Economics Applicant Thread UCAS 2012

Some were quite poor I'll agree with you. I think these two stood out for me

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Personal_Statementconomics_16 - Liked the way he opened his PS, the way he explained it and linked it to Economics is brilliant imo.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Personal_Statementconomics_13 - Pretty good PS overall I think

The first one doesn't seem focused enough on economics in my opinion.

I really don't like the second one!

Economics is a social science. - Who on earth would write that?
Analyzed - We're not American.
And equip me to help building a better world. - This isn't a green peace movement.

There are plenty more examples I could've given, showing this candidate's ignorance and naive attitude. (In my opinion, of course).

Which parts of those above did you like?

Just how they linked the books they've read to Economics. I think they've done it well, true.. I guess that could be said, but I'm not arguing with 13 if they managed to get offers from the top 4

I still think that statement is weak. The first paragraph is really good, but then it draws on.

Encouraged by their writings, I wish to help evaluate monetary policies, and prevent damaging ones from being made and enforced in the future.

It just seems so naively written!

A PS helper may correct me, but this isn't the high standard I had perceived.

I still think that statement is weak. The first paragraph is really good, but then it draws on.

Encouraged by their writings, I wish to help evaluate monetary policies, and prevent damaging ones from being made and enforced in the future.

It just seems so naively written!

A PS helper may correct me, but this isn't the high standard I had perceived.

I think it's fair to say you're destined for the PS helper role as soon as you reach uni
That I hadn't seen.. Good spotting!

What's wrong with being idealistic? I've arguably taken on my job (see Sig) to try and help build better policies.

What's wrong with being idealistic? I've arguably taken on my job (see Sig) to try and help build better policies.

It just seems naive thinking an Economics degree will enable you to influence policies.

You're the exception and you've obviously done very well; most people who make bold claims of their future intentions such as that sound unrealistically optimistic.

they could go on to the Bank of England for all we know and then they would actually be doing that.

When did going to University become such a jaded affair? Doesn't anyone want to change the world anymore?

I don't know what admissions look for in Personal Statements personally, so don't listen to my advice because I don't know anything about it. I wouldn't have thought having a passion is a bad thing though, they could go on to the Bank of England for all we know and then they would actually be doing what they have outlined.

I think passion can be shown, just in a better way.

For example:

Encouraged by their writings, I wish to explore monetary policies, gaining the necessary insight to identify when a decision may become damaging.

That sounds less naive, but still shows passion. (I think).

How is Bath's department for Economics by the way? I haven't been able to visit it yet, but I'm considering applying and then visiting if I get an offer.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1576194&page=20, my posts on this page should hopefully answer your questions. Anything more specific/personal feel free to PM me.

I'm sure some of you might find this helpful - I spoke to an economics tutor at oxford the other day who said that further maths would not add much to a application, and he told me only to do it if I love maths rather than because I want to strengthen my application. 20% of there economics students have not studied maths at A level. However, i will probably still do it at A/s for my other choices :P

If you apply for e&m at Oxford and pure econ everywhere else, do NOT mention explicit management related things in your ps. At UCL and LSE they said if they see manangement-y things in your ps you'll get rejected. Also Groat was right earlier in saying if you're not predicted A* in maths an offer from UCL/LSE is doubtful

Sounds stupid to me. Oxford say they understand if your PS is solely economics for that course, but it doesn't make sense that universities actively discriminate like that. Why does it matter if it has a small amount of management in? Surely they can understand that people might want to apply to slightly different courses at different places...

You may disagree with me, but that means you'll be disagreeing with the admissions tutor at UCL who told all of us that this was the case when we went for our offers day...

Is it me or are all the offers for economics courses way higher then other courses?
I mean even the universitys low down on the league tables and considered to be not as good are asking for AAB
It seems like the norm is for AAA-A*AA
Does anyone know of any good universities that are asking for less then this?
I need to choose an insurance and any help would be appreciated