Economics Applicant Thread UCAS 2012

How are you guys deciding on your 5 choices?

I was thinking of splitting my application between the top 15 or so Universities. Like 2 choices from top 5, 2 from top 10, then 1 from the top 15. Or depending on my grades, one from top 5, then 2 from 6-10 then 1 from 11-15.

If I don't make top 5 then I'll definitely be looking to continue onto an MBA or something. Or maybe look to apply for 2013 entry :confused:

Though I don't want to spend another year at home.

Decisions, decisions... :frown:

Reply 582

Original post by LiberiFatali

How are you guys deciding on your 5 choices?

I was thinking of splitting my application between the top 15 or so Universities. Like 2 choices from top 5, 2 from top 10, then 1 from the top 15. Or depending on my grades, one from top 5, then 2 from 6-10 then 1 from 11-15.

If I don't make top 5 then I'll definitely be looking to continue onto an MBA or something. Or maybe look to apply for 2013 entry :confused:

Though I don't want to spend another year at home.

Decisions, decisions... :frown:

You should already have a couple in mind. Perhaps you could draw a shortlist of universities that you wish to apply to. You may decide to definitely apply to a particular university no matter what. You can go to open days to help with your decisions. Also many people base their decisions on their AS results/predictions so don't feel pressured to making your choices early.

Personally I would say I am definitely applying to UCL and Bath, but I will decide on my other options depending on UMS scores and stuff like that :smile:

Reply 583

therealOG

Original post by LiberiFatali

How are you guys deciding on your 5 choices?

I was thinking of splitting my application between the top 15 or so Universities. Like 2 choices from top 5, 2 from top 10, then 1 from the top 15. Or depending on my grades, one from top 5, then 2 from 6-10 then 1 from 11-15.

If I don't make top 5 then I'll definitely be looking to continue onto an MBA or something. Or maybe look to apply for 2013 entry :confused:

Though I don't want to spend another year at home.

Decisions, decisions... :frown:

I look at it this way:
If you truly believe that you're top 5 material, why don't you apply to 4 of the top 5 and keep one as a fall-back (i.e. Bath, not Bristol because their admissions are ****ed up, Exeter, Manchester, Birmingham, Durham etc)?

If you only apply to two or one top 5 university then you're not playing the numbers game; there could be a possibility of being rejected by that top 5 uni and then you'll be automatically restricted from the top 5. Being top 5 material, you should be guaranteed an offer from your top 10-15 backup.

This strategy would only be recommended for true top 5 candidates though i.e. the real deal. Last year only one guy from my year did this (we only had a few top Economics candidates, and the other top ones didn't choose London uni's because of cost). He applied to Cambridge, UCL, LSE, Warwick and a back-up (can't remember which one). He got offers from all of them except for LSE because he withdrew from it (he didn't like LSE and insured Warwick).

Reply 584

OP

Original post by jamiepango

I know! I have finished my exams ( bar chinese), all went okay except I couldn't do one question in maths :angry:

How did you find your exams? I think I'm gonna drop biology next year, the chemistry is starting to make sense and I'm sure I did better in the chemistry exams...

Nicee, I figured Nottingham would be to far away so I didn't apply for that one. Maybe I'll see you at Bath haha :biggrin:

That's pretty good then :smile:

Made a few silly mistakes in Biology and Chemistry, hopefully the grade boundaries will be low and it won't be too costly! My main two subjects (economics and maths) went well though and they were the ones I was most worried about :smile:

If you do that we'll have the same subjects! (except you'll have Chinese as well :tongue:

) Are you still going to take up further maths AS next year?

Yeah it's a bit of a trek, still considering whether to go or not, it's not like it's set in stone! Yeah hopefully I'll see you there :tongue:

Original post by LiberiFatali

How are you guys deciding on your 5 choices?

I was thinking of splitting my application between the top 15 or so Universities. Like 2 choices from top 5, 2 from top 10, then 1 from the top 15. Or depending on my grades, one from top 5, then 2 from 6-10 then 1 from 11-15.

If I don't make top 5 then I'll definitely be looking to continue onto an MBA or something. Or maybe look to apply for 2013 entry :confused:

Though I don't want to spend another year at home.

Decisions, decisions... :frown:

It's important to me that I actually end up at a university I actually want to be at. Providing I get really good grades, if I think I'm good enough I don't think I'll settle for anything outside the top 7. For me this is the usual five you would expect, plus Nottingham and Bath (some would say Durham and Bristol are better than those two but not for me)

So you should choose only options where you'd be happy at. There is no point getting an offer back from a university you definitely won't accept because you don't want to be there. Equally, it is important not to be unrealistic and ignorant, don't want to be thinking you're top 5 material if you're not. So just wait and see 'til your results, I won't finalise my choices until then.

Reply 585

Original post by tateco

That's pretty good then :smile:

Made a few silly mistakes in Biology and Chemistry, hopefully the grade boundaries will be low and it won't be too costly! My main two subjects (economics and maths) went well though and they were the ones I was most worried about :smile:

If you do that we'll have the same subjects! (except you'll have Chinese as well :tongue:

) Are you still going to take up further maths AS next year?

Yeah it's a bit of a trek, still considering whether to go or not, it's not like it's set in stone! Yeah hopefully I'll see you there :tongue:

QUOTE]

Good to here! :biggrin:

Same here, I was worried about those two but luckily they went okay :smile:

My college have given me a choice of options: FP1,M1,M2 or FP1,FP2, D1. I think I'll do the first one because doing M1 and M2 will be easier as they're linked together. Also not liking the look of all the drawing in D1... You shoud sort it out quickly with your college so you get the options you want :smile:

Reply 586

OP

Original post by jamiepango

Good to here! :biggrin:

Same here, I was worried about those two but luckily they went okay :smile:

My college have given me a choice of options: FP1,M1,M2 or FP1,FP2, D1. I think I'll do the first one because doing M1 and M2 will be easier as they're linked together. Also not liking the look of all the drawing in D1... You shoud sort it out quickly with your college so you get the options you want :smile:

My school don't even know if I'll be able to do it yet. And I definitely won't get a choice of options. It will be FP1, S2 and D1. Which I'm pretty glad about as apparently S2 is the most relevant to first year economics!

If I can't do it in school I'll self teach :smile:

Reply 587

Original post by tateco

My school don't even know if I'll be able to do it yet. And I definitely won't get a choice of options. It will be FP1, S2 and D1. Which I'm pretty glad about as apparently S2 is the most relevant to first year economics!

If I can't do it in school I'll self teach :smile:

I think those choices are better than my choices because I despise physics and M1/M2 come pretty close to it....

Ah, don't worry you'll be capable of self-teaching. I've looked at the chapters in FP1 and it looks okay. You only require C1,C2 knowledge as well :smile:

Reply 588

LiberiFatali

Original post by jamiepango

You should already have a couple in mind. Perhaps you could draw a shortlist of universities that you wish to apply to. You may decide to definitely apply to a particular university no matter what. You can go to open days to help with your decisions. Also many people base their decisions on their AS results/predictions so don't feel pressured to making your choices early.

Personally I would say I am definitely applying to UCL and Bath, but I will decide on my other options depending on UMS scores and stuff like that :smile:

Oh I definitely know where I want to apply, but I'm just wondering if it would be best to have more then one safe option. I guess I'll be in a better position come August when I actually know my A2 results!

Original post by therealOG

I look at it this way:
If you truly believe that you're top 5 material, why don't you apply to 4 of the top 5 and keep one as a fall-back (i.e. Bath, not Bristol because their admissions are ****ed up, Exeter, Manchester, Birmingham, Durham etc)?

If you only apply to two or one top 5 university then you're not playing the numbers game; there could be a possibility of being rejected by that top 5 uni and then you'll be automatically restricted from the top 5. Being top 5 material, you should be guaranteed an offer from your top 10-15 backup.

This strategy would only be recommended for true top 5 candidates though i.e. the real deal. Last year only one guy from my year did this (we only had a few top Economics candidates, and the other top ones didn't choose London uni's because of cost). He applied to Cambridge, UCL, LSE, Warwick and a back-up (can't remember which one). He got offers from all of them except for LSE because he withdrew from it (he didn't like LSE and insured Warwick).

See the problem is that I don't really know if I am a "true" top 5 candidate. On the one hand, while I am aiming for an A*AA in Maths/Econ/Chemistry, I don't have further maths or neither do I have fantastic GCSEs. I've obviously still got a lot of research to do this summer, but my thinking now is that these schools can afford to be picky about their offers, so perhaps just 1-2 choices from the top 5 and 3 from 6-10 would be the "smart" way to go (I thought about my original post, if I get what I'm aiming for then 11-15 will be unnecessary).

Though like I said, I've still got a lot of research and thinking to do over the summer, but I was just curious about what approach others were going for :smile:

Reply 589

OP

Original post by jamiepango

I think those choices are better than my choices because I despise physics and M1/M2 come pretty close to it....

Ah, don't worry you'll be capable of self-teaching. I've looked at the chapters in FP1 and it looks okay. You only require C1,C2 knowledge as well :smile:

Yeah, I think it will be quite a good experience to self-teach, it will be good preparation for university. Saying that, it would probably be easier to have it taught in school. Would be quite good to see how I get on when it's completely my responsibility, I find that I end up self-teaching most of my subjects anyway and the lessons are just for revision. It hasn't been like that for maths so far, though!

Reply 590

Original post by LiberiFatali

Oh I definitely know where I want to apply, but I'm just wondering if it would be best to have more then one safe option. I guess I'll be in a better position come August when I actually know my A2 results!

I think we are in a similiar position! I am also aiming for A*AA in maths/econ/chemistry, but are you in year 13? I am not sure whether I am a top 5 candidate either, so I am ultimately choosing whether I apply to the very top ones after I get my AS results :smile:

Reply 591

Original post by tateco

Yeah, I think it will be quite a good experience to self-teach, it will be good preparation for university. Saying that, it would probably be easier to have it taught in school. Would be quite good to see how I get on when it's completely my responsibility, I find that I end up self-teaching most of my subjects anyway and the lessons are just for revision. It hasn't been like that for maths so far, though!

Yes, I find I self teach most of my subjects except chemistry where I need to be taught! I guess you could arrange to meet a teacher once a week just to go through stuff? Would be a good idea I think :smile:

Reply 592

OP

Original post by jamiepango

Yes, I find I self teach most of my subjects except chemistry where I need to be taught! I guess you could arrange to meet a teacher once a week just to go through stuff? Would be a good idea I think :smile:

Yeah I'm sure I could get help if ever I needed it :smile:

I'd just need to remember it's a fourth AS really and not get too worked up about it. Don't want to drag too much attention away from Maths and Economics!

Reply 593

donzy

3

Is anyone else doing full further maths at A2 aswell?

Reply 594

OP

Original post by donzy

Is anyone else doing full further maths at A2 aswell?

Do you mean to do the whole A2 (as well as AS) in year 13? I considered it but eventually decided against it. The university will already be able to see I'm committed as I've taken up further maths AS and I wouldn't want to compromise my grades for a gesture that I feel, wouldn't make any difference at the point of application.

Reply 595

Competencies

5

Original post by tateco

Do you mean to do the whole A2 (as well as AS) in year 13? I considered it but eventually decided against it. The university will already be able to see I'm committed as I've taken up further maths AS and I wouldn't want to compromise my grades for a gesture that I feel, wouldn't make any difference at the point of application.

Taking it to AS doesn't necessarily show commitment, it could in fact show the opposite, that you didn't have the 'guts' to take it to A2.

And taking it to A2 in terms of mathematics is a big leap, for AS you only need to do 1 of the FP modules.

But if I was in your position I would do the same. I'm taking a gap year so I have decided to take the whole A2.

Reply 596

dsinghdahiya257

10

I'm also thinking of applying for an Economics course for 2012 entry.

The only worry I have is essay writing, I do not have a strength particularly in essay type writing, I prefer analysis and all the technical and mathematical aspects.

Also, is it worth doing Economics with Accountancy or just Economics?

Reply 597

Hemzo

10

Original post by dsinghdahiya257

I'm also thinking of applying for an Economics course for 2012 entry.

The only worry I have is essay writing, I do not have a strength particularly in essay type writing, I prefer analysis and all the technical and mathematical aspects.

Also, is it worth doing Economics with Accountancy or just Economics?

Whatcha pick for your A levels mate? Economics tends to need good essay subject skills, but that being said, having good mathematical ability is also a good thing.

You could do Economics with Econometrics or Maths with Economics. Though, essay writing skills can be picked up if you just practise them :smile:

Reply 598

SillyString

Original post by donzy

Is anyone else doing full further maths at A2 aswell?

I'm actually trying to. FP1 was probably one of the most fun modules I have ever done in my life and looking at the FP2 module. Wow. <3 Though the whole being forced to do M2 and M3 is off-putting. I know I don't need further maths at A2, and it might actually be harmful.. but the further pure modules are so much fun. I can't resist. :tongue:

Reply 599

OP