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Carr Saunders Halls, LSE
London School of Economics
London

When is the best time to change courses at LSE?

I recently applied to Psychology and Behavioural Sciences at LSE, but decided that the Law and Anthropology course interests me a lot more. If I do receive an offer, is it better for me to email the uni before I get there or when I am there? Also, what are the chances they would let me switch (not sure whether the fact Law and Anth has lower grade requirements would make a difference)? Thanks a lot!
Original post by mianguyen0812
I recently applied to Psychology and Behavioural Sciences at LSE, but decided that the Law and Anthropology course interests me a lot more. If I do receive an offer, is it better for me to email the uni before I get there or when I am there? Also, what are the chances they would let me switch (not sure whether the fact Law and Anth has lower grade requirements would make a difference)? Thanks a lot!

That's what i may apply for, the former not the latter.
Carr Saunders Halls, LSE
London School of Economics
London
I think you should contact them as soon as possible; you might need to reapply.

I'm skeptical that whether they would let you switch into that course after starting, as it's still a law degree at LSE (about 10% of their Law students are Law & Anth I believe). It's worth bearing in mind, it is among the more competitive courses they offer; it had a lower success rate than both joint Maths/Economics courses and only slightly higher (0.7%) than single honours Economics in the last cycle. They also regularly reject candidates who don't appropriately engage with both sides of the course and the interplay between the subjects in their PS from what I hear.
(edited 5 years ago)
You can ask either after you get your offer or in your first few weeks at LSE.

There’s absolutely zero guarantee that you’ll be allowed to change though - some people are allowed to, some aren’t.

It will be up to the anthropology and law departments whether they want to accept you (so basically, you’ll have to be accepted first by the Psychology department and then by two more departments).

Bearing in mind the Law and anthropology course has only a 15% offer rate (lower than economics, LSE’s flagship course, which has a 20% offer rate), I wouldn’t place all your hopes on being able to change this year.
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by artful_lounger
I think you should contact them as soon as possible; you might need to reapply.

I'm skeptical that whether they would let you switch into that course after starting, as it's still a law degree at LSE (about 10% of their Law students are Law & Anth I believe). It's worth bearing in mind, it is among the more competitive courses they offer; it had a lower success rate than both joint Maths/Economics courses and only slightly higher (0.7%) than single honours Economics in the last cycle. They also regularly reject candidates who don't appropriately engage with both sides of the course and the interplay between the subjects in their PS from what I hear.


Thank you for the advice! Do you think contacting them would jeopardise my current application because it might show that I'm not completely dedicated to that subject?
Original post by LeapingLucy
You can ask either after you get your offer or in your first few weeks at LSE.

There’s absolutely zero guarantee that you’ll be allowed to change though - some people are allowed to, some aren’t.

It will be up to the anthropology and law departments whether they want to accept you (so basically, you’ll have to be accepted first by the Psychology department and then by two more departments).

Bearing in mind the Law and anthropology course has only a 15% offer rate (lower than economics, LSE’s flagship course, which has a 20% offer rate), I wouldn’t place all your hopes on being able to change this year.


Thank you for the advice! Another question, would you think it is possible for me to submit an alternative personal statement to LSE if I do change courses before the uni starts?
Original post by random_matt
That's what i may apply for, the former not the latter.


That's great :smile: we might see each other around next year then!
Original post by mianguyen0812
That's great :smile: we might see each other around next year then!

We will see, my problem is my grades are more than three years old.
Original post by mianguyen0812
Thank you for the advice! Do you think contacting them would jeopardise my current application because it might show that I'm not completely dedicated to that subject?


I'm not sure, but also, does it matter? Given you aren't dedicated to that subject, that would be a good reason for you not to apply to it and/or them not to accept you...hoping to get in and then hoping to find the course interesting after that isn't a very good idea, because there's a high chance you're going to be disappointed one way or another - and potentially lose a year of funding from SFE in the process.

Perhaps you could consider taking a gap year to consider your options and figure out the best path for yourself? Realistically that is what would happen either way because either a) they confirm they can't consider you on Law & Anth (the course you want to do) leaving you with an offer for a degree you don't want to pursue and you need to reapply, or b) that plus they reject your application from this year for asking (which I doubt they will have odd enquiries affect applications though, since that would be a pretty easy route for a scorned applicant to cry foul... ).
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by mianguyen0812
Thank you for the advice! Another question, would you think it is possible for me to submit an alternative personal statement to LSE if I do change courses before the uni starts?

I have no idea, sorry

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