Economics applicants 2015

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Hey, I should be applying to economics too, my current academic record:
GCSE: 8a* 2a (One in additional maths) and distinction star in btec media
AS:
French: b
Arabic: a ( taken in year 10)
Maths: a
Further maths:a
Physics:a
Chemistry: a

I would like to apply to:
Warwick: straight econ and then pick up French modules
Nottingham: straight econ( although I prefer econ with French you have to do a year abroad)
Royal holloway: econ with French
Lse: straight econ
Ucl: stats, econ and a language.

So I have a couple of questions, firstly with the unis I'm applying to am I right in saying I don't have to/ can't write my ums on ucas? Which would be ideal because some a's aren't v high.
Also I've only recently decided to apply to economics, what can I read that would widen my perspective in the subject so to speak aha?
And seeing as the courses I'm applying to are slightly different how would I tailor my ps?
Thanks very much :smile:

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Reply 81

CambEcon2015

Original post by Mathsfanatic123

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Ah cool well for joint honours you normally write about each subject equally but obviously you're only applying to two unis for joint honours so maybe talk about French in relation to economics if you can? Although that may be easier said than done haha, you could ask a careers advisor at school about this :smile:

Nope don't think you need to declare your ums for any of these, but I'm not 100% sure with lse, they may require it, again if in doubt send the department an email

Have you read any economics books already? I'm guessing that your ps may need to be heavily weighted on showing off your knowledge of economics and why you want to study it because you haven't done it at AS. Having a look at a textbook may be helpful for your own understanding but obviously not to write about in your ps
LSE has a preliminary reading list in their prospectus for econ:
A V Banjeree and E Duflo - Poor economics: barefoot hedge-fund managers, diy doctors and the surprising truth about life
T Harford - the undercover economist, and the logic of life
P Keugman - end this depression now
S D Levitt and S J Dubner - freakonomics and super freakonomics

That should be plenty of reading, the economist is always a good shout too :biggrin:

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Reply 82

NikolaT

Original post by Mathsfanatic123

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Ninja's above post is very good.

The only thing I might argue about is that your courses are different or that they're 'joint honours'... as a joint honours applicant, your courses all seem to be single honours except maybe UCL and RHUL is 'combined' rather than 'joint'.

I would advise you to apply for straight Economics (or as close as you can get for UCL) and make a PS just for Economics. Your optional modules you decide when you get there anyway, so afaik, there's no reason you need to give it as much importance as Economics. I fully intend to make use of the Language Centre at whichever university I end up going to (offering the ability to learn a language outside of my degree was one of my shortlisting criteria) and I'm not going to mention a word of it on my PS.

As luck would have it, RHUL will be creating this opportunity by the time our year group arrive there (I asked in their Q&A thread on this forum). I'd be very much surprised if the London institutes don't offer language courses, but I'd check just in case.

By the way, Arabic in Year 10? You must be a genius!

Reply 83

groovyd97

Original post by NinjaPandaa

Hmm I don't think so really, although game theory is a good thing to look at, I know someone who talked about it in his econ+man interview at oxford
If you wanted to do further maths AS even though d1 is dull it is an easy A and a very short course to learn quickly

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I know many people say D1 is easy, because the content is actually easy. The exam is actually very ambiguous and hard. I got AAAA in my ASs including further maths and my worst grade was a low D in D1! And it's not just me - most of my friends got Bs and Cs and they are all good further mathematicians...

Reply 84

CambEcon2015

Original post by groovyd97

To be fair d1 was actually my second lowest maths exam, but I still reckon it's one of the easiest to self teach compared to other modules

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Reply 85

jayjay531

I want to apply to Oxbridge, but don't know whether to apply to Oxford or Cambridge
At GCSE I got 9A*'s, 3A's and a C in Astronomy
At A-level I got AAAB
87.8 in Maths (C1-93, C2-96, S1-74)
90.3 in Biology
79 in Chemistry (Was one away from an A, but hopefully a remark is kind to me)
93.5 in Economics
- The average of my 3 best subjects would be 90.5
I'm also head boy at my school xD
My school didn't offer further maths last year, but this year they are, and I intend on picking up AS further maths
I've been to the Eton, UNIQ (Oxford), Cambridge, and LSE Summer Schools
The secondary school I went to and the sixth form I currently go to are considered 'deprived' and I am also an ethnic minority.

I wouldn't mind applying to Oxford or Cambridge, but it's just that I am so afraid of the TSA - which I might flop on the day. Especially since I havent had the time to appropriately revise for it

In light of this information, should I apply to Oxford or Cambridge? And why ? Also is it worth applying to LSE ?
I really need some help and advice :smile:

Reply 86

CambEcon2015

Original post by jayjay531

Really you have to think which course will suit you, the oxford and cambridge course are very different mainly as oxford is economics and management rather than straight econ. Oxford's course is less mathematical than cambridge's so that could be a factor?
With the tsa my school advised revising it from September and doing a solid week on it in half term so that could be another factor :smile:

Your best 3 average is good for cambridge although not best so maybe that's something to think about too

Sorry if I haven't been helpful at all aha

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Reply 87

Boy_wonder_95

Original post by callmethed0ctor

Oh that's very true woops! Could I do FP1, FP2 and S3? I'm not 100% sure on how the combinations are allowed to work.

Yes you can, but note FP2 is a fair bit harder than the rest.

Reply 88

AChhabs0701

Original post by Bloxorus

As someone who went though the application process last year and secured a place at UCL yesterday, if anyone has any questions, fire away :smile:

what were your GCSE and A-Level grades, if you dont mind me asking? And would you say the economics course at UCL is just a bit TOO maths-y?..because thats what it seems like to me, and probably why i'm leaning towards warwick as my top choice instead.

Reply 89

Bloxorus

Original post by AChhabs0701

I had relatively poor GCSEs compared to most applicants (1A*, 5As, 5Bs, 1C), but then I managed to turn that around and I got AAAAA at AS and A*A*AA at A2.

For me, I wanted the most maths in the course as possible which was why I wanted to go to UCL. As far as I'm aware the economics courses at UCL and LSE are extremely similar so if UCL is too mathsy then LSE will definitely be too. The reason I didn't apply to LSE though was because I didn't think id get an offer with my GCSEs. But for some people I can understand why the amount of maths may be a little off putting.

Warwick and Oxford are good choices though if you don't want as much maths.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 90

Nikmali

I recently received my AS level results; they were 4 A's being 100% in Biology, 97% in Economics, 89% in Law and 86% in Maths (am dropping law). Was just wondering if anyone that's applied/applying thinks I'll have much chance of getting into warwick and then uni's such as durham or nottingham with most likely predictions of A*A*A or A*AA

Reply 91

CambEcon2015

Original post by Nikmali

Ah this is similar to me I want to apply to warwick nottingham and durham yay!! Yeah I'm pretty sure you have a good chance with those prediction and you've got the AS grades to back it up, if you have a good personal statement you should be great :biggrin:

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Reply 92

Nikmali

Original post by NinjaPandaa

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Ahh good luck! The only thing that worries me is that a lot of students applying to these places are doing 4 a2 subjects instead of three and also the only economics based things I have to put on my PS are talking about books I've read and economists I follow, I don't have any work experience etc. However I am head boy, play rugby and coach year 7's so might be a bit more well rounded in that sense😁

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Reply 93

CambEcon2015

Original post by Nikmali

Have you thought about doing an EPQ or anything, that could boost it up a bit?

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Reply 94

Nikmali

Original post by NinjaPandaa

Have you thought about doing an EPQ or anything, that could boost it up a bit?

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Yeah I think I'm going to try do an epq depending on how much time I have etc at the start of the year!

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Reply 95

sr234

Could anyone help?
These are my stats..
GCSE'S - 7A*s 3A's, however one of my A's was in mathematics which I think will let me down :frown:

I want to apply to Warwick MMORSE, LSE maths and econ,Bristol maths and economics and still undecided about my other 2 choices.
My question is will my A at GCSE really affect my chances of receiving an offer from any of the uni's that I want to apply to?

I got an A in maths this year 95% UMS so I will get my referee to mention that, but I'm still worried about my A at GCSE.

Thanks :smile:

Reply 96

CambEcon2015

Original post by sr234

Could anyone help?
These are my stats..
GCSE'S - 7A*s 3A's, however one of my A's was in mathematics which I think will let me down :frown:

Hmm it'd be ridiculous if it was considering your high ums on that this yea, well done btw, but your best bet would be to directly email the departments and see what they say :smile:

you may want to apply to some with slightly lower requirements so you've got a safety net too :biggrin:

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Reply 97

Username13

Is the Nottingham economics course a BA or BSc depending on which modules you select?
Also, entry requirements are A*AA - AAA, so on what basis do they give an offer of AAA instead of A*AA?

Would appreciate your help :smile:

Reply 98

sr234

Original post by NinjaPandaa

Hmm it'd be ridiculous if it was considering your high ums on that this yea, well done btw, but your best bet would be to directly email the departments and see what they say :smile:

you may want to apply to some with slightly lower requirements so you've got a safety net too :biggrin:

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Haha thank you, I'll email the departments :smile:

According to Bristol's website, for maths + economics the entry requirements would be AAB ( I go to a bad school so according to their website I would be made a contextual offer :redface:

)
But yh for my 4th and 5th choice I'll probably apply for uni's that are less competitive than LSE, Warwick and Bristol :smile:

Thanks for the help and good luck with your application! :biggrin:

Reply 99

CambEcon2015

Original post by sr234

Haha thank you, I'll email the departments :smile:

According to Bristol's website, for maths + economics the entry requirements would be AAB ( I go to a bad school so according to their website I would be made a contextual offer :redface:

)
But yh for my 4th and 5th choice I'll probably apply for uni's that are less competitive than LSE, Warwick and Bristol :smile:

Thanks for the help and good luck with your application! :biggrin:

Oh I realise how that sounded I meant a safety in case of the gcse but thank you and good luck with yours too! We'll have to keep updating our progress on here :biggrin:

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