New to LSE

This section is not just intended for students new to LSE, but also to those new to academia, or academia in the UK.

Campus

The LSE campus is unusual in comparison to most other British universities because it is both small and ill-defined. LSE is a collection of buildings which are centred around Houghton Street. You will be given maps for the campus, and there will be tours in the first week of term. However, the key buildings and locations you need to know are:

Houghton Street: A pedestrianized street which usually has lots going on, especially in warmer months when the Three Tuns (the Student Union's bar) is open onto the street.

The Old Buidling: This is LSE's main building, on Houghton Street.

The New Academic Building ('NAB'): LSE are not good at naming things. This is our new academic building, which opened in October 2008.

Peacock Theatre: This is LSE largest lecture hall, which doubles as an actual West End theatre!

The Fourth Floor Restaurant: Another place illustrating LSE's lack of originality in naming stuff. This is actually LSE's largest cafeteria, and since its refurbishment last year is actually quite nice. Its former name 'the Brunch Bowl' is often still heard.

The Basics of Acadmic Study 

You could probably write a whole book on how universities work, but for students new to university, here are some key facts you need to know:

Personal Tutor: This is a member of the academic staff who is responsible for helping you with understanding university, making course choices etc.

Essays: In essay-based courses you will be expected to do several essays a year - typically 2 per term. These will be non-assessed essays, meaning your final grade is not affected by the essay grade. In a smaller number of courses you may have assessed essays which means the grade you get for your essay does affect your final grade for that course.

Problem sets: These are the equivelents of essays for courses which are more maths and economics-based.

Exams: For most LSE courses, 100% of your grade is the end of year exam, typically 3-hours long.

Readings: Reading can be a noun as well as a verb in university. Also, the verb has a slightly different meaning - you don't need to read things at university as thoroughly as a novel. Unless you're doing an important essay you usually just need to get the gist of the author's argument so read the abstract, introduction and conclusion and skim the rest for anything important.

Journals: Journals are sorts of books which publish collections of academic essays, although nowadays they are always accessed online. Many of your readings may be journal entries rather than book chapters. They are typically published every 3 months.

Calendar: Forget the normal meaning of the word "calendar"! At LSE this has nothing to do with dates - the Calendar is where you find the official regulations for your degree (which courses you must take etc). It can be found online.

Grading

LSE's grades follow the standard British university system, which is not exactly intuitive. It is best to understand it before you get your first grade and have a subsequent shock! Grades are percentages, but they're not really out of 100%. 

Quite simply, 70% and above is a "first", 60-69% an "upper second"/"2:1", 50-59% a "lower second"/"2:2" and 40-49% a "third". 

If 70% doesn't sound difficult to achieve, think again! Firsts are difficult to get - typically only around 10-20% of students will get a first in any course. And your mark might as well be out of 80%. If you get above 80% for an essay, you should be submitting it to an academic journal (seriously!)

The spread of grades differs by courses, but 2:1 is almost always the most common grade. Non-essay-based courses usually have a wider spread (more firsts but more 2:2s, thirds and fails as well).