Are there any problems of which one should be aware? I'm deliberating between funded places at each. Thanks.
Toxic department culture in LSE or Oxbridge?
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Are there any problems of which one should be aware? I'm deliberating between funded places at each. Thanks.
Oxford with its college system has a good reputation for undergraduate teaching.
LSE has a strong reputation in terms of the PhD level teaching and faculty research, and is a well known department outside of England
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None of them are toxic, but don't expect the level of hand holding you would find in an American department.
PhD in the UK are more introspective and lonely than in the US. For some people that's a bad thing while for others, specially slightly older students, that's a good thing. I did my PhD in one of those places and have no complaints. I would not tolerate the amount of face time and frequent interaction with faculty that are common in US schools.
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LSE is routinely in the British media for how crap it is towards students. It's a moneymaking operation, pure and simple, and couldn't give a damn about anything else.
None of the academic staff live anywhere near the place and the corridors are like a ghost town. The students all live miles away, barricaded into their slum housing in Hackney or Croydon while gangs of Somalis and Congolese fight it out outside or stand around the corners waiting to rob and stab anyone passing.
And then you've George Lawson to contend with...
LSE? No thanks.
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Oxford is routinely in the British media for how crap it is towards society. It's a ruling class operation, pure and simple, and couldn't give a damn about anything else.
None of the academic staff have lives outside of the place and the corridors are like a boarding school. The students all live in college, pampered within their ensuites in Magdalen or Christ Church while gangs of Somalis and Pak!s deal drugs out outside or stand around the corners waiting to rob and stab anyone passing.
And then you've Walter Mattli to contend with...
Oxford? No thanks.