As an undergrad student, I quickly realised that university demanded a ranking of priorities. Dangling like carrots tied to a stick in front of excited and overwhelmed university students are sleep, study and social life – but you can only pick three. At least, that was my worry. Even though my undergrad experience proved this to be false (COVID notwithstanding), I couldn’t help having the same fears before arriving on campus at the beginning of my LSE postgrad degree. Anyone receiving their LSE Master’s offers or thinking of applying in the future may be feeling the same. In this blog, I share three personal nuggets of wisdom that helped me manage the more intense postgraduate coursework and make friends, all while maintaining my beauty sleep. 

Start Early

This applies to everything, making friends and starting coursework. At least for my programme, the Master of Laws, our department organised an induction week during Welcome, before the official start of courses, where they hosted loads of welcome events. There was a scavenger hunt, evening reception, and several campus tours, as well as informal get-togethers organised by the law students ourselves. If you’re able to, I seriously recommend arriving before the official start of courses for this week. You’ll be able to meet your fellow classmates in a relaxed and fun environment and will inevitably feel at ease stepping into your first seminars if you already recognise a few friendly faces. 

Branch Out

Again, this applies to both making friends and coursework. Do not rely solely on making “friends of convenience”: settling for just knowing a few people in your seminars and lectures. Seek out opportunities, whether that be volunteering or LSESU’s many societies and sports clubs, to meet new people while enjoying your hobbies! For example, I went to some Iftar dinners hosted by a group of girls from LSESU Islamic Society and made some wonderful friends from other courses. 

Academically, when I recommend you branch out, that means searching beyond your required reading list for coursework and essays. I cannot speak for every programme, but in my experience at least, I have found that professors are really impressed by evidence of your own research and opinions that are inspired by a range of scholars. An undergraduate essay that might have scored well with only 10 citations will probably need 15+ as a postgraduate submission. 

Relax

This one might seem counterintuitive, but it has a purpose beyond just persuading you to  get enough sleep (which is super important!) Ultimately, just be yourself. A big difference I found between my peers as a postgrad compared to an undergrad is that many postgrads might be continuing their education after working for many years or even studying to change their careers entirely. This felt intimidating to me, someone who had just graduated and was much more inexperienced in comparison. However, I realised there was no reason to be nervous. Everyone is really friendly and open to meeting people from different walks of life.

Academically, just relax and revert back to the study habits that work for you. I found postgrad coursework to be more intense in terms of volume, but was not a different breed of work altogether (though this greatly differs by course). Therefore, if you are accepted into LSE it means you are more than capable of succeeding academically and have already done so in the past. 

Overall, these are just tips that have helped me, but all this comes from trial and error. Don’t worry if the transition is a little rocky initially; it’s all part of the LSE journey.