Economics at City University London - ask a question!

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What do our Economics degrees include?

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What kind of jobs can you get with an Economics degree?

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How can you make sure you submit an excellent application?

If you have any questions about taking a Bachelor degree in Economics at City University London, this is the place to do it!

We'll work with our academic staff and course admissions team to answer your questions as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

Please note: if you're interested in courses run by Cass Business School at City, we suggest you contact them directly via their profile on The Student Room. You'll get a much speedier response that way!

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1

Frenchous

10

Original post by Cityunilondon

What kind of jobs can you get with an Economics degree?

According to these rankings half of your economics students seem to fail to get a job.

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Economics

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2011/may/17/university-guide-economics

why is that?

Reply 2

magdreb

i will be applying next term.

I'm not doing further Math but i'm pretty sure more than half of the applicants would have it.

Is this a disadvantage on my part?

OP

Original post by magdreb

I'm not doing further Math but i'm pretty sure more than half of the applicants would have it.

Is this a disadvantage on my part?

Hi. According to our admissions officer, only around 5-10% of our Economics students have studied further Maths, so you won't be at a disadvantage.

Best of luck with your application, and do let us know if you have any other questions.

Regards.

OP

Original post by Frenchous

According to these rankings half of your economics students seem to fail to get a job.

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Economics

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2011/may/17/university-guide-economics

why is that?

Hi Frenchous. As with many of the league tables, the data is different according to which league table you look at. I've got a couple of other sources of information that may be useful:

1. the government-run Unistats website is one of the 'official' sources of stats about universities. Unfortunately I can't give you a direct link to the section about BSc Economics at City, but if you search on the homepage for 'Economics' and 'City University', you'll get the overview page. From there, you can look at the employment stats which indicate that around 80% of graduates go onto either a first job or further study.

I'm guessing that the league tables you mentioned don't include 'further study' as a job (quite understandably), and a significant number of our undergrads do go straight on to a Masters...

2. I've also got the latest 'first destination' report from City's careers service. It dates back to 2009, so I hope the rates have improved a little since then, but the information is still useful. You can see a PDF of the detailed report here, but the stats indicate that around 75% of BSc Economics graduates found a job or went on to further study within 6 months of graduating. That figure was slightly higher - 80% - for graduates of the BSc in Economics and Accountancy.

We're always looking to improve our graduate employment rates, and we're running more personal development planning sessions with our students than previously. City's Careers Service also holds regular events for our final year students, as well as advice sessions on writing a CV, submitting a job application, etc. Finally, we're investing in some high-calibre academic appointments, as well as increasing our entry requirements to AAA by 2012, both of which we hope will have a knock-on effect on our graduate employment rates (although that'll take a few years to be able to see!)

I hope this information is helpful. Do let us know if you have any other questions.
Regards.

Reply 5

HistoryRepeating

13

What is the point in doing a degree designed for a career in financial services at a university which no financial services firms recruit from?

OP

Original post by HistoryRepeating

What is the point in doing a degree designed for a career in financial services at a university which no financial services firms recruit from?

Hi, and thanks for your question. I'm not sure what information you're basing this particular question on, but our own information indicates that recent graduates have gone on to work for organisations including Ernst & Young, KPMG, PWC and UBS. See the report I posted in a previous reply.

We're on the doorstep of London's financial district, and have close connections with the City of London, both of which we hope our students and graduates take advantage of. The Economics & Accountancy BSc is taught jointly by City's Cass Business School, one of the best in the UK. And many of our academic staff have contacts with the industry - our most recent appointee, Dr Alice Mesnard, was a senior economist at the IFS for 6 years before joining City.

Kind regards.

Reply 7

HistoryRepeating

13

Original post by Cityunilondon

Hi, and thanks for your question. I'm not sure what information you're basing this particular question on, but our own information indicates that recent graduates have gone on to work for organisations including Ernst & Young, KPMG, PWC and UBS. See the report I posted in a previous reply.

We're on the doorstep of London's financial district, and have close connections with the City of London, both of which we hope our students and graduates take advantage of. The Economics & Accountancy BSc is taught jointly by City's Cass Business School, one of the best in the UK. And many of our academic staff have contacts with the industry - our most recent appointee, Dr Alice Mesnard, was a senior economist at the IFS for 6 years before joining City.

Kind regards.

Thanks for your informative reply

Reply 8

Frenchous

10

Original post by Cityunilondon

I've also got the latest 'first destination' report from City's careers service. It dates back to 2009, so I hope the rates have improved a little since then, but the information is still useful. You can see a PDF of the detailed report here, but the stats indicate that around 75% of BSc Economics graduates found a job or went on to further study within 6 months of graduating..

I used to gamble on horses and 75% seems pretty reasonable. On the other hand I never bet 27k (if I am not mistaken) at a time.

Also some jobs on the list are awesome. John Lewis? All my furniture comes from there. How cool is that?

OP

Original post by Frenchous

I used to gamble on horses and 75% seems pretty reasonable. On the other hand I never bet 27k (if I am not mistaken) at a time.

Also some jobs on the list are awesome. John Lewis? All my furniture comes from there. How cool is that?

Hi Frenchous. 27k is certainly a significant investment of anyone's money, and of course we take that very seriously.

At a time when there are reports of one in five young people being unemployed, school leavers are faced with a difficult choice between a potentially lengthy job hunt and a five-figure sum on a university education. As I mentioned in my previous reply, we're doing all we can to improve our students' chances of getting into good graduate-level jobs. We'll be keeping a close eye on the next set of our graduate employment stats, as I'm sure our prospective students will...

Regarding the John Lewis jobs - the limitation of the report I uploaded is that it is a snapshot taken 6 months after graduation. While we want as many City graduates to be in graduate-level jobs within 6 months, we also realise they're taking the first step of a long and (we hope) successful career, with some possible twists, turns and tangents.

A graduate of our Journalism Dept, John Mullin, completed his Diploma at City in 1985, and then went to work on a regional newspaper, the Western Morning News. It was nearly 23 years after he left City that he got the job he's in now, Editor of a national newspaper, The Independent on Sunday.

Regards, and have a good weekend.

Reply 10

CityTrader

12

Original post by Cityunilondon

Hi there,

I am at the moment sitting my AS - Levels - Which includes Economics, History, Geography and Biology.....

I am Interested in the (BSc) Economics course but wanted to know if it would matter that I do not do maths at A - Level?

I have an B grade at Maths GCSE however....

Also, have undergraduates from City secured Investment Bank interships and Full - time offers? I know at Cass Business school there have been lots of students secure internships and graduate roles at Bulge Bracket Investment Banks but wanted to know if that has been done at City aswell.

Thank you in advance.

(edited 12 years ago)

OP

[QUOTE="CityTrader;31896659"]

Original post by Cityunilondon

Hi there,

I am at the moment sitting my AS - Levels - Which includes Economics, History, Geography and Biology.....

I am Interested in the (BSc) Economics course but wanted to know if it would matter that I do not do maths at A - Level?

I have an A grade at Maths GCSE however....

Also, have undergraduates from City secured Investment Bank interships and Full - time offers? I know at Cass Business school there have been lots of students secure internships and graduate roles at Bulge Bracket Investment Banks but wanted to know if that has been done at City aswell.

Thank you in advance.

Hi CityTrader, thanks very much for your questions. Regarding the first, about A-level Maths, your A grade in GCSE Maths meets our entry requirements (we ask for B or above). We only currently require A-level Maths for admission to our Financial Economics BSc.

Regarding internships - I've asked colleagues in the Economics Dept and have a few examples. This year we have a student taking a whole year out for a work placement with Goldman Sachs, and previously students have done this with Morgan Stanley. Other students are interning (or have recently interned) with HSBC Capital Markets, Citibank, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group. Outside of banking, students have interned with PWC, HM Treasury and the Foreign Office.

Regarding graduate roles, check out the report I posted earlier in this thread in reply to Frenchous. There's a real mix of jobs inside and outside banking there but, as I've pointed out previously, it's a snapshot taken 6 months after graduation and subject to change.

I hope this is helpful?

Best wishes, and do get in touch if you have any more questions. Have a great weekend.
Regards.

Reply 12

CityTrader

12

[QUOTE="Cityunilondon;31900674"]

Original post by CityTrader

Hi CityTrader, thanks very much for your questions. Regarding the first, about A-level Maths, your A grade in GCSE Maths meets our entry requirements (we ask for B or above). We only currently require A-level Maths for admission to our Financial Economics BSc.

Regarding internships - I've asked colleagues in the Economics Dept and have a few examples. This year we have a student taking a whole year out for a work placement with Goldman Sachs, and previously students have done this with Morgan Stanley. Other students are interning (or have recently interned) with HSBC Capital Markets, Citibank, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group. Outside of banking, students have interned with PWC, HM Treasury and the Foreign Office.

Regarding graduate roles, check out the report I posted earlier in this thread in reply to Frenchous. There's a real mix of jobs inside and outside banking there but, as I've pointed out previously, it's a snapshot taken 6 months after graduation and subject to change.

I hope this is helpful?

Best wishes, and do get in touch if you have any more questions. Have a great weekend.
Regards.

Hi again,

Thank you very much for your reply,

I Will definantly be Applying to both CASS and City next year, for the year placement is there any more information on that or is it just on the website?

Kind regards

OP

[QUOTE="CityTrader;31900795"]

Original post by Cityunilondon

Hi again,

Thank you very much for your reply,

I Will definantly be Applying to both CASS and City next year, for the year placement is there any more information on that or is it just on the website?

Kind regards

Thanks, and you're very welcome. Regarding the placement, what I wrote above is already more than we have on the website! But I'll try to get that content updated as and when we get more information. In the meantime, if there's anything you'd specifically like to know about the placement year, please feel free to use this forum or email us direct at [email protected].
Best regards.

Reply 14

Shaneel

Do you know if your economics course will become a part of the CASS business school in the next few years? Also, where do the majority of your students go for their MSCs?

OP

Original post by Shaneel

Do you know if your economics course will become a part of the CASS business school in the next few years? Also, where do the majority of your students go for their MSCs?

Hi Shaneel. Thanks for your questions. In reply:

1. no, there are no plans for our Economics courses to become a part of Cass Business School. Primarily this is because we teach Economics as a social sciences discipline - ie. the application of economic theory and practice to resolve economic and societal problems

2. according to the 2009 data I posted previously, students going into further study have mainly stayed in London - either continuing at City or going to UCL, Imperial, European Business School and the Institute of Chartered Accountants (among others). Do you already have a place in mind for your MSc?

I hope this is helpful. Do let us know if you have any other questions..
Regards.

Reply 16

Theconomist

I've got a question, are your economist lecturers neutral in their teaching or do they try to impose their personal beliefs on their students(a la Chicago School of economics,LSE etc).

I'm interested in pursuing a bachelor's degree in economics but the fact that I might be sitting in the classrom of a neo-conservatist or a leftist trying to brainwash me and my classmates en mass isn't really thrilling, especially when you consider that economics at the undergrad level is the foundation for any further studies.

Furthermore how much contact hours do students get per week on average?

As far as I'm aware and I might be wrong, City is not an international brand name yet, it can't be compared to the likes of Oxford and LSE unfortuantely; does this affect the number of international students that you get? I'm very interested in studying alongside a diverse group of like-minded people.

Thanks.

Reply 17

MagicNMedicine

20

None of the people asking questions on this thread are actually prospective City undergraduates, they are just IB wannabes who are applying to Oxbridge who want to take the mick out of City university.

OP

Original post by Theconomist

I've got a question, are your economist lecturers neutral in their teaching or do they try to impose their personal beliefs on their students(a la Chicago School of economics,LSE etc).

I'm interested in pursuing a bachelor's degree in economics but the fact that I might be sitting in the classrom of a neo-conservatist or a leftist trying to brainwash me and my classmates en mass isn't really thrilling, especially when you consider that economics at the undergrad level is the foundation for any further studies.

Furthermore how much contact hours do students get per week on average?

As far as I'm aware and I might be wrong, City is not an international brand name yet, it can't be compared to the likes of Oxford and LSE unfortuantely; does this affect the number of international students that you get? I'm very interested in studying alongside a diverse group of like-minded people.

Thanks.

Hi, and thanks for your questions. I consulted the Head of Economics, Professor Michael Ben-Gad, regarding the first question, and I'm copying his reply here. Information regarding the 2nd and 3rd questions is at the bottom...

1. Teaching and personal beliefs:
Professor Ben-Gad responds: "For most modules there is no appropriate place for politics. Microeconomics is mostly pretty uncontroversial and I do not know of a left or right wing version of econometrics. That does not mean there are no controversies even there, between classical statistics and Bayesian statistics, what is the appropriate use of instrumental variables.

"Perhaps the most 'political' subject is Macroeconomics. Here too, however, many of the disputes are methodological though often it seems that those on the right tend to favour a more theoretical foundations approach whereas those on the left put less emphasis on that aspect of the models.

"My approach is not to hide these controversies but to present both sides, including readings and quotes from the main protagonists. At the end I do state my own beliefs in these matters because it would be dishonest for me to pretend that I do not find one side more convincing than the other. I certainly do not try to indoctrinate people by pretending there is only one side or that what I believe is universally agreed."

2. Contact hours:
Typically you will attend 3-4 modules a term so that is about 9-12 hours, not counting office hours, and a few other activities.

3. International students:
In our Economics BSc programme, we currently have 325 students from 55 countries. Across the whole Department, including postgraduate and research degrees, there are 559 students from 78 countries. The split between UK and non-UK students is about 50%-50% on the BSc programme, and 42% UK - 58% non-UK across the whole Department.

I hope this is helpful.
Regards.

Reply 19

TField1

2

I find it difficult to believe that simply increasing entry standards to AAA will increase the standings of the uni, I mean people with AAA are much more likely to apply to places like notingham and bham etc, than city, how do you feel you can attract straight A candidates?

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