Student review [#9949] for Law
at London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE

My relationship with the LSE is a peculiar one. It is a love/hate relationship. It truly has some of the world’s best teachers. I was shocked at how high the level of teaching is: coming from another Russell Group, Red Brick, University, I can tell you right now it is the difference of day and night. The LSE’s lectures are very fast paced and intense, a LOT of reading is required BEFORE the lecture (otherwise you wouldn’t understand what is going on!), the lectures are actually more like in-depth discussions, and the lecturers are truly geniuses in their respective fields (one of my lecturers, literally had a major role in drafting the European Union’s laws on ‘Securities’!). Because of all this, know that if you want to keep up with your classmates, you need to treat your course as if it is a 9-7:30 job, 6-7 days a week (no joke, it is that intense and most others do it even if they deny it!). Also, get it out of your head that you will get 8 first classes and/or top your cohort – not going to happen!

That being said, I love this environment! I got to learn more at LSE in a few weeks than I did at my previous university in a few months (at I was ranked in the top 3% so I wasn’t that bad!). I really really really recommend you go to LSE if you get the chance and are willing to shoulder the intensity described above.

Nevertheless, with this environment, life becomes very stressful, artificial, and almost robotic and meaningless. You will not have enough time to pursue your hobbies if, like me, you do stuff most days. I train martial arts at a professional level and have done so for 8 years now, but after the first terms, I gave in and accepted the fact that I had to drastically reduce my training hours (which I was easily able to maintain at my previous university). I also found it quite hard to start new hobbies or activities: I wanted to start learning the Piano this year, but the intensity made this quite difficult (got there in the end but it is hard to manage around studies and training!). The last thing I would like to say is that your socials will be very generic and artificial: you will drink once or twice a week with colleagues and maybe club, and thats it – pretty hollow and meaningless for me but maybe not for others.

So, overall, I really recommend you bear the above in mind. In deciding whether you want to go to the LSE, you have to consider the academic intensity required and balance this against your social life and satisfaction as a student. No matter who you are, I really do recommend you give your social life a major consideration: I came in with the mindset that I was willing to sacrifice on this – turned out it was easier said than done. Ultimately, if you can mentally prepare yourself for it, the LSE is a great institution to study and develop yourself at.