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Economics Applicant Thread UCAS 2012

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Reply 3100
Avatar for Trizzle
Trizzle
Original post by nightmare91
Read the ones you enjoy the most. They don't expect you to read 'Wealth of Nations' or 'Principles of Economics' by Marshall. A tutor at Oxford recommended 'The Armchair Economist' and 'The Undercover economist'. They won't be impressed by any books you read, they just want to see that you read outside of your syllabus :wink:.


Funny you say that, I spoke to an admissions tutor at Emmanuel, Cambridge and he said that books like those are too common and not considered proper economics. I personally wouldn't put any of those books in my PS, but if that's all you've read then it's far better than not putting them in at all!
Original post by nightmare91
Those are great choices! Well if the joint courses are Econ&Finance then a straight economics PS might fit because finance is largely related to Economics. If it was Stats, Econ and Finance then it'd be more difficult.

My choices are Oxford for E&M, Warwick, Durham, St. Andrews and LSE :smile:


You writing about any 'management' in your personal statement then mate?
Original post by Tateco
Other box


What about that tread that said UCAS would automatically reject all applications with ums in the Other box
Reply 3103
Avatar for Tateco
Tateco
OP
14
Original post by Tomatochuckers
Hey does anyone know how respected the following books are to the unis in an economics PS (cos I know some like Freakonomics are not. Also I know that these are all quite well known so its not entirely impressive that I have read them, but it is about what you learnt from them after all)

1) Free lunch
2) The Undercover economist
3) The Armchair economist
4) A very short introduction to economics
5) Economics for dummies (lol- it did help a lot though!)

Might read another one/or two, and then pick the best ones to mention in my PS


I don't think it matters as long as you say something interesting about them.
Reply 3104
Avatar for Tateco
Tateco
OP
14
Original post by Mousebudden
What about that tread that said UCAS would automatically reject all applications with ums in the Other box


I spoke to someone from UCAS on the phone and they said it was fine.
Reply 3105
Avatar for ugk4life
ugk4life
hi everyone,

i want to apply for the economics and philosophy course at the following unis (typical offer in brackets):
manchester (ABB)
leeds (AAB)
southampton (AAB)
cardiff (AAB)
sheffield (AAB)
possibly ucl (AAA) or bristol (A*AA-ABB)

at AS my grades were A - history, B - economics, and Cs in maths and politics.
this year i am dropping politics and am predicted AAB for next year (b in maths).

taking into consideration my AS grades and my predicted grades, am i likely to recieve any offers for the abouve mentioned universities?

also, will the fact that i have no relevant work experience hinder my application?

thanks a lot,
Original post by Tateco
I spoke to someone from UCAS on the phone and they said it was fine.


Ok thanks. So do we have to include the UMS marks of ALL exams we have taken?

What Uni's are you applying to out of interest?
Reply 3107
Avatar for Tateco
Tateco
OP
14
Original post by Mousebudden
Ok thanks. So do we have to include the UMS marks of ALL exams we have taken?

What Uni's are you applying to out of interest?


The UMS for our AS levels

Cambridge, UCL, Warwick, Bath, Nottingham
Reply 3108
Avatar for Tateco
Tateco
OP
14
Original post by ugk4life
hi everyone,

i want to apply for the economics and philosophy course at the following unis (typical offer in brackets):
manchester (ABB)
leeds (AAB)
southampton (AAB)
cardiff (AAB)
sheffield (AAB)
possibly ucl (AAA) or bristol (A*AA-ABB)

at AS my grades were A - history, B - economics, and Cs in maths and politics.
this year i am dropping politics and am predicted AAB for next year (b in maths).

taking into consideration my AS grades and my predicted grades, am i likely to recieve any offers for the abouve mentioned universities?

also, will the fact that i have no relevant work experience hinder my application?

thanks a lot,


No for UCL and Bristol, but others you have a fair chance
Original post by Trizzle
Funny you say that, I spoke to an admissions tutor at Emmanuel, Cambridge and he said that books like those are too common and not considered proper economics. I personally wouldn't put any of those books in my PS, but if that's all you've read then it's far better than not putting them in at all!


So what books did they consider to be: proper economics? Yeah tbh a couple of the books I read actually got me into liking economics (as I didn't take the A level originally)- so they do not have to be particularly serious.

Then I read a few which go more into proper economic theory (probs around A level standard or a bit further tbh)

Now I want something which offers something different and slightly challenging- I probs won't read the whole of that book, unless I get an interview, so for the PS statement, I'll just comment on one aspect of it.
Original post by nightmare91
Read the ones you enjoy the most. They don't expect you to read 'Wealth of Nations' or 'Principles of Economics' by Marshall. A tutor at Oxford recommended 'The Armchair Economist' and 'The Undercover economist'. They won't be impressed by any books you read, they just want to see that you read outside of your syllabus :wink:.


Right thanks :smile: Do you know how much of the PS the extra reading is meant to take up, is it just a couple of lines?
Reply 3111
Avatar for ugk4life
ugk4life
Original post by Tateco
No for UCL and Bristol, but others you have a fair chance


thanks.
Original post by Tateco
I don't think it matters as long as you say something interesting about them.


Right thanks Do you know how much of the PS the extra reading is meant to take up, is it just a couple of lines?

(I don't know how to multiquote)
Reply 3113
Avatar for Tateco
Tateco
OP
14
Original post by Tomatochuckers
Right thanks Do you know how much of the PS the extra reading is meant to take up, is it just a couple of lines?

(I don't know how to multiquote)


Make it as long as you want providing you have something interesting to say about it. Spending a paragraph discussing a topic bought up in freakonomics is better than saying "I have read the Wealth of Nations and The General Theory of Unemployment"

To multiquote press that weird button next to the quote button for all the posts you want to quote, then scroll down to 'quick reply' and type it in there.
Original post by Trizzle
Funny you say that, I spoke to an admissions tutor at Emmanuel, Cambridge and he said that books like those are too common and not considered proper economics. I personally wouldn't put any of those books in my PS, but if that's all you've read then it's far better than not putting them in at all!

It is not about 'name dropping', it's about whether you can talk about something interesting and then link it to a book. I wouldn't mention Freakonomics as well, I have mentioned a book from Paul Krugman but only because it interested me a lot and not because it is considered 'proper' economics. But fair enough, tutors are different :smile:


Original post by Mousebudden
You writing about any 'management' in your personal statement then mate?

Nope and it's not necessary at all. I had some work experience at a consulting firm though, so that was my 'management' part. But I have not mentioned the word management even once :biggrin:

Original post by Tateco
I don't think it matters as long as you say something interesting about them.

I've been wanting to rep you... But I can't rep you anymore, done it too often... Damn it :biggrin:

Original post by Tomatochuckers
Right thanks :smile: Do you know how much of the PS the extra reading is meant to take up, is it just a couple of lines?

You should talk about something that interests you related to economics. Then you should link it to a book that you've read or say where you've got the idea from. You shouldn't just say: I liked Freakonomics because...
My paragraph about my economic thesis is very long (one-third of the whole PS??). But everyone does it differently :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Got my predicted 4 A*s :biggrin:
Almost ready to send my UCAS off :eek:
Reply 3116
Avatar for Tateco
Tateco
OP
14
Original post by nightmare91

I've been wanting to rep you... But I can't rep you anymore, done it too often... Damn it :biggrin:


I can't rep you either, don't worry :tongue:

Original post by Psychotic546
Got my predicted 4 A*s :biggrin:
Almost ready to send my UCAS off :eek:


Well done! :smile:

Me too :eek:
Has anyone else heard that the economics course content at Durham isn't very good at all? I heard this through other student room forums and I was wondering if it was true at all. I am a big fan of the university itself so would be rather annoyed if this turned out to be true.
Original post by ChickenMaLicken
Has anyone else heard that the economics course content at Durham isn't very good at all? I heard this through other student room forums and I was wondering if it was true at all. I am a big fan of the university itself so would be rather annoyed if this turned out to be true.

I've heard the same thing tbh. But they are ranked fairly high in the economics table? I just know that it isn't very quantitative which is not very typical for a 21st century economics course...
Reply 3119
Avatar for VCR
VCR
Ok guys, I need your help.

On my UCAS form, I've currently got:

Cambridge
LSE
UCL
Warwick
Bath

I've been told that this combination is too risky, and that I should replace one of either LSE, UCL or Warwick with another insurance choice. Thoughts on how I should go forward?

Oh, and I should've mentioned that I don't want to remove LSE or UCL from the list, and also that I'm currently most keen on replacing Bath with a "proper" insurance choice.
(edited 12 years ago)

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