Economics at Uni... is further maths required?

I'm in year 10 atm and really want to do an economics degree. The iGCSEs I'm taking are:

Maths
English Lit/Lang
French
History
Music (GCSE)
Geography
Physics
Chemistry
Biology

I haven't even taken my end of year exams yet so I'm not really sure what I'll get for GCSEs but I go to a pretty good school so I'm aiming for As/A*s or maybe lower in music. I wanna do economics and i reckon i could do well at A level maths but as I'm not really top set i doubt i could stomach FM as well.

The A levels I will probably take are:

Economics
History
Politics
Maths

I'm thinking of subbing politics for a science as it's not considered a very strong subject, or maybe do further maths if my mocks go well. I also do debating, would that help on my personal statement?
Please give me your views, I would love to hear from some economics students etc.

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Reply 1

therealOG

If you are going for a top 5 university for Economics (Oxbridge/UCL/LSE/Warwick) then Further Maths is a must basically. Not because it's a required subject (not allowed as not all schools offer it), but because every other good candidate who is applying will be doing it. LSE and UCL strongly prefer candidates who are doing Further Maths, I'm not too sure about Oxbridge/Warwick. What I can guarantee is that you'll be at a disadvantage if you don't do Further Maths and are looking for entry into these universities.

Even if you aren't going for a top 5 university, doing AS Further Maths would strengthen your application in regards to the top 20 institutions. This could be taken up in your 2nd year or across both years if you want, but it isn't essential.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 2

jimbo lad

yea , I also wanted to know this ... I am in my first year and next year I decided to drop graphics to pick up history... When I decided that I wanted to do further maths AS in my second year I was told that there were only 5 peolpe interested in taking it up so the AS isnt going ahead next year... I was pretty gutted to be fair as I know how good it looks on an application but how much of a disadvantage would I be at without it for top 20 unis

Reply 3

dreadnaut

Original post by WillGy

I personally would drop the humanities for sciences. The top unis will like F maths but its not a requirement.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 4

thegenius31416

Original post by dreadnaut

I personally would drop the humanities for sciences. The top unis will want F.maths and sciences.

No, they want Maths, Further maths and Economics. After that, simply do an academic subject you enjoy, whether it be a science or humanity subject. In fact, some Universities (such as Bristol) appreciate an applicant having an essay subject (in addition to Economics) as it shows more all-roundedness which is useful for studying Economics.

Reply 5

amelle

my friend got into oxford without further maths but she may be an exception because i've never heard of anyone else in the same position!! :P

Reply 6

Adam.C

When i went to an open day at Christs Cambridge - the master of Econ bassically said that pretty much the best combination of subjects to have is Maths, Further Maths & econ and one other good subject, IE something traditional like History or a science, rather than politics maybe?

Reply 7

ILM16

Original post by WillGy

The A levels I will probably take are:

Economics
History
Politics
Maths

Best combination ever, stick with it! :biggrin:

It's not like I do that or anything... :K:

Reply 8

danny111

Original post by amelle

my friend got into oxford without further maths but she may be an exception because i've never heard of anyone else in the same position!! :P

well oxford don't teach economics...E&M or PPE at best.

But there are people here at LSE who don't have FM either. I don't get the obsession about it. Yes a good score in FM will most likely increase chances, but it is not like you are doomed if you don't take it.

Reply 9

amelle

Original post by danny111

yea sorry meant econ and management!! :P

Reply 10

danny111

Original post by amelle

yea sorry meant econ and management!! :P

No, what I meant is to take a jibe at Oxford, saying you don't need FM because they don't teach (proper) economics anyway.

Reply 11

dreadnaut

Original post by thegenius31416

Well, thats just the impression I get from TSR users applying to/attending place like LSE. Could be totally wrong on that front. I'm actually at Bristol :biggrin:

....I'd say a fair few people have Fmaths but its not a majority, I don't. In first year they told us they didn't (at the time) care about whether we did A level Econ or not. Its quite different to undergrad courses. But it was A level maths that counted due to the mathematical nature of the course.

I think stuff like linear algebra is on the Fmaths syllabus so its would be handy to have.

Your right, essay skills do matter as well. My writing goes to **** on the 3 hour essay exams. I'm hoping it won't cost me too much on results day

Reply 12

bomberdoom

Original post by dreadnaut

Well, thats just the impression I get from TSR users applying to/attending place like LSE. Could be totally wrong on that front. I'm actually at Bristol :biggrin:

It doesn't matter either way, as even Economics is not required to study Economics, unless you're looking at applying to Bath University, who're the only ones who've got their head screwed on right :biggrin:

.

One important thing to note is that at college, Economics and Mathematics are not two seperate subjects like at A level. Maths is not a seperate subject, even though you might take lessons in it. It becomes a part of Economics. In this manner Bio/Chem does not, further up. Other softer A levels, will(these subjects being History, Sociology, Government and Politics, Psychology) .
I think it has less to do with essay writing skills, because like Mathematics, at uni level you can always work on that.

I however think essay writing skills really help, alongside Mathematics and Economics, but it doesn't really matter all that much because most of the universities don't even require Economics :eek:

, and if you're a PCB student, then that's fine as well. A lot of people are good at sciences, and want to keep their options open. It comes down to the individual and everyones differs in that respect.

I think after a while, the hard A levels stop mattering, as in if you've already got Mathematics, Further Mathematics (from the first list) , Economics (from the second) then having more subjects from the first list could be a little excessive and not essential or useful, in any way, from the viewpoint of Economics or essay/writing skills.

>> OP; Yes for Further Mathematics. Atleast an AS level, with pure and Statistics units. Leave FP3 and do till S3. Do FP2.

Reply 13

Cypriots

No further maths is not needed, however it will put you at a great advantage.
Normal maths is required for most unis.

Reply 14

bomberdoom

Original post by Cypriots

No further maths is not needed, however it will put you at a great advantage.
Normal maths is required for most unis.

Yes, and that's why I recom. F. at AS level, if you can, because you don't need more than a couple (correct ones) pure units at F. and the 3 Statistics units, for foundations. LSE has the A at F. Maths AS offer as well. You can easily substitute FP2 for S4, but I do not recommend doing that (from the viewpoint of building foundations and doing things systematically, and letting them help/benefit you) and I def. do not recommend doing FP3 ( bec. FP2 has diff equations, Inequalities, Series and more!) over FP2. I don't even recommend worrying about not doing PCB, good subject choice, you need to push yourself for Mathematics. I would recommend doing full Further Mathematics, all pure units and Statistics units, and even doing either an AEA and STEP paper, you can weigh off the AEA pure parts against the STEP Statistics and pure parts. That requires work, upto you.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 15

Tateco

To be brief...

Good chance at top 10 - do further maths
Not interested in top 10 - do your subjects if you'd prefer (further maths is probably still advisable)

Reply 16

bomberdoom

Original post by tateco

To be brief...

Good chance at top 10 - do further maths
Not interested in top 10 - do your subjects if you'd prefer (further maths is probably still advisable)

true, but you can skip it and apply with Further Maths additional A2 :biggrin:

. remember to atleast try and do some Statistics units, you know, it's ur apps/

Reply 17

yoyo462001

As it's been stated, FM is not required nor is it essential to any economics degree. Each institution will generally teach from scratch everything that is needed, even if they require A level maths, but they will go through the content at a much higher pace. FM will show that you are capable of a higher level of maths and thus look good on an application.

Reply 18

therealOG

Original post by danny111

No, what I meant is to take a jibe at Oxford, saying you don't need FM because they don't teach (proper) economics anyway.

What makes you think Oxford doesn't teach proper Economics? Is your opinion formed on the basis that they don't offer a single honours Economics course?
And you missed out Economics and History btw :tongue: