Official The London Interdisciplinary School Applicant Thread for 2024

Hi there,

Welcome to the official The London Interdisciplinary School Applicant Thread for 2024! Here, you have the opportunity to meet and chat with fellow applicants and ask any questions you want regarding applying to The London Interdisciplinary School.

Below are some icebreaker questions to help you get started:

“What course are you applying for?”
“Will you be attending any Open Days?”
“How are you feeling about starting University?”

Get involved in more conversations by visiting our directory here and join in with the Yr 13 Chat thread here.

Good luck and happy posting!

Thank you. Did you accept the offer? (I guess you have other offers)..

Also: I’d be applying directly (outside of UCAS as I’ve only just come across LIS) - I applied to my other 5 choices through UCAS awhile ago.

So if I apply to LIS directly, do you know if I could accept an offer from LIS directly too (outside of UCAS?)

Thank you so much.

Thank you.
Are you planning on attending LIS? (I guess you have other offers too)

Hi
I’m awaiting an offer from LIS (hopefully!)… and still awaiting responses from some of my UCAS unis…. Once I’ve heard back from them all, I’ll decide (including visiting LIS). I did like it from the interviews…

Hi, update: I got an offer (but it is really high). I’m still very keen and will go to the open day in April.

Hi, update: I got an offer (but it is really high). I’m still very keen and will go to the open day in April.

I did! I also applied for 5 unis for Psychology on UCAS beforehand as well.

Hi,

First of all, congratulations both on your offers!

As highwayhearts said, I really recommend the open days, they were a lot of fun when I was first finding out about LIS and I really enjoy getting involved now as a current student 😊 They’re a great showcase of what LIS is like day to day.

Very happy highwayhearts to hear that you've accepted your offer 🙂 ... hopefully see you in September!

Out of interest, what in particular makes you guys keen about LIS?

Hi there
For me: the course - examining topics from lots of different angles. Being able to do some qualitative and some quantitative work. Sounds interesting, broad, different and - hopefully - useful to employers.

I’ve got a question for you Finnian: I’m thinking of potentially going into consulting. Do you know of any students who have jobs in this area on graduation / during the course? I saw that one student will be joining Goldman Sachs (tho I’ve no idea in what role) which is impressive…

How is student life at such a small uni? I’m thinking of clubs/activities etc.

Thanks a lot!

I resonate with what you’re saying about quant and qual. In my second year I’m choosing particular methods modules to give me certain skills, but having to keep up both quant and qual leaves me feeling well rounded. You don't have to be perfectly balanced (e.g., 4 quant 1 qual module in the 3rd year, or visa versa) but have to keep up a bit of both.

The student who interned at Goldman Sachs worked in operations, but I don’t know what her job offer after uni is specifically.

Re: consulting, I wouldn’t recommend LIS for every career, but it seems to me very well suited to consultancy. Some things that come to mind:
· One of the assessments for a first year ‘problems’ module is a consultancy report for a policy client we worked with over the semester.
· One of LIS’s partners is KPMG and some LIS students have interned there the past 2 years. I’m not sure on who did and didn’t get an offer to come back after graduation, though.
· The CEO, Ed, consulted at McKinsey & Co before starting LIS). He’s held interview workshops and offered support/contacts to give people a leg up with their applications.
· Every few months, we hold a ‘systems surgery’, where students (from all years) and staff work with guests (we had some people from Deloitte, Allianz, and Aviva last time, for instance) to suggest changes that could be made in a particular sector.

All that said, the uni isn't just a consultancy pipeline haha. We’ve also got people interested in social enterprise, entrepreneurship, state sector jobs (I’m interesting in the foreign service, say), reserach, etc., to list a few examples.

Re: student life, I love the sense of community that we have. Everyone knows everyone, and we’re in it together, studying the same degree but taking different modules/interested in different things within it. That said, I’ve made sure to find a social circle outside of LIS too. I do MUN at LSE and play in a Chinese music group at SOAS, and I know other students are involved with clubs/societies at the west London unis. There are plenty of clubs/societies at LIS, though meditation/Buddhism, climbing, football, boxing, film, and music are definitely the most popular. These were all set up by students and there are more being created all the time.

Hope that helps! Let me know if anything is unclear. Was there any club in particular you were thinking of?

Hi
Thank you for all that - really helpful.

Are LIS students allowed to join societies/activities at other London unis? Or is it a case-by-case basis thing to see if you’d be permitted to join?

I’d probably go for something consulting-related (LSE?) , some outdoors things: hiking/sailing/skiing/riding (yeah I know, London not ideal), or running, and perhaps something creative like poetry/photography.
But I’d be open to other things too…

Hi there
Thank you, that would be great if you could post the list of current LIS societies here. If not, no worries, I’m coming to the open day next month and can ask then.

😊