Should I take A level Economics or History?
Hi. I've just had my induction to sixth form, and I have currently picked these as my subjects:
Maths
Geography
History
Physics
I originally applied for economics instead of Physics, but unfortunately History and economics fell under the same block and there is no way around it, so I can only choose either one. I've been to both taster lessons for each subject and I found them equally interesting. I picked History over econ originally because it appears to have more uses than economics may have, and I was thinking of applying to PPE; which favours History over economics (i think?).
Other subjects which I might apply for at uni include straight politics, Politics and economics, geography, geography w/economics or similar combinations, those kinds of subjects. I'm not sure how those courses compare economics and history in relation to which they prefer.
However, as arrogant as this may sound; I really want to try and get 4 As at AS and apparently history is arguably one of the hardest A levels to get an A in, the economics teacher told me that in terms of percentage there are almost twice as many As in econ than history. I thought she was lying to make me take it but looked it up and although that wasn't really true at AS, for the whole A level it was something like 45% vs 27% for an A/A*.
Maybe I shouldn't really listen to things like that; but surely it implies something about the difficulty of it. On this forum I've heard some people describe economics as being an 'Easy A if you work hard'. However I doubt the same is true for history.
My essay writing skills are pretty good; I have As and A*s in my current essay subjects so I think I'm okay on that front. Both subjects I know require lots of essay writing.
So as you can see I'm a bit unsure of what I should do. If I could I would take both but it's just not possible. But based on this information, what do you suggest I should do? Also to anyone who knows, how badly would it damage my chances of getting into PPE?
Maths
Geography
History
Physics
I originally applied for economics instead of Physics, but unfortunately History and economics fell under the same block and there is no way around it, so I can only choose either one. I've been to both taster lessons for each subject and I found them equally interesting. I picked History over econ originally because it appears to have more uses than economics may have, and I was thinking of applying to PPE; which favours History over economics (i think?).
Other subjects which I might apply for at uni include straight politics, Politics and economics, geography, geography w/economics or similar combinations, those kinds of subjects. I'm not sure how those courses compare economics and history in relation to which they prefer.
However, as arrogant as this may sound; I really want to try and get 4 As at AS and apparently history is arguably one of the hardest A levels to get an A in, the economics teacher told me that in terms of percentage there are almost twice as many As in econ than history. I thought she was lying to make me take it but looked it up and although that wasn't really true at AS, for the whole A level it was something like 45% vs 27% for an A/A*.
Maybe I shouldn't really listen to things like that; but surely it implies something about the difficulty of it. On this forum I've heard some people describe economics as being an 'Easy A if you work hard'. However I doubt the same is true for history.
My essay writing skills are pretty good; I have As and A*s in my current essay subjects so I think I'm okay on that front. Both subjects I know require lots of essay writing.
So as you can see I'm a bit unsure of what I should do. If I could I would take both but it's just not possible. But based on this information, what do you suggest I should do? Also to anyone who knows, how badly would it damage my chances of getting into PPE?
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I can't believe that you can't do both Economics and History. Your school timetable guy sucks balls. That's all I can say. I'd choose Economics - PPE doesn't have "History" in it, but it sure as hell has Economics involved. Plus you're also interested in other Economics related degrees.
Original post by therealOG
I can't believe that you can't do both Economics and History. Your school timetable guy sucks balls. That's all I can say. I'd choose Economics - PPE doesn't have "History" in it, but it sure as hell has Economics involved. Plus you're also interested in other Economics related degrees.
Ikr, it's ridiculous. You'd think they'd make the link that people who take history are likely to be the same people who take economics. Apparently not...
I've been to an economics lesson in an introduction day and it was very interesting. I think economics is easier than history and I wouldn't say economics is less valued by unis than history.
Original post by Stardust Mirage
I've been to an economics lesson in an introduction day and it was very interesting. I think economics is easier than history and I wouldn't say economics is less valued by unis than history.
True; but if I wanted to take, for example, politics, I wouldn't have much of a background for that without history, would I? (My school doesn't offer politics btw).
Original post by rugbygreg
Economics, History will ruin your life.
Really? Do you speak from experience? The topics for AS look really good; Russia in revolution and British politics. Admittedly A2 doesn't seem quite as interesting; it's mostly to do with America.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Bulbasaur
...
I did both subjects, economics fascinated me from the off due to quality teaching and just my general interest.
History on the other hand was taught poorly for me and therefore came down to a mad cram of information 3 months before the exam. The material is almost endless and its just essay after essay.
This of course is my own personal bias and if the teaching had been the same I would probably have a very different view. However, it really depends on what you enjoy, if you want essays and are good at remembering things history is your calling. If on the other hands you want to analyse the world around you go for economics.
Original post by Bulbasaur
Ikr, it's ridiculous. You'd think they'd make the link that people who take history are likely to be the same people who take economics. Apparently not...
Yeah, a good 20% of students in my year are taking History and Economics. If that wasn't allowed at my school there would be an uprising, no joke, especially from my mate who applied for Economics and History at uni!
Original post by Bulbasaur
True; but if I wanted to take, for example, politics, I wouldn't have much of a background for that without history, would I? (My school doesn't offer politics btw).
Economics covers a whole load of government macroeconomic and microeconomic policy.
Original post by therealOG
Yeah, a good 20% of students in my year are taking History and Economics. If that wasn't allowed at my school there would be an uprising, no joke, especially from my mate who applied for Economics and History at uni!
Wow, in my school there are only 15 people doing history and about 8 doing econ, but of course those don't cross over because of the timetabling. There are more people doing media studies than these two put together
Original post by therealOG
Economics covers a whole load of government macroeconomic and microeconomic policy.
Hmm I see. I still have till September to decide but you have definately given me something to think about. The main reason why I chose History was because I was told it was a little more versatile (not sure whether that is really true or not) and that it was suggested for PPE. Also the history teacher is arguably one of the best in the school, but I'm not sure about the economics one. Thanks.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Bulbasaur
Wow, in my school there are only 15 people doing history and about 8 doing econ, but of course those don't cross over because of the timetabling. There are more people doing media studies than these two put together
Hmm I see. I still have till September to decide but you have definately given me something to think about. The main reason why I chose History was because I was told it was a little more versatile (not sure whether that is really true or not) and that it was suggested for PPE. Also the history teacher is arguably one of the best in the school, but I'm not sure about the economics one.
Hmm I see. I still have till September to decide but you have definately given me something to think about. The main reason why I chose History was because I was told it was a little more versatile (not sure whether that is really true or not) and that it was suggested for PPE. Also the history teacher is arguably one of the best in the school, but I'm not sure about the economics one.
My bad. I meant to say that 20% of Economics students in my year are also taking History
I'd disagree with that. Economics is as versatile as anything out there, even more so than History because it involves a lot of essay writing in conjunction with some mathematical analysis (in the from of diagrams/graphs and simple statistical manipulation). I can't see how much more useful History would be for PPE - not only is 33% of the course Economics (in the 1st year at least), but the essay writing skills are also present in Economics. My friend who got into Oxford PPE didn't do it (he did Maths, Further Maths, Economics and English Literature). You've also got Geography there, which is another traditional essay-based subject.
Original post by therealOG
My bad. I meant to say that 20% of Economics students in my year are also taking History
I'd disagree with that. Economics is as versatile as anything out there, even more so than History because it involves a lot of essay writing in conjunction with some mathematical analysis (in the from of diagrams/graphs and simple statistical manipulation). I can't see how much more useful History would be for PPE - not only is 33% of the course Economics (in the 1st year at least), but the essay writing skills are also present in Economics. My friend who got into Oxford PPE didn't do it (he did Maths, Further Maths, Economics and English Literature). You've also got Geography there, which is another traditional essay-based subject.
I'd disagree with that. Economics is as versatile as anything out there, even more so than History because it involves a lot of essay writing in conjunction with some mathematical analysis (in the from of diagrams/graphs and simple statistical manipulation). I can't see how much more useful History would be for PPE - not only is 33% of the course Economics (in the 1st year at least), but the essay writing skills are also present in Economics. My friend who got into Oxford PPE didn't do it (he did Maths, Further Maths, Economics and English Literature). You've also got Geography there, which is another traditional essay-based subject.
Oh great, that's pretty inspiring. I agree, I don't see why it would be more useful. The A2 History didn't really impress me, and that's the most important year, so I guess I wouldn't really be doing any good by taking that anyway. Thanks for your help.
Original post by rugbygreg
I did both subjects, economics fascinated me from the off due to quality teaching and just my general interest.
History on the other hand was taught poorly for me and therefore came down to a mad cram of information 3 months before the exam. The material is almost endless and its just essay after essay.
This of course is my own personal bias and if the teaching had been the same I would probably have a very different view. However, it really depends on what you enjoy, if you want essays and are good at remembering things history is your calling. If on the other hands you want to analyse the world around you go for economics.
History on the other hand was taught poorly for me and therefore came down to a mad cram of information 3 months before the exam. The material is almost endless and its just essay after essay.
This of course is my own personal bias and if the teaching had been the same I would probably have a very different view. However, it really depends on what you enjoy, if you want essays and are good at remembering things history is your calling. If on the other hands you want to analyse the world around you go for economics.
Yeah that makes sense. The history department at my school is really good, the economics probably isn't quite as good; but good nonetheless. The taster lessons seemed pretty interesting I have to admit. Thanks for your help.
Complain to your school? they must be able to put history into two slots, its usually a fairly popular choice of subject! at the end of the day, you should really be doing what you enjoy and your school should allow you do to that. Plus, there must be a fair few other people who wanted to do both? loads of people at my school are...
(unless of course, they already told you to pick your subjects, arranged the slots, and then you changed your mind? In which case, you probably wont be able to get them to do anything, and I'd pick history, but it is my favourite subject
)
(unless of course, they already told you to pick your subjects, arranged the slots, and then you changed your mind? In which case, you probably wont be able to get them to do anything, and I'd pick history, but it is my favourite subject
)I was in a similar position to you a year ago, except my dilemma was between chemistry and history. From what you have said, I would definitely go for history seeing as you have said your history department is really good. Trust me- at A level the teachers you have impact hugely on the final grade.
Original post by rugbygreg
Economics, History will ruin your life.
How come?
Original post by Mortson
I was in a similar position to you a year ago, except my dilemma was between chemistry and history. From what you have said, I would definitely go for history seeing as you have said your history department is really good. Trust me- at A level the teachers you have impact hugely on the final grade.
Yeah that's true, although I wouldn't say the economics department was much worse. But then again, I'm quite indifferent to the A2 history, so that would probably make me perform pretty poorly too.
Original post by maccy
Complain to your school? they must be able to put history into two slots, its usually a fairly popular choice of subject! at the end of the day, you should really be doing what you enjoy and your school should allow you do to that. Plus, there must be a fair few other people who wanted to do both? loads of people at my school are...
(unless of course, they already told you to pick your subjects, arranged the slots, and then you changed your mind? In which case, you probably wont be able to get them to do anything, and I'd pick history, but it is my favourite subject)
(unless of course, they already told you to pick your subjects, arranged the slots, and then you changed your mind? In which case, you probably wont be able to get them to do anything, and I'd pick history, but it is my favourite subject
)Nope, they gave us the blocks before we chose the options; and I wanted to choose both in the block and said if it wasn't possible then I'd take physics instead of Economics. Unfortuantely there was no way around it, and switching it would mess up everyone else's timetable unfortunately. Stupid I know. Only about 15 people picked history though so it would be silly to put it into two classes. For some reason humanities at my school aren't very popular.
There is not particular combination to get into PPE apart from the necessary Mathematics foundation due to the nature of Economics...
Your first choice of 'Maths, Geography, History and Physics’ is a completely suitable choice of subject. Indeed one of my peers got into Oxon for PPE did Maths, Physics, History and English Literature'. Economics is a fairly solid substitution. I studied both. History was hard work but more enjoyable. Economics was a bit easier but I found it rather lax in comparison. History is a really solid A Level subject where you could strengthen your writing skills. I'm not saying that Economics doesn't do this but History had more emphasis on this.
In the end there are no particular combinations for PPE if you've met the prerequisite with Mathematics. I guess History could be substituted with other Arts subjects such as Philosophy and Religious Studies if needed. Finally you want to have subjects that keep you flexible in the long run - There's no good aspiring for PPE with a pragmatic range of subjects only to decide 9-12months later that you want to do something else but don't have the require subjects for them.
Your first choice of 'Maths, Geography, History and Physics’ is a completely suitable choice of subject. Indeed one of my peers got into Oxon for PPE did Maths, Physics, History and English Literature'. Economics is a fairly solid substitution. I studied both. History was hard work but more enjoyable. Economics was a bit easier but I found it rather lax in comparison. History is a really solid A Level subject where you could strengthen your writing skills. I'm not saying that Economics doesn't do this but History had more emphasis on this.
In the end there are no particular combinations for PPE if you've met the prerequisite with Mathematics. I guess History could be substituted with other Arts subjects such as Philosophy and Religious Studies if needed. Finally you want to have subjects that keep you flexible in the long run - There's no good aspiring for PPE with a pragmatic range of subjects only to decide 9-12months later that you want to do something else but don't have the require subjects for them.
(edited 12 years ago)
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