Economics offers

Original post by 12BathK1

what process do you go through when doing past papers?
for example, how do you structure essays or what do you do if you got 4/6 on a question.

Obviously I try and work through them in timed conditions. Also, it's not always necessary to do the whole paper, because all the 1/2/3/4 mark questions are easy, the main discriminants are the essay questions.
Use 3-5 minutes to just think and plan. Don't jump into it (even in an exam). Write out a rough plan dependant on the question and include all your points. Always make sure you give both sides of the argument, strong analysis and if you want to max out your marks, some strong evaluation.

Reply 9

zxvs

16

Original post by Presence

oh really , so u didnt need to take a TSA test ? cool i am in year 12 and plan to apply there next year for econ x any revision tips haha

The answer above is correct - the UCL TSA does not apply to Economics (or any joint Economics degrees). The TSA Oxford, however, is needed for both PPE and Econ & Management if you plan to apply for Econ degrees at Oxford. Cambridge uses the ECAA (which is their own admissions test for Economics). However, it should be noted that the TSA for Cambridge still exists, but only applies to BA Land Economy.

Reply 10

12BathK1

OP

10

Original post by Shiv7

Obviously I try and work through them in timed conditions. Also, it's not always necessary to do the whole paper, because all the 1/2/3/4 mark questions are easy, the main discriminants are the essay questions.
Use 3-5 minutes to just think and plan. Don't jump into it (even in an exam). Write out a rough plan dependant on the question and include all your points. Always make sure you give both sides of the argument, strong analysis and if you want to max out your marks, some strong evaluation.

thanks mate

Reply 11

Original post by 12BathK1

what process do you go through when doing past papers?
for example, how do you structure essays or what do you do if you got 4/6 on a question.

I'm doing AQA A level Economics and am predicted A* so I thought I would be a good person to share my way of writing economics essays.

Structure:
1st paragraph: Definitions, main points of arguments written in one sentence, and a very brief overall judgment
2nd paragraph: Point 1, explain, examples (application), evaluation (what other factors your point depends on, and what it will affect)
(same for paragraphs 3 and 4; ideally you should be writing three points of arguments)
5th paragraph: EVALUATION - VERY IMPORTANT! What is your overall view, given your arguments? does the question actually matter? are there more important/interesting questions to be answered? is the question unanswerable at the moment? why? what needs to happen before the question can be anwered? etc etc etc...

make sure to include diagram(s) where appropriate - these are easy marks so make sure you ace all diagrams

For a 25 marker, ideally you should be spending 40-45 mins on it in the exam.
10 mins planning
5 mins intro
6 mins for each point
10 mins evaluation

This is my own way of writing economics essays, so don't feel pressured to follow my steps - write them in whatever way suits you.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 12

12BathK1

OP

10

Original post by OxbridgeRejectTT

I'm doing AQA A level Economics and am predicted A* so I thought I would be a good person to share my way of writing economics essays.

Structure:
1st paragraph: Definitions, main points of arguments written in one sentence, and a very brief overall judgment
2nd paragraph: Point 1, explain, examples (application), evaluation (what other factors your point depends on, and what it will affect)
(same for paragraphs 3 and 4; ideally you should be writing three points of arguments)
5th paragraph: EVALUATION - VERY IMPORTANT! What is your overall view, given your arguments? does the question actually matter? are there more important/interesting questions to be answered? is the question unanswerable at the moment? why? what needs to happen before the question can be anwered? etc etc etc...

make sure to include diagram(s) where appropriate - these are easy marks so make sure you ace all diagrams

For a 25 marker, ideally you should be spending 40-45 mins on it in the exam.
10 mins planning
5 mins intro
6 mins for each point
10 mins evaluation

This is my own way of writing economics essays, so don't feel pressured to follow my steps - write them in whatever way suits you.

thank you mate

Reply 13

Presence

Original post by Shiv7

The TSA for UCL is taken only if you're applying for International and Political Studies, not for Economics. If you're applying to do Economics at Oxford, you'll need to take the TSA Oxford. If you apply for Economics at Cambridge (like me) you'll need to do the Economics Admissions Assessment.
In terms of revision tips I'd just say do whatever suits you. Personally I didn't like making notes and stuff so I took notes from the year above and just read through them and the textbook/classwork. I also practice loads of past paper essays, that is crucial. That's all really.
What A-Levels are you currently doing?

i hope i can apply to oxbridge too but i am already struggling with a level maths zzz

maths, further maths,economcis,psychology
i hope i can do economics and management at oxford or economics at LSE,UCL,Warwick

how about you what did u take ?

also , is it just me or do u also have this problem? so i revised psychology and 2 weeks later i literally forgot everthing i revised and had to start over , like i can only remember 10% of what i learnt so i have to spend a lot of time just to remember something small. This was ok for gcse but i am afraid that for a levels i wont have enough time to keep going over the content as there is so much more !

may i ask what super/extra curricular activities did u do and do u think worl experience is needed to study economics at uni ?

Reply 14

Shiv7

Original post by Presence

i hope i can apply to oxbridge too but i am already struggling with a level maths zzz

maths, further maths,economcis,psychology
i hope i can do economics and management at oxford or economics at LSE,UCL,Warwick

how about you what did u take ?

also , is it just me or do u also have this problem? so i revised psychology and 2 weeks later i literally forgot everthing i revised and had to start over , like i can only remember 10% of what i learnt so i have to spend a lot of time just to remember something small. This was ok for gcse but i am afraid that for a levels i wont have enough time to keep going over the content as there is so much more !

may i ask what super/extra curricular activities did u do and do u think worl experience is needed to study economics at uni ?

That's a good set of A-Level subjects. Further Maths is key to getting into the top universities for Economics.
I took Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics (Predicted 4A*) and Chemistry till AS (A). You could always just drop the psychology if you wanted to.
Personally I don't really have that problem so I can't help sorry! What I can suggest though is to try and go over whatever you learn in class again once you're back home. Go over it, look at some example questions and if you don't understand anything, clear it out with your teacher ASAP.
I won an Investec Essay Competition, which in turn gave me a weeks worth of work experience with them. I got to the national stage of the Young Student Investor Competition and the BASE ICAEW Challenge.
That's it to be honest.
For a subject like Economics I would say no work experience is needed for university. All you need is a real passion and devotion for the subject which can be demonstrated by further reading.
Hope this helps.

Reply 15

Presence

Original post by Shiv7

That's a good set of A-Level subjects. Further Maths is key to getting into the top universities for Economics.
I took Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics (Predicted 4A*) and Chemistry till AS (A). You could always just drop the psychology if you wanted to.
Personally I don't really have that problem so I can't help sorry! What I can suggest though is to try and go over whatever you learn in class again once you're back home. Go over it, look at some example questions and if you don't understand anything, clear it out with your teacher ASAP.
I won an Investec Essay Competition, which in turn gave me a weeks worth of work experience with them. I got to the national stage of the Young Student Investor Competition and the BASE ICAEW Challenge.
That's it to be honest.
For a subject like Economics I would say no work experience is needed for university. All you need is a real passion and devotion for the subject which can be demonstrated by further reading.
Hope this helps.

wow thats amazing achievement ! the problem is that my school only allows us to do descion maths and mechanics in further maths and i guess that university want you to do stats for econ right ? thank you for the advice , i think i might also stop making as many notes as i do because it really takes a lot of time and i dont remember what i write so its not really revision. maybe typing would save time ! i really need to learn some time management skills ha

Reply 16

Presence

Original post by Shiv7

That's a good set of A-Level subjects. Further Maths is key to getting into the top universities for Economics.
I took Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics (Predicted 4A*) and Chemistry till AS (A). You could always just drop the psychology if you wanted to.
Personally I don't really have that problem so I can't help sorry! What I can suggest though is to try and go over whatever you learn in class again once you're back home. Go over it, look at some example questions and if you don't understand anything, clear it out with your teacher ASAP.
I won an Investec Essay Competition, which in turn gave me a weeks worth of work experience with them. I got to the national stage of the Young Student Investor Competition and the BASE ICAEW Challenge.
That's it to be honest.
For a subject like Economics I would say no work experience is needed for university. All you need is a real passion and devotion for the subject which can be demonstrated by further reading.
Hope this helps.

can i also ask something i hope u dont mind x did u start to do further reading before year 12 ? if i start reading now would it be too late ? i actually havent learnt economics ever ,only started this year but i already know i want to study it becuase iof business gcse and just briefly looking at what the subject is about ,

Reply 17

Original post by Presence

wow thats amazing achievement ! the problem is that my school only allows us to do descion maths and mechanics in further maths and i guess that university want you to do stats for econ right ? thank you for the advice , i think i might also stop making as many notes as i do because it really takes a lot of time and i dont remember what i write so its not really revision. maybe typing would save time ! i really need to learn some time management skills ha

I have spoken to a DoS on a Cambridge college open day, and he said that it does not matter which options you take in further maths. However, it may be highly beneficial for you if you self-study stats in your own time (it's really just more statistical distributions and hypothesis testing) and take the exam yourself. From what I can infer, you are passive learning when instead you should be active learning. I can relate to you about spending lots of time making notes and not remembering anything. The only thing that helps me retain information is by writing essays and applying the concepts, each time I learn a new topic. So instead of making notes, I would just highlight key points from the book and immediately apply them - so much time saved!. You can also use Quora and make your own test.

Hope this helps.

P.S. English is my third language so I'm sorry if some bits don't make sense

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 18

Original post by Presence

can i also ask something i hope u dont mind x did u start to do further reading before year 12 ? if i start reading now would it be too late ? i actually havent learnt economics ever ,only started this year but i already know i want to study it becuase iof business gcse and just briefly looking at what the subject is about ,

It's never too late to start further reading. Since you're a beginner, it's normal to not understand most economic books so might be a good idea to read articles instead AND ANALYSE THEM - I personally find BBC and The Guardian much easier to understand than The Economist and The Financial Times. Once you've finished Y12 though, you will have the fundemental knowledge to start reading books in summer (I recommend Krugman and Stiglitz if you're into macro).

Reply 19