Choosing a place to live can be a difficult experience, especially in a city like London with countless housing options. For example, you could live in a LSE hall of residence, a collegiate hall shared by multiple universities, or private accommodation. There’s a lot that goes into making this decision, such as location, price, and proximity to LSE campus. But in this post, I’d like to make the case why you should choose to live in a LSE hall.
When I was starting my master’s degree in the fall of 2017, I was completely new to London and the UK. I had studied abroad once before, but only for a short period of time. More importantly, I knew absolutely nobody in London and had no one to lean on for advice or a base of support. As a result, it made sense for me to choose to live in a residence hall like I had done in college. I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet other master’s students from across the world and maybe make some friends. It turns out this was one of the best decisions I made during my whole degree.
In my first few weeks at LSE, someone told me your closest friends will be the people you meet in your hall. At first I thought nothing of it, but I quickly realised it was absolutely true. All of my greatest friends during my master’s degree were either my flatmates or other students living in the hall. We had a fantastic common room where we could all easily meet to hang out, play games, or watch movies together. This was so convenient and made it seamless to see each other. Being able to see each other nearly whenever we wanted really facilitated our friendships.
LSE residence halls also have “hall committees,” which are charged with organising events and social gatherings for their residents. I decided to get involved with mine, and it was a great way to meet some new people. We planned events throughout the year to get as many students involved as possible and to assist others in making new friends. We always saw different students at our diverse events, and I think our gatherings helped students meet others. This is another perk of living in a hall that you would not obtain elsewhere.
In sum, the point I want to make here is that living in halls is all about living with your friends, and that was one of the highlights for me at LSE. Living near all of my friends made my experience so much better and more positive, and I’m so glad I made the choice. I met fantastic people from all over the world. The LSE halls provide a centralised location for doing so that you are not going to find as easily on campus. It’s true your closest friends will be those you meet in your hall. Based on that alone, I highly recommend you choose to live in one when considering your housing options for next academic year.