I spent the 2022-2023 academic year studying at the London School of Economics and Political Science. I had a wonderful intellectual and social experience, and wanted to share some reflections I had on London, the LSE, my residential and social life, and being gone for a full academic year.
The LSE
LSE is a world-renowned institution in the social sciences. Students from all over the world come to learn from leading scholars in economics, political science, history, sociology, finance, management, and many other disciplines. The student body is comprised of 30% students from the UK and 70% students from other countries. It is a nice size of 12,500 students, small enough that I frequently ran into friends but large enough that I always felt like I was seeing and meeting new people. LSE has a beautiful campus situated in Holborn in the center of London, adjacent to famous neighborhoods like Covent Garden and Leicester Square. The campus is small and walkable, but has grown quickly with two of its largest buildings erected within the last 5 years.
Studying at the LSE is an opportunity to take applied and pre-professional courses not offered at a liberal arts college like Carleton. I was able to take a class on public policy analysis (for my political science major,) history of modern East Asia from a global expert on modern Japanese history, a management course called “Organizational Behavior and Leadership,” and a data visualization course taught in python. Classes meet twice a week, once in a lecture format and once in a discussion format (called “class,” no more than 15 students.) While students don’t tend to build relationships with the professor who delivers the lectures, I found “class” teachers to be highly knowledgeable and helpful. One of my class teachers even became a reference for internships I was applying to. One thing to remember is that most courses at the LSE are year-long, which makes the exam period at the end of the year extremely challenging. Exams last over a month, but they are manageable with proper use of a calendar and with support from friends.
Carleton is very supportive of students studying at the LSE, and I was able to acquire 52 Carleton credits throughout the year.
Residential/Social Life
The LSE provides study abroad students with guaranteed on-campus housing, a highly-coveted arrangement for students studying in London. I lived in Rosebery Hall, located in the borough of Islington and a 20-minute walk from LSE campus. That probably sounds like a lot in the context of Carleton, but it’s a walk through a pretty neighborhood and doing it with friends makes the time go faster!
Rosebery was the center of my social life. It had a dining hall which served dinner every night and brunch on weekends. The food was generally delicious with lots of options! Students tend to congregate in the dining hall each evening, often followed by some table tennis or pool in the upstairs common room. I became close with the 15 study abroad students living in Rosebery, but also became friends with the other LSE students through dinners and games in the common room. Many of them consume a lot of American media but had never had an American friend before and had lots of questions about college life in the United States. I even spent spring break in Alicante, Spain at the house of a Spanish friend I met. Needless to say, it was hard to say goodbye to Rosebery at the end of the year.
I also met some friends in classes, and we often socialized at one of the three pubs on LSE’s campus which are popular with students.
London
To me, the best part of London is that there’s something for everyone. It is a massive urban metropolis that is not nearly explorable in just one year. Everyone seemed to find their niche between the parks, theaters, libraries, cafes, pubs, and restaurants. I enjoyed the football (soccer) culture and traveled to odd places (a trip to Leeds stands out) to see games. Speaking the language also made it easy to integrate with locals and strike up a conversation.
London also has 5 airports, and flights within Europe are short and relatively cheap. I spent winter break taking the train from Prague through Salzburg, Vienna, Munich, Bratislava, and Budapest and spent spring break in Alicante and Barcelona.
Being Gone for a Year
Being gone from Carleton for a full academic year is no small commitment. You miss a full year of social life at Carleton and certainly many interesting course offerings. You miss your friends from Carleton. This is a large and worthy trade-off to consider.
That said, I felt like I had a very complete social and academic life in London. I had a strong support system of friends who wanted to have fun but also pushed me academically. I noticed how much deeper these bonds grew during our second semester together. I keep in touch with most of them to this day, and have already visited many of them back in the states! When I missed my Carleton friends, it was easy to FaceTime and catch up.
Academically, it was exciting to take courses that I knew I wouldn’t be able to take at Carleton, and many of them became important qualifications as I entered the job search process. Conquering the month-long exam period at LSE was also extremely rewarding.
I hope you consider the program, and I’m happy to answer any questions about London or the LSE by email at morduchl@837147.com or via Zoom.