Mathematics Joint Honours question

Hey, I'm currently sitting for my A-Levels and am planning to pursue studying Mathematics at university. I was initially hoping to apply for a Mathematics degree, but recently I've been considering applying for a joint honours Mathematics degree involving Economics, but I've got a couple of questions about doing so.

1. I've been thinking of applying for Mathematics with Economics at LSE and UCL as well as either Math w/ Econs or MORSE at Warwick. Is it worth it to try and apply for the Mathematics Tripos at Cambridge if the rest of my university applications are for joint Maths degrees? It's not unheard of to do so, but is it risky or unadvisable to apply for Maths at Cambridge under these circumstances?

2. Let's say I decide to apply to Maths at Cambridge as well as Maths w/ Econs at LSE & UCL and MORSE at Warwick... With three different maths degree courses, what sort of weightage of maths and economics details should I include in my Personal Statement? Should I focus mainly on my interests in mathematics with less emphasis on my interest in economics?

My subjects are Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Physics. My exam board is CIE. All help is greatly appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

TheUltimateProof

What you want to do is perfectly feasible. In fact I manage to do it fairly successful in this cycle with offers from UCL for Maths with econ and Cambridge Maths tripos as well as offers from LSE, Warwick and Kings for a mixture of joint degrees. There are many good examples in the personal statement part of TSR. But I think maybe 4-5 lines expressing your interest in Economics and how that links in with Maths will be enough. I didn't apply for Maths with econ at LSE so I don't know how it will fair there but more than 4 lines and I think you're pushing it applying for maths at cam. Nevertheless this is just my point of view.

UCL's program doesn't require you to talk about economics much. An important point to bare in mind.
Warwick Maths and Economics gives auto offers, so that's a safe bet and the challenge is of course gaining the grades. MORSE I cannot talk on really but a friend has an offer for MORSE without doing economics at all yet.

All the best and any questions just ask.

Reply 2

alitheridhwan

Thank you so much for responding! That takes a huge load off of my shoulders! If you don't mind me asking, and I'm sure you're constantly asked this, do you have any tips for how to succeed in getting a Cambridge offer? ie: Interview preparation, personal statement etc...

Do you think briefly mentioning in my personal statement that I've read any economics books like The Undercover Economist would be pushing it?

Reply 3

31541

I have this problem as well, actually made another thread about it in this forum! Exactly the same course aspirations as myself too. Well, nearly.

Reply 4

starkrush

I'd recommend you really think about what you want to do. As a joint honours maths applicant (math & phil) I think I'd struggle to keep myself motivated for a course entirely maths, especially when you consider that it is Cambridge. Sure, I applied for joint honours since I like the other half, but there is certainly a personal element of "too... much... maths" which may be the case for you.

Don't let this dissuade you - just try and be as sure as you can before applying to Cambridge for a single honours course!

Reply 5

TheUltimateProof

I agree with the above post. I myself cannot see myself having the dedication for pure maths and I'm likely to go to LSE over Cambridge now.

For Cambridge interview just make sure you know all of the core inside out and when you see a maths problem you understand it instead of just mechanically generating an answer. I wouldn't think there is much of a need to mention an economics book. Won't look too well when applying to cam maths either.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

31541

Original post by TheUltimateProof

Are you firming LSE over Cambridge?

Reply 7

TheUltimateProof

Original post by CD315

Are you firming LSE over Cambridge?

Yes but on much different grounds to what might be assumed.

Reply 8

alitheridhwan

Thanks so much for the advice! I really wouldn't mind going to Cambridge for Pure Maths, as I was planning to apply for Straight Maths before I decided on considering a joint honours, or at least not at the moment. I will however consider carefully upon making my university choices for my application.

I suppose I'll take your advice on the book. It is a bit suspicious to put it in when considering Cambridge math's app... I'd just actually read it when becoming interested in economics and thought maybe it'd be a good addition to the PS. But yeah, I guess it is a bit silly on a math application.

Thanks again :smile:

Reply 9

quint101

Original post by TheUltimateProof

Yes but on much different grounds to what might be assumed.

Can you expand why? Cam's maths course is one of the most prestigious courses in the world; and the variety of optional modules is huge, so you are not restricted to "pure" stuff at all after first year. Many guys can do lots of physics, stats, etc.

Also, although I applied to LSE, it seemed that almost all applicants there had only the job prospects in mind, nothing else. It is not as strong at maths compared to the other top 4 maths unis by some margin, but many applicants chose LSE over places like War/UCL/Imp not because of a preference of uni/ course but simply because of the supposedly higher chance to work in banking. Is this why you firmed LSE, or are there other reasons? A guess might be that you did not prefer the supposedly difficulty/ pace of the Cam course? I am interested to know! You could have easily put LSE as insurance, and let STEP decide.

Reply 10

TheUltimateProof

I'm interested more in Maths and Economics (which I can transfer too) rather than Maths or Economics as well as being in more of an investment banking environment.

It was of course a tough decision but the trade off of being as dedicated as Cambridge want me for maths compared to being able to balance more at LSE (playing sport, reading, exploring more into financial markets and other business stuff etc) and prefering the course there makes LSE suit me more. To add, staying in London is much more convenient to help out with more personal matters.

LSE maths isn't the strongest but nonetheless I won't be doing babies work. The plan was to let STEP decide but over the last few months it easily became clear to me what I want from the next 3 years. Cambridge has a number of advantages but coming from my specific situation at the moment the match isn't there. I am of course in the very small minority...