Just the Dissertation Left!

By pinkcauldrons in LLM at LSE- 2007-2008. on Jun 26, 2008

Hello!

The mad exam marathon is over, and I can hardly believe it. If I thought Michaelmas term was hectic, it was as if the Lent Term was just waiting to introduce me to what the London pace can turn out to be! Having been through three-fourths or more, of the entire LLM, with just the dissertation left, here's some advice for the coming batches of students:

Attend as many of the public lectures as you can. You probably wont have time to do justice to more than two societies, so dont join seven of them in freshers' week like I did, and then end up going to just one or two. Push yourself to the maximum. After all, its less than a year.

Theres a strategy to cracking the exams. Dont get pulled in by all the hype about how tough and scary it is. All it takes is a good strategy, and of course, the minimum amount of hard work.

Use your time in London to pursue whatever already interests you..music/dance/tennis...the facilities are available, if you bother to look. Pursuing a hobby you already love is a good way of de-stressing and making this sometimes dreary place feel more like home.

For those who are used to a lot of sun in their home countries, December can be a very depressing time. Use the December holidays to relax and really fit into the groove. It will help you to handle Lent term better.

Decide on your dissertation topic as soon as you can. Much sooner than the departmental timetable suggests. It will save you a lot of work later on. Throughout LSE, the faster you make decisions and get to working on them, the more the system rewards you.

The sheer amount of information available at LSE, can drown you out if you dont know what your destination is. Remember you cant use the awesome career services to its fullest if you dont already have a good idea of where you want to be after the LLM.

Finally, there will be people who say, you should have seen more of London, you should have studied more, or you should have done something differently. Dont listen to them. Decide what YOU want out of this degree, and stick to achieving that. Its the roller coaster ride of a life time! Have fun, and best of luck.

Comments

Tabmas08, Jun 26, 2010 21:04

Pinkcauldrons
Congrats for obtaining your lLM and Thank you for your infromative blog.I am heading to LSE this autumn to do the Human Rights specialisation .I know thats not what you took but would like to know whether you know anybody who took it and what their expereince was.I have seen a comment from somebody who says its not well thought out and that he is very dissapointed.
Secondly, do LLM students get an opportunity to tutor LLB students or undertake assistantships?
Thanks

pinkcauldr..., Sep 05, 2009 13:15

The exams were what I expected-Not too easy and not too tough. The level of difficulty of your exams will be directly related to your level of preparation. Doing the previous year's papers in mock exam conditions do help. I did my dissertation in Corporate Governance, on the factors affecting Shareholder Participation in India and the UK.
Yes, I am using my LLM in my current work.

OpinioJuri..., Jan 07, 2009 08:33

How did you find your LLM exams? What was the topic of your dissertation? Are you working on a field that you specialised in at the LSE? Wishing you the best on your current work in India.

pinkcauldr..., Jan 05, 2009 16:24

Hi. I am now working in Bangalore, India.

OpinioJuri..., Dec 20, 2008 20:18

Pinkcauldrons,

Congratulations on completing your degree at the LSE, Are you working in the U.K. or did you find work in another country?

pinkcauldr..., Aug 17, 2008 18:08

Hi Venky,
I feel their admission is a combination of good grades, SOP etc. There is no placement program as such, but very good career support. Its up to you to take the initiative and use it.
I dont know about the funding bit.

Ziyanda,
I'm not sure how to answer. You need to be more specific with your question.

ziyanda, Aug 14, 2008 16:54

I'M Looking for a job during school holiday 01 December i wil be ready to start

venky, Aug 14, 2008 11:53

hi, how difficult is it to get into an llm programme at lse ? their admission criteria in terms of grades look stringent ( 4.8 out of 7 min ). do they really stick to this ? how good is their placement programme ? if one were to follow thru with a doctoral programme, any chance of getting funding ?

PS Jhand , Aug 09, 2008 11:51

The responses/queries on blog are informative but blog is silent from where one can purchase books. I want to know name of books for LLM part I Kurukshertra university. can anyone tell? From where these are available?

pinkcauldr..., Jun 27, 2008 19:34

Hi. If you are good at managing time, its very possible during term time and holidays, but forget about during exams. So you are better off with a one-off proofreading/waiter/barman..those kind of small jobs and not a contract.

prashbez, Jun 27, 2008 07:15

Hi Pink

Congrats on almost being through with your LLM. I'm an entering LLM student at King's College London for the 2008-2009 session.

I just wanted to know that given the hectic schedule of the LLM, is it really possible to do a part time job and work 20 hours a week in order to make some extra money to finance the LLM or do you think that it is not practically possible to work part time even for 20 hours a week (40 hours per week during holidays), if one really wants to do well in the LLM.

What's your advice on that?

Cheers and All the best.
Prashbez