Hello everyone,

Like many of you, I was recently rejected by Cambridge. However, I have received offers from UCL and LSE. My intention is to focus on financial and banking law, while also taking modules related to IP and tech law.

Given that both institutions are excellent, and I did not attend a Russell Group university for my undergraduate degree, I would appreciate your advice on how to choose between them.

Here are some relevant rankings for both universities:

LSE:

Law & Legal Studies: 7th in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)
Top global universities: 56th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023)

UCL:

Law & Legal Studies: 13th in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)
Top global universities: 8th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023)

In terms of my career aspirations, I hope to obtain a training contract (TC), work in compliance, or pursue finance opportunities such as IBD or Risk.

If anyone currently attends either LSE or UCL, could you please provide me with some insight into the following:

- Quality of teaching
- Engagement from peers
- Opportunities to have formative assignments marked and receive feedback ahead of exams or assignment/coursework deadlines
- Availability of lecturers for 1:1 discussions during or outside of office hours
- Connections to firms - are companies actively reaching out to the university to offer events specifically for students from your institution?
- How do your peers behave in your program? Is there a sense of community where students support one another and exchange ideas ahead of assignments, coursework deadlines, and exam periods, or do individuals tend to keep to themselves and refuse to collaborate or share ideas?
- What is the expected approach in your work? Are you required to produce a black-letter law answer by simply applying the law to a problem question, or are you expected to engage in politics and critical argumentation for your assignments?
- Although I understand that master's degrees are highly independent and require students to be self-sufficient, I am curious if either institution provides adequate support and preparation before exams or assignment deadlines. Specifically, I am interested in whether they offer preparation materials, such as past papers, questions, and answers, and what kind of guidance they provide to their students.
- Lastly, I would like to ask if you have ever experienced a situation where a lecturer left before your exams or during the academic year. This is a personal inquiry stemming from my own experience.

Thank you for your help.

I am leaning towards UCL because the course structure would allow me to avoid examinations and high word count coursework, as well as allowing me to obtain a fourth of the degree from my own disst + another fourth from scholarship on Bentham. I think otherwise the schools are both very similar with either being ranked higher on a particular year, last year UCL was above Cambridge in some rankings for instance. LSE is more difficult to gain entry to at LLM but this isn't particularly important to me. I applied for scholarships at both too, just to see if one is willing to pull me away from the other, but as it stands OP, choose LSE for the diverse range of modules for niche subjects, or choose UCL for the practical nature of obtaining the best degree you can for your next step. 


Also, not that it matters so much, but I conducted a poll of a few hundred persons on my social media and more people had heard of UCL than LSE globally (by about 40%) so if you're looking at the brand of a degree, I think either is great but UCL has that little bit more recognition because UCL is the top research University in the UK and takes on a lot of scholarship whereas LSE specialises. In finance, though, LSE wins every day.

[Edited by draemon on Mar 06, 2023]

Hello everyone,

Like many of you, I was recently rejected by Cambridge. However, I have received offers from UCL and LSE. My intention is to focus on financial and banking law, while also taking modules related to IP and tech law.

Given that both institutions are excellent, and I did not attend a Russell Group university for my undergraduate degree, I would appreciate your advice on how to choose between them.

Here are some relevant rankings for both universities:

LSE:

Law & Legal Studies: 7th in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)
Top global universities: 56th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023)

UCL:

Law & Legal Studies: 13th in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)
Top global universities: 8th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023)

In terms of my career aspirations, I hope to obtain a training contract (TC), work in compliance, or pursue finance opportunities such as IBD or Risk.

If anyone currently attends either LSE or UCL, could you please provide me with some insight into the following:

- Quality of teaching
- Engagement from peers
- Opportunities to have formative assignments marked and receive feedback ahead of exams or assignment/coursework deadlines
- Availability of lecturers for 1:1 discussions during or outside of office hours
- Connections to firms - are companies actively reaching out to the university to offer events specifically for students from your institution?
- How do your peers behave in your program? Is there a sense of community where students support one another and exchange ideas ahead of assignments, coursework deadlines, and exam periods, or do individuals tend to keep to themselves and refuse to collaborate or share ideas?
- What is the expected approach in your work? Are you required to produce a black-letter law answer by simply applying the law to a problem question, or are you expected to engage in politics and critical argumentation for your assignments?
- Although I understand that master's degrees are highly independent and require students to be self-sufficient, I am curious if either institution provides adequate support and preparation before exams or assignment deadlines. Specifically, I am interested in whether they offer preparation materials, such as past papers, questions, and answers, and what kind of guidance they provide to their students.
- Lastly, I would like to ask if you have ever experienced a situation where a lecturer left before your exams or during the academic year. This is a personal inquiry stemming from my own experience.

Thank you for your help.

really great answer. anyone else with insight like that for LSE?

Hi, I noticed that you ranked the LSE/UCL LLM above the Cambridge LLM? As an overseas candidate, I'm surprised to hear this. Does LSE actually rank above Cambridge in its LLM?

Hello everyone,



Like many of you, I was recently rejected by Cambridge. However, I have received offers from UCL and LSE. My intention is to focus on financial and banking law, while also taking modules related to IP and tech law.



Given that both institutions are excellent, and I did not attend a Russell Group university for my undergraduate degree, I would appreciate your advice on how to choose between them.



Here are some relevant rankings for both universities:



LSE:



Law & Legal Studies: 7th in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)

Top global universities: 56th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023)



UCL:



Law & Legal Studies: 13th in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)

Top global universities: 8th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023)



In terms of my career aspirations, I hope to obtain a training contract (TC), work in compliance, or pursue finance opportunities such as IBD or Risk.



If anyone currently attends either LSE or UCL, could you please provide me with some insight into the following:



- Quality of teaching

- Engagement from peers

- Opportunities to have formative assignments marked and receive feedback ahead of exams or assignment/coursework deadlines

- Availability of lecturers for 1:1 discussions during or outside of office hours

- Connections to firms - are companies actively reaching out to the university to offer events specifically for students from your institution?

- How do your peers behave in your program? Is there a sense of community where students support one another and exchange ideas ahead of assignments, coursework deadlines, and exam periods, or do individuals tend to keep to themselves and refuse to collaborate or share ideas?

- What is the expected approach in your work? Are you required to produce a black-letter law answer by simply applying the law to a problem question, or are you expected to engage in politics and critical argumentation for your assignments?

- Although I understand that master's degrees are highly independent and require students to be self-sufficient, I am curious if either institution provides adequate support and preparation before exams or assignment deadlines. Specifically, I am interested in whether they offer preparation materials, such as past papers, questions, and answers, and what kind of guidance they provide to their students.

- Lastly, I would like to ask if you have ever experienced a situation where a lecturer left before your exams or during the academic year. This is a personal inquiry stemming from my own experience.



Thank you for your help.

I am a current UCL LLM. I will address your points and give my views. 
RANKINGS: When it comes to the LLM programmes, there are only four ranks in the UK: 1 Oxford BCL; 2 UCL/LSE; 3 Cambridge; 4 everyone else. The UCL and LSE programmes are practically identical in prestige, so the rank is irrelevant. Last year, UCL was sixth in the world, so ranks mean nothing. 

- Quality of teaching: phenomenal. The professors are utterly incredible and true world leaders who genuinely care for student's success and attempt (successfully, in my experience) to impart their passion onto students. 


- Engagement from peers: UCL encourages a lot of engagement in class and some professors call our students (you can pass). Generally, everyone in class will be very bright, passionate, and dedicated to studies and fully engaged. 

- Opportunities to have formative assignments marked and receive feedback ahead of exams or assignment/coursework deadlines: EVERY module has formatives: half-modules will have one formative, full modules will have two; these are fully marked and feedback given. 

 - Availability of lecturers for 1:1 discussions during or outside of office hours: depends on the staff, but I have not had an issue at all. They are very approachable and willing to help. One KC booked me on within a few days. Another KC met with me spontaneously after class for over an hour. You do not become a UCL laws professor just because you are smart; they must support students. 

 - Connections to firms: It's UCL. There is no firm that will not be targeting you. Plenty of networking events and invitations to meals etc. usually run through the law societies. Most recent invite for me was from Covington LLP. many firms and chambers also attend UCL's internal TC/Pupillage fairs. 

 - are companies actively reaching out to the university to offer events specifically for students from your institution? As above. 

 - How do your peers behave in your program? everyone either spends a lot of money to get here or worked hard for a scholarship. Nobody on the LLM is wasting their time. Everyone is very kind and respectful, and there is mutual respect between all students regardless of background etc. very friendly environment. 

Is there a sense of community where students support one another and exchange ideas ahead of assignments, coursework deadlines, and exam periods, or do individuals tend to keep to themselves and refuse to collaborate or share ideas? I cannot speak for the corporate/finance specialisms, but public law/social justice/human rights pathways are very friendly and have a real community. Many of us share multiple modules, so there is a string network and we all tend to support each other. Every module has a WhatsApp GC too. 

 - What is the expected approach in your work? Are you required to produce a black-letter law answer by simply applying the law to a problem question, or are you expected to engage in politics and critical argumentation for your assignments? Depends on the assignment. Generally, we all understand that we are selected for UCL because we are amongst some of the best applicants in the world, so we know we are expected to engage ourselves thoroughly with the materials and research and reflect that thoroughness in our answers. Some modules just expect a strong direct answer, but some like more cross-disciplinary answers. There are no single answers, but every professor will answer any questions you have and will make the expected scope of essays clear. You won't be expected to cover something that isn't on the reading list, but you are expected to go a bit beyond the reading list; it's a balance. 

 - Although I understand that master's degrees are highly independent and require students to be self-sufficient, I am curious if either institution provides adequate support and preparation before exams or assignment deadlines. Specifically, I am interested in whether they offer preparation materials, such as past papers, questions, and answers, and what kind of guidance they provide to their students: the university prepares us well and gives us access to past papers and most formatives give a range of questions which can help you prepare for exams. The uni is moving away from exams and mostly has essays now (3k words for half-modules, 6k for full modules). The assignments are very manageable as long as you have half-decent time management. There are many opportunities for students to prepare too, such as the introduction week which runs through expectation, the legal writing programme which is just phenomenal preparation for all assessments, and all marketing criteria etc. and other resources are provided in the thorough LLM student guide. 



- Lastly, I would like to ask if you have ever experienced a situation where a lecturer left before your exams or during the academic year: it doesn't get better than UCL, so staff do not tend to leave; At most, they take time off for research leave. The faculty is very well resourced to prevent any interruption to studies. Staff are very devoted to students, so they won't leave you in a problematic state -- eg during the strikes, NONE of my professors striked because of their devotion to students and the subject, and because the university looks after them, so they are happy to keep teaching. 

Sorry for any typos, had to type this on my phone. 

[Edited by Phoenix1 on Jun 11, 2023]

Hi, I noticed that you ranked the LSE/UCL LLM above the Cambridge LLM? As an overseas candidate, I'm surprised to hear this. Does LSE actually rank above Cambridge in its LLM? Also confounds me further because I happen to have been accepted into LSE but rejected by Cambridge... 

Hi, I noticed that you ranked the LSE/UCL LLM above the Cambridge LLM? As an overseas candidate, I'm surprised to hear this. Does LSE actually rank above Cambridge in its LLM? Also confounds me further because I happen to have been accepted into LSE but rejected by Cambridge.

Hello everyone,



Like many of you, I was recently rejected by Cambridge. However, I have received offers from UCL and LSE. My intention is to focus on financial and banking law, while also taking modules related to IP and tech law.



Given that both institutions are excellent, and I did not attend a Russell Group university for my undergraduate degree, I would appreciate your advice on how to choose between them.



Here are some relevant rankings for both universities:



LSE:



Law & Legal Studies: 7th in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)

Top global universities: 56th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023)



UCL:



Law & Legal Studies: 13th in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022)

Top global universities: 8th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2023)



In terms of my career aspirations, I hope to obtain a training contract (TC), work in compliance, or pursue finance opportunities such as IBD or Risk.



If anyone currently attends either LSE or UCL, could you please provide me with some insight into the following:



- Quality of teaching

- Engagement from peers

- Opportunities to have formative assignments marked and receive feedback ahead of exams or assignment/coursework deadlines

- Availability of lecturers for 1:1 discussions during or outside of office hours

- Connections to firms - are companies actively reaching out to the university to offer events specifically for students from your institution?

- How do your peers behave in your program? Is there a sense of community where students support one another and exchange ideas ahead of assignments, coursework deadlines, and exam periods, or do individuals tend to keep to themselves and refuse to collaborate or share ideas?

- What is the expected approach in your work? Are you required to produce a black-letter law answer by simply applying the law to a problem question, or are you expected to engage in politics and critical argumentation for your assignments?

- Although I understand that master's degrees are highly independent and require students to be self-sufficient, I am curious if either institution provides adequate support and preparation before exams or assignment deadlines. Specifically, I am interested in whether they offer preparation materials, such as past papers, questions, and answers, and what kind of guidance they provide to their students.

- Lastly, I would like to ask if you have ever experienced a situation where a lecturer left before your exams or during the academic year. This is a personal inquiry stemming from my own experience.



Thank you for your help.

I am a current UCL LLM. I will address your points and give my views. 
RANKINGS: When it comes to the LLM programmes, there are only four ranks in the UK: 1 Oxford BCL; 2 UCL/LSE; 3 Cambridge; 4 everyone else. The UCL and LSE programmes are practically identical in prestige, so the rank is irrelevant. Last year, UCL was sixth in the world, so ranks mean nothing. 

- Quality of teaching: phenomenal. The professors are utterly incredible and true world leaders who genuinely care for student's success and attempt (successfully, in my experience) to impart their passion onto students. 


- Engagement from peers: UCL encourages a lot of engagement in class and some professors call our students (you can pass). Generally, everyone in class will be very bright, passionate, and dedicated to studies and fully engaged. 

- Opportunities to have formative assignments marked and receive feedback ahead of exams or assignment/coursework deadlines: EVERY module has formatives: half-modules will have one formative, full modules will have two; these are fully marked and feedback given. 

 - Availability of lecturers for 1:1 discussions during or outside of office hours: depends on the staff, but I have not had an issue at all. They are very approachable and willing to help. One KC booked me on within a few days. Another KC met with me spontaneously after class for over an hour. You do not become a UCL laws professor just because you are smart; they must support students. 

 - Connections to firms: It's UCL. There is no firm that will not be targeting you. Plenty of networking events and invitations to meals etc. usually run through the law societies. Most recent invite for me was from Covington LLP. many firms and chambers also attend UCL's internal TC/Pupillage fairs. 

 - are companies actively reaching out to the university to offer events specifically for students from your institution? As above. 

 - How do your peers behave in your program? everyone either spends a lot of money to get here or worked hard for a scholarship. Nobody on the LLM is wasting their time. Everyone is very kind and respectful, and there is mutual respect between all students regardless of background etc. very friendly environment. 

Is there a sense of community where students support one another and exchange ideas ahead of assignments, coursework deadlines, and exam periods, or do individuals tend to keep to themselves and refuse to collaborate or share ideas? I cannot speak for the corporate/finance specialisms, but public law/social justice/human rights pathways are very friendly and have a real community. Many of us share multiple modules, so there is a string network and we all tend to support each other. Every module has a WhatsApp GC too. 

 - What is the expected approach in your work? Are you required to produce a black-letter law answer by simply applying the law to a problem question, or are you expected to engage in politics and critical argumentation for your assignments? Depends on the assignment. Generally, we all understand that we are selected for UCL because we are amongst some of the best applicants in the world, so we know we are expected to engage ourselves thoroughly with the materials and research and reflect that thoroughness in our answers. Some modules just expect a strong direct answer, but some like more cross-disciplinary answers. There are no single answers, but every professor will answer any questions you have and will make the expected scope of essays clear. You won't be expected to cover something that isn't on the reading list, but you are expected to go a bit beyond the reading list; it's a balance. 

 - Although I understand that master's degrees are highly independent and require students to be self-sufficient, I am curious if either institution provides adequate support and preparation before exams or assignment deadlines. Specifically, I am interested in whether they offer preparation materials, such as past papers, questions, and answers, and what kind of guidance they provide to their students: the university prepares us well and gives us access to past papers and most formatives give a range of questions which can help you prepare for exams. The uni is moving away from exams and mostly has essays now (3k words for half-modules, 6k for full modules). The assignments are very manageable as long as you have half-decent time management. There are many opportunities for students to prepare too, such as the introduction week which runs through expectation, the legal writing programme which is just phenomenal preparation for all assessments, and all marketing criteria etc. and other resources are provided in the thorough LLM student guide. 



- Lastly, I would like to ask if you have ever experienced a situation where a lecturer left before your exams or during the academic year: it doesn't get better than UCL, so staff do not tend to leave; At most, they take time off for research leave. The faculty is very well resourced to prevent any interruption to studies. Staff are very devoted to students, so they won't leave you in a problematic state -- eg during the strikes, NONE of my professors striked because of their devotion to students and the subject, and because the university looks after them, so they are happy to keep teaching. 

Sorry for any typos, had to type this on my phone. 

[Edited by Gobbledygook on Mar 12, 2023]