London Connection: Online magazine of the University of London International Programmes

We’d like to bring to your attention a number of articles published in London Connection relating to the EMFSS suite of programmes where academic direction is provided by the LSE.

Q&A with BSc Business graduate Ayesha Tariq

Ayesha Tariq offers study tips for outstanding results in University of London exams

Q&A with Banking and Finance graduate Mai Mahmoud

Profile on BSc Accounting and Finance graduate Komal Shakeel

Cameron Paige. Bsc Sociology graduate: A tale of love and education

Vladimir Mukharlyamov. BSc Economics graduate.The complexity of simplicity

Andrea See. Bscd Economics and Management graduate. University of London graduate spoilt for job choice

Jeetendar Chandnani. Bsc Banking and Finance graduate: How a University of London degree can aid your business career

Q&A with Keith Sharp, Director, University of London International Programmes at LSE

Dr Steve Smithson: E-business skills in demand

Enjoy!

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Congratulations to our scholars & Thank you to Emeritus Professor Susan Dev

This happy photograph is part of the many celebrations held after the  recent  graduation at LSE. Shalini Mittal  was awarded a place to study BSc Economics at the LSE after achieving a Distinction in the Diploma in Economics at ISBF in Delhi through the University of London International Programmes. Shalini was subsequently  awarded a first class honours degree  and has been offered a place on the Masters programme  at LSE.   Next to her  in the photograph  is Emeritus  Professor Susan Dev, who worked at the LSE from 1966 and played a major role in the International Programmes from that time  up until 2009. In 2009, Professor Dev  kindly provided a full scholarship to the  top International Programmes student who had been offered  a place at the LSE to study. Shalini’s  marks were outstanding and  she was awarded this scholarship. It is not easy to  get a place to enter for study in the second year at the LSE but Shalini managed to do so after completing the Diploma in Economics, but many students do also get places to study at other universities in the UK, Australia and of course in other teaching institutions which teach our programmes.

Shalini Mittal describes what the scholarship meant to her:

“The Susan Dev Scholarship has made it possible for me to attend a prestigious university like LSE. Not only did I make some of my best friends here but it also was vital in providing me a unique learning experience right in the centre of London. The scholarship helped me to concentrate on my studies without worrying about my finances which not only increased my productivity of learning but also boosted my morale.”

We offer a huge thank you to Susan for her generosity and congratulate Shalini on her excellent results and wish her well in her future studies at the LSE.

Postgraduate scholarships are awarded annually to TWO University of London International Programmes students who have been accepted for postgraduate study at LSE. These students MUST have completed one of the degrees or Diploma for Graduates offered by the University of London International Programmes, for which the LSE provides academic direction. For more information, see here.

Last years International Programmes Scholars’ achieved very good results. Ursula Wiriadinata (pictured right) from Indonesia was awarded a Distinction in her Masters in Finance and Economics and Duong Ha Thu (pictured left) from Vietnam was awarded a Merit. Both of these students studied their degree through the University of London International Programmes at the Singapore Institute of Management.

Further information about LSE scholarships for Masters degrees can be found here.

Watch Ursula Wiriadinata talk about the University of London International Programmes here:

A celebration for Mrs Gosling

Rosie’s celebratory retirement event and her change of role….Director of Institutional Liaison.

The London School of Economics and Political Science hosted an event to celebrate the achievements, retirement and a new role for Rosemary Gosling, Director for the EMFSS programmes at the LSE.

As anyone who has met Rosie will know, she is a truly inspirational individual and her determination, passion and love of the programmes is clear to all who meet and work with her. Rosie is driven by the guiding principle of access and widening participation to higher education and is committed to providing students from many different backgrounds the opportunity to study for a University of London degree.

Rosie was joined by family, friends and colleagues at the event and a number of individuals, including Professor Janet Hartley (Pro-Director LSE), Professor Martin Anthony (Chair of the Board of Examiners), Professor Jonathan Kydd (Dean of University of London International Programmes), Zoya Tuiebakhova (Vice-Rector of the Kazakh British Technical University) and Jots Semhbi (alumni of the programmes), offered their praise, admiration and best wishes for the unique and important work Rosie has tirelessly undertaken over the past twenty five years at the LSE.

Rosie continues her work and involvement with the EMFSS programmes as the new Director for Institutional Liaison, working and assisting teaching institutions in the UK and overseas that support our programmes and dealing with students.

 LSE Office for the University of London International Programmes

How I was successful…

Former External study student Cameron Paige graduates with an MSc Sociology (Research) from the LSE, presented by LSE director, Howard Davies. In this blog she shares the secrets of her success…

A few years back, sitting on a train home from work, I pulled out one of my study books and set about highlighting everything I deemed important. After a short while, a man sitting across from me leaned over and said:

“You highlight too much. You’ll never learn like this.”

He had an all-knowing, benevolent smile. He wished well. Unfortunately, he didn’t know me. I had a system. The system worked for me. I’d underline whole sentences so I could read the book again comfortably, block-highlighting only the key words. I’d even highlight random words across the page so, when read together, they made for coherent sentences and smooth argument flow. I had four different colours of highlighters for different levels of discussion within a piece of text: yellow for major themes, green for sub-points within those themes, pink for juicy detail and orange for counter-arguments. Occasionally, I’d throw in blue or purple for good measure as well. I had four colours of Post-its I used in a similar fashion, labelling them with a key word so I could easily find any argument I’d read and couldn’t perfectly recall. In a similar fashion, one of my friends had a system of his own. Every time he picked up a study book, he’d pull out his highlighter (he only used yellow), and block out the title and the author’s name.

“You’re supposed to highlight the important stuff,” he’d say a little belligerently if anyone tried giving him a funny look. And he was right.

The point of this lengthy introduction should be quite clear by now: it doesn’t matter how you do it as long as you do it and it works for you. What might have been a waste of time to somebody else, for me was vital preparation. Yes, I spent ages underlining and making labels. But once that was done, I could whizz through a book again and again in no time. By the time the exams came around, I would have read all my study books once cover to cover, at least three times the highlighted gist of it, and about ten times the key words. The day before the exam, I could pull out my notes and do a complete revision of a subject within an hour. Because by then, I didn’t have to search and read whole paragraphs. By then, a single word underlined in orange or green was enough. And if it wasn’t, I knew exactly on what I had to read up.

Here, then, is my second point: there’s no substitute for studying, no easy fix. I can tell you what I did to keep on top of my studying: I found a library I liked and made sure it was my ‘happy place’. The staff were nice, the chairs were comfortable, and there was a great cafe right outside. I got up early and exercised before hitting the books. I ate well, slept well, and made sure I took regular breaks. I carried pocketfuls of apples and energy bars with me everywhere. I gave myself Friday evenings and Saturdays off, no exceptions. If the weather was good, I took my notes to the park. If it was bad, I made myself cocoa and read curled up in a blanket on the sofa. But I was never without the books. I watched no TV, I rationed my time with friends. I imposed on my partner and made sure everyone knew that degree was my top most priority. I was lucky that my family and friends were understanding, for I must have been insufferable.

The third and my final point is this: be nice to yourself. Know what you want, and arrange your life to make it happen. You cannot drift through your time with the External System, it’s not that kind of a degree. But if you can take the responsibility for your studies, then at the end of it you’ll find you’ve managed to get your life in order too. Keep up the good work. And good luck!

Cameron Paige

Cameron graduated with First Class Honours in BSc Sociology in 2008, receiving the Academic Achievement Award 2007 and 2008, the Graduate Merit Award, and the 150th Anniversary Award, and went on to study MSc Sociology (Research) at the LSE. To do justice to all the grounding the External System has given her, in 2009 she completed that degree with distinction, and was awarded the Hobhouse Memorial Prize in recognition of achieving the best overall performance in the Department of Sociology Masters’ programmes. She currently works as a Clinical Research Associate, single-handedly project-managing a major study for NHS Blood and Transplant. To put all this in perspective, five years ago she had no higher education and was working as a kitchen porter. So there you have it.

Value of award…

 

There has been much discussion between students on the VLE forums and through blog comments in regards to the status of External students and the value of award. First of all, I am pleased that students are using these features regularly to interact with each other and discuss important topics.

 The purpose of this blog is to respond to a number of student concerns and we thought that the following information would be useful:

• External students are students of the University of London and as such on completion of their studies receive a degree or diploma from the University of London. Since 2007 there is no indication on the degree certificate of place or mode of study. This information is now reserved for the transcript. The University of London certificate also states that the examinations an EMFSS graduate has taken are ‘under the direction of LSE’. The certificate indicates to employers, universities and other bodies the class of degree that a student has been rewarded and informs them that the standards are maintained and controlled by the University of London.  

There are a number of External students who have been academically successful, and accepted into one of the top universities world wide, since universities trust the name of the University of London and in most cases appreciate the academic challenge that a student has undertaken.

• The mission of the External programme is to enable students to study for a University of London degree irrespective of place or mode of study. This allows greater flexibility and enables students to combine their studies with work.   Students study on their own, in small groups or in teaching institutions.   Employers are often interested in where a student has studied and whether he or she has developed the set of skills that they require. External students will develop a number of skills that employers consider valuable, such as written communication, attention to detail, planning and most importantly great motivation and determination, particularly if students have studied and worked at the same time.

Historically, there may have been a bias against students who have studied externally, however over time this bias has diminished and External students are competing with others on an equal footing and getting into top universities and companies. Online testing for initial application amongst other things have helped enormously as students compete with others on an equal footing.   

Some External students do not do well at interviews and fail to understand the motivation behind some of the questions asked. Often questions are asked about how students study and in some cases these questions may seem antagonistic. Employers want to know how students deal with such questions rather than indicating their displeasure at the mode of study. This is the perfect opportunity for students to impress the prospective employer by describing the skills that they have developed studying Externally and describing the added motivation and determination required to study Externally.

What is most important is that students do as well as possible on the External programme and gain the best possible marks that they can achieve. To do this students must work hard and follow the guidelines for study presented by the University, particularly in Strategies for Success which stresses that the way you study is as important as what you study.   

We have also been working on raising the profile of our programmes and our students:

The University of London Alumni group provides a forum where graduates can network and share information about opportunities.

Information can be found here: http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/alumni/index.shtml 

The promotion materials including the web sites provided by the University indicate the nature of the programmes and we are enhancing these each year, they are useful to show to potential employers.  Success stories also indicate how our students have fared and this is a great encouragement to students and to employers.  We would welcome any suggestions as to how we can promote our graduates.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at the Study Weekend!

Best wishes

Rosie Gosling