Should I go to university to study Economics even if I won't get into a top one?

Hey guys,

Been reading through threads on here and almost every thread has someone who is getting AAB or AAA and is going to Oxbridge, LSE, Warwick etc etc.

I got BCD and a merit in AS levels which obviously isn't good enough to go to these universites. I dropped A-Level IT and I think next year I could at best get an A in Business Studies, a distinction* in OCR IT and a B in English and at worst a B in Business, distinction* in OCR IT and a C in English.

Alongside these I also have to do the Welsh Baccalaureate which I would expect to get an A in but it's not always accepted by universities.

The uni's I've been looking at that I have a realistic chance of getting into are the likes of Swansea, Bristol UWE, Manchester Met, Portsmouth etc. Maybe I will apply for one upper echelon university just as a gamble in the unlikely event I do really well.

Is there any point in going to university? If the degree isn't from a top university will I be able to secure a decent job related to the degree?

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Reply 1

Andersen94

I would say it depends on how willing you are to work for your degree. If you believe you are willing to give it your all and can get a 2:1 or a 1st at uni, then I'd say study it no matter what ranking the uni has.
I'm studying at Uni of Stirling in Scotland, which is close in rankings to unis like Portsmouth and Swansea.
I know a good amount of students from my uni going into very good jobs (Deloitte, Bloomberg etc.) secured through internships, despite not going to prestigious university. This is all to do with getting a decent degree and extra-curricular activities.

Reply 2

SmellyProtein

Better to do a good degree at a lower ranked uni than a rubbish degree at a higher ranked one.

Reply 3

chazwomaq

These unis are decent, mid ranking ones, and economics is a pretty decent degree. So overall I would say that's not a bad option at all (it's not media studies at London Met or whatever). Spreading your applications out is a good idea e.g. one that's just above your predicted grades, 2 or 3 that are on your predictions, and 1 or 2 below as backup.

Your decision should depend on what alternatives you have in mind. What would you do if you didn't go to uni? What training or career would you pursue?

Reply 4

MagicNMedicine

Yes if you like economics go for it, there are employers like the Government Economic Service, Bank of England etc who have their own selection tests and don't select on what university you have been through, so as long as you learn your economics well you can do well.

Bear in mind internet forums can give a skewed view of the world as they represent a small sample - on economics for instance it's often full of high-flying academic kids who all want jobs in investment banking and they have a bit of macho I'm-better-than-you talk so you can come away thinking that it's basically Oxbridge/LSE or nothing. That may be true of the investment banks where they want to work but it's not true of the job market as a whole.

You need to think of what your alternative is - if you don't go to university and do economics what will you do instead. If you have another good plan lined up fair enough but if you want to do economics and don't know what else to do in life then I'd say go for it.

Reply 5

Colmans

Original post by rclarke77

Is there any point going to university is a reasonable question given the debt.
There are general benefits-mixing with a wider group of people from different parts of the country and different backgrounds with different opinions is good for confidence and helps to avoid developing narrow views and prejudices. Learning to live independently, manage your finances and your time without parental influence is helpful.
There are general academic benefits-learning to analyse data, or write essays (what they call "reports" at work) or improve numeracy.
There are course specific benefits. Much of the employment world revolves around markets, profitability, economic cycles and economic behaviour.
Finally there is the career advancement benefit. There are still plenty of jobs where a degree is essential or where advancement beyond a certain level is difficult without a degree. There are also jobs where a degree is of no value at all. A higher ranking university helps more than a lower ranking one but to many employers Economics is a much higher ranking degree than most Arts subjects, even where they are studied at better universities.

If you hate academic work, loathe studying independently, know what you could do instead and are desperate to earn money, don't go now, you can always go later. But if you enjoy Economics as a subject and want to learn more and you would enjoy the university experience aim reasonably high for what is achievable if you work hard and go for it.

Reply 6

MagicNMedicine

Original post by Colmans

There are course specific benefits. Much of the employment world revolves around markets, profitability, economic cycles and economic behaviour.

There's another benefit about economics which is it teaches you a framework of thinking which is a good and useful life skill. A lot of decisions in life involve trading off one thing against another and economics gives you a set of skills for thinking about how to make the optimum decision.

I find it helps me think about risk in the right way and things like whether to take out insurance for something or not. I see a lot of bad decisions including things like football chairmen firing their manager and then ending up in a worse situation where I've thought if they had appraised that situation properly thinking about random variation, sample sizes and the decision criteria to change or not change they would never have made that decision.

Also game theory and understanding strategic behaviour is always good in terms of helping you in negotiations with things. I'm pretty hard to blag with a sales pitch or rip off in any kind of negotiation because I learned in an economics degree how to anticipate the other party's best response and how to make my position clear.

All that stuff above is stuff you learn in microeconomics. Of course there is also macro which just makes you able to follow news about the economy, inflation, unemployment etc, it makes politics much more understandable which is enjoyable and makes for good intelligent conversation when you are with a fellow economics grad.

Reply 7

alexp98

Degrees like Economics and Computer science are good anywhere, I know plenty of people who went to mid table Unis and secured high salary jobs from placement years ect

Ps- places like UWE aren't bad,they're mid table and if you get a good degree in the end you'll still do very well, econ isn't like Law where it's all about the rep of the uni

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 8

AstarAstarA

Original post by SmellyProtein

Better to do a good degree at a lower ranked uni than a rubbish degree at a higher ranked one.

I strongly disagree with this statement.

Reply 9

SmellyProtein

Original post by AstarAstarA

I strongly disagree with this statement.

So better to study Food tech at a uni 5 places higher than one you could study accounting at?

If we are talking about graduate employment + pay i think we can agree on which is clearly better.

Reply 10

AstarAstarA

Original post by SmellyProtein

So better to study Food tech at a uni 5 places higher than one you could study accounting at?

If we are talking about graduate employment + pay i think we can agree on which is clearly better.

Any university that offers food tech is so third rate that its beyond the threshold where any potential employer would distinguish between.

Reply 11

SmellyProtein

Original post by AstarAstarA

Any university that offers food tech is so third rate that its beyond the threshold where any potential employer would distinguish between.

Food science: Kings college London.....Nottingham.....

Supposedly good unis that offer it.

Reply 12

AstarAstarA

Original post by SmellyProtein

Food science: Kings college London.....Nottingham.....

Supposedly good unis that offer it.

KCL and Nottingham are ****. They're unis you go to if you **** up and get Bs

Reply 13

SmellyProtein

Original post by AstarAstarA

Any university that offers food tech is so third rate that its beyond the threshold where any potential employer would distinguish between.

Now I go to LJMU which is a mid table-ish uni and study Accounting and Finance. Many students from here go on to work within the top 4 (or 5 if you like). These people are getting the same pay as someone who is coming from Oxford or Cambridge.

I agree with you somewhat however, although not every subject requires someone to attend a top university.

Reply 14

SmellyProtein

Original post by AstarAstarA

KCL and Nottingham are ****. They're unis you go to if you **** up and get Bs

Or just cba with A-levels and too busy banging hoes to get top grades :biggrin:

Reply 15

Riverstar

In 20 years time nobody is going to care where your degree comes from, just that you have it. People on TSR seem so obsessed with "high-ranked unis" when they aren't necessarily much different from other unis. Go where you want to, enjoy the uni experience and come out with a degree. The most important thing should be that you like the uni, not where it places on the skewed tables.

Reply 16

AstarAstarA

Original post by SmellyProtein

Or just cba with A-levels and too busy banging hoes to get top grades :biggrin:

That doesn't seem to affect grades so much. Most A levels are common sense you just have to show up to the lesson and listen half the time to get an A. Probably people who don't grow out of weed by the time they turn 16 or they're just mentally disabled in the first place

Reply 17

SmellyProtein

Original post by AstarAstarA

I doubt many people just turn up and get A grades..... Would have to be asian for that.

Reply 18

alexp98

Original post by SmellyProtein

Why did you choose to go there? I wouldn't say it's mid-table for A+F... Mid-table include De Montfort, portsmouth, Lincoln, and Bristol UWE ect. I'm also applying for this and was just wandering if there is a particular reason you choose to study there

Reply 19

SmellyProtein

Original post by alexp98

My dad works there and can access test...... and change test scores.

Hmm it's about 60/100 for A+F but nethertheless the job prospects are the same as any other uni.