Warwick Economics or Imperial Econ, Finance, Data Science

I looked at both courses and it seems Warwick's Economics course is much more economic-based than the one offered at Imperial. I'm planning to take a Master's in Economic Research afterwards so I would think Warwick's course would put me in a better position. However, Imperial seems to be better regarded overall (not sure about the business school though). Could anyone give recommendations as to which I should apply to?

Why not apply for both? You get five choices in your UCAS form.

I looked at both courses and it seems Warwick's Economics course is much more economic-based than the one offered at Imperial. I'm planning to take a Master's in Economic Research afterwards so I would think Warwick's course would put me in a better position. However, Imperial seems to be better regarded overall (not sure about the business school though). Could anyone give recommendations as to which I should apply to?

I think this kinda has to come down to what your career goals are. If you genuinely think you'll want to do a MSc Economics course afterwards and then a PhD and/or work as an economist, then I'd probably recommend Warwick. It's course is very well established, it's concentrated more on economics, and it would like serve you better in preparation for postgrad and working as an economist.

Imperial's course is very new, I think it's only been running for a year or two so it's sort of impossible to assess what grads from the course are like (they may not have even had a graduating class yet). But I imagine it's more geared towards people wanting to go straight into financial services/banking/data science jobs straight after undergrad, rather than postgrad econ or to be an economist afterwards.

So it comes down to what your actual career goals are. If you think you'll want to go into banking/data science after undergrad/a master's, then maybe imperial is a better choice - tho lots from Warwick still get into banking for example. If you want to be an economist then Warwick is the natural choice. But it's difficult to assess how much importance a potential postgrad in economics should be factored into your decision when you've never even studied economics at university level - it's very very different to what it's like at a-level. Also, you haven't stated all your other choices, so it's difficult to know where the choice between these courses at imperial and Warwick fit into your portfolio of choices - for example, you might have also applied to something very similar in focus and level to Warwick's course which means the benefits of applying to Warwick are weaker, but we can't say without further info on your other apps.

Thank you for the response. I have applied to Oxford, UCL, LSE and King's for Economics (though Economics and Management at Oxford) and it seems Warwick's course aligns with most of the other choices. I feel Imperial's course lacks in Mathematics whereas at the other choices, I could take up modules from their respective Maths departments (I'm not sure if this is possible at Imperial as well).

From what I see, although early, I would take up a Masters then perhaps a PhD so a more mathematical degree would be best.

You must be pretty confident to not have any options below A*AA. I've even spoken to a few who got 4A* but didn't manage to get any of Oxbridge, LSE, UCL or Warwick, maybe it's worth at least considering a backup option as one of your five.

I don't think imperial will lack mathematical rigor at all, it's more that I think the other courses are likely to have the sort of maths and stats that will be relevant for an academic or professional career as an economist, at least more so than the imperial course would. Though King's is certainly the weak option on your list, given it doesn't really have a proper economics department, it's good for going straight into finance/consulting though.