Econ

Hi,

I am just here to quickly query something. I had kinda written off LSE for Econ due to its highly competitive nature and my A-Level subject choices so I’m totally fine if it’s not possible at all but I just thought I make sure. So for context I’m predicted 4A*s in Econ, Maths, Accounting and Business. And from my understanding while the grades are good the fact I have no FM and that I took business it will make my chances of an offer highly unlikely. So, can someone offer advice as to wether it’s worth 1 of 5 options and the same for other top Econ Unis(UCL, Oxbridge, Warwick) or if it’s just a complete waste of a choice - again totally fine if not worth just want an honest assessment of my situation, never even thought I’d have a chance at these unis I’ve just have done well in Yr12 and started to enjoy learning

Thanks in advance

Personal opinon: shoot your shot. One of the worst feelings that you could have is knowing you could have gotten a place, but never bothered applying - regret is not a nice feeling to have.

Econ, Maths, and Accounting are OK subjects. So even if you don't have FM and Business being similiar to Econ, I think you should be OK with the former 3.

Yes, it will be ridiculously competitive, but the worst that can come of it is to receive 5 rejections but still have the 4 A Levels with top grades (assuming you finish with top grades). You can always reapply the year after privately through UCAS, which costs 1 year of time + £10, and have guaranteed grades that you can apply with.
If you wanted, you can also do FM as a private candidate/at a college that accepts 19 year olds/self study whilst doing other things to boost your application during your gap year.

I would recommend picking your first bachelor's with care, as it's a pain to go back doing the correct degree the second time round, and doing postgrads won't help much with work in industry (unless it's required by law for the specific role).

Thanks for this detailed reply. I appreciate the reply and helpful insight. I think I may possibly go for it then as one of my 5 options is Uni of Birmingham - as it would mean I wouldn’t have to move from home - and I expect with my grades I should get an offer from there. So like you say maybe it is just worth going for Oxford, LSE, UCL, Warwick. Also, I think, for example, if I decided to apply to a very good uni for econ but just not as elite as the 4 above(bath, Durham, Bristol) even if I get accepted I don’t think i would go there over Birmingham - despite them being better for econ - whereas if apply to 4 elite ones above if I get 4 rejections I’m in no worse position but 1 acceptance and it’s great.

How averse are you to taking a year out if you don't receive offers?

Would really want to tbh. Understand gap years can be productive but I’d rather just stay in education without gap year.

ok - in that case apply to oxbridge plus a university you should be confident of getting an offer from once applications open. Look through this years offer threads to see which universities make offers quickly.

Once you’ve received an offer from your less risky option - hopefully within a month or so - you can decide whether to go for ambitious options like Warwick, UCL etc.

Can you actually apply for different unis at different times? I thought/presumed you had to apply to all the unis at the same time. Thanks that’s helpful

consider KCL too, its a great economics uni with good employment opportunities after grad.

Personally I wouldn’t recommend going for all of those unis as a rejection for one will most likely mean rejections from others as well- if I was you I would focus on on 2 maybe 3 from the list

Personally I wouldn’t recommend going for all of those unis as a rejection for one will most likely mean rejections from others as well- if I was you I would focus on on 2 maybe 3 from the list

Hi,

I am just here to quickly query something. I had kinda written off LSE for Econ due to its highly competitive nature and my A-Level subject choices so I’m totally fine if it’s not possible at all but I just thought I make sure. So for context I’m predicted 4A*s in Econ, Maths, Accounting and Business. And from my understanding while the grades are good the fact I have no FM and that I took business it will make my chances of an offer highly unlikely. So, can someone offer advice as to wether it’s worth 1 of 5 options and the same for other top Econ Unis(UCL, Oxbridge, Warwick) or if it’s just a complete waste of a choice - again totally fine if not worth just want an honest assessment of my situation, never even thought I’d have a chance at these unis I’ve just have done well in Yr12 and started to enjoy learning

Thanks in advance

I would not bother with LSE of Cambridge as your chances are almost zero. Oxford, Warwick and UCL are worth a shot, but only if you also apply to a couple of less competitive courses so you won’t end up with zero offers. Some people with FM and no overlapping courses have ended up with no offers, as economics is so competitive, so make sure that you have proper insurance choices.

Ok thanks for the reply. Would you say university of Birmingham is a suitable less competitive course?

I’m currently planning on at first just applying to Oxford, Warwick and Birmingham and wait to see if I get an offer from Birmingham as it seems they send out decisions early and hopefully Warwick give me a decision fairly quick. Then as @ajj2000 I can pick my other two unis after based on my situation with the three I’ve applied to. So, if I’ve got an offer from UoB and hopefully had a decision from Warwick I can decide if I want to just go for both of LSE and UCL or maybe two courses with higher acceptance rates, depending on if I’ve received offers or not.

Is this usually how it goes? Like if you get rejected by 1 you'll likely get rejected by the others. I would have thought it wouldn't have been so definite like this and more of an equal split, providing your overall application is strong, between offers and rejections due to the element of luck involved.

Ok thanks for the reply. Would you say university of Birmingham is a suitable less competitive course?

I’m currently planning on at first just applying to Oxford, Warwick and Birmingham and wait to see if I get an offer from Birmingham as it seems they send out decisions early and hopefully Warwick give me a decision fairly quick. Then as @ajj2000 I can pick my other two unis after based on my situation with the three I’ve applied to. So, if I’ve got an offer from UoB and hopefully had a decision from Warwick I can decide if I want to just go for both of LSE and UCL or maybe two courses with higher acceptance rates, depending on if I’ve received offers or not.

This is an option - however, whilst they say applying to unis early is not advantageous I would disagree as sending early applications in line with oxbridge means they can look at ur application early as well - speaking from experience as I applied early to Bristol and got an offer like a few weeks after when my friend (who had better predicted grades) applied late and they didn’t even reply so he got an automatic rejection - just something to consider

Yeah, tbf I have thought about that as it seems people often get offer pre deadline. So, yeah I get what you mean as surely applying on the general UCAS deadline(end of Jan) you will be at a disadvantage.