Good chance at masters in Economics?

Hi everyone. I am a 2nd year international B.A Economics student at Keele University. I just got my 2nd year result, in which I average at 76%. I am aiming to apply for masters in economics for the year 2022-23 at LSE MSc Economics, UCL MSc Economics, Warwick MSc Economics and Cambridge MPhil Economics. I am truly passionate in what I am studying and was wondering what are my chances at getting an offer from these courses, also would like some more uni recommendation that has a prestigious course in Economics.

Thanks

(edited 2 years ago)

Original post by oooshiii

Hi everyone. I am a 2nd year international B.A Economics student at Keele University. I just got my 2nd year result, in which I average at 76%. I am aiming to apply for masters in economics for the year 2022-23 at LSE MSc Economics, UCL MSc Economics, Warwick MSc Economics and Cambridge MPhil Economics. I am truly passionate in what I am studying and was wondering what are my chances at getting an offer from these courses, also would like some more uni recommendation that has a prestigious course in Economics.

Thanks

I'm not gonna lie, it'll be tough. What's good is that you have a strong grade average - this will be essential and if you can get it above 80% then this would be even more helpful.

In my experience, Warwick don't actually have very high requirements. I have friends who got into their MSc Economics course with a 2.1 from average Russel Group unis. LSE, UCL and Cambridge will be much much tougher, especially coming from an institution that isn't known for being strong at Economics.

The main problem you'll find is the difference in course material. For example, a lot of these top unis expect students to have covered certain mathematical and statistical concepts before starting and many non-elite unis don't actually teach their students these. So the biggest problem you'll face isn't gaining entry to these courses but the actual course material itself. For example, all these unis have a 2-3 week maths/stats refresher course at the start with a test after the 2-3 weeks and if you fail this test then often you can only graduate with a pass rather than a merit or distinction. To show you what I mean, here is UCL's list of prerequisite topics they expect you to know upon starting, see if you've covered them. Here is Warwick's MSc Economics intro to maths/stats course syllabus and readings, check how many you've already covered because it'll be tough to catch up in only two weeks before the exam if you don't know at least most of these, this is their suitability test for applicants.

Hopefully this info all helps to inform your master's decisions and applications. Feel free to ask away if you've got any further questions.

OP

Thank you!

Original post by oooshiii

Thank you!

Nah no worries mate!

My general advice is that you should definitely apply to these institutions, or definitely some of them at least. For a decision like this, the benefits and costs are so asymmetrically distributed that it makes applying worthwhile. This is because the benefits are huge (have a great time, potentially meet some fantastic friends, learn a tonne, lead you to an exceptional job etc) and the costs are very small (time opportunity cost of applying and the application fee - if you can afford these unis then the application fee is very small in comparison and is often waived by Warwick).

Plus, even if you don't happen to get into these, there's other great unis just below them that are almost as good, deliver almost as many opportunities and are half/less than half the price. This would be unis like Nottingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester's MSc, Exeter's MRes, etc. So I think you should apply to the top unis but the fall back options are still fantastic opportunities that can place you into some really great careers.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 4

oooshiii

OP

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Original post by BenRyan99

Nah no worries mate!

My general advice is that you should definitely apply to these institutions, or definitely some of them at least. For a decision like this, the benefits and costs are so asymmetrically distributed that it makes applying worthwhile. This is because the benefits are huge (have a great time, potentially meet some fantastic friends, learn a tonne, lead you to an exceptional job etc) and the costs are very small (time opportunity cost of applying and the application fee - if you can afford these unis then the application fee is very small in comparison and is often waived by Warwick).

Plus, even if you don't happen to get into these, there's other great unis just below them that are almost as good, deliver almost as many opportunities and are half/less than half the price. This would be unis like Nottingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester's MSc, Exeter's MRes, etc. So I think you should apply to the top unis but the fall back options are still fantastic opportunities that can place you into some really great careers.

Thanks for your advice! I was also thinking of applying to unis like Bristol, Bath and Manchester, but I want to go to a uni at London. Other than Cambridge and Warwick, the other unis mentioned above are in London, hence quite preferred those over some other London unis that are not quite at the level of Manchester, Bristol, etc.

Original post by oooshiii

Thanks for your advice! I was also thinking of applying to unis like Bristol, Bath and Manchester, but I want to go to a uni at London. Other than Cambridge and Warwick, the other unis mentioned above are in London, hence quite preferred those over some other London unis that are not quite at the level of Manchester, Bristol, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm wishing you the best of luck at applying for LSE and UCL as these are top unis and also in London. But it's worth considering the quite probable outcome that you don't get into the top tier of MSc Economics courses. If so, you need to pick your sacrifice, quality of course or location. After LSE and Imperial in London you start having to look at king's and QMUL which aren't as strong as the out of London alternatives. Might be worth checking out Imperial's Econ& Strategy MSc though, it's not really Econ but it's easy to get into, is in London and the university brand name is obviously very strong

Reply 6

oooshiii

OP

4

I want to work as an economist in the near future and get into research and academia in the long run, hence, wanting to study pure economics as I am very passionate about this subject field.

How are the employment opportunities for Econ & Strategy?

Thanks

Original post by oooshiii

I want to work as an economist in the near future and get into research and academia in the long run, hence, wanting to study pure economics as I am very passionate about this subject field.

How are the employment opportunities for Econ & Strategy?

Thanks

The employment opportunities for Imperial's MSc Economics & Strategy for Business are strong for consulting, decent for general finance but not great for actual economics. Therefore it's probably not recommendable based on what you've mentioned.

You say you want to be an economist in the future but that is very broad, would this be in economic consulting, government, central banking, in sell-side IB economic research, for an international organisation, etc? Because the uni and course you do will have different opportunities for different paths so it's hard to advise with just knowing that you want to be an economist.

You mentioned you might want to get into academia and research later on. For this you'll need a PhD at some point, you also often need a PhD for research roles in a Central Bank or international organisation (e.g. IMF, UN, OECD, EC, WTO, World Bank, EBRD, etc). Therefore perhaps you should be looking for unis based on their placement into strong PhD programs rather than thier location, I also wouldn't recommend Imperial for a PhD btw

Reply 8

oooshiii

OP

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I have a strong interest in Macroeconomic policy, so working for the government, CB or an international organization may be ideal. Although, it may be tough for me to get into the public sector in the UK considering I am an international student?

I am aware that I need a PhD, which I would like to do sometime after the masters. What unis have good placement into strong PhDs? If this is the case, then I would not mind compromising regarding the location fo the uni.

Appreciate the help. Thanks

Original post by oooshiii

I have a strong interest in Macroeconomic policy, so working for the government, CB or an international organization may be ideal. Although, it may be tough for me to get into the public sector in the UK considering I am an international student?

I am aware that I need a PhD, which I would like to do sometime after the masters. What unis have good placement into strong PhDs? If this is the case, then I would not mind compromising regarding the location fo the uni.

Appreciate the help. Thanks

I don't think being an international student should be much of a disadvantage, I think they changed the visa rules which makes it easier for international student grads.

To be honest, the unis that have good placements into PhDs are mainly just the unis that have strong PhD programs so places like LSE, Oxford, Warwick being the top ones for macro. Then after that probably Cambridge, Nottingham and UCL. Beyond these then probably Bristol, Edinburgh, QMUL and Surrey for macro. But it would be very difficult to get into a top UK PhD with a lot of these institutions, you'd ideally need to go to one of the top few to stand at least a chance of getting into a good PhD.

Reply 10

oooshiii

OP

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Clear, thanks!

Good chance at masters in Economics?

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