Economics Applicant Thread UCAS 2012

Original post by FDR

A lot of people I know seem to love Bath!

To be fair, the rankings in the bit in bold differ by a few places (I think the indie put Warwick 4th, Durham 7th and Bath 8th, so it's hardly a big enough difference to ignore personal preferences)I agree about grad prospects - I can't imagine any employer looking at those and thinking "Someone from Durham is better than from Bath, but not as good as someone from Warwick"

Warwick > Bath definitely.
I doubt there is anything between Bath and Durham
Warwick is on par with UCL
(That's just the way it is :frown:

Well Bath dont want me anyway cos I don't have the econ A level so I don't really care)

Reply 6702

FDR

10

Original post by Tomatochuckers

Warwick > Bath definitely.
I doubt there is anything between Bath and Durham
Warwick is on par with UCL
(That's just the way it is :frown:

Well Bath dont want me anyway cos I don't have the econ A level so I don't really care)

Warwick is slightly better in the league tables, but I genuinely don't believe that any given Warwick graduate is more or less qualified than their Bath, Durham, UCL, Nottingham, Bristol... counterparts, and I do think that sometimes subtle differences in rankings are overplayed significantly.

Bath ask for economics :eek:

- are you going to try and do it in your gap year or are you just not going to bother with Bath? Or you could just email them and explain why you didn't do it in the first place, and ask how strict they are with the requirement? I actually emailed Durham about something regarding A level choices and they were really helpful.

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Original post by FDR

Warwick is slightly better in the league tables, but I genuinely don't believe that any given Warwick graduate is more or less qualified than their Bath, Durham, UCL, Nottingham, Bristol... counterparts, and I do think that sometimes subtle differences in rankings are overplayed significantly.

Bath ask for economics :eek:

- are you going to try and do it in your gap year or are you just not going to bother with Bath? Or you could just email them and explain why you didn't do it in the first place, and ask how strict they are with the requirement? I actually emailed Durham about something regarding A level choices and they were really helpful.

Yeah you may have a point man. But it's not just the tables, I thought it was an accepted thing that Warwick was better than Durham. Durham is definitely a good university nevertheless

I am definitely going to do the A level during my gap year. I'm actually thinking of sitting an AS module this June. But I think Bath want people to have done at least the AS when applying. I will ring, because for a fifth option, I would be looking at one from Nottingham, Durham, Bristol or Bath (if I can apply there)

This is of course, if my A levels go well

Reply 6704

FDR

10

Original post by Tomatochuckers

Yeah you may have a point man. But it's not just the tables, I thought it was an accepted thing that Warwick was better than Durham. Durham is definitely a good university nevertheless

I am definitely going to do the A level during my gap year. I'm actually thinking of sitting an AS module this June. But I think Bath want people to have done at least the AS when applying. I will ring, because for a fifth option, I would be looking at one from Nottingham, Durham, Bristol or Bath (if I can apply there)

This is of course, if my A levels go well

Maybe it is - it doesn't bother me so much

If you don't do the module this year, you could probably cope with sitting the AS modules in Jan 2013 and A2s in June - although I imagine near exams you'd be doing economics 24/7.

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Original post by FDR

Maybe it is - it doesn't bother me so much

If you don't do the module this year, you could probably cope with sitting the AS modules in Jan 2013 and A2s in June - although I imagine near exams you'd be doing economics 24/7.

Fair enough- they are all good universities

Yeah tbf I could just do the whole A level in my gap year, but I think fitting a module in June and doing well in it will show more 'urgency/interest' (lack of a better word) which I think is a good thing

Reply 6706

OP

Original post by Tomatochuckers

Fair enough- they are all good universities

Yeah tbf I could just do the whole A level in my gap year, but I think fitting a module in June and doing well in it will show more 'urgency/interest' (lack of a better word) which I think is a good thing

You could probably teach yourself AS level econ in a couple of months and use all your other time on A2 econ.

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Original post by Tateco

You could probably teach yourself AS level econ in a couple of months and use all your other time on A2 econ.

Well I;ve got 6 exams in June, and loads of cw stuff to do in Feb/March. Which will probs give me 2.5 months. I think it would be a bit of a squeeze revising for the two modules in that period of time IMO.

Or were you talking about it taking 2 months in a gap year?

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Original post by Tomatochuckers

Well I;ve got 6 exams in June, and loads of cw stuff to do in Feb/March. Which will probs give me 2.5 months. I think it would be a bit of a squeeze revising for the two modules in that period of time IMO.

Or were you talking about it taking 2 months in a gap year?

I think he was saying 2 months in a gappy

Reply 6709

OP

Original post by Tomatochuckers

Well I;ve got 6 exams in June, and loads of cw stuff to do in Feb/March. Which will probs give me 2.5 months. I think it would be a bit of a squeeze revising for the two modules in that period of time IMO.

Or were you talking about it taking 2 months in a gap year?

I thought you were talking about in a gap year sorry, but if you properly dedicated 1 month to it (a few hours a day) you could probably do the whole of AS econ, there's not much to it.

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Original post by -Illmatic-

I think he was saying 2 months in a gappy

Right you are

Original post by Tateco

I thought you were talking about in a gap year sorry, but if you properly dedicated 1 month to it (a few hours a day) you could probably do the whole of AS econ, there's not much to it.

Yeah I would be prepared to work that much and I have knowledge about the concepts, just not in line with a specific board (I think I'll do OCR), so I think the AS will take less time than it would have done. Would you say doing well in an exam is easier than doing well in bio/chem if you can compare them (I remember you did one of the two)

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Original post by Tomatochuckers

Yeah I would be prepared to work that much and I have knowledge about the concepts, just not in line with a specific board (I think I'll do OCR), so I think the AS will take less time than it would have done. Would you say doing well in an exam is easier than doing well in bio/chem if you can compare them (I remember you did one of the two)

I dont care what anyone says. AS Economics is not even about knowledge, its about exam technique. If you can master that (which I couldnt), you'll do well. To an extent, it rewards exam tech rather than actual capability (but I would say that seeing as I got a B lololol)

Reply 6712

Original post by -Illmatic-

I dont care what anyone says. AS Economics is not even about knowledge, its about exam technique. If you can master that (which I couldnt), you'll do well. To an extent, it rewards exam tech rather than actual capability (but I would say that seeing as I got a B lololol)

Yeah that's what I heard as well. My exam technique is decent, its just I didn't revise everything at AS level which obviously let me down

You can still potentially turn that B to an A/A* as I am sure you know

Reply 6713

Original post by Tomatochuckers

Yeah that's what I heard as well. My exam technique is decent, its just I didn't revise everything at AS level which obviously let me down

You can still potentially turn that B to an A/A* as I am sure you know

Yeah I hope I can. I've been actively working on exam technique over the year but (may sound sad) but when I see a question that I know the answer to I get slightly excited.. :redface:

Its bad cos planning is very important lol

Reply 6714

OP

Original post by Tomatochuckers

Right you are

Yeah I would be prepared to work that much and I have knowledge about the concepts, just not in line with a specific board (I think I'll do OCR), so I think the AS will take less time than it would have done. Would you say doing well in an exam is easier than doing well in bio/chem if you can compare them (I remember you did one of the two)

I did both Biology and Chemistry, and Biology definitely took up a lot of my time but the exams were very easy, chemistry has similar exams to biology but it is more difficult in that it is more applied and not just regurgitating knowledge. Economics varies a lot across the boards, I think the OCR board is more similar to a typical exam with lots of smaller questions and then one or two big ones at the end. I did AQA which has 1/3 marks multiple choice (pretty much guaranteed nearly full marks if you do lots of past papers) and then 2/3 of the marks on a data response, which includes quite a tricky 25 mark essay. If you are planning to do A2 level economics eventually then I'd say avoid AQA, as in A2 they drop the multiple choice section and slam in loads more essays, and when essays aren't your forte (like me) then it hurts, but I suppose it's a good thing as it's forcing me to work on that...

Reply 6715

OP

Original post by -Illmatic-

Yeah I hope I can. I've been actively working on exam technique over the year but (may sound sad) but when I see a question that I know the answer to I get slightly excited.. :redface:

Its bad cos planning is very important lol

I'm the same, I don't plan either, I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it though. At the Tutor2U lecture they told us that when doing a higher mark essay question it is better to focus on 2/3 significant points and go into deep analysis and evaluation, and then just throw everything else that is relevant into the conclusion. That way you show your understanding of complex concepts and ability to explain and analyse them, but you also show you have the knowledge and have done the preparation by throwing everything else in :smile:

Reply 6716

Original post by Tateco

I'm the same, I don't plan either, I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it though. At the Tutor2U lecture they told us that when doing a higher mark essay question it is better to focus on 2/3 significant points and go into deep analysis and evaluation, and then just throw everything else that is relevant into the conclusion. That way you show your understanding of complex concepts and ability to explain and analyse them, but you also show you have the knowledge and have done the preparation by throwing everything else in :smile:

Ah thanks for that. Yeah planning is really important but its hard to contain your excitement sometimes :ahee:

haha yeah I like the 2/3 points tip. Instead of just chucking in everything you know blindly, hoping for marks :colondollar:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 6717

OP

Original post by -Illmatic-

Ah thanks for that. Yeah planning is really important but its hard to contain your excitement sometimes :ahee:

haha yeah I like the 2/3 points tip. Instead of just chucking in everything you know, blindly hoping for marks

Yeah I'm exactly the same as you! I just need to train myself to follow a structured layout, but I can never be bothered to practice essays...

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