Law at LSE vs. Philosophy and Politics at Queen&#x27;s (Canada)

I too agree with nauru as LSE is part of the university of London it has this reputation that Queen's may not have. Sometimes uni having a good job prospects may be very important.

Another thing though is that you applied to two different courses. Have you thought about that too about which course you would enjoy more?

Reply 5

Fortification

Republic

I have received unconditional offers from both (I am on a gap year at the moment) and don't know which to choose, any advice would be much appreciated.

For those who don't know Queen's is one of the best Uni's in Canada. McGill, U of T, Queen's and UBC can be ranked in any order depending who you happen to ask. That in itself is an issue as although within Canada it is well known, internationally it doesn't exist.

They are almost polar opposites. Queen's is in a beautiful small town campus (which I adored). LSE is London. LSE is very well known. Queen's isn't. The teaching at Queen's is excellent, perhaps not so much at LSE? Queen's got me excited about university, it was different, everyone there was happy, intelligent and good looking. It was like my utopia. Since receiving my LSE offer, I've been in turmoil. The speakers at LSE, and the people I'd meet there makes it all so appealing. What I have heard about LSE students is really fascinating - entrepreneurial, leaders, politically active, intelligent etc. Does anyone know just how true any of this is?

If anyone has any information on the teaching at LSE, just how bad the accommodation issue is (they all look a bit small), and also the type of people who attend LSE. I am going up to visit LSE soon, but your opinions would be most welcome.

Thanks

PS. I realise this is a little absurd, but opinions on LSEs large internationally community, and the... attractiveness of the students could well lift a weight off my mind.

Sorry this post is longer than usual, I lack the time to make it shorter.

I'm sorry but you're going to have to explain the bold parts in a bit more detail :p:

Agree with the advice given above. Would you mind being so far away from your family? Course? LSE's probably better for job prospects.

Reply 6

The Lyceum

13

Stop. This post will offer no advice. Merely curiosity that the thread starter uses the attractiveness of the students to judge the university?

Reply 7

aloof47

i think its more about what u prioritise a social life or an excellent job prospect...LSE is well known everywhere u go, it makes u so marketable everyone wants you...but needless to say, u could just do ur masters from there and maybe a pHd???haha, anyway, visit the open day (which one r u going too-i havent heard anything about the open days) and see LSE properly, i heard most of the people there are not that attractive maybe??? i dont know..haha, and Law is a much more respectable degree because again, people want you, anywhere..the world needs more lawyers..haha, it depends on which course u actually feel like doing...

Reply 8

OP

Thanks for all the great replies. After reading more about LSE, I think I am swaying towards it. But the decision will largely be based on what I think of it when I visit.

@ Chrisateen - Given the choice I would rather be studying Phil and Pol, but then go on to do law in the US. So all areas interest me. My reasoning is that I can get the Law bit at LSE, I can also do a course in philosophy at LSE i think in my second year. And the students, the great talks and debates that LSE offers could well satisfy the phil and pol side of things.

@ nauru - you summed up well what I'd been thinking, so that was good to hear. Unfortunately I want everything Queen's has to offer socially and it's location, but with the education at LSE. Haha. Out of interest, how did you find Queen's students. I loved everyone I met when I was out there, but it was hard to judge how ambitious or intelligent everyone was, especially compared to LSE. Could you tell me a little about that perhaps?

@ DannyBoy123 - I'm not worried about the LSE social life at all, like you said. Its London.

@ Fortification and The Lyceum - Of course it's stupid to judge universities based on the attractiveness of the students, however I think there is a case for being happy at university, and that should affect a decision. For me, cute girls and everything that brings with it.. makes me happy.

Edit: Also, the family thing isn't an issue, sure I'd miss them, but in no way would it effect my decision.

@ aloof47 - I can't attend the open day unfortunately as I'll be in Fiji I think. I'm setting off around the world in 4 weeks time. :biggrin:

Again, thanks for everyones replies, especially nauru, I'll keep you all updated. Otherwise, any other thoughts?

Reply 9

Republic

Thanks for all the great replies. After reading more about LSE, I think I am swaying towards it. But the decision will largely be based on what I think of it when I visit.

@ Chrisateen - Given the choice I would rather be studying Phil and Pol, but then go on to do law in the US. So all areas interest me. My reasoning is that I can get the Law bit at LSE, I can also do a course in philosophy at LSE i think in my second year. And the students, the great talks and debates that LSE offers could well satisfy the phil and pol side of things.

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think they would allow you to change courses and even if they do it is not that simple and easy.

Considering that you are thinking about going to the US to study and practice law I think you are best off doing a different course that is not Law then go into law later. Even if you study Law in the UK i'm sure it would not be a Qualifying law degree in the states so you would spend a couple of years studying Law again in the US.

My advice is that if you want to practice Law in the states is to do a different degree than Law then do law later.

Hope it helps :wink:

Reply 10

OP

Chrisateen

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think they would allow you to change courses and even if they do it is not that simple and easy.

Considering that you are thinking about going to the US to study and practice law I think you are best off doing a different course that is not Law then go into law later. Even if you study Law in the UK i'm sure it would not be a Qualifying law degree in the states so you would spend a couple of years studying Law again in the US.

My advice is that if you want to practice Law in the states is to do a different degree than Law then do law later.

Hope it helps :wink:

@ Chrisateen - Sorry that was unclear. I wouldn't want to practice in the States, but rather I'd like to study law in the states if I was going to pick Queen's. Also LSE does encourage you to select a module from another degree as part of your LLB in your second year. So that was where the philosophy would fit in. I am very interested in jurisprudence, the philosophy of the law, and the political sides of it. So whatever degree I choose, I would be looking to cover elements of all three.

Reply 11

Republic

@ Chrisateen - Sorry that was unclear. I wouldn't want to practice in the States, but rather I'd like to study law in the states if I was going to pick Queen's. Also LSE does encourage you to select a module from another degree as part of your LLB in your second year. So that was where the philosophy would fit in. I am very interested in jurisprudence, the philosophy of the law, and the political sides of it. So whatever degree I choose, I would be looking to cover elements of all three.

Why didn't you apply for Law with Philosophy at another uni?

Reply 12

OP

Chrisateen

Why didn't you apply for Law with Philosophy at another uni?

I would love to do that, I couldn't find any good uni's that did it. Do you know any that do? *awaits nervously, as if that course does exist at a good uni, plans may change*

Reply 13

Republic

I would love to do that, I couldn't find any good uni's that did it. Do you know any that do? *awaits nervously, as if that course does exist at a good uni, plans may change*

The uni's that do it ain't great but they are quite good.

Liverpool (combined studies), hull, essexs, kent, glasgow, keele and Aberdeen.

I was going to apply for it as well but my dad said I couldn't do it because of religious reasons. We argued over it but eventually I decided that it wasn't worth the fight and picked something else instead.

Check out these uni's and see whether you would like to study there. You could also think about philosophy and economics at uni as well.

Reply 14

OP

Chrisateen

The uni's that do it ain't great but they are quite good.

Liverpool (combined studies), hull, essexs, kent, glasgow, keele and Aberdeen.

I was going to apply for it as well but my dad said I couldn't do it because of religious reasons. We argued over it but eventually I decided that it wasn't worth the fight and picked something else instead.

Check out these uni's and see whether you would like to study there. You could also think about philosophy and economics at uni as well.

Depends how you define good. None of them come close to touching LSE unfortunately. Thanks for your help though, really is appreciated.

Reply 15

Fortification

Republic my interest was piqued, I wasn't judging :p:

. The only thing...how was you guess that next year's batch are going to be good-looking - it's not in the conditional offer hehe.

Reply 16

DannyBoy123

15

aloof47

and see LSE properly, i heard most of the people there are not that attractive maybe???

I think many of us on this forum intend to change that this Autumn! :biggrin:

Reply 17

Jibzy

15

go for LSE mayne!!!
but it wouldnt be the end of the world though if you dont pick it!

Reply 18

nauru

4

Yeah, clearly you've got quite a number of unis to choose from for law and philosophy, if your only requirement for uni rep is something comparable to Queen's. So maybe look around the UK? Basically anything in the top 10 or even 15.

What did I think of people at Queen's? Pretty superficial, a lot of them.

Queen's: Mostly upper-middle class or rich, almost all white with a few Chinese-Canadian people around as well. Very few internationals, other than the odd American (indistinguishable from Canadians). Pretty concerned with fashion and image, although to a visiting European it might not seem so because Canadian fashion sense is a bit odd. A bit stuck up because they think they go to Canada's best uni. Like to party a LOT (to the point where riot police are called in). And drink loads too. Not that concerned with career (except the commerce majors) possibly because most of their dads will hook them up with either a nice job or $60k+ in cash for grad school. Generally intelligent students, though the vast majority got their high secondary school grades through sheer hard work rather than brilliance. Some people will make the occasional comment that makes you wonder how they graduated with high grades, and then you will probably begin to wonder (justifiably) about the Canadian pre-university education system. Oh, and Queen's is considered to have one of the more attractive student bodies in Canada. 60:40 female:male ratio.

LSE: Predominantly rich students. Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Americans and Canadians make up the bulk of the non-UK non-EU students. Very concerned with fashion and image. Somewhat more stuck-up that Queen's. Parties are pretty tame, drinking is reasonable by uni student standards. Most people are very concerned with their career, and most of those that aren't become so (career hysteria seems to be contagious). Again, mostly very hard-working students rather than brilliant ones. These ones are more disciplined than the Queen's crowd though, if I may make a sweeping generalisation about the average from each uni. I've been to quite a number of different unis and this one has easily the least attractive student body -- outside of science and technology unis like imperial.

Somebody mentioned that LSE's reputation is because of its affiliation with the University of London... that doesn't make much sense to me since most of the University of London colleges aren't well-known at all outside the UK. So I think it must be something else.

Reply 19