes its possible to be a part of a sports team and plenty of societies and still have solid grades.
There are many societies that are very active and big on campus (now online) such as the Economics Society, Consultancy society, Business and Investment Group society, Entrepreneurs society, Model United Nations, Debating society and of course you have more fun things such as Drama and Music and Cooking societies. It's really very diverse and they do hold really great events that require a lot of effort and planning, and I almost guarantee that whatever you're interested in, you're bound to find a society with people that have similar interests. Hence, joining societies that you're genuinely interested in is probably your safest and most obvious route to making strong friendships.

Personally, I've never lived in halls. But, yes the four most sociable and fun ones are Bankside, Roseberry, Passfield, and Carr-Saunders. They hold a lot of social events and a hall such as Bankside has a bar, where students can spend a lot of time getting to know each other outside university. My suggestion is, that LSE halls tend to overall be more enjoyable than Uni of London halls and living outside campus, for the obvious reason that these are all people that you potentially have so much in common with, and over time, given that you'll be doing so much together, you're more likely to develop friendships with the people in your halls. But in 2nd and 3rd year, the majority of people do tend to rent flats with their friends which is obviously cheaper and perhaps, nicer, because now you're only sharing a space with people you're comfortable with.

I don't really have much to say on the gender ratio, I don't feel like there's any noticeable difference in the numbers really and so this will not be a problem at all. However, LSE is very known for the large number and portion of international students that study at university. It's very international and while you have people from so so many different parts and countries of the world, you do see a considerable large fraction of Asians (China and Malaysia in particular) among students, this is especially the case in more quantitative courses that require a lot of maths. But not so much in qualitative ones really. This does have its advantages, such as the fact that you'll get to meet people coming from different cultures and backgrounds but this can sometimes not be the greatest thing, because students from certain countries do tend to stick together and don't really interact with a lot of 'outsiders.' But it's worth mentioning, that this isn't that big of an issue because generally, everyone is so keen on making friends from different backgrounds like I said, that you won't really care or bother with those that aren't :smile:

I can say that this is something that students definitely do and it does make a difference of course. There are plenty of courses that are easier to study than others and if students feel that their course load is already quite heavy then they do choose something a little light and easy for their outside option. Personally, I have chosen to do a particularly challenging maths course in the first year (MA103 - abstract maths, do check it out!) and because I found it to be quite hard, I chose something lighter in the second year because I felt like my econ courses were going to be really demanding and I couldn't go through that with my outside option again. It doesn't really make a difference except if you're planning to move on to grad studies. You'd be better off choosing modules that can prepare you and are more relevant to your subject of study, instead of just opting for an easy option. But even then, it doesn't really make that big of a difference really.

Finally, I would say no matter how much you prepare and plan for your experience at LSE, you'll never really expect what's coming haha. One thing that I would definitely keep in mind before starting at LSE, is to simply try and do my best in every aspect really but never compare myself to those around me. At school, we're all naturally one of the highest achieving and most hard-working students but at LSE, you're suddenly the average student. There will be times where you struggle while others around you seem to be achieving and doing great things, that maybe be the case, or it's just simply the fact that the grass is greener on the other side. Either way, keep in mind you're smart, hard-working, and intelligent, and don't let the environment trick you into thinking otherwise. Believe in yourself, and do not compare yourself to others :smile:
Original post by Anonymous
Best of luck with your application, hoping you hear the good news soon!

Firstly, teaching quality. I can only really speak about econ, but I do know friends who have problems with teaching in departments such as International Relations, Statistics, etc. So far, I can confidently that teaching quality, at least for the first 2 years of econ is amazing! I have no problems with the way any of my lecturers deliver the course, I do prefer some over others of course (shoutout Dimitra Petropoulou for EC201(micro) and Ricardo Reis for EC210(macro) haha) but overall lecturers are very experienced, and can explain things very intelligently. This is quite important because simply holding degrees from great universities does not mean you're fit to teaching students. However, for econ, lecturers are intelligent and genuinely passionate about what they do, they're always open to questions and offer a lot of support during their office hours. However, regarding class teachers and research students, you can end up with someone who is quite intelligent of course, but simply cannot deliver the content and manage the class confidently. But then again, classes are simply for going over problem set questions, and we do overcome such a problem by going to another (better) teacher's or even the lecturer's office hour. Like I said in the beginning, I did hear about problems with teaching in other departments, which could possibly explain the low rating in student satisfaction, but I can definitely say there are no fundamental issues within the econ department :smile:

In terms of societies, I know people who are active members in about 3 or 4 societies and normal members in another 3 whilst still maintaining excellent grades. By active I mean, holding positions of responsibility and leadership. To be honest, this all depends on how you manage your time and how quickly and efficiently you can do the academic side of university. But, the short answer is, yes its possible to be a part of a sports team and plenty of societies and still have solid grades.
There are many societies that are very active and big on campus (now online) such as the Economics Society, Consultancy society, Business and Investment Group society, Entrepreneurs society, Model United Nations, Debating society and of course you have more fun things such as Drama and Music and Cooking societies. It's really very diverse and they do hold really great events that require a lot of effort and planning, and I almost guarantee that whatever you're interested in, you're bound to find a society with people that have similar interests. Hence, joining societies that you're genuinely interested in is probably your safest and most obvious route to making strong friendships.

Personally, I've never lived in halls. But, yes the four most sociable and fun ones are Bankside, Roseberry, Passfield, and Carr-Saunders. They hold a lot of social events and a hall such as Bankside has a bar, where students can spend a lot of time getting to know each other outside university. My suggestion is, that LSE halls tend to overall be more enjoyable than Uni of London halls and living outside campus, for the obvious reason that these are all people that you potentially have so much in common with, and over time, given that you'll be doing so much together, you're more likely to develop friendships with the people in your halls. But in 2nd and 3rd year, the majority of people do tend to rent flats with their friends which is obviously cheaper and perhaps, nicer, because now you're only sharing a space with people you're comfortable with.

I don't really have much to say on the gender ratio, I don't feel like there's any noticeable difference in the numbers really and so this will not be a problem at all. However, LSE is very known for the large number and portion of international students that study at university. It's very international and while you have people from so so many different parts and countries of the world, you do see a considerable large fraction of Asians (China and Malaysia in particular) among students, this is especially the case in more quantitative courses that require a lot of maths. But not so much in qualitative ones really. This does have its advantages, such as the fact that you'll get to meet people coming from different cultures and backgrounds but this can sometimes not be the greatest thing, because students from certain countries do tend to stick together and don't really interact with a lot of 'outsiders.' But it's worth mentioning, that this isn't that big of an issue because generally, everyone is so keen on making friends from different backgrounds like I said, that you won't really care or bother with those that aren't :smile:

I can say that this is something that students definitely do and it does make a difference of course. There are plenty of courses that are easier to study than others and if students feel that their course load is already quite heavy then they do choose something a little light and easy for their outside option. Personally, I have chosen to do a particularly challenging maths course in the first year (MA103 - abstract maths, do check it out!) and because I found it to be quite hard, I chose something lighter in the second year because I felt like my econ courses were going to be really demanding and I couldn't go through that with my outside option again. It doesn't really make a difference except if you're planning to move on to grad studies. You'd be better off choosing modules that can prepare you and are more relevant to your subject of study, instead of just opting for an easy option. But even then, it doesn't really make that big of a difference really.

Finally, I would say no matter how much you prepare and plan for your experience at LSE, you'll never really expect what's coming haha. One thing that I would definitely keep in mind before starting at LSE, is to simply try and do my best in every aspect really but never compare myself to those around me. At school, we're all naturally one of the highest achieving and most hard-working students but at LSE, you're suddenly the average student. There will be times where you struggle while others around you seem to be achieving and doing great things, that maybe be the case, or it's just simply the fact that the grass is greener on the other side. Either way, keep in mind you're smart, hard-working, and intelligent, and don't let the environment trick you into thinking otherwise. Believe in yourself, and do not compare yourself to others :smile:

Wow! Thank you so much for the long, thought-out response, the advice is invaluable :smile:

*If* I get an offer, LSE econ is my firm choice. Hopefully things go back somewhat to normal next year and you're able to have a great final year at uni :smile:

Thanks again for your time!
Original post by Anonymous
Wow! Thank you so much for the long, thought-out response, the advice is invaluable :smile:

*If* I get an offer, LSE econ is my firm choice. Hopefully things go back somewhat to normal next year and you're able to have a great final year at uni :smile:

Thanks again for your time!

No problem at all!! Like I said, best of luck with your application and of course, your A-levels. Hope you hear some good news soon and happy to know this was helpful!
could I get into lse for economics with bad gcse grades but good a level predicteds and a good personal statement
Original post by Anonymous
Currently, a second-year economics student at LSE and would love to help and answer some questions that people out here may have. So ask anything related to economics, LSE, London or anything really :smile:

can I read your personal statement? and can I get into lse for economics with average/bad GCSE grades but good a-level grades and a good personal statement?
Original post by csc2020
Thanks @econ.person, that is really useful addition to understand EME.
I will certainly pm you when I hear from LSE.
If I get LSE offer, I also need to choose between LSE and Cambridge, where I have a conditional offer. I am sure you also can help me in this aspect.

Yeah, feel free to reach out. I'm actually doing my master's at Cambridge and have access to the tripos materials (as it's all online), so I can definitely advise on the differences.

Original post by Anonymous
Hi, I was wondering if there is a real difference between the mathematical rigour of LSE's Economics program and Cambridge's. From my understanding, cambridge also has additional/optional and more advanced math amd econometrics modules (such as Part IIA Paper 6 and PartIIB Paper10). I was wondering how this compares to EC202 and EC221.

Same as above^. This isn't my AMA so I don't want to hijack the thread. But if I had to summarise, I'd say LSE allows you to take all sorts of modules from the maths and stats departments and someone with a strong grounding in mathematics is better prepared for master's/doctoral studies in economics.

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