PLEASE HELP Econ or Geography?

Hi TSR,

I am hoping to apply to LSE, Cambridge, Manchester and Bristol for Econ / Econ & Maths and I was wondering if I could get some advice...

Don't get me wrong, I love economics but my school has a weak economics department and the AS UMS curve is fairly intimidating especially compared to the Geography curve. Moreover, I am top of my year in Geography and I have been persuaded by all the teachers in the Geography department to take Geography next year.

I know it says on the Cambridge, LSE, UCL etc websites that Economics is not essential but looking at the stalking pages, I can't seem to find anybody who got in without economics (even with FM). I think that I'll achieve a higher UMS if I pick Geography but I also feel I may be at a disadvantage if I don't pick economics.

What do you think?

Goldfly

Ps, my other subjects are Maths, FM and Physics if that helps.

Reply 1

Mike_123

Original post by Goldfly

It doesn't matter if you're better at geography, it matters which one you are interested in - so pick on that basis. And A levels in both are representative of the content in degrees. Besides, the UMS curves tell you more about the people who take the exams rather than the rigour sometimes.

For your last point, I assume you're talking about whether you have to take economics to study economics. The answer is definitely not, and the websites specifically say so. Your A level choices are strong and as long as your results are too then you won't struggle to get some offers. Geography is certainly less competitive and by the looks of things you seem to enjoy maths, and economics provides a nice element of maths that trumps geography in terms of quantity and depth.

Reply 2

Goldfly

Original post by Mike_123

Thank you for your reply! Geography it is let's just hope it isn't too late to change my options.

Reply 3

p.formanko

hey - I did both for A-level, so you've come to the right place :tongue:

As mentioned above, to succeed in A-level you have to do subjects which interest you - so if your parents are forcing you to do subjects needed to be a doctor but you want to be a graphic designer, follow your heart!

In general, economics is quite mathematical, interpreting graphs, writing a few essays, understanding decisions individuals and governments must make when resources are finite but wants are infinite.
Now being more specific, I did AQA and my school has a pretty decent Econ department - we got through the syllabus by February and since then we were doing practice exams, so the teaching element is really important. In AQA you've got 1/3 of the exam multiple choice (basically theory) and 2/3 is definitions and essays - these are marked similar to english, in the sense that you can get marks for anything so long as you can back it up with references and/or evidence. PLUS, if you're doing maths and FM then i don't think universities care if you do econ (but its worth checking on each university website).

In general, geography is a lot more broad - you dabble in economics, politics, culture, natural geography etc (I've chosen to do it for university). personally I find it fascinating how power is distributed around the world, the issue of poverty, the growing rich-poor divide, and so on. Geography also teaches lots of transferrable skills which people like, and universities like it when you have a variety of subjects.
Being more specific again, I did Edexcel and it had 2 units, one 90mins and one 75mins. In the latter, you have to write 6 essays in that time! so that was probably the only one reason why I was turned off geography, but hey, everyone suffers equally - we'll see on results day...

hope this helps :smile:

Reply 4

Goldfly

Original post by p.formanko

hey - I did both for A-level, so you've come to the right place :tongue:

Thanks for your detailed reply! It was exactly what I was looking for :smile:

I am aware that the A2 exam in geography is very notorious however for the moment I am thinking about the subjects that I will excel most at AS (I know not the most pragmatic approach but I need offers!!).

I think the broadness of geography is what I enjoy and hey, maybe I might change my mind about taking economics at university and take geography instead. The reason that I am hesitant to make a decision is because outside of reading, I have very limited economic knowledge as my school doesn't offer it for GCSE.

Thanks again for your reply,

Goldfly

Reply 5

p.formanko

Original post by Goldfly

Thanks for your detailed reply! It was exactly what I was looking for :smile:

No problem, glad to have helped :smile:

The A2 exam depends on which exam board you're on - if you're on AQA then theres a bit of a shock because in AS there's smaller questions (1-5mark questions, definitions, multiple choice, etc) whereas A2 is entirely essay based.

My school didn't offer Econ for GCSE either, and with my dad being a banker, I was kinda forced into doing Econ without really having a chance or doing any research or background reading, so I was in the same boat (though I don't want to do anything Economics related).

Its also worth knowing that for some universities (again, you'd have to check) don't actually need to have certain A-levels to do that subject at university - for example, to study Geography at Cambridge you don't need to have done Geography at A-level, and I'm sure that may apply for economics too, considering you're doing Maths :smile: