Cambridge Dilemma (Please help me!)

Why limit yourself to Cambridge? Oxford, LSE, UCL and Warwick all have very good economics departments.

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, if you're stressed out about your grades in secondary school, don't even bother with Cambridge.

My advice to you is, get your head down, work as hard as you can(if you want to go to a top university that is) and stop thinking of Cambridge, it's not the end of the world if you don't get in, there are plenty of other universities on par and even better. Start working on your stress and pace yourself, preparation is the key here.

Good luck.

But Oxford is also going to look at my grades.

Hi folks
Something is bothering me for more than 3 years and it's time to decide.

This is my story:

I'm an 18 years old student living in Belgium. Right now I'm studying mathematics (equivalent to FM or even more advanced) and economics at the highest level available in Belgium. I used to have very good grades (once 99,5 for economics) and sometimes I was the best student at school. All of my teachers know that I'm an intelligent student. I developed a love for economics at a very young age (when) I was 14. Now they call me the school's economist or sometimes financial expert (I've my own investment account with +45% gains). My love for mathematics developed earlier than the one for economics (I was one of school's best in math).

BUT:

Once I've heard about Cambridge (and Harvard), I became very stressed about my grades and my future. I couldn't concentrate anymore and grades declined. Now I'm in the 6th grade (last year) and my grades are still low (I don't feel like studying because I'm confused). My math teacher told me that she knows about my lack of concentration and my abundant stress. I'm only stressed during math exams not during any other exam. So my grades for economics and other subjects (at least if I study) are still good.

Question:

Shall I chase my dream and apply to Cambridge? Will they understand my situation? Will they forget about my grades and look at my potential?
My teachers are willing to write me recommendation letters because they know that I could do a lot more better.

Dilemma:

My ultimate dream is to build a financial model, using the chaos theory, which could explain the stock market's behavior (as a dynamical system). I'm very glad that I love both subjects, mathematics and economics. But my knowledge in economics is more profound than the one in mathematics (although I know a lot about math through reading mathematical introductory books). Shall I apply to economics or mathematics knowing that I'm capable of persuading the economics tutors during an interview (because of my huge background knowledge). But I also don't want to give up mathematics. I really love both Which one should I choose (greater chance of getting an offer)?

Thx a lot
Rémon

P.S I also have a lot of knowledge on politics (I wrote my first political text when I was 10), philosophy (I'm writing a philosophical book: "The Valueless Number" ) literature (I'm a Russian Realism admirer-Dosto, Turgenjev,...) and Physics (I love quantum and relativity). Will they accept someone like me without looking at my grades and only considering my potential?

You sound very intelligent and dedicated.

Apply if you have the grades or if you have the grades predicted.

From then on see what happens.

But the workload at Cambridge is very stressful..

But there are other worldclass universities in the UK which teach economics..

The Cambridge undergrad Maths course won't be enough for you to fulfil your dream so expect to do a lot of postrgraduate study. You'd also have to study things which are irrelevant to your dream. You may not enjoy these. (First mention of Chaos and dynamical systems comes in a 3rd year course). I can't speak for Economics, but Maths at Cambridge will stress you out a lot.
Apply for Economics and focus on the econometrics. There's a lot of maths in that which you'd probably be able to cope with, and you'd get a good grounding in economics, which would help in your postgraduate work.

Is it true the LSE is the world's leading social science institution? And what about Harvard? I know that H is the best one. I must admit that Cambridge isn't the best for economics. LSE has the same reputation (or even a better one) as Oxbridge.

To be quite honest, Harvard certainly has great prestige, but at least in the States, it also has a reputation for not being very good at undergraduate while being excellent at graduate level. (Not to say that the undergraduate level is bad--just that they don't put nearly as much effort into it as graduate.) Numerous teachers have said this, as well as friends of mine that are there.

But is it true what they say about LSE?