Applying to Oxbridge / LSE / Warwick / UCL

Oxbridge would be harder. LSE would also put you at a disadvantage compared to those with better GCSE's. However the remainder don't take GCSE's into as much of consideration.

Overall your chances are still pretty good and wouldn't be affected as much as you think.

Yes 100%, your gcse grades are good and 4 A* predictions in those subjects is also really good so definitely go for it

Yeah I've been swaying away from LSE due to the apparent very strong focus they have on GCSE results, and even if I were to apply there it would more likely be for a course such as Economics and Mathematics, or Econometrics and Mathematical Economics.

With regards to the other universities, I've been quite interested in the potential of Warwick, as I've heard that their Maths Department is one of the strongest in the country. On that basis, and with the consideration of my wanted A-Level results, what would you argue to be the 'better' course to go for; Maths or pure Economics at Warwick (with the view that I enjoy both subjects equally), with the want to either go down the Banking route or into Actuarial Science.

I've also heard very good things about the MORSE course held at Warwick, would that be an even more viable route to take?

With A*s in all 4 of my subjects (theoretically) - Maths, Further Maths, Economics and History, but only achieving 988887665 at GCSE (due to being the 'Covid year' so I was just given my mock results:/), would you guys say it would still be possible for me to put in a competitive application to Oxbridge, LSE, Warwick, UCL, etc. with a desire to study either Maths (pure or Maths&Stats) or Economics (pure or in conjunction with Maths) at undergraduate level?

Don't let your GCSE results put you off Oxford. Your MAT result can easily compensate for those, which are good in any other context. 9 and 8 both count as A* IIRC.

From what I can remember , Economics at Warwick is harder to get into than Math. Both can lead to similar job opportunities in the future

When looking into Oxbridge I've only considered Cambridge for the fact that I know Oxford apparently hold more focus on GCSE results, and that Oxford's Economics & Management course is apparently one of the hardest to get into in the country (it was something like for every 18 applicants, only 1 is given a place).

Those factors alone have put me strongly off of the idea of applying to Oxford, as even if my MAT result could compensate, I'd still feel I'd have a stronger chance in applying to Cambridge, as if I performed well in the STEP papers (being optimistic, 1s and 2s), that should really hold the same purpose as the MAT would, in the sense of compensating for my GCSE results, correct? To add to this, I know that the Cambridge Economics course seems to be a lot more mathematically-based, while Oxford's E&M has quite a large amount of essay writing included within it, another reason for me swaying further towards the Cambridge option.

Oxbridge is a "roll of the dice" application because of the quality of the competition. Go for the course that you prefer, regardless of your perception of your chance of an offer (and meeting it). Good luck.

Yeah I've been swaying away from LSE due to the apparent very strong focus they have on GCSE results, and even if I were to apply there it would more likely be for a course such as Economics and Mathematics, or Econometrics and Mathematical Economics.

With regards to the other universities, I've been quite interested in the potential of Warwick, as I've heard that their Maths Department is one of the strongest in the country. On that basis, and with the consideration of my wanted A-Level results, what would you argue to be the 'better' course to go for; Maths or pure Economics at Warwick (with the view that I enjoy both subjects equally), with the want to either go down the Banking route or into Actuarial Science.

I've also heard very good things about the MORSE course held at Warwick, would that be an even more viable route to take?

Oh that surprises me. Thanks for letting me know.

Would recommend MORSE or maths and stats. (maths+stats if you want a split between maths/stats perhaps leaning more towards stats, MORSE if you don't want to do much maths and would rather replace them with business modules or economics, or maths if you want to do maths with stats on the side) Even though maths is technically an option on MORSE, it is somewhat rarely (from my experience) taken up past the first year.

Straight maths is very flexible but has a high offer. You would still be able to do stats/economics modules as part of it.

Warwick is not at all competitive for morse/mathstat/maths, you should get an offer with the correct predicted grades.

Certainly worth knowing. The grades offered for economics at Warwick are likely lower than the offer for maths (but not necessarily for MORSE or maths and stats) but getting an offer is a real gamble as its heavily oversubscribed. Maths and related courses tend to offer everyone who looks feasible then allow the A level results to act as a filter.

Oh okay I understand. So with Maths as long as once you've got an offer you meet the requirements needed you can almost already assure yourself a place, but with Economics there's still large potential of you not being given a place even if requirements have been met?

But surely with strongly exceeding results (i.e. requirements of A*A*AA but you were to get A*A*A*A*), then chances of not securing yourself a place can't be that high can they? This is with the assumption that you've written a strong PS and have performed well in any admissions tests.

With A*s in all 4 of my subjects (theoretically) - Maths, Further Maths, Economics and History, but only achieving 988887665 at GCSE (due to being the 'Covid year' so I was just given my mock results:/), would you guys say it would still be possible for me to put in a competitive application to Oxbridge, LSE, Warwick, UCL, etc. with a desire to study either Maths (pure or Maths&Stats) or Economics (pure or in conjunction with Maths) at undergraduate level?

Yes - plenty of people with 4 x A* predictions have failed to get offers from Warwick economics. I'd imagine many of them have decent personal statements and so on. Of course this varies year by year depending on the popularity of different courses. Every year there are people who fail to get offers from Cambridge, UCL, and Warwick left with very limited options on UCAS who come to the forums asking for advice.