CDG, CBG, CKK… OMG indeed!

You’ve landed at LSE and the first challenge isn’t the readings or the essays — it’s the alphabet soup. Every conversation, email, and campus map looks like it’s written in code, and the real quiz is whether you’ll end up in the right building on time.

Level One: The Basics

• LSE: London School of Economics (you knew that, but let’s start simple).
• SU: Students’ Union — where you’ll find societies, sports, and sometimes free pizza.
• UG, PG, MA, PhD: It’s like alphabet hierarchy — undergrads at the bottom, doctoral students at the top, and us Master’s folks right in the middle.

Level Two: The Building Labyrinth

Here’s where things get tricky. The acronyms that sound like airport codes? Those are your new second home.

• CBG = Centre Building. Modern, glassy, suspiciously like an Apple store. Also home to the Beveridge Café, where you’ll learn that coffee is basically its own academic resource.
• CKK = Centre Building’s cousin across Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Sleek, new, and home to Shaw Café, a solid option when you’re running between classes and need caffeine on the go.
• CLM = Clement House, a.k.a. the one you’ll never find on the first try. Top tip: if you’re lost, just follow the crowd of equally confused students staring at their phones.
  
• FAW = Fawcett House, accessible through Pankhurst House (PAN - see, the code continues). Think of it as LSE’s hidden side-quest building.
  
• LRB = Lionel Robbins Building... better known as the LiBRary. Yes, it deserves capital letters. Expect a pilgrimage here at least once a day.
  
• MAR = Marshall Building. Big, impressive, and home to the Beavers Brew Café. Inside, you’ll find plenty of nooks to burrow into for solo study, big tables that double as conversation pits, and a calendar full of late-night events when the building transforms to yet another social hub. 
  
• OLD = Old Building, the OG of LSE buildings, complete with the Fourth Floor Restaurant for when you need actual food that isn’t Pret.
  

• SAL = Sir Arthur Lewis Building. Basement = Bean Counter café, Perfect for a fast caffeine fix in between seminars that always seem suspiciously scheduled back-to-back.

Level Three: The Secret Codes

Emails will hit your inbox full of mysterious abbreviations: SSC, SPP, LSELife. All important, all slightly intimidating, but don’t panic. These are the places you’ll go for academic help, language support, or advice on surviving exam season. Think of them as the Hogwarts houses of administration.

Final Boss: Making Peace with the Chaos

Eventually, you’ll stop trying to memorize the acronyms and just go with it. You’ll learn that “See you in CBG at 2” means “get lost for 10 minutes, panic, and then arrive slightly out of breath.” It’s a rite of passage, and one that bonds us all.

So don’t stress: by the end of term, you’ll not only know where CKK is, but you’ll say it casually in conversation... like you’ve always spoken fluent LSE.