Does it actually take five weeks?

I received a similar email a couple of days after I had sent of my UCAS application. I was told that they are assessing my application and that this should take approximately two weeks?

Did you receive this email before your 'five weeks' email, or do you think it's different for each department? (applying for International Relations)

I've applied for law, but also got the same email that you did first. They replied in two days and send me the five weeks one

I got a mail saying that they would get back to me in 12 weeks. After reading this thread, I'm really scared. Everyone else seems to get reply's within 5 weeks. Am I in a bad position?

Some people, I presume the ones with the strongest applications according to the LSE, have received offers within 2 weeks. Some others received the '2-week' email and at the end of those two weeks received a rejection, I presume these are people who've not satisfactorily met LSE's entrance requirements or whose applications are just not strong/competitive enough according to the LSE.

Other people have received the "5-week email" generally after receiving the '2-week' one. I don't think anybody's allotted 5 weeks are up yet, since application season has only just started, so it's difficult to predict whether or not offers and/or rejections will be made by that deadline or if a further delay will be communicated. I suggest checking back here in another two or three weeks when a lot of the earlier applicants' time periods have elapsed and seeing what their experiences have been.

Right, the only reason I was a bit skeptical was because people are always complaining about how slow LSE is when it comes to offers/rejections. Surely this can't be the case if they actually reply within the given amount of time.

LSE is slow in getting back to those people who are borderline and this has always been true. I personally received my offer for Law from them in late March despite having my application sent off in September. My flatmate, on the other hand, got her offer within three weeks of sending her application when she applied for the Law course in the same year as me.

If LSE doesn't find your application to be particularly strong, but still thinks it's not too weak, they will wait to compare your application with all the others. If they like your application and think it unlikely that better ones will come along thereafter, you will get an offer sooner.

Much like a lot of people here, I've also received the "five weeks" email from LSE a couple weeks back. I've heard that LSE is notoriously slow in letting applicants know about their offers/rejections, although some have already gotten them. The email says "up to five weeks," but does anyone know if it actually does take five weeks or less, or do they wait until longer?

Some people, I presume the ones with the strongest applications according to the LSE, have received offers within 2 weeks. Some others received the '2-week' email and at the end of those two weeks received a rejection, I presume these are people who've not satisfactorily met LSE's entrance requirements or whose applications are just not strong/competitive enough according to the LSE.

Other people have received the "5-week email" generally after receiving the '2-week' one. I don't think anybody's allotted 5 weeks are up yet, since application season has only just started, so it's difficult to predict whether or not offers and/or rejections will be made by that deadline or if a further delay will be communicated. I suggest checking back here in another two or three weeks when a lot of the earlier applicants' time periods have elapsed and seeing what their experiences have been.

Applied to do Economics and Economic History
Sent off my application on the 20th September, got the two week email a while after and then the 5-week email the next day.
5 weeks is up by tomorrow