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London School of Economics

London

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what's lse really like

hi. i've been accepted at lse for undergrad to study international relations and history. i'd like to know what lse student life is really like. feedback from current and past undergrads would be great. gracias!

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Reply 1

rjkara

There are a tonne of topics with this exact theme...best check there first...some excellent information is posted with tips/stories from undergrads and postgrads. Good luck.

London School of Economics

London

Reply 2

roff

Sex Drugs and Alcohol.

Not at the LSE.

Reply 3

Bismarck

Fun, social life, and intermingling.

Not at the LSE.

Reply 4

roff

I think mine and bismarck's posts say it all :smile:

Reply 5

Eau

One of the LSE representatives came to our school, and social life and intermingling etc. are few of the features that makes this uni unique! Hmm.... who should I trust?

Reply 6

roff

What do you think an LSE rep would say about the school to prospective students?

Reply 7

Researcher Lond

LSE library has 5 million books and you're all still bitching about lack of social pussy there.

LSE is for books; you can get social pussy elsewhere.

social pussy :rofl:

ramroff

I think mine and bismarck's posts say it all :smile:

seriously? :frown:

Reply 10

help_me

LSE in my opinion is not the best place to socialize around. If you're interesting in networking, you might get somewhere though.

Nearly 70% of the school (63% last year) are foreigners and they tend to stay in their respective circles.

People at tha LSE are generally very hardworking and extremely career driven, so the library ironically (or the students career service) might be the best place to meet people. Although chatting too loud would get you thrown out.

Reply 11

username9303

yer, the social life around LSE is whatever you make it. I set out to entertain as soon as I checked out the drone-like people, so I always manage to have a laugh. its when you go out to pubs/bars/clubs that you'll socialise with a lot more people, especially easy-to-talk-to people - rather than the majority of the LSE student body which is work orientated, the chinese especially. they will not socialise with you, full stop, so dont waste your time - like some1 said before, they just stay in their own groups.

also the library is a good place to have a chat with people, you'll get some egotistic 3rd year or postgrad that thinks he is god trying to get you to shut up, but if you refuse they'll usually leave in a huff, which is great fun.

ollie :biggrin:

Reply 12

*Sub

serious ollie? the 'majority' of the LSE student body arent 'easy to talk to' or socliase with... gotta say, thats really disapointing.... how much interaction is there between LSE ppl and UoL (kings, imperial, etc) students? are they any more social than us?

but, whats with that?!?! thats one thing ive never understood... why orientals typically stick togehter. Youre at a fantastic uni, in a foreign country, and youre taking advantage to make friends... or even at worst, make contacts?? the notion of seclusion and introversion completely flies over my head... feeling comfortable around your 'own kind' is one thing, but theres such a thing as taking this concept too far.....

Reply 13

help_me

Generally, its the language and the culture barrier. Hong Kongers are more comfortable conversing in cantonese, and Chinese people, mandarin. English is not their first language and some people just do not bother to try.

Another reason is the cultural barrier, pubbing / drinking / clubbing is not our (yes...I am oriental) favourite past-time. Some individuals embrace western society more readily, but most do not. It's individual preference.

Bottom line is that, there are a ton of orientals at the LSE, and thus they are more comfortable hanging out around with each other. Once nestled in the comfort zone, there is no real incentive to go out and socialize, sad but true. Also, we tend to be obsessed with results (and thus work ridiculous hours), and not surprisingly we tend to do really well. The top economics student, was a Singaporean this year.

To sum up, we're there with one main objective: bring home a First Class Honours degree. (After all, our school fees cost 10 times more then EU students). Everything else, including socializing, becomes secondary.

Reply 14

Xanthe

help_me

English is not their first language and some people just do not bother to try.

So how do they come out with their Firsts and 2:1s? How do they practise speaking the language, if not with English-speaking students?

Reply 15

shady lane

Xanthe

So how do they come out with their Firsts and 2:1s? How do they practise speaking the language, if not with English-speaking students?

Umm...there is a VERY big difference between spoken and written comprehension. If you have ever been immersed in a foreign language, you will realize that speaking and thinking in another language is mentally tiring, while writing is not nearly as difficult.

Reply 16

roff

shady lane please substantiate that claim.

Reply 17

af1

she has a point, i could write german a lot better than i could speak it.. although i could speak chinese a lot better than i could write it :?? raz bit of a paradox.. i suppose when writing you dont need to think as fast as when speaking.

Reply 18

Bismarck

ramroff

shady lane please substantiate that claim.

You have all the time in the world to think of the correct word to write (and you can use the dictionary if necessary), but you don't have that luxury when speaking. You can also read at your own pace, while that's not possible when listening to someone speak. Writing is a matter of memorization; speaking is a matter of experience.

Reply 19

help_me

One's verbal and writing skills can have different levels of proficiency. Hence when you do job applications, they split languages into verbal / written skills.

And if the course if very quantitative based (Actuarial Science / Econometrics / Math & Econ etc), writing skills seldom come into play. And even in qualitative economic courses, lecturers will tell you that its the analytical arguments, and not how flowery one's language is that determines your grade. They know that english is not the first language for many students.

what's lse really like

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