University of Warwick

Coventry

Official Warwick Economics Q&A Thread

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I'm not applying for Warwick but would appreciate help. In our personal statements should we even bother writing that we read the undercover economist/Armchair economist as there so common now.

I just feel like I need to mention I've read them as so many do. I wrote about more obscure econ books though.

Thanks.

University of Warwick

Coventry

Reply 41

Warwick Rep

Original post by uxa595

Do WBS have the same policies such at giving offers out early for A&F?

I can't speak to WBS unfortunately. You will need to contact their admission team direct.

You should be able to find details on the WBS website, but can email central admissions ([email protected]) if not.

Reply 42

Warwick Rep

Original post by stefl14

Well, I am a member of the target 2.0 team for my school and I've also done lots of voluntary work in primary schools and the latter will be mentioned in my reference and the former in my PS. Is this enough? Obviously I have other activities to mention but will these two suffice?

Sure, that all sounds good.

Reply 43

Warwick Rep

Original post by Alpha5

Hi,
This thread is great, hopefully some other universitys can follow.

I have some questions regarding Accounting and Finance, I'm assuming WBS have a simialar policy to the Economics department.
1.I may be asking something similar to question previously asked. Basically my personal statement is heavily academic and includes further readings, academia, projects, work experience ect. I have also mentioned many other things i do outside of school, but seeing Warwick is a research based uni will they like the fact that I have researched/learned of topics that are of higher level or incuded in university modules?

2.Economics is another passion of mine and if was to get an offer of Accounting and Finance, do Warwick allow course transfers considering these disciplines arent that different?

3.Coming from a state school I have taken many BTECs at level 2. This was not my decision as I couldn't afford to move elsewhere, so will this hinder my chances or will they be counted as GCSE's. E.g getting distinction*=A* at gcse.

I am sorry if i have repeated questions, its just to clarify. Thanks again for your help.

I can't answer points 1 and 3 unfortunately, as they relate specifically to WBS admissions, and I wouldn't want to give out misleading guesses which may differ from their actual policies. As I mention above, you can find their contact details on the WBS website, or email [email protected] to contact the central admissions team.

On the second point, we typically don't allow transfers into the department from other Warwick departments, such as WBS, especially prior to starting a new degree, but there is some flexibility to transfer within courses which are based in Economics. More info on transfers is available in our current undergraduate handbook http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/ug/current/current_version_ug_handbook.pdf

Reply 44

Warwick Rep

Original post by WalkerPrince

Hi,

I've done the Maths A-Level a year early (and cashed it in) and achieved an A*. I have 4 As at AS level (Maths, Physics, Economics and History) and one more AS grade to come in March when I complete the Further Maths AS.

At the end of year 13 I will have 4 A-Levels, Maths (year early), Further Maths, Physics and Economics.

If I get an offer from Warwick, will that include the Maths A-Level I have done a year early? Or will you offer me a place based purely on the new A-Levels I sit this year?

What will my offer look like?

Thanks

Hi,
if you are predicted to complete a minimum of 4 A2 levels (excluding General Studies and Critical Thinking), your offer will be A* A A B. This will include the maths A level you have already obtained, so you will only need A A B in your remaining 3 A2 subjects.

Reply 45

Warwick Rep

Original post by JOR2010

At GCSE I got 12A*s and an A in Additional Maths, and am taking 6AS levels, including Maths, Further Maths, Economics, History, German and French. I have taken Further Maths since I was told it was virtually essential for studying at the Top 5 Economics Universities in the country, would you say my application would be weaker/stronger/no different without the AS? If it's anything, I'm self studying French and Further Maths, and no, I'm not French! Will this self-study look good to the university?

I think it's good to see a commitment to academic study, so if you are taking more AS/A2 levels than we require, then that's great, and will help your application. If this comes at the cost of performing worse in your exams, however, then that's clearly not a good thing, and we'd rather you focus in on performing very well in a smaller range.

In some situations, if we think you are taking some subjects to get easy passes (such as a natural french linguist taking french), then we will make you the standard offer, but exclude certain subjects from being a part of that offer, in the same way we do General Studies and Critical Thinking.

As for Further Maths, no, it is not essential by any means for us (I mention in my notes that we'd consider it a strong subject, but not above any others), but I'm aware that other universities consider it more important, from an application standpoint, than we do.

Reply 46

Warwick Rep

Original post by youngeN

I took a gap year after Y11 due to some personal issues. Will this affect my chances on any offers?

I am now in Y12 when I should be in Y13.

I am also taking Economics and Business Studies as my sixth form has only one subject per subject block so there is not much choice, although I plan to drop Business Studies at AS, and not carry it onto A2. Will this be a problem?

My AS choices are:
Maths - Will be carrying up to A2
Economics - Will be carrying up to A2
Psychology - Will be carrying up to A2
Further Maths - AS only (Self Teaching)
Business Studies - AS only

I cannot state any UMS marks or AS results as I haven't taken any exams yet although I plan to get AAAa without a doubt (including Maths and Economics). Sad thing is, I have poor set of GCSE results which definetly don't reflect my full potential. They are as follows: 2A*, 1A, 3B, 2C.

Edit: Just read your pdf file and it states Psychology is considered as a traditional strong subject? I thought it was regarded as a 'soft' subject by Warwick?

Hi,
on your first question, the gap year will not affect your application at all.

on your second question, it's not a problem if you do both Economics and Business Studies, but we do prefer applicants to not take a "narrow subject mix" which means avoiding, where possible, subjects with some overlap, like Economics and Business studies. As I say though, that's only "where possible", so if you didn't have the opportunity to take a different subject, then explaining that to us in the personal statement would be helpful.

In terms of your GCSE result, as I mention elsewhere, it's often helpful to see some contextual information about the results, so if you explain why you feel the results don't reflect your potential, or your school can provide something similar, that's certainly of use to us.

On the Psychology issue, for things like "strong" and "weak" subjects, whilst clearly there are some subjects we prefer to see in an application profile as opposed to others (again, Further Maths and Economics don't sit above the others), it's really down to the individual course you are applying for as to what we're happy with you taking. For Psychology, for example, behavioural and experimental economics form a big part of our core micro teaching, so it's a very relevant subject for you to have studied. This may not be the case if you are applying to another department, however.

Reply 47

Warwick Rep

Original post by boobooboob

I can't speak to other universities, but for us, simply saying you've read a book doesn't tell me much information, as I can't prove whether you have or haven't.

Being able to discuss you passions in economics, and how that ties in with what books you've read and want to read, however, is relevant information, but I need to believe that what you're saying, in terms of books, really conveys the type of person you are and the type of economist you want to be.

Reply 48

cat_cat

Hello

I was going apply for warwick when i saw on the website that u needed an A in AS, however i got a B. is it still possible for me to apply because i have been pridicted a*aa

Reply 49

Tsunami2011

Original post by cat_cat

Hello

I was going apply for warwick when i saw on the website that u needed an A in AS, however i got a B. is it still possible for me to apply because i have been pridicted a*aa

I'm sure that on the Manc thread you said you had ACD? :confused:

Or did you do remarks?? If so ABC to A*AA highlights everything which is wrong about the system, I got AAAB, and you're predicted higher than me. :facepalm:

They want 4AS and then 3A2s so A*AAa, you don't meet that either way.

Reply 50

Vav123

Original post by University of Warwick

.....

How much of a difference will it make if we leave a whole line gap between paragraphs in the P.S? does it really make any difference?

Reply 51

cat_cat

Original post by Tsunami2011

I'm sure that on the Manc thread you said you had ACD? :confused:

Or did you do remarks?? If so ABC to A*AA highlights everything which is wrong about the system, I got AAAB, and you're predicted higher than me. :facepalm:

They want 4AS and then 3A2s so A*AAa, you don't meet that either way.

First of all I'm happy to see I have a follower, didn't know this was twitter, and secondly my friend was using my account to ask the question but forgot to talk about herself as my friend. :rolleyes:

Reply 52

Tomatochuckers

Original post by University of Warwick

Hi do you think extra reading on economics will make up (if not partly) for not doing the economics A level for an econ applicant.
I read quite a few books, including theory ones, pop-economic ones, and more sophisticated ones on topics such as globalisation.
I also done quite a few ECs to demonstrate my passion for econ
I do both maths and further maths
Is this enough? Thanks :smile:

Reply 53

zaina94

Original post by University of Warwick

Excellent question, and one I do not have the answer to, to hand.

I am meeting with other admissions colleagues tomorrow, so will try and get an answer. Please chase me for it if I forget though!

Hi again,

Were you able to find out about this today? :smile:

My question was regarding GCSE equivalents, just thought I'd mention it again since you've gotten so many questions since!

Thanks!

Reply 54

stefl14

In my personal statement I have presented my views on the Conservatives' spending cuts. Specifically, I said I believe they are being implemented too quickly and explained why using past data. If the admissions tutor disagrees would this be problematic for me?

Reply 55

youngeN

Original post by University of Warwick

The thing is during that gap year I took some GCSE's. Three to be precise. I'm not sure if it will be counted as a gap year as i was in FT education retaking these three qualifications as I hadn't done well in Maths GCSE the year before (Y11) to be precise and I couldn't get onto A-Levels without it.

How much of a problem will this be?

Left HS (Y11) with a D in Maths GCSE. Re-took the year after and ended up with an A*. (This was the only qualification holding me back from getting onto A-Levels after I had finished Y11.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 56

Groat

Will Warwick ever consider doing a sandwich course (year in industry)?

I am very pleased to hear the offer has decreased for those with Further Maths!

You mention the turnaround is quicker - do you expect to give offers to strong candidates before the new year?

Reply 57

Warwick Rep

Original post by cat_cat

Hello

I was going apply for warwick when i saw on the website that u needed an A in AS, however i got a B. is it still possible for me to apply because i have been pridicted a*aa

Hi,
you would be ok to apply, but the offer we would make you would be for A* A A a, so we would need to see evidence that you plan to either retake modules in your AS, to get you up to an "a", or you were going to continue with your AS level to A2, in which case we would make you an offer of A* A A B.

Reply 58

Warwick Rep

Original post by Vav123

How much of a difference will it make if we leave a whole line gap between paragraphs in the P.S? does it really make any difference?

In terms of what it looks like when I read it, it doesn't make a difference.

You may want to check with UCAS, however, whether the extra line means that the bottom line of your statement gets cut off the bottom. We only see what comes in the box on the form, so I'd check with them if the blank lines changes that.

Reply 59

Warwick Rep

Original post by Tomatochuckers

In terms of "making it up" for not studying Economics at A-Level, as I mentioned before, we do not require applicants to study Economics A-Level, nor have a preference for it in excess of any other strong A-Level, so you don't need to make it up to us in that sense.

We do, however, look for a passion for Economics in the personal statement, so we'd be keen for you to discuss this, regardless of the A-Levels you are doing.