London School of Economics

London

Outside options

Glancing through the prospectus, it seems like most courses at the LSE include at least one "outside option" for you to choose. Can this literally be anything that is taught by the LSE? I'll be studying Economics next year and am having trouble deciding which outside option I want, what did some of you current students (not just Econ students) choose and what are some of you prospective students planning to take for your outside option?

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Reply 1

mypaperheart

Yes I think you have pretty much a free choice - but I think most of the time you have to take first year courses because many of the 2nd/3rd year ones have pre-requisites (i.e. you have to have taken a certain module in that subject to proceed to that one), probably because they'll know you might struggle with the work so its basically to make life easier.

I've just found this which is very useful for knowing what you can and can't take!!
http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/calendar/programmeRegulations/undergraduate/2007_outsideOptions.htm

I think I'm going to take LN130 - French Language and Society 3 (Advanced) because French was my favourite subject at school and I really want to continue with it :smile:

London School of Economics

London

Reply 2

harbinington

Wow, thanks so much for the list, I love this pick-and-mix thing. So these modules will actually count towards our degree right? I'm planning on continuing with French but I'll probably do that in my own time at the Language Centre. I might do something fresh like SO107 Self, Others and Society: Perspectives on Social and Applied Psychology or PH103 Reason, Knowledge and Values: an Introduction to Philosophy. I really can't be arsed to do any more maths.

EDIT: lol, I just realised that if an LSE Economics professor heard that he/she'd probably revoke my L101 offer. :P

Reply 3

jasonm

That is really good, tempted to do a history module, although if it counts towards the degree, i would have thought the easiest way would be to do a beginners language course, especially something like spanish or german beginners :smile:

Reply 4

J-bob

yes they do count towards the degree in a sense...

i dont know if this is for all courses, but certainly for economics, they average your best 3 first year modules to make up 1/9th of your degree

a lot of economists app go for an accounting or the logic module cos its an easy first if you do some work..

Reply 5

DannyBoy123

Thanks for the link Rose :wink:

I didn't realise there were so many! I'm tempted by one of the economics ones but if the maths is too heavy then that will be a no no. I guess a law one would be most relevant seeing as that is what I want to do after...

Reply 6

J-bob

apparently in some of the economics ones ie econ B there isnt that much maths so you could probs get away with it

Reply 7

mypaperheart

DannyBoy123

Thanks for the link Rose :wink:

I've officially lost count of the number of links I've posted this week :p:

Reply 8

DannyBoy123

J-bob

apparently in some of the economics ones ie econ B there isnt that much maths so you could probs get away with it

Cheers for the heads up :biggrin:

Haha I know Rose, I would be so lost if it wasn't for you! :biggrin:

If LSE make me an offer remind me to buy you a drink when we get there!

Reply 9

Fortification

Oh my days I am loving the LSE more and more - they offer English as an outside option and I can't believe I never picked up on that before applying! All my worries about English vs. Gvt and Econ are over, I can (kinda) do both :biggrin:

Reply 10

emdo

jasonm

Just a guide for those interested as taking a language as a subject:

1. Decide quickly if you want to take a language as your outside option - it's something like 12 places at each level
2. Make sure you know the 'level' you are at:
-Beginner, has not done anything (not even GSCE)
-Intermediate - has done as GCSE/AS
-Advanced - done all the way to A2
- Expert/fluency - pretty much self explanatory

Don't do what I did;

Decided last minute to join the beginner french, teacher wasn't too impressed as class was full, was then kicked out for having done it at GCSE (i was not aware beginner literally meant beginner) and then told I wasn't allowed to do it as intermediate was full/clashed with other lectures. :rolleyes:

Reply 11

harbinington

Hmm, just thought of this: if we take a "basic" outside option in Year 1, do we have the chance to take the advanced version in Year 2? Are we forced to? Can we do two basic outside options, one in each year?

Reply 12

korektphool

For those doing L101, AC100, MA103, and EH101 are the most popular outside options.

Reply 13

jasonm

Lol, it seems that if these do count to your degree, taking 2 beginners language options seems to be the smart/cynical thing to do.

Reply 14

Lykabelle

mypaperheart

I'm a first year student studying BSc Economics and I took LN130 (Advanced French) as my outside option as I also wanted to continue with French after taking it for my A levels. If you do want to take a language, try and take it in your first year because there are some people in my class who are in their 3rd year and even though they took A level French, they were quite surprised about how much French they actually forgot. However they have practically caught up but i would definitely taking a language whilst it's still fresh in your head if you have taken it before.

Also bear in mind that the hours of classes a week depend on what level you're at. Beginners have 6 hours a week, intermediate-5, advanced-4 and so on. I was given a mini assessment beforehand and an informal interview in French so that they could fully determine my level in French because obviously they don't want native speakers in the French classes :P. As has already been mentioned, to take the beginner class you must be starting from scratch. Intermediate is GCSE/AS and Advanced is for post A2 level students. Most people who are studying economics take AC100 (accounting and finance) as an outside option which apparently can be quite dull but still you'll have more people to turn to I guess if you have any difficulties.

You can take a certificate course in a language with the Language Center which wouldn't count towards your degree but bear in mind how much time you would be spending learning that language as well as doing the necessary work for your degree.

Reply 15

Fortification

Lykabelle

Also bear in mind that the hours of classes a week depend on what level you're at. Beginners have 6 hours a week, intermediate-5, advanced-4 and so on. I was given a mini assessment beforehand and an informal interview in French so that they could fully determine my level in French because obviously they don't want native speakers in the French classes :P.

You can take a certificate course in a language with the Language Center which wouldn't count towards your degree but bear in mind how much time you would be spending learning that language as well as doing the necessary work for your degree.

If English in your first language then does that mean you can't take English Advanced Classes - I'm envisonaging it as continuing something like my A-Level classes but clearly at a higher standard?

Reply 16

mypaperheart

Lykabelle

Lykabelle, did you not see it was me who posted, I know who you are!! :p:

Well seeing as I'm on a gap year, my standard of French isn't as good as when I was doing my A2 exams, but hopefully I won't have forgotton most of it. I got an A at A2, how difficult is the class? Is it like A2 standard?

Can I not register the course on LSE for you (in september or whenever they ask you to do it), until I've had the interview? I don't want it to be full!

Reply 17

harbinington

korektphool

For those doing L101, AC100, MA103, and EH101 are the most popular outside options.

Hehe, figures. Hopefully I'll have plenty of economist friends who'd be happy to teach me basics to A&F though, whereas Social Psychology will be a much rarer commodity and allow me to meet a new crowd. I mean if it's good enough for Lewinsky it's good enough for me. Just hope there's no timetabling issues.

Reply 18

Lykabelle

mypaperheart

Lykabelle, did you not see it was me who posted, I know who you are!! :p:

hehe yeah i saw that it was you, just clarifying for other people on the forums :p:

It's not too difficult even though the teachers talk in French most of the time. You can interrupt if you don't understand and I think the current teachers I have are quite nice and knowledgable. There is alot of work to do for it though at certain times because you have to submit a lot of documents for the 'dossier' (coursework).
And you can register for the course beforehand and you'll be able to arrange a time to have the mini interview. I wouldn't worry about it becoming full though, as long as you make up your mind within the first couple of weeks, not near the deadline.

Reply 19

Lykabelle

Fortification

If English in your first language then does that mean you can't take English Advanced Classes - I'm envisonaging it as continuing something like my A-Level classes but clearly at a higher standard?

I'm not even sure that they offer Advanced English classes as an outside option. If they do, they're probably aimed at people who are speaking English as a second language.