Deciding on a working title for my Economics EPQ

Hey Fella's,
I'm currently deciding on a final working title for my EPQ project. It's my hope to somehow relate organisations and their structure, to the economy.

Some ideas I've had include:
Idea 1: “To What Extent Do Shorter Working Weeks Effect a Country’s Productivity”

Idea 2: "To What Extent Economic Growth Was Affected by the Formation of the First Limited Companies"

Idea 3: "The Effect on Productivity in Economies as a Result of the Formation of Limited Companies"

Idea 4: “An Investigation Into the Differences in Importance of Advertising & Marketing in Different Types of Consumer Markets”


Unfortunately, none of these are specific enough to fit into a 5,000 word essay.
My big ask, is if you have any ideas that are more specific, or perhaps you could point me in the direction of some resources to help me narrow down a title?

Thanks in advance!
Ethan

@Mona123456 @theteknikal
Thank you guys, these are fantastic suggestions!
I'll crack onto them ASAP.

@Mona123456 Did you produce a similar essay for 3-day weekends?

@Mona123456
That sounds really interesting, I too hope to study a degree related to economics.

Anyway, I eventually decided upon this title:

The Viability of Shorter Working Weeks in Private Sector Firms and How They Affect Productivity

@Mona123456
Haha, well spotted. Yes, I am looking at Economics and Management at Oxford. Are there any specific differences in applying to that degree?

Yes. I actually received an offer a few weeks ago for E&M at Oxford (just need the grades now!) but please do tag or PM me and I’ll happily help answer any questions. From my own experience, it’s such a daunting thing to apply for (especially when you see all the admissions statistics, eeek) so do let me know if you’re worried about anything or have specific questions and I’ll do my best to help.

My main tip is to just do as much as you can for your PS in the way of further reading, essay competitions etc but the TSA is really really important in getting shortlisted, so start prepping sooner rather than later. Also, definitely make sure you tailor your application to Oxford and do mention management in your personal statement (there’s an Oxford management reading list for example that you may like to look at).

I’ve actually been asked before about the TSA/E&M so I’ll copy and paste some of my responses below, just in case you’re interested in reading them. I’ll supply some helpful links too.

Good luck with your application!

Responses & links

My response about the TSA:

The TSA is incredibly important as E&M is so competitive, so I started preparation earlier rather than later. I began light prep in October 2018 and sat the TSA in October 2019. However, for about 6-9 months I just did *very* light prep - I bought two books (one I think was from the Oxbridge Admissions company - not linked to Oxford though - it was called something like ‘The Ultimate TSA Guide’ with 300 practice questions, and the other was ‘So You Think You Can Think’) and met roughly once every one or two weeks to go through a few critical thinking questions from these books with a teacher and do some practice TSA essays (as the only essay subject I take is economics). For a good month or two, these meetings were literally my teacher and I trying to understand what critical thinking was and what the question types were!

Then, from roughly February onwards, I did past papers (usually like half a paper per week) and went through questions I got wrong with a teacher. I did a mix of TSA papers and a few BMAT section 1 papers (but would skip the science/long data questions). I wouldn’t time these, or if I did it was just to see if I was getting quicker - I wasn’t strict with it and usually ran over time.

From Summer onwards, I then did full timed papers (to begin with around one every other week, but eventually one a week by September). Once I got back to school, I met once a week with a teacher to go through critical thinking questions that I got wrong (and the essays), and once a week with a different teacher to go through problem solving questions that I got wrong.

The week before, I also made notes (a bit like essay plans?) on key topics that I thought might come up (none of them did, but it was interesting learning about them anyway and still worth doing). Additionally, I repeated one past paper to compare my score and see my progression (just for a bit of a confidence boost really!). For the whole year I also kept up with current affairs, but that goes without saying really - definitely make sure you do!

It sounds like a lot haha but my school is very small and doesn’t often send people to Oxbridge, so I was pretty proactive in preparing early and politely asking my teachers for meetings to help me and go through things. It was also on-and-off prep as I took gaps and sometimes I was away, sometimes the teacher was away etc so don’t feel you need to literally do something every single week - I definitely didn’t! You do need to put time in to get used to the question styles and timings though (in the real thing I unfortunately ran out of time slightly and guessed about 3 questions, but to begin with I would run out of time without answering 10 or so questions, so practice helps!).

Good luck! It is quite enjoyable as the questions themselves are really interesting, but it’s just the timing that makes the whole thing stressful! Still, it is worth taking it seriously and trying your best, as it is a crucial factor in getting an interview.

My response about interviews:

I didn’t do nearly as much prep for interviews as I was ill for the two weeks leading up to them, and had only planned to prep once I got an invite. However, I did do a few mock interviews with teachers - these weren’t very much like the real thing, but it was a helpful experience and I’d recommend asking economics/maths teachers nonetheless. I read through my personal statement and attempted to skim read/make notes on some of the books I’d mentioned. I brushed up on A2 maths and current affairs, and read through notes I’d made for the TSA. I did a little more research on what I’d mentioned in my TSA essay in case they asked me about it (as I made a major mistake being the idiot I am under pressure). That’s pretty much it really.

Links you might find helpful:

Link to helpful guide for the BMAT (BMAT Section 1 is similar to the TSA section 1 apart from the data/science questions):

https://www.admissionstesting.org/images/324081-bmat-section-1-question-guide.pdf

Detailed info on the E&M admissions process and criteria tutors use:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=872214&d=1578499308

E&M reading list:

https://www.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxford/media_wysiwyg/Economics_%26_Management_reading_list_pdf.pdf

And also:

https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/economics-and-management-reading-list

Admissions feedback:

https://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/undergraduate/admissions-feedback in

Also @E&M1234 just to quickly add to my previous post - sounds obvious but you absolutely need to make sure E&M is the degree for you, and that you’re applying because of that, not just because it’s Oxford. E&M is a mix of maths and essays and in the first year is two thirds management - you definitely need to make sure you’re committed to this and that management interests you! There’s such a range of other courses (Oxford offer PPE and H&E but Cambridge offer a highly mathematical economics degree and lots of other Unis offer different variants) so yep - make sure E&M is your dream course, and that you can show in your application that you’re a strong mathematician and wonderful essayist. E&M really does require a broad skill set. Best of luck!

Also, may I congratulate on your offer to E&M, it is quite an accomplishment. You should be really proud of yourself!

@Mona123456

Thank you, Mona! This is absolutely fantastic information, I really appreciate it, you're a legend.

The prestige of Oxford is nice, there's no denying that, but you can rest assured I'm really into E&M for the degree itself. The mixture between economics and management hits a personal sweet spot for me, as I'm interested in joining the Management Consulting industry post-uni, and economics has been a favourite subject throughout GCSEs and A-Levels.

Aside from Computer Science, Economics, and Maths at school, I'm also teaching myself A-Level Accounting in a year, and taking the exams for the full A-Level this June.

From your experience, to what extent do you think this'll help boost my application chances?

You’re most welcome! Not so long ago I was in your position so I definitely know how it feels.

It’s great to hear you love the degree too - from my experiences, it’s really important to shine in both the economics and management interviews, and to just give everything your best go and really look interested and enthusiastic! Also, coincidentally, I’m hoping to go into Management Consultancy as well potentially - next year, make sure that you apply for McKinsey’s Leadership Academy. It looks like a fab programme - I’ve applied this year and haven’t heard back yet, but it’s aimed at Year 13 students.

That’s good and can definitely be used to highlight your interest in financial management. I would say to still make sure you focus on academia, as economics is of course an academic field whereas accounting is quite different, but if you do well in accounting and emphasise the skills you’ve gained and how it directly links to E&M, it’s certainly an interesting addition to your application. If at all possible though, if you’re getting that done this year then it may be worth trying to see if you can pick up further maths AS in Year 13? Even though Oxford don’t require further maths, many top Unis prefer it and beyond maths and economics, I’d say personally that further maths is the next best A Level for E&M or really any Econ degree. If your school won’t let you take further maths up, you may also like to try and teach yourself core pure year 1 and further stats 1 as I reckon further maths really is desirable for the best Econ degrees. That being said, if you can’t, don’t worry, but if further maths was offered and it wasn’t taken that isn’t ideal. But, if that’s the case, just absolutely make sure you prove your maths abilities elsewhere e.g. through UKMT competitions and such, and certainly aim for an A* prediction in normal maths.

Best of luck, and do let me know how things go. Wishing you the best for your application!

Random side note - you may like to consider LSE and Durham that offer E&M, and Warwick that offer Economics and Industrial Organisation, potentially as some of your other options. Although I applied to different variants of economics degrees, it does help if you can apply to E&M or similar (such as business economics) at other Unis, as then your personal statement is more coherent for your whole application.

Goodness, sorry I write so much lol, I’ll leave it at that haha (literally think that’s everything you could possibly need to know!) but as always, do tag/PM me at any point and I’d be happy to try and help.

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you.
But Crikey! This is ridiculously valuable advice, I appreciate it so much!

Time to get cracking ahead with this!