Clarisse is French and holds a BSc in Geography with Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
After passing her Bac ES with first class honors, she was admitted to the LSE.
Read her testimonial below and find out more about her university experience at LSE!
Profile
FIRST NAME : ClarisseNATIONALITY Frenchçaise
COURSE NAME : BSc Geography with Economics
UNIVERSITY NAME : LSE
TYPE OF BACCALAUREATE AND RESULT OBTAINED :bac ES option OIB – 17.80/20
NAME OF YOUR SCHOOL : Ecole Jeannine Manuel in Paris
Why did you choose to study abroad?
Which courses did you apply for abroad (in the UK and elsewhere)?
Why did you choose this subject/curriculum for your Bachelor’s degree?
To be perfectly honest, I chose Geography with Economics because I absolutely had to get into the LSE.
Coming from a Bac ES, very few students are admitted to the pure BSc “Economics” program.
So I did a dual degree combining geography and economics.
In the end, I decided to stay in this program because it interested me so much.
However, if I had wanted to change my degree in the second year and switch to the pure “Economics” program, I could have done so on one condition: obtain a “first” (Mention Très Bien) in my1st year exams.
What other universities did you apply to (in the UK and elsewhere) and why did you end up choosing this university?
I applied to 5 universities on UCAS : LSE, UCL, SOAS, Queen Mary and Royal Holloway.
I got into all 5 and also applied to Bocconi in Italy, which I got into, but not Dauphine.
I chose LSE because it was, in my opinion, the best of all those I had applied to in my field.
I couldn’t apply to Cambridge/Oxford because at my lycée, only certain students are presented by our guidance counsellor each year.
What was the admissions process like for you?
Did you receive coaching/help with your application (e.g. from your school)?
At my lycée, we have a guidance counselor who supervises all applications.
We can’t apply wherever we like, because our wishes have to be validated by our school ! He supervises us from 2nde/1ère onwards, and encourages us to discuss it with him as early as possible – depending on the universities and courses we choose, it may be more strategic to opt for S, ES or L. 
How did you go about writing your UCAS Personal Statement?
I wrote it myself – then sent my first draft to my guidance counselor for feedback.
What readings/resources did you find useful to mention in your Statement, and could you recommend to a student interested in applying for the same course?
My personal statement was very much based on my own experience.
I had lived abroad at a very young age and had put a lot of emphasis on this – I quoted Adam Smith’s famous book ” The Wealth of Nations ” to explain how it had introduced me to economics. However, I only advise quoting works if they have a real connection with the intended course and if you are offering an analysis.
Otherwise, you risk sounding false. 
Did you have to attend an interview ?
If so, how did you prepare?
No interview – just an offer of 16 GPA and 18 in maths.
Why did you choose this particular university?
Have you been influenced by the rankings?
Do you think students should look at rankings to choose?
I took it almost solely for its prestige and reputation and the chance to spend 3 years in the heart of London.
Of course, I looked at the rankings – the geography department was also highly ranked.
The ranking is key in my opinion, but I think you also have to look at the school’s reputation abroad.
King’s College, for example, isn’t necessarily at the top of the league tables, but it’s very well known in France because it enjoys a high profile – sometimes even higher than LSE.
Did the content of the curriculum at your particular university influence your choice of university?
Yes, of course – I knew that LSE was particularly well known in Economics.
I also made sure that the Geography department was also highly ranked.
But my main motivation was really to get into LSE.
I didn’t care whether it was in Economics, Finance or Geography.
My whole personal statement was geared towards LSE. 
What do you think of the campus and the city in which it’s located?
The LSE campus is quite small and right in the center of London in Holborn.
Students used to complain a lot because it’s undergoing a major transformation (new building by 2021, I think…) so there’s currently a lot of noise on campus.
The main problem is the library… There isn ‘t always enough space for everyone and you sometimes have to turn around for hours before finding a place, and students are extremely dissatisfied with this… Unfortunately, this is reflected in the student satisfaction surveys, which are one of the lowest in the world… Otherwise, the classrooms are beautiful, the premises are all fairly recent and right in the center of London – that’s top ! And the city of London for a student is really very pleasant.
The city’s always on the move, and students share flats – I loved it.
On the other hand, the cost of living is high (housing, food, transport, etc.).
What are the 3 things you like best about your university and the 3 things you’d like to improve?
The plus: – The Geography department is really SUPER friendly. It’s known for having very student-friendly professors and I really loved that.
They give excellent letters of recommendation for masters courses and are much friendlier than the math or economics departments, for example. – The Student Union sports club is great.
We used to have really fun parties every Wednesday night, with a great spirit and simplicity.
I really recommend joining a sports association to integrate well.
– The lecturers are very interesting and most of them are highly qualified.
THE -: – The limited space in the library… it’s really awful… there’s very little space to work in. – The teachers of small classes are really UNDER qualified and it’s really horrible… For the most part, they’re not very interesting or stimulating… – In England, there’s a LOT of reading and personal work… I didn’t realize this before I left… I had around 1,000 pages of reading to do per week… it’s interesting, but you have to like it ! 
Do you have any international friends (French or otherwise) at your university?
Are there many international students at your university?
How easy do you find it to integrate and make friends at your university as a foreigner? I was part of a French group and I also had lots of international friends (Italians, Spaniards… with whom I got on very well).
With the English students, it was a bit more complicated and I only went out with them in the evening.
There’s a good French community that meets regularly thanks to the French Society.
It’s really easy to meet French people, and sometimes we tend to group ourselves together too much…
You really have to make an effort to open up to international people, which is a little more difficult.
However, thanks to the sports associations, you can meet people from all walks of life!
What’s your student residence like?
Are you housed on campus ?
How was your student residence in 1st year (comfort, cleanliness, proximity to the campus…)?
I didn’t live in a student residence.
I lived directly with my sister in her first year, who was also studying in England, but I know them all.
High Holborn is the most expensive, but also the newest and cleanest.
It’s very close to the campus, but doesn’t have a canteen, so its social aspect is much weaker than others.
Then there’s Roseberry and Passfield, which are much more sociable because they have a canteen and are cheaper but are unfortunately quite dirty… Especially Passfield, where there were rodents on a regular basis… but great parties ! It all depends on your state of mind. Bankside seems to me to be a good middle ground.
It’s clean and sociable but south of the Thames, so a bit more out of the way.
How far from the university are the halls of residence?
Where do 2nd and 3rd year students live?
On foot, Bankside is 30 minutes away, Passfield 20 minutes, Roseberry 25 minutes and High Holborn 8 minutes.
In the second or third year, all students share a flat (in Holborn, Covent Garden, King’s Cross, Camden or Clerkenwell…).
What’s the food like in your residence and in others?
Is it possible to cook for yourself ?
It’s always possible to cook for yourself, but the kitchens are small, especially in the halls where there’s a canteen.
So they’re really back-up kitchens.
The food is really not very good, according to feedback from Roseberry and Passfield students.
At High Holborn, everyone cooks for themselves.
What was the process like to get a place in a residence?
Which student residences would you recommend to French or international students at your university?
For the French, I’d recommend Roseberry for a good English atmosphere and Passfield for a good French atmosphere.
For those looking for a more “luxurious” experience, I’d recommend High Holborn, but which is less sociable.
For me, the best compromise is Bankside – If they don’t mind walking!
Could you describe your experience at your university?
How many hours of lessons do you have each week?
9 hours a week on average, including lectures and classes ! I don’t think that’s very much. 
How much work?
There’s a lot of reading but it’s not really compulsory to do them.
I didn’t always do them, but I worked VERY hard for 1 month before the exams and always managed to get ” first ” (Mention Très Bien).
I also had a few essays to hand in during the year, but if you organized your work well, it wasn’t too hard !
Do you have exams once or several times a year?
Almost all exams take place at the end of the year, except for the economics exams, which take place once after Christmas and once in April.
Are you involved in any student associations at LSE?
Yes, in the French association was really nice. I also played tennis every Wednesday with the tennis association.
I was also vice-president of SPARKS, an entrepreneurship association.
Being part of an association not only adds value to your CV, but also allows you to meet people !
Is there anything about the university system in the country where you’re studying that you’d like to improve?
I think it would be nice to have a few more hours of classes with everyone.
When you arrive in your first year in a foreign country where you don’t know many people, integration can be difficult.
When you only have 10 hours a week at university, you have to spend a lot of time in the library to be surrounded by people, but it takes some getting used to… Having a little more than 10 hours of classes a week would perhaps be more constructive and would, in my opinion, provide better supervision, especially in the first year.
Do you have any other comments or advice for students interested in applying to your university or other foreign universities?
My main advice is to focus on the university you want to attend, not necessarily the program. In England, universities are often flexible and you can quickly change programs or take options with different subjects.
However, it’s much more difficult to change universities.
My second piece of advice would be not to do what I did andgo into residence in the first year, as this is really important for integration ! I lived with my sister and made friends, but I had to make a lot more effort than the others to reach out to others.
There’s also sometimes so much reading that it can be a bit difficult to get organized.
You want to do everything but you can’t, and you also want to enjoy your student life.
What I did last year, and what I recommend to everyone, is to create a shared folder with a few friends in which everyone takes notes on different readings. This way, you can have everything ready for exam time.
Thanks to this, I’ve really managed to get organized and get excellent exam results !
