Economics 2008.

Hello everyone! :smile:

I'm applying to Cambridge to read Economics in 2008. I had narrowed down my choices to Clare and St. Edmund's College; however, after looking through a few resources I've noticed that Clare is very competitive and oversubscribed. Unfortunately, due to my academic record I don't feel I stand a chance. I was wondering if any of you could maybe suggest a College, which may suit what I like in a College.

Academic record:

IGCSE:
A*(French); B (Business); B(History); C (Economics - resitting and predicted A*); C (English as a first language - Resitting and predicted A); D (Biology) - Resat and got an A; E (Mathematics - resat and got a B).

Advanced Subsidary:
A (French); D (History x 2 - resat and got B); D (Economics x 2 - resat and got B) and U (Biology - resat and got B).

Advanced Level:
B (French Literature - resat and got A); D (History - re-sat and got C); U (Biology - resat and got C)

The reasons my grades are so poor was mainly because of medical and personal reasons. These will be explained in detail in my reference.

However, in this next year I will be sitting new exams, with a new examination board.

AS Levels: Maths, Further Maths, Economics, History, Biology, Philosophy, Chemistry and French (predicted all A's).

A2: Maths, Further Maths, Economics, History, Philosophy, French and Biology. (Predicted all A's).

With those grades I'm confused if it's actually worth applying? If so, what college do you suggest? I'm in to the whole traditional thing with nice, old buildings.

Reply 1

qwerty89

damn you're doing LOADS of a levels!

are you one of those gifted child genius kinds?

look. most applicants for economics (including myself) have 3 or 4 a levels with predicted As. If you are seriously predicted 7 A's you should not be worried about over subscription as you will be at the top of the list anyway.

fine- your gcse's arnt great. but the fact that your doing more AS levels than you did GCSEs, and are getting straight A predictions already shows that the past performance is not indicative of your academic strength. (reference or otherwise)

you have a free choice. why not pick the most renowned ones? christ's, jesus, kings, church, trinity?

as for which will suit you best, on visiting cambridge you will note that the colleges are more alike than different. don't spend too much time deciding (just consider social aspects or each one, academically hey are all good)

Reply 2

Fizzer

OP

I'm not at College anymore though. I've got tutors for each course, and have been doing work for these courses for the past year. So yeah, according to their predictions this is what I will get if I continue.

As for college, well I was thinking about Kings or Trinity. But I'm not sure. I heard they're really good. What's Trinity Hall like?

Reply 3

Fizzer

OP

and I'm thinking that with an academic record as bad as mine, this might affect my chances at a college such as Trinity, especially as they are known to be really good at Economics.

Reply 4

-mb-

6

Well, you won't be applying to St Edmunds unless you're a mature student, as it is a postgrad and mature student college: http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/about/index.php

In any case, you should not try and pick an "easy" college to get into, there is no such thing! If a college doesn't have enough good candidates apply, then they make fewer offers and take some additional good people who have been pooled by the more popular colleges.

Afaik the IGCSE is harder than normal GCSE and I'm sure admissions people will be well aware of this. With a good explanation of your results last year and the good predictions you have now, I think you will be offered an interview.
You should perhaps pick colleges in terms of how their admissions procudures play to your strength ie. some give you an additional test (the TSA) and some ask you to submit work.
Table of admissions info: http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/economics/tests.html
TSA website, with practice tests: http://www.tsa.ucles.org.uk/index.html

Also, just think about the colleges' facilities, location, architecture and size, to help make your choice.

Finally, I do hope you can be sure that you will get A's in all those A-levels! Doing lots does not give you a big advantage! (qwerty89 was wrong) and if you risk getting a B in some of those, you would do better to focus on Maths, F Maths, Economics and French or one of the sciences, and drop some of the others.

Hope this helps!

Reply 5

Fizzer

OP

-mb-

Well, you won't be applying to St Edmunds unless you're a mature student, as it is a postgrad and mature student college: http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/about/index.php

In any case, you should not try and pick an "easy" college to get into, there is no such thing! If a college doesn't have enough good candidates apply, then they make fewer offers and take some additional good people who have been pooled by the more popular colleges.

Afaik the IGCSE is harder than normal GCSE and I'm sure admissions people will be well aware of this. With a good explanation of your results last year and the good predictions you have now, I think you will be offered an interview.
You should perhaps pick colleges in terms of how their admissions procudures play to your strength ie. some give you an additional test (the TSA) and some ask you to submit work.
Table of admissions info: http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/economics/tests.html
TSA website, with practice tests: http://www.tsa.ucles.org.uk/index.html

Also, just think about the colleges' facilities, location, architecture and size, to help make your choice.

Finally, I do hope you can be sure that you will get A's in all those A-levels! Doing lots does not give you a big advantage! (qwerty89 was wrong) and if you risk getting a B in some of those, you would do better to focus on Maths, F Maths, Economics and French or one of the sciences, and drop some of the others.

Hope this helps!

I will be 21 when I apply, so that's alright.

I'm really thinking about whether I should really apply for a course as competitive as Economics. As much as I love it, my academic record might not be strong enough for me to be successful.

St. Edmund's seems like a very nice College and I feel I'll be comfortable there. However, I'm eager to know how much of the Economics course is mathematical at Cambridge? Is FM really that important, as I really would like to drop it.

Reply 6

-mb-

6

Molière

I will be 21 when I apply, so that's alright.

I'm really thinking about whether I should really apply for a course as competitive as Economics. As much as I love it, my academic record might not be strong enough for me to be successful.

St. Edmund's seems like a very nice College and I feel I'll be comfortable there. However, I'm eager to know how much of the Economics course is mathematical at Cambridge? Is FM really that important, as I really would like to drop it.

Answer:
The Economics course is Cambridge is definitely mathematical. To be honest, the more maths you do, the better. Even in the first year I found Further Maths useful, and it is much more recommended than a lot of your other subjects as you can see here: http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/economics/requirements.html
(The website has a lot of info tucked away like that!)
They probably would not look favourably upon you dropping it!

In your second year, the maths paper is optional and you can focus on politics etc if you prefer, but mathematical techniques are important in all the compulsory courses, with statistical theory and calculus being especially important areas. As that link says, this isn't just Cambridge, it's the trend across the whole discipline.

Since the website layout is frankly crap, this fairly long guide should tell you most of what you need to know about the course, and shouldn't miss out any important points:
http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/prospect/guide.pdf

My opinion: :smile:

I guess if you want to drop the Further Maths, you're not very confident with it. Maths is even more important than Economics A-level, perhaps you should consider whether Economics is the subject for you on that basis, rather than on admissions statistics.

I really think you should choose courses and colleges for the right reasons. You shouldn't forget Economics and choose another course on the basis of Economics being hard to get into. It sounds rather more like you want to go to Cambridge in general, rather than study economics in particular.
It's not for me to say whether that's right, but you might have trouble demonstrating the genuine enthusiasm for the subject that admissions people want to see if you've just picked the course you think is easiest to get into.

Have you considered other related but less technical courses, such as SPS or Geography, or maybe History?

Reply 7

WokSz

17

What about land economy?

Reply 8

missingu24

does any1 know whats in the economics igcse paper 3 and 4, i have no clue and i have to pass it!!! the syllabus aint much help so if anyone has any perdictions or answers please get back to me thanx xx

Economics 2008.

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