I need some meat on my Personal Statement - Economics

Hi, hopefully my AS grades will be good enough so that I can apply of Cambridge, LSE and the like to study economics there.

I understand that keeping up with the news is essential and have began to think on what I should put on my personal statement. I have looked at internships during the Summer but they all seem to be for Yr 13's +

I was wondering if anyone could recommend me any economics books that will really stand out in my personal statement (i.e. NOT FREAKONOMICS LOL) and anything else which would also improve it.

Any help would be highly appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

danny111

3

Why do you want to study economics?

Local butchers not doing it ?

Reply 4

The Young Economist

This sticky is pretty good for books: http://static.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=951848

It's really hard to write a PS so what I'd say is to take loads of advice from different people and see what they say. Do loads of drafts and maybe focus your PS on a topic that interests you e.g. Development, Govt. etc...

Top Uni's (It says on LSE website as well) want to know why you want to study the subject rather than your extra curricular stuff etc... so over the summer READ READ and READ. Get an understanding and of why you like economics, why you want to study it and what do you like best...

Reply 5

innerhollow

18

markwilliams_hello

Hi, hopefully my AS grades will be good enough so that I can apply of Cambridge, LSE and the like to study economics there.

I understand that keeping up with the news is essential and have began to think on what I should put on my personal statement. I have looked at internships during the Summer but they all seem to be for Yr 13's +

I was wondering if anyone could recommend me any economics books that will really stand out in my personal statement (i.e. NOT FREAKONOMICS LOL) and anything else which would also improve it.

Any help would be highly appreciated :smile:

Best thing for something like Economics is as well as giving a general overview of why you like the subject (i.e. "I'm interested in studying the way individuals, firms and governments interact on a daily basis" ) you should talk about specific areas of economics you're interested in. Is it development economics? Microeconomics? International trade?

Do talk about your extra curriculars, but make sure this makes up a very small part of your PS. The vast majority of your PS needs to be devoted to talking about your subject.

Reply 6

red's girl

you could try and link economics to you personally, for example how the recession affected you personally or the area around you :smile:

or something along those lines. Could be nice to use as part of your intro :smile:

Reply 7

Adam92

13

Economics related summer schools? I went on a couple and they went down really well in my Oxford interview and stuff

Like this?

Adam92

Economics related summer schools? I went on a couple and they went down really well in my Oxford interview and stuff

Which ones did you go to???

Reply 10

Adam92

13

The Young Economist

Which ones did you go to???

One in Manchester, one in France.

Reply 11

The Young Economist

Adam92

One in Manchester, one in France.

ah cool! sounds interesting, how did you go about it? BTW did you get into oxford :p:

Reply 12

Adam92

13

The Young Economist

ah cool! sounds interesting, how did you go about it? BTW did you get into oxford :p:

Via my college, they organised it all and I just went. & nope, rejected post-interview, long-story...

Forget the news thing, everyone writes that. Do something original...take up a project and write about that (obviously related to economics).
Pick an area of economics beyond A-level standard and offer a solid opinion on it.
Make it clear you can do maths.

Reply 15

Sports Racer

14

Two main principles should guide you:

1. Write the statement as if you're already there. That means looking at the syllabus and writing about how you love some particular topic and you've done some outside reading on it.

2. Anyone can write words that sound good in theory. The PS will be impressive to the extent that you actively demonstrate skills and passion within it. That means doing some analysis of some economics news story etc.

Reply 16

The Young Economist

Adam92

Via my college, they organised it all and I just went. & nope, rejected post-interview, long-story...

I'm sorry

Wish my sixth form would do something like that....

Reply 17

samiz20891

18

markwilliams_hello

Hi, hopefully my AS grades will be good enough so that I can apply of Cambridge, LSE and the like to study economics there.

I understand that keeping up with the news is essential and have began to think on what I should put on my personal statement. I have looked at internships during the Summer but they all seem to be for Yr 13's +

I was wondering if anyone could recommend me any economics books that will really stand out in my personal statement (i.e. NOT FREAKONOMICS LOL) and anything else which would also improve it.

Any help would be highly appreciated :smile:

I doing a BSc Economics degree and I did an extended project on the price of oil and its macroeconomic effects and then related into to what I might study in economics and why it interests me, I think this would be a good way to show interest maybe.
Also what area in economics, as the books I read were related to investment and making a portfolio as that was area I was interested in and I related it to that fact that I take an active interest in this, as I invest in shares and have a portfolio with TD Waterhouse.

Hope this helps, good luck PM if you want any more help. :yep:

Reply 18

danny111

3

red's girl

you could try and link economics to you personally, for example how the recession affected you personally or the area around you :smile:

or something along those lines. Could be nice to use as part of your intro :smile:

I don't want to make you feel bad for helping, but I don't think this is a good idea.

So many people will try to do this. Rather than force something onto you think about why you want to and not what might sound good. Will always come across better.

Reply 19

red's girl

danny111

I don't want to make you feel bad for helping, but I don't think this is a good idea.

So many people will try to do this. Rather than force something onto you think about why you want to and not what might sound good. Will always come across better.

Well I did this in mine and it didnt hurt me...

I didn't mean it to be the whole content of the ps, just a line or two in the opening.

I need some meat on my Personal Statement - Economics

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