And you though the London School of Economics was for the brightest and best?

From yesterday's FT (page unavailable?):

But the 21 year-old's rise to the academic peak was far from pre-destined. Ms Chan says her background was "working class". Her father runs a Chinese takeaway and her mother works as a homecare assistant. Education was valued at home but Ms Chan's parents do not have the money to support her at university.

She says this made the bursary she received from PwC, the professional services firm crucial. It gives several thousand pounds to three new LSE undergraduates each year ... Ms Chan says that without it, "I would not have been able to go to university in London".

The halls of residence in her first year cost much more than friends at universities outside London have to pay. Incidentals also take their toll. "The cost of food around the LSE is high. most sandwich shops charge what professionals in the area would pay ."

... She thinks she would have earned "better A-levels" than her two As and a B if she had not had a job at weekends to help support herself while at grammar school in outer London.

Dude, WTF?

Why does she need to pay top whack for halls of residence if her family lives in outer London? If she and her family were that hard up, wouldn't she save herself the £5,000 a year (or whatever it costs), stay with Mum and Dad and just take the Tube into town?

She managed to get the LSE to accept her and PwC to sponsor her, yet she doesn't realise that even in central London you can reduce the cost of your sandwiches by 80% or something by, er, buying a loaf, some margarine and fillings and making yourself a packed lunch at home?

Her Dad runs a takeaway? Does she not know what his gross margins are?

Her Mum is a 'homecare assistant'? Who failed to pass on the secret-art-of-sandwich-making to her beloved daughter?