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Suitable uni for undergrad? (Economics, decent grades, non-EU citizen, (XC) running)

I am aiming to start on an undergradute course i Britain this coming fall, probably in Economics (mostly interested in the macro aspect, international trade, economic policies).

My upper secondary grades (>5.0 norway), are considered equivalent to AAA, so I consider my chances fair to getting in to most uni's except Oxbridge.

edit: disregard this

So I am looking for a uni with an academically sound programme in Economics, but whether it is considered prestigous is irrelevant to me.

I am also an avid runner. Nearby sporting facilities and surroundings for training is important for me. A uni with a decent XC team would be a plus.

Any recommendations for suitable programs/universities?

Updated:
Please read post 12 and 13
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by filibust
I am aiming to start on an undergradute course i Britain this coming fall, probably in Economics (mostly interested in the macro aspect, international trade, economic policies).
My upper secondary grades (>5.0 norway), are considered equivalent to AAA, so I consider my chances fair to getting in to most uni's except Oxbridge.
So I am looking for a uni with an academically sound programme in Economics, but whether it is considered prestigous is irrelevant to me.

I am also an avid runner. Nearby sporting facilities and surroundings for training is important for me. A uni with a decent XC team would be a plus.

Any recommendations for suitable programs/universities?


your applying late deadline was 15th jan for equal consideration. in view of your athletics background look at bath or possibly Exeter but these universities may be full especially for economics. another good option is durham but you would have the same problem there. I think you need to contact the unis before applying to see who has space.
Reply 2
Original post by swanseajack1
your applying late deadline was 15th jan for equal consideration. in view of your athletics background look at bath or possibly Exeter but these universities may be full especially for economics. another good option is durham but you would have the same problem there. I think you need to contact the unis before applying to see who has space.


None of the unis you listed will let you in with 3As not even a chance at Durham, Bath or Bristol. With those grades York, Leeds, Manchester, Queen Mary and St Andrews are unis you would have a chance of getting into if all the places are not taken already.
it might also be worth looking at Loughborough which is known for its sports facilities. I would also suggest Swansea which has excellent sports facilities but economics is being taught on the new campus whereas the running track is 4 miles away alongside the existing campus
Original post by Flather
None of the unis you listed will let you in with 3As not even a chance at Durham, Bath or Bristol. With those grades York, Leeds, Manchester, Queen Mary and St Andrews are unis you would have a chance of getting into if all the places are not taken already.

you don't state what standard athlete you are but many unis including those I mentioned give scholarships to outstanding athletes and whilst
they normally want A*AA it may prove different for an international student
Reply 5
Thanks for the responses.

It may be that I've misunderstood the grading system in the UK.
In the norwegian systems grades go 6 to 1. Where as both 5 and 6 are considered to be worth an A. I've taken the most advanced course in mathematics with an A level.

I'm currently in contact with an agency that helps norwegians applying to uni's in the UK. According to them the deadline the 15th of january isn't truly dead for non-EU citizens.

I'm an "close but no cigar" standard athlete I guess. 15 low 5k.

Formalities aside, I made this post hoping to get suggestions for uni's with a good programme in economics and where I could continue running (and so I've got :smile: ).
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 6
Some of the universities I'm considering applying to:
Uo: Exeter, Bristol, Bath, Southampton, Durham, Birmingham, Kent, York
Original post by filibust
Some of the universities I'm considering applying to:
Uo: Exeter, Bristol, Bath, Southampton, Durham, Birmingham, Kent, York

for an athlete bath is exceptional, many british international athletes have been based there. durham again is excellent for athletics. Jonathon Edwards went there. the trouble is they are so popular the courses will probably be full. Loughborough is well worth you considering as it has a huge sporting reputation and facilities.
But Norway is in EEA so for funding you are considered as EU/home, aren't you?I think you should contact unis and see if they consider late EU (EEA) applications,especially if you are thinking of applying to Scotland
Reply 9
Original post by Apelsinke
But Norway is in EEA so for funding you are considered as EU/home, aren't you?I think you should contact unis and see if they consider late EU (EEA) applications,especially if you are thinking of applying to Scotland


Norwegians have to pay an overseas tuition fee (approx 50% more than EU/home), and are to my knowledge generally considered internationals. There are most likely different practices, but some unis have seperate quotas for international students.

Regardless; I should contact relevant unis and apply asap :smile:
Hi filibust

We have the same deadline for UK/EU and international students of 15th Jan, if applications are after this date, we'll look at applications if there is still room on the course.

So I would get your applications in to whichever unis you choose sooner rather than later to make sure you get where you want to be.

Vicky

(PS as a previous poster said - Loughborough is great for running and economics so worth taking a look! :smile:)
Reply 11
I ended up applying to Exeter, Bath, Birmingham, Kent, Loughborough

BA Economics at Exeter (w year in Industry)
BSc Economics at Bath, Loughborough and Kent (with year in Industry)
BSc Economics at Birmingham (3 years)

Let's pretend I were to receive offers from all (got 2 unconditional so far, rest is pending)

In terms of (the ever fluctuating) rankings for the Economic courses:
Bath, Exeter
Birmingham, Loughborough
Kent

I generally believe it's mostly about what you put in to it. All the uni's seems to be well regarded amoung employers. The content of the courses are pretty similiar - though there are some differences in the optional modules. One minus with B'ham is that they doesn't offer a placement year - which I think is valuable for my employability in the UK (especially being "a foreigner").

I'd appreciate some opinions on the quality of the different universities/courses.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 12
Perhaps just as important;
Where would I mostly enjoy to spend the next three to four years?

Then non-academical factors also matter. Such as the surroundings and climate (here Exeter might stand out?). Available activities, on and off, campus. And as mentioned, where would be well suited for being a runner. How is the local running scence, can the uni be of any support for developing as an athlete? And possibly a lot of other factors...

Feel free to list some pros and cons with either uni/location
Hi again filibust

I can't comment on the other unis you've mentioned, but at Loughborough we have great facilities for running on campus - We have a lot of runners and all the facilities are based on our single site campus have a look here: http://loughboroughsport.com/facilities/hipac/


This gives you a bit more info on the levels that are catered for: http://loughboroughsport.com/sporting-pathways/profile/athletics/

The overall student experience at Loughborough is outstanding, we were recently voted 1st for Best student experience by the Lloyds Bank Quality of Student Life Survey and won the The Times Higher best student experience for 6 years running - this hasn't been matched by any other uni.

There are far too many activities to list both on and off campus, but have a look at these links and you'll get an idea of what's available.

http://www.lsu.co.uk/

http://loughboroughsport.com/

Hopefully others will come along with their 1st hand experiences of all the unis you've listed.

Vicky
Original post by filibust
I am aiming to start on an undergradute course i Britain this coming fall, probably in Economics (mostly interested in the macro aspect, international trade, economic policies).
My upper secondary grades (>5.0 norway), are considered equivalent to AAA, so I consider my chances fair to getting in to most uni's except Oxbridge.
So I am looking for a uni with an academically sound programme in Economics, but whether it is considered prestigous is irrelevant to me.

I am also an avid runner. Nearby sporting facilities and surroundings for training is important for me. A uni with a decent XC team would be a plus.

Any recommendations for suitable programs/universities?


Hi filibust,

Bath is great for economics and the course includes an optional placement year. With this course you are also able to choose a lot of your modules so you can focus your studies on the areas that interest you most.

With regards to sport, we have some of the best facilities available. You can join the Athletics club for running which has an excellent coaching team. You can also compete in the BUCS Championship. There are track and field facilities (125m indoor sprint spraight, 8-lane floodlit 400m track) available and many international athletes choose to base their training at the university to make use of the amazing facilities. The great thing about Bath campus is that all the facilities are nearby (no more than a 10 minute walk across campus).

I hope this information helps you with your decision! If you have any other questions about sports facilities or just the university in general, feel free to quote me and I'd be happy to answer them.

Carly (Second year student)
Economics at Bath is not what it seems. I do a joint honours degree with Economics and I can say that my experiences from the Economics department have been, almost without exception, crap.

This from a post I made at the end of my first year:
The Economics department has been pretty awful in all my dealings with them. It took a lecturer six weeks to reply to my requests to get feedback on an exam I'd done really, really badly in (as in, failed badly) - and they only actually got back to me after I'd raised the issue with the Head of Department.

Despite lectures often being taken by high-rank academics, the seminars are led by PhD students who often aren't at all good at teaching (though neither are all the academics) or at speaking English clearly. I usually left Economics seminars more confused than I went into them.


It didn't get much better in second year. There was a compulsory unit with one of the least engaging lecturers I've ever had (the Economics department is full of great academics who aren't great at lecturing) where the assessment was in the form of 100% exam in a format I've never seen before. (A gobbet exam).

There is a difference between independent learning and abandonment, and the Economics department at Bath does the latter.
With AAA you can get into universities like Queen Mary and SOAS.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 17
Original post by Raymat
With AAA you can get into universities like Queen Mary and SOAS.


Disregard my AAA conversion. My average is roughly equvivalent to an IB score of 38.
Please read post 12 and 13.
Reply 18
Any data on/opinions about which sectors/occupations graduates from the different unis tend to end up in?
Original post by filibust
Any data on/opinions about which sectors/occupations graduates from the different unis tend to end up in?


Hi filibust

Here's some examples of what Loughborough graduates do and who they work for.

Graduate job titles include:

Account Manager

Accountant

Adjudicator

Analyst

Assistant Economist

Assistant Tax Adviser

Associate Accountant

Audit Trainee

Business Analyst

Commercial / Corporate Analyst

Corporate Banker

Credit Risk Analyst

Direct Imports Accounting Clerk

Econometrist

Economic Researcher

Exposure Management Analyst

Financial Adjudicator

Financial Analyst

Financial Planner

Fund Control Analyst

Gas & Oil Market Analyst

General Manager

Global Markets Analyst - Credit Flow Sales

Graduate Econometric Marketing Analyst

Graduate Econometrician

Graduate Finance Analyst

Human Resources Officer

IBD Compliance Analyst

Insurance Broker

Insurance Underwriting Assistant

Investment Banker

Investment Dealer

Investment Operations Junior Associate

Learning & Development Intern

Legal & Compliance Analyst

Portfolio Analyst

PPI Case Manager

Pricing Analyst

Product Development Analyst

Project Support Officer

Purchasing Analyst

Research & Excel Modeling Assistant

Revenue Controller

Software Developer

Solutions Representative

Tax Advisor



Graduate employers include:

Alliance Boots

Allianz

American Express

Avongate Ltd

Barclays

BDO

Beevers & Stuthers

British Army

Bulley Davey

Cambashi

Centrica

CMC Markets

Dechra Pharmaceuticals

Deloitte

Ealing Trainfinders

Ecclesiastical Investment Management

Ernst & Young

Experian

EY

Facts Energy

Financial Ombudsman Service

First Data

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

Goldman Sachs

Henderson Global Investments

IBM

ITPER

JP Morgan

JP Morgan Chase

KPMG

Larking Gowen

Lease Drive

Lloyds Banking Group

Lloyds TSB

Loughborough Students' Union

Marsh

Mattioli Woods

Mazars

MCR

Mediacom

Mercedes Benz

Ministry of Justice

Morgan Stanley

National Grid

Nationwide Building Society

Navigators Insurance

Network Rail

New Edge Group

NHS

Nomura

Nomura International plc

Ofcom

Ohal Ltd

Perkins Engines

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Publisher Solutions International Ltd

Roke Manor Research

Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Scotland

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership

Simpson Spence & Young

Starr Technical Risks

State Street Global Adviser

Talbot Underwriting

Yorkshire Bank



Vicky

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