I'm a student at LIS, ask me anything!

Hello everyone
I’m Finn, a student currently in my second year here at LIS and loving it. I’ve created an ‘AMA’ type thread for any questions you might have about LIS: life in London, the course, what LIS students are like, etc. Please fire away!

Hi there!
First of all, you definitely will develop plenty of tangible skills. Throughout the course we study qual and quant methods, I'll give you a few specific examples:
Data science / statistical analysis: In the first year, one of our modules is a term-long group project taking any real-world dataset we like and using Python to make sense of it. Examples included things like the world happiness report, and sex workers' mental health.
Systems thinking: Students I know use have used systems thinking in their projects to map complex problems; things like pesticide usage, the cost of living crisis, and gambling addiction. From there they found leverage points to best make change from (Check out Donella Meadows for more on thinking in systems).
Quantitative modelling: I took a module on this track this year, and some of my classmates made impressive models for things like second language acquisition, the energy usage of AI, wildlife conservation, and disease spread.
There are many other methods that we learn, this is just a sample from some of the modules I've studied so far. I'm very excited for the complexity science that I've picked for next year.
In regards to your question, we don't have any graduates yet, so I can't say for sure what LIS students can end up in. However we have students get job offers for banking (at Goldman Sachs), consultancy, and tech. If corporate life isn't your bag (It definitely isn't mine), then many students are also getting offers from purpose-driven organisations - charities, NGOs, and startups. I'm torn between applying for think tanks and the civil service. One of my close classmates wants to apply for graduate entry medicine. It really is quite broad! But I feel well equipped for work, even in my second year.
Something special about LIS is their internship programme. At the end of each year, LIS will broker every student an internship. It isn't competitive, and careers sessions throughout the year will make sure you can be matched with something you want to do. All internships are paid at London living wage or above. They can be remote or in-person depending on your needs.
I hope that helps
If you have any other questions, please ask away!

Hi thanks for starting this thread, sounds really interesting. Do you have any idea how hard/competitive it is to get in and also are most of the students typical Uni age (18-21 ish) or more mature students? And what about the UK v International split?

Hi
Glad to hear you're interested in LIS!
Admissions are selective, though it's more about being a good fit for the course than top grades. Every student here brings something to the table, diverse perspectives / experiences are crucial to what we do at LIS.
All offers to LIS are conditional unless you've completed your 16-18 studies already. They are also contextual. We have students coming here with top grades, others who didn't do so well. It's all about attitude and your fit. There's almost no correlation between students' grades at LIS and their previous grades. This is not to say it isn't rigorous - I can only provide anecdotal evidence, but I'm doing much more work here than I was in the previous degree I left to come to LIS.
Two things that I think are common to all the students here though, and what the staff look for: Firstly you have to be curious and open-minded. The other things is you should be prepared to stretch yourself between qualitative and quantitative methods; this isn't a liberal arts course. You absolutely don't need a maths background to succeed, but you have to be willing to do both! I found the quant harder at first, but after a lot of effort I have a preference for it, and can look back and feel proud of how far I've come and the skills I've learned. I'm so pleased LIS insist on the quant component, otherwise I don't think I would've persisted in the same way.
LIS seems to attract more mature students than I saw on my previous course, and I think we're a lot better off for it (a level-headedness when talking about real-world problems). About a third of my cohort were 21 or over when we started. Some have come after going into work at 18, and others like me came after taking time out / trying another university and realising it wasn't the right course for them.
We have international students from all other the world from places like Russia, many from the US, Canada, Pakistan, Romania and elsewhere. I think the number is going to go up considerably from next year as LIS will be able to start offering working visas to international students so they can be brokered internships by LIS at the end of each year as happens with UK students.
Hope that is of some help. Any more questions, don't be afraid to ask! Or if you're unsure, I would recommend you come to an open day and chat to some students and staff in person.