I need some meat on my Personal Statement - Economics

red's girl

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.

Fair enough. But I still think your PS should set you apart and so if you talk about something that many people are likely to talk about then to not look bad it has to be good compared to others.

Reply 21

rogercoger

having just finished the first year of economics at LSE I would reccomend "microeconomics and behaviour" by Robert.H Frank. Our Economics professor practically read through certain sections of this this book for the micro section of our economics course and it contains some very intresting "non-standard" material. It's fairly old and unpopular, I can imagine you can get hold of it quite cheaply.

If you do read the chapter "explaining tastes: the importance of altruism and non-egotistic behaviour" particualry the section on HAWKS AND DOVES

Also, have a look in to the work of Ronald Coase, particularly the Coase theorem- this will make you reconsider the standard A-level approach to externalities (that is to tax them)- the externalities section in Frank is very good on this topic.

In terms of macroeconomics perhaps look in to the work of Bob Solow on growth theory( for starters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exogenous_growth_model) ). If you can understand a basic form of the exogenous growth model and use it to account for, say, growth experiences in post-war europe you will look like a genius.

thank me in advance

Reply 22

red's girl

danny111

Fair enough. But I still think your PS should set you apart and so if you talk about something that many people are likely to talk about then to not look bad it has to be good compared to others.

Well it could set them apart, as everyone is likely to have different experiences of economics in their life and around them (: but yes obviously your ps needs to make you stand out, but that comes from the individual being creative, getting feedback and advice.

Reply 23

Dan11091991

If you're applying somewhere really competitive, or even thinking about it, you shouldn't need to ask what to write in a personal statement.

Now that miniscule rant is over, don't go for a traditional personal statement: "I think blah blah blah of the course at Cambridge is fascinating because blah blah blah. Therefore, learning about blah blah blah at degree level would be deeply enriching for my academic development...". It's appallingly drivelous and they've heard it all before, TOO many times.

So be inventive; style your personal statement as if you're writing a letter about an aspect of the degree course to Keynes or Friedman which implicitly demonstrates in depth knowledge about the course component and original thinking.

And if you're up for gainsaying that as a bad idea, I did it and got places at York and Durham for English pretty much straight away. My personal statement was a short story ffs.

Reply 24

rogercoger

Sorry, just want to draw attention to my post. DO NOT LISTEN TO ANY OF THE OTHER MONGS.

Reply 25

rogercoger

Dan11091991

If you're applying somewhere really competitive, or even thinking about it, you shouldn't need to ask what to write in a personal statement.

Now that miniscule rant is over, don't go for a traditional personal statement: "I think blah blah blah of the course at Cambridge is fascinating because blah blah blah. Therefore, learning about blah blah blah at degree level would be deeply enriching for my academic development...". It's appallingly drivelous and they've heard it all before, TOO many times.

So be inventive; style your personal statement as if you're writing a letter about an aspect of the degree course to Keynes or Friedman which implicitly demonstrates in depth knowledge about the course component and original thinking.

And if you're up for gainsaying that as a bad idea, I did it and got places at York and Durham for English pretty much straight away. My personal statement was a short story ffs.

I agree that you should be inventive but not in the above sense- Economics at LSE and Cambridge (well LSE at least) is NOT essay based
and you do not need to be literary to do it- you need to be a clear and rigorous thinker able to deduce results from technical theories- It is very similar in method to theoretical physics

Reply 26

darrold

Make sure you attend some Seminars, they are really helpful to gain ideas for your personal statement. I went to an Adam Smith institute and talked about one of the topics mentioned in the Seminar and this was brought up in the interview process at Cambridge. Remember make sure you actually mean what you write, as you are likely to get asked about it in interviews :smile:

. Also use the PS helper service here, its very helpful! (Thanks Sports Racer :biggrin:

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I need some meat on my Personal Statement - Economics

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