I’ve just been through the exact same process as thousands of freshers up and down the country, and I’m going to talk about how this ‘settling in’ experience was for me, here at LSE. I chose LSE for two main reasons: its international reputation as a first-rate academic institution, and the opportunity to live in central London, and experience one of the best cities in the world as a student. I’d lived here for 8 months during my Gap Year (I worked as an intern for a company called Accenture), and so knew my way around some parts of the city, but it’s been brilliant to explore it from a whole new angle.

I’m from Manchester, so move-in day was much like many others’, with an arduous 4-hour car journey and lots of stressful unpacking at the end. I’m usually super-organised so I thought my packing had gone really well, my checklists all ticked and each bag counted into the car. However, for some unknown reason I neglected to bring any form of cutlery with me (!) – only probably the MOST essential item for any fresher. Other than that (and a near-heart attack for me and my parents lugging everything up to the 3^rd floor, with no lift!) the move went really well. I knew everybody would be feeling just as nervous as I, so got stuck straight in to meet everyone.

I’m staying at Passfield Hall in Bloomsbury, which is a really nice part of town – we’re all saying how it’s likely to be the poshest building we’ll ever live in! Everyone is genuinely really nice and friendly, and this happens to be one of the most sociable halls, which really suits me. The excitement continued throughout freshers’ week, which was basically a blur of welcome talks, drinking, meeting new people, and drinking – one of the best weeks of my life. There was also a two-day freshers’ fair, where every unsuspecting fresher is systematically drowned with leaflets and freebies, and almost everyone ends up signing up to way too many societies!

My course began in earnest the following week, with department welcome drinks, meeting my coursemates, and introductory lectures. To begin with the workload was pretty light, as we all became accustomed to the routine of reading, writing essays, doing problem sets and attending classes. Since the first weeks the workload has been steadily ramping up, but as long as you keep on top of things it is certainly manageable. I’m especially enjoying my module on Political Science, something I’d never studied before and was a little nervous about encountering, but the lectures have been genuinely fascinating and it’s definitely the course I’ve been doing the most work for!