<p>theGame let me clear some of the miconceptions you seem to have about LUMS. Firstly, although LUMS might not figure in many international rankings, it IS recognised worldwide. This is mostly due to the presence of its alumni in many of the worlds top universities and in middle/upper management positions in corporations worldwide. I have a couple of close relatives doing Phds in universities in Europe and both of them have said that the only Pakistani university many of the profs in unis in Europe have heard of is LUMS.</p>
<p>Secondly, I have been to both YLES and LUMUN and personally found them to be great experiences both socially and intellectually. I don’t think there many other events in Pakistan which draw some of the best students from the best schools in Pakistan and have them compete against each other. Before LUMUN and YLES I was overconfident about my debating and presenting skills but the exposure provided by YLES and especially LUMUN left me humbled.</p>
<p>Plus, the sheer quantity of events at LUMS negates your argument that LUMS rebuffs extra curricular activities. Could you please provide the name of any other uni in Pakistan which hosts as many and as diverse events as LUMS does?</p>
<p>Finally, the comparison between need aware colleges in the US and LUMS is not reasonable as nothing like the FAFSA exists here in Pakistan. Is it not justified for any university to ask for as much documentation as they require to make the best possible financial aid decision, particularly in Pakistan where the need for aid is significantly greater than the resources. Infact 90% of the all aid is provided by LUMS itself instead of being financed partly by the federal government like in the US.</p>
<p>Lastly, I have got a question for you theGame, Any particular reason for the hostility against LUMS?</p>
<p>Yes i am afraid i will have to disagree with the master here. and agree with everyone else. Lums Is a maginificent place. but it is no LAC. and hardly an ivy. IN his attemps to establish that The game seems to have rambled.
Our outrage is caused by the fact that we might end up there. and those fortunate few who are well clear of it should refrain from slinging mud at what might be our future uni.
Thats what this is about fellas.</p>
<p>^Even if he does know a lot about LUMS, it doesn’t justify him so blatantly shooting down a uni which so many pakistani student consider their dream school. His post smacks of elitism.</p>
<p>There is no logical defense fellas.
Anyway u shudnt call him an Elitist. He hates the word. But Lums does perpetuate Elitism in PAkistan by taking in Prep school kids like us. to be fair</p>
<p>LUMS is well-known outside Pakistan but as Pakistan’s best - not as Asia’s best or anything close. Now that’s a vital distinction. Usually, rankings include peer review which numerate how professors in various top universities of the world think about or “rate” a university. LUMS could score highly in that part of a ranking system but only if it becomes a part of any ranking. So my point is that if LUMS is only half as good as we Pakistanis think it is, why isn’t it featured in any of the rankings put forward by QS, US News or/and THES. Why</p>
<p>I have no doubts about the quality and value of YLES and the Olympiad. I have attended them and know they are great social platforms. No wonder they are the pride of the university. However, LUMS only chooses applicants from top private institutes like LACAS and LGS. Now, if your aim is welfare, shouldn’t you be colluding FSc students with A Level students in such rare gatherings? This may be part of LUMS’ future plans but for the moment, these competitions are enjoyed by few and extolled by many. It’s sad too to note the number of FSc applicants who fall causality to the admission process. 70% of students at SSE are of the O/A Level background - even thought FSc’s syllabus is way tougher than that of the A Levels. In short, LUMS caters to the elite - no uni can become great like that.</p>
<p>Granted, LUMS hosts the most diverse events in Pakistan but that’s not the issue. The issue is that they are strictly optional. I have come across 12-15 SSE students who don’t give a damn to these events because they don’t have the time or will to. Now don’t tell me that they all they are not managing their workload well, because I know at least 5 of them personally and they have netted a GPA of 4.0/4.0. So it’s all about the GPA at LUMS.</p>
<p>Now now, don’t get me wrong, but none of you has ever filled the LUMS financial aid form, have you? It is profoundly intricate. An ordinary student would be extremely discouraged to fill it. The FAFSA and CB Profile forms, in comparison, can easily be filled online with minimum documentation requirement - only the pay slip, income tax returns and the bank statements are normally required. If these documents are enough for 95% of the 3500 or so institutions in USA (need-aware or not), they should be good enough to judge need for LUMS. But they aren’t.</p>
<p>I am not saying all these things matter for us. But they should matter for a university as highly-rated as LUMS.</p>
<p>You, theGame are talking out of your rear, sir. Hmm, where do i start?
(I’ll divide my response into posts, because frankly, i too get bored of the long essays)</p>
<p>“70% of students at SSE are of the O/A Level background - even though FSc’s syllabus is way tougher than that of the A Levels.”</p>
<p>FSc’s syllabus is tougher?. No. More like it goes in depth regarding a few topics. A-levels doesnt go that deep, but gives you a more thorough and broad knowledge of the subject. LUMS is one of the few(only?) universities which doesnt ask for the bloody equivalence, which is one of the stupidest things ever. And so sodding what if they give preference to A-level students, 99% of Pakistani universities (GIKI, PIYAAS et al) give preference to FSc students. There must be at least one top-class institution which looks slightly favourably towards A-level students.</p>
<p>Where does all this elitist crap come in this, i have no idea.</p>
<p>"LUMS is an infidel monopoly. It tries to mimic the Harvard acceptance rate whilst carrying on with zilch professionalism "
"it prides itself on toy competitions "
SSE GPA is out of 4.5. Noone got that. the 4.0 was out of 4.5.
I dont know anyone who criticizes LUMS more than me but your persitence in upholding these views compels me to deliver what is all too apparently the generally felt feeling here: Bull.</p>
<p>“The issue is that they are strictly optional.”</p>
<p>I’m literally LMAO at this. Whatever Karpov says, this line tells me you know f*** all about universities over the world. Strictly optional?. Dude, EC’s are optional everywhere. From Princeton to Bremen. Everywhere. So you happen to know a few geeks at SSE who dont care about the EC’s, does this mean the whole batch is like that? Only a fool would generalise like that. What do you suggest?. They make it compulsory? “Yo, you with the big glasses…come here gimme 20 push-ups” That’s more like an Armed forces institution. I had a Princeton interview with an alumni who just graduated last June, and even she admitted there were such students at Princeton. Within a student body you get all types of students.</p>
<p>And because your ‘friends’ have 4.0 GPA, it means that GPA’s the only thing at LUMS SSE?.No. It means your friends need more fresh air.</p>
<p>“why isn’t it featured in any of the rankings put forward by QS, US News or/and THES. Why”</p>
<p>You have no idea what you’re talking about, do you?. It’s not in the rankings because it’s a relatively new institution. And SSE, where most of us are applying, it started in August 2008. My brother is at the only International uni in Germany (setup by Rice university), which started about a decade ago, and yet it’s nowhere in the rankings. Not even in the top 250. And it’s supposed to be one of the best in Europe.</p>
<p>Hmm, still wondering why it’s not in the rankings?</p>
<p>I thank all of the above for pointing out apparent ‘incongruities’. Just One thing about rankings. If you have known. US NEWS renkings feature ONLY American college rankings…NOT international ones. If we still want to compare, we might as well go on to denounce Oxford as a uni that didn’t even make it to the US NEWS rankings!</p>
<p>And I have no idea why everyone is so steamed up because of someone’s 0.02$ :D</p>
<p>First of all, I am not here to hurt anyone’s feelings – just to profess my opinion. I speak as someone who had worked at LUMS on an internship and whose relatives have studied there and gone abroad for further study. So LUMS is a good university – but not great, as many of us would like to think.</p>
<p>If other institutions favour FSc students more, it doesn’t justify LUMS favouring them less. I know O/A Levels prepares one better for a broad-based education like that offered at LUMS, but that’s not the point. The point is of equal opportunity; apparently, LUMS adcoms are trying to address this by making the LCAT I and II easier for FSc students. I know this from a talk I had with LCAT’s test maker.</p>
<p>SSE GPA is out of 4.0. There is a bonus score which makes it 4.33 out of 4.0 – not any further.</p>
<p>Extra-curricular activities are not encouraged at LUMS akin to the attitude of British universities. It’s all about academics in these institutions. Because rankings don’t measure non-academic involvement, American universities’ are disadvantaged – although they have more “complete” students participating in a wide array of activities outside the classroom. So a majority of the students at places like LUMS are best at their studies. But is it best preparation for life? I think not.</p>
<p>LUMS’ SSE programme shouldn’t be ranked but at least its Business programs should be. They have been here for almost 35 years. Now don’t tell me that it too hasn’t had enough time because that’s about the time Warwick university took to become a top 10 British university in worldwide rankings.</p>
<p>The game, I respect your opinion… But just as an opinion. You should not try to impose it as a fact! We ALL disagree with you. If you believe that LUMS discourages ECs and enforces its students to work all the time… then, all right! We got your point.</p>
<p>My opinion (Just an opinion you guys no facts or other stuff): When LUMS students take the whole pain in the a** organizing the biggest events like LUMUN, YLES and LUMS Olympiad, it isn’t Accounting and Finance they are practicing!! No, That’s an EC (I believe.) Similarly, their teams participate in events all over Pakistan (and maybe even outside Pakistan but I’m not aware of any) and they win. Honestly, I was in a room with NBS (NUST Business School) students and LUMS studnets. It was a business plan competition in FAST (Islamabad) and the LUMS team was wayyy out of anyones’ reach.</p>
<p>Just like Game, “I am not here to hurt anyone’s feelings – just to profess my opinion”</p>