LSE Student Life

Mine is really dull. Unfortunatley I ended up in Sidney Webb with people in my flat who are all international and nearly all only hang with people in thier country and one a Canadian Postgrad who is quite older than me so it is difficult to gel with her. I do talk to people in my class however they alright talking to but don't seem interested in becoming proper friends with me. So my dad consists of going into LSE only when I have to and leaving imediatley I finish so at most I spend about 13hrs a week thier.

You may critisie me for not making and effort with people however sometimes I feel I make too much an effort with people and they are not interested. Things get really lonely and depressing for me and to make things worst I am really struggling in some of my courses especially econ b.

Next year we have to look for a place and I don't have anyone to share with and with my student loan being about £6700 next year and with one of my parents being made recently redundant its gonna be a struggle.

The only thing that keeps me going here is the fact that when I graduate I have a better chance of getting a job and at this rate the only good event that will happen here for me will be the graduation day

Ye I had the same experience at Nottingham (and thats supposed to be party central). I'm very social, but when there is no one you can relate to its crappy!..plus when you find people you can relate to, they have already made their own friendship group...sigh...don't worry though, things won't be like this forever

Mine is really dull. Unfortunatley I ended up in Sidney Webb with people in my flat who are all international and nearly all only hang with people in thier country and one a Canadian Postgrad who is quite older than me so it is difficult to gel with her. I do talk to people in my class however they alright talking to but don't seem interested in becoming proper friends with me. So my dad consists of going into LSE only when I have to and leaving imediatley I finish so at most I spend about 13hrs a week thier.

You may critisie me for not making and effort with people however sometimes I feel I make too much an effort with people and they are not interested. Things get really lonely and depressing for me and to make things worst I am really struggling in some of my courses especially econ b.

I hope so. Although I hope I didn't put you off coming here

For those who complain about living amongst others who stick to themselves, one word: societies, societies, societies!!!

If getting a 'normal' UK university experience is really important to you, don't go to LSE. I hate to say it but despite the fact that LSE is an excellent university and it is so respected by employers, I'm still not sure I made the right decision coming here.

The only reason that I'm having at all a good time is the fact that I'm in the AU (athletics union) and nights out are awesome and you've got a guaranteed social group - otherwise I would be absolutely screwed.

It's not APPALLING if you try really hard, make the effort and find like-minded people but it's still difficult, it can feel quite lonely at times and it certainly doesn't feel like an ordinary university.

happy for you that you were able to make friends via your AU. I didn't think LSE was gonna be that exciting in the first place but still it is a lot worse than I expected it to be

Which halls are you at/what course are you doing?

Sidney Webb doing Social Policy and Economics

Hm, seems your saw my post before I edited it (I realised you'd gone in to more detail in an earlier post). Scroll back up - some of it might be of interest to you.

so how would you choose between LSE and Durham for social life and making friends?

apply to halls with a known social scene if thats what youre into. youll find people who want to go out every week without the need to be forced into societies to make friends (cue LARA if you want a pissup, or, as ive just discovered on friday night, join the celtic society. the celts know how to drink, and i remember very little past my centurion...)

corridors rather than flats open things up and youll meet more people, even if your corridor is filled with unsociable people (ie mine, well most of them).

as nadinus said the AU is a super way to make friends and have a guaranteed social group, but if im honest, if i didnt join the AU i would have still found my core group of friends in my hall, none of whom are AU... but my AU mates are also awesome and some of the coolest people on earth, and it is the ideal way to get away from that assumed work-heavy-unsociable-crappy-place-known-as-lse-to-many.

id say i made the right decision with LSE. you arent expected to go out on the lash every night, but if you do, that's fine. if you have a heavy week of going out 4-5 times, fine. i like not feeling pressurised into going out every night just because im a fresher, which is awesome. There are means of being able to party HEAVILY in central london for cheap. Monday: Tiger, Tuesday, Pacha/ ministry of sound (i think, never been!), Wednesday: Zoo/Walkies, Thursday: Onanon, Friday: Crush (i was trashed on £15 and thats expensive), Saturday: Sports Cafe/Afterskool club (at lse). the means are there, definitely.

so to sum it up in 3 lines:

Accommodation: Corridored ones to maximise exposure to people and avoid the risk of crappy flatmates
Societies: anything that interests you, to get some friends. you dont have to go out on the lash, chat about politics or religion.
Least importantly: AU, if you love banter and playing sports. guaranteed friends, and to maximise potential for social, join rugby, football, hockey, netball. i think theyre the main ones. womens rugby is known for its massive turnout every week. we get 80-90% of the main team out alot, which is fantastic.