Economics - oxford or cambridge?

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Its just so hard to balance it all, I would say 100% go for the course you will enjoy within reason because it means that your more likely to get a better overall degree. I hope someone who does pure Economics at Cambridge can tell you what it is like for the maths side.

Definitely at least for now tell your college you will be applying to Oxbridge as you will be given extra support and advice that can be invaluable, try to talk to as many people as you can on the subject and study the actual course options in the various econ courses at each uni you'll be surprised! Even though micro macro and econometrics come as standard there is so much choice, just print what appeals to you and compare. Your choices will change as you learn more but it is really good to be interested early like you are, because it gives you time to explore.

Best of luck!

Reply 21

zeb191

thanks, i'm not attending a college, but a Grammar School, will that make my chances worse?

Reply 22

dewinte

zeb191

thanks, i'm not attending a college, but a Grammar School, will that make my chances worse?

Not at all, I mean there is the whole state school quota and the lack of this that and the other, for people from state school but you wont be disadvantaged in the slightest "they" just want it to be "fairer". I myself am from a state college but it's a very good one, we have 48 Oxbridge applicants from 1000 people.

Reply 23

Paulwhy

zeb191

It's too late to go for further maths now, and even if i could i don't think i'd be able to cope with it.
I did get an A* at GCSE but i've experienced that AS is quite a step up so far from that.

Also, I've heard extended project is viewed well by top Unis as it demonstrates the ability to work independently, in an area of your choice.

Atm i've gone with an economics question - "How will the banking crisis and credit crunch affect first time house buyers?"

Is that a bad question, and anyone got any ideas? ^^ (or is that against the rules)

i know its irrelevant to the thread topic, but i don't really want to start another thread when i got all you economists here :biggrin:

I can only hope you are wrong when you say you feel you can cope with FM. because this would mean that you could not cope with the maths at uni. I have never heard of an A-level Extended Project (EP) before, only of an EP at IB.But whilst it is of some value: I can't see it being worth as much as FM. So my advise would be to seriously review your position on FM. i.e. you are only a few months into your 2 year AS/A2 courses and they are assessed modularly. So if you were to start FM and it was to go badly you always redo that stuff next year and get an AS in FM. (And I think AS in FM is better than A2 in EP). Whilst if it went well you could get a full A-level in FM. Econ is seriously competitive at the top 10 unis. (e.g. 10-15 applicants per place) not just at Oxbridge. So not doing FM when you can is like shooting yourself in the foot.

Reply 24

hoiyiu2512

i'm studying in hong kong and i self-study GCE. i take maths, further maths, economics and accounting. it seems to be awkward to take accounting, but i don't think i can take another one. does it hurt my chance of getting into it. do i have to fill my portfolio with loads of extra-curriculars?

Reply 25

Jong Il Kim

Economist1

whereas Oxford may not like it if you focus too heavily on the economics but not on the management)

That's not necessarily true. :rolleyes:

Reply 26

Economist1

Jong Il Kim

That's not necessarily true. :rolleyes:

I'm just relaying to you what an Oxford admissions tutor said to me. It seems that a few very bright applicants do not do themselves justice by solely focusing on the Economics side and then only adding a reference to Management as aan afterthought. I think to get a place, you neeed to display a genuine interest and desire and study Management alongside with Economics.

Reply 27

Jong Il Kim

Economist1

Half of your reasoning is flawed. Many of the top-notch universities do not offer EM joint degree, and many EM applicants tend to apply to straight economics course at other unis. Admission tutors are aware of this, and I read a few number of current EM student's Personal Statements and quite a number of them didn't have one word of management/business in their PS and they are studying at Oxford now. :wink:

Most importantly, however, if one mention the right type of econ in discussion it will encompass management as well :wink:

Reply 28

Slok

Hi I'm like you and I love the pure economics, the theory and the effects etc but the further maths part is daunting! I didn't take further maths but I am doing physics and maths. Might drop physics - will that affect my chances. I am also looking at Oxbridge for Econ but I don't really know which way to go. Any advice??!

Reply 29

jayjay531

I want to apply to Oxbridge, but don't know whether to apply to Oxford or Cambridge
At GCSE I got 9A*'s, 3A's and a C in Astronomy
At A-level I got AAAB
87.8 in Maths (C1-93, C2-96, S1-74)
90.3 in Biology
79 in Chemistry (Was one away from an A, but hopefully a remark is kind to me)
93.5 in Economics
- The average of my 3 best subjects would be 90.5
I'm also head boy at my school xD
My school didn't offer further maths last year, but this year they are, and I intend on picking up AS further maths
I've been to the Eton, UNIQ (Oxford), Cambridge, and LSE Summer Schools
The secondary school I went to and the sixth form I currently go to are considered 'deprived' and I am also an ethnic minority.

I wouldn't mind applying to Oxford or Cambridge (for economics) , but it's just that I am so afraid of the TSA - which I might flop on the day. Especially since I havent had the time to appropriately revise for it

In light of this information, should I apply to Oxford or Cambridge? And why ?
I really need some help and advice :smile:

(edited 9 years ago)

You've got no chance

Whats the best course to take at Uni if you want to get into investment banking/ equities trading?

Reply 32

Doones

Original post by ChiragD

Whats the best course to take at Uni if you want to get into investment banking/ equities trading?

Paging @Princepieman...

Reply 33

username738914

Original post by ChiragD

Whats the best course to take at Uni if you want to get into investment banking/ equities trading?

Course doesn't matter that much - I know a music grad doing vanilla equities at a BB. If you want to go into a more quantitative desk (like options, futures, structured derivs etc) a mathsy degree like Maths, Engineering, Computer Science, Econ will be looked upon more favourably.

Generally though, stick to a respected degree that you find genuinely interesting.