UCL Msc Economics 2012....Who is going?
Scroll to see replies
Original post by whoooosh
applied for accommodation! according to the website the results won't be out till late july/august tho..
I'm having problems logging into the accomodations portal. What password do we use to log in to the portal? I've tried registering as 'new'..but ain't working as well..any advice guys? haha
Original post by NiladriArchy
Hey. Sorry if im out of place here. I just wanted to ask if you guys appeared for the GRE/GMA examinations. And does Oxbridge offer an MA Economics too?
Unlike Oxbridge, UCL does not ask for GRE.
Oxbridge offers MPhil Economics, yes, of course.
Original post by whoooosh
applied for accommodation! according to the website the results won't be out till late july/august tho..
Hi, I replied via the system that I accept the offer but there isn't any response from UCL yet (except one confirmation).
How do I know I got the official offer or not?
Thanks you for answering in advance.
Original post by Miyavi
Anyone know how long they normally take to reply after doing the OVIA interviews?
My bad, I'm not hahaha.
Original post by yhpeng11
Hi, I replied via the system that I accept the offer but there isn't any response from UCL yet (except one confirmation).
How do I know I got the official offer or not?
Thanks you for answering in advance.
How do I know I got the official offer or not?
Thanks you for answering in advance.
I think they just returned from vacations past thursday. I am in the same situation than you.
Perhaps next week we'll hear something from them.
The UCL Econ Department has released the distribution of the marks of Maths and Stat exam for 2011-2012 cohort. The following is the distribution. Another indication that students doing MSc Economics at UCL have very heterogeneous background. Indeed, the highest mark in the document is 98%, while the lowest mark is something like 20ish...I couldn't imagine that 32% of the people fail even the maths and stat exam in December!!
Marks Percentage Distribution
Distinction (≥70%) 22%
Pass (60-69%) 24%
Pass (50-59%) 22%
Fail (<50%) 32%
1) On what aspects of the exam did the cohort generally do well?
Constrained optimisation was well understood. Most students know how to solve standard examples with equality
or inequality constraints and have some understanding of the envelope theorem.
In general,standard problem formulations where the student is asked to follow a path to solve a certain problem are
significantly better done than single questions that do not provide as much information on the solution method.
2) What aspects of the exam did the cohort generally find challenging?
Many students show difficulties dealing with problems with unknown parameters, even though they may solve correctly
similar problems with given parameters. Many also fail in trying to simplify a problem before actually solving it, thus finding
themselves in complicated computations. Conditional expectations/distributions and the law of iterated expectations were
not well understood.
Responses to stats questions were much more heterogeneous than to maths, with some doing really poorly on
corresponding sections.
3) What would the examiners have liked to have seen more of from the cohort?
Better understanding of how to address simple problems demanding the study of functions implicitly defined or how functions
vary with variables or parameters.
A more consistent understanding of basic statistics concepts.
Marks Percentage Distribution
Distinction (≥70%) 22%
Pass (60-69%) 24%
Pass (50-59%) 22%
Fail (<50%) 32%
1) On what aspects of the exam did the cohort generally do well?
Constrained optimisation was well understood. Most students know how to solve standard examples with equality
or inequality constraints and have some understanding of the envelope theorem.
In general,standard problem formulations where the student is asked to follow a path to solve a certain problem are
significantly better done than single questions that do not provide as much information on the solution method.
2) What aspects of the exam did the cohort generally find challenging?
Many students show difficulties dealing with problems with unknown parameters, even though they may solve correctly
similar problems with given parameters. Many also fail in trying to simplify a problem before actually solving it, thus finding
themselves in complicated computations. Conditional expectations/distributions and the law of iterated expectations were
not well understood.
Responses to stats questions were much more heterogeneous than to maths, with some doing really poorly on
corresponding sections.
3) What would the examiners have liked to have seen more of from the cohort?
Better understanding of how to address simple problems demanding the study of functions implicitly defined or how functions
vary with variables or parameters.
A more consistent understanding of basic statistics concepts.
(edited 12 years ago)
I check the exam as well. It is quite standard and nothing difficult. I really don't understand why so many people fail this exam 
Given such a high fail rate for an undergrad level Maths and Stat exam, I guess that the overrall fail rate this year is even higher...
An advice to all potential new comers; all of you need to consider carefully wehther you have the technical backgrounds for the MSc Economics... without sufficient technical background, you will be very struggling right from the very very beginning. Also be aware that, those people who fail all had very good grades in their undergraduate programmes (at least high 2:1 for decent univeristies or first for ex-poly).
UCL is a very prestigious brand. But if you can't even pass your degrees or are getting very poor grades, the prestige may not have any positive impact on your CV.
Given such a high fail rate for an undergrad level Maths and Stat exam, I guess that the overrall fail rate this year is even higher...An advice to all potential new comers; all of you need to consider carefully wehther you have the technical backgrounds for the MSc Economics... without sufficient technical background, you will be very struggling right from the very very beginning. Also be aware that, those people who fail all had very good grades in their undergraduate programmes (at least high 2:1 for decent univeristies or first for ex-poly).
UCL is a very prestigious brand. But if you can't even pass your degrees or are getting very poor grades, the prestige may not have any positive impact on your CV.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Lalafell
No, actually I think I can give you the link. Just keep clicking on it and I think you can download the document.
http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/6517/ECONG100_MathsStats_Marks_Oct_2011.pdf
http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/file.php/6517/ECONG100_MathsStats_Marks_Oct_2011.pdf
cheers, are you at UCL currently then?
sorry, that appears to be the breakdown of performance, do you have an actual question paper, Im sure I came across one in my second year when I was considering applying (a couple of years back)
(edited 12 years ago)
I am not doing MSc Economics so there are some files I cannot get access to. But there is a 2008 maths and stats exam paper on my computer. I don't know how to post the exam qustions on the forum.
But the questions are very standard:
Qustion 1: Compute the derivatives of the following functions: 2^sqrt(x), f(x)^g(x)
Question 2: Compute the follwoing definte integrals some fuctions with expotental and natural log
Question 3: a very simple 3X3 matrix. And you are required to show what is the rank of this matrix; 2) is it positive definite, negative definite, or indefinite; 3) solve the system of linear equations.
Question 4: max x^2+x+4y^2, subject to some inequality constraints
Question 5: solve the differential equation: (97+e^2t)y'(t) + y(t)e^2t = 0
6. In a certain city, 30 percent of the people are Conservatives, 50 percent are Liberals, and 20
percent are Independents. Records show that in a particular election, 65 percent of the Conservatives
voted, 82 percent of the Liberals voted, and 50 percent of the Independents voted. If a person in
the city is selected at random and it is learned that she did not vote in the last election, what is
the probability that she is a Liberal?
7. Suppose that X and Y have the same variance, and the variances of X + Y and X − Y also
exist. Show X + Y and X − Y are uncorrelated.
And then there are some questions about utility maximization, finding the expectations of some distribution function, the law of interated expectations and so on.
But the questions are very standard:
Qustion 1: Compute the derivatives of the following functions: 2^sqrt(x), f(x)^g(x)
Question 2: Compute the follwoing definte integrals some fuctions with expotental and natural log
Question 3: a very simple 3X3 matrix. And you are required to show what is the rank of this matrix; 2) is it positive definite, negative definite, or indefinite; 3) solve the system of linear equations.
Question 4: max x^2+x+4y^2, subject to some inequality constraints
Question 5: solve the differential equation: (97+e^2t)y'(t) + y(t)e^2t = 0
6. In a certain city, 30 percent of the people are Conservatives, 50 percent are Liberals, and 20
percent are Independents. Records show that in a particular election, 65 percent of the Conservatives
voted, 82 percent of the Liberals voted, and 50 percent of the Independents voted. If a person in
the city is selected at random and it is learned that she did not vote in the last election, what is
the probability that she is a Liberal?
7. Suppose that X and Y have the same variance, and the variances of X + Y and X − Y also
exist. Show X + Y and X − Y are uncorrelated.
And then there are some questions about utility maximization, finding the expectations of some distribution function, the law of interated expectations and so on.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Econla
Cambridge Maths requirements MPhil research:".......In addition, applicants must have basic competence in the following areas of mathematics:
Calculus: functions of several variables, partial and total derivatives, the chain rule, constrained optimisation using Lagrange multipliers, integration
Matrix algebra: matrices, determinants, inverses, solutions to simple simultaneous equation systems
Basic competence in this context means that the applicant should have studied these topics at the level of a first-year mathematical methods in economics course in a UK undergraduate economics degree. An equivalent course in Cambridge is the Quantitative Methods Course" http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/prospect/ba/outlines/Part_I_Paper_3.pdf
Now, the above course recommends the following books, I suppose in order of preference since they are not listed by the authors names:
Reading
Bradley, T, Essential Mathematics for Economics and Business, (3rd edition), Wiley. Comprehensive coverage of most topics, sometimes a little basic. The early chapters cover A-level material which will not be taught in the course.
Sydsaeter, K and P Hammond, Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis (2nd edition), Prentice Hall. Covers the course syllabus, but with a rather less basic approach than Bradley.
Chiang, A, Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics, McGraw-Hill. Harder than Bradley, more in-depth coverage of advanced topics.
Pemberton, M & N Rau, Mathematics for Economists, (2nd edition), Manchester University Press. Also harder than Bradley, but a good text for those who have done Further Maths modules at A Level, or who plan to take the optional Mathematics paper in Part IIA. Some material (roughly, Chapters 21-30) goes beyond the course syllabus.
They start recommending Bradley and later they recommend Pemberton but states that this is harder than Bradley and just recommended for students that have done further maths.
UCL simply recommends Pemberton, period.
Calculus: functions of several variables, partial and total derivatives, the chain rule, constrained optimisation using Lagrange multipliers, integration
Matrix algebra: matrices, determinants, inverses, solutions to simple simultaneous equation systems
Basic competence in this context means that the applicant should have studied these topics at the level of a first-year mathematical methods in economics course in a UK undergraduate economics degree. An equivalent course in Cambridge is the Quantitative Methods Course" http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/prospect/ba/outlines/Part_I_Paper_3.pdf
Now, the above course recommends the following books, I suppose in order of preference since they are not listed by the authors names:
Reading
Bradley, T, Essential Mathematics for Economics and Business, (3rd edition), Wiley. Comprehensive coverage of most topics, sometimes a little basic. The early chapters cover A-level material which will not be taught in the course.
Sydsaeter, K and P Hammond, Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis (2nd edition), Prentice Hall. Covers the course syllabus, but with a rather less basic approach than Bradley.
Chiang, A, Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics, McGraw-Hill. Harder than Bradley, more in-depth coverage of advanced topics.
Pemberton, M & N Rau, Mathematics for Economists, (2nd edition), Manchester University Press. Also harder than Bradley, but a good text for those who have done Further Maths modules at A Level, or who plan to take the optional Mathematics paper in Part IIA. Some material (roughly, Chapters 21-30) goes beyond the course syllabus.
They start recommending Bradley and later they recommend Pemberton but states that this is harder than Bradley and just recommended for students that have done further maths.
UCL simply recommends Pemberton, period.
I still maintain my argument that if the UCL MSc Economics students to do the Cambridge MPhil Economic Research instead, over 40% of the people would fail. Comparing the materials between the two courses, the Cam MPhil Ecnomic Research covers more advanced stuff for sure. Since 32% of the people could not even pass a standard maths and stats exam, I almost certiain that at least 40% of the people would fail in the Cambridge MPhil Economic Research if they are actully doing the course...
Original post by dreadnaut
cheers, are you at UCL currently then?
sorry, that appears to be the breakdown of performance, do you have an actual question paper, Im sure I came across one in my second year when I was considering applying (a couple of years back)
sorry, that appears to be the breakdown of performance, do you have an actual question paper, Im sure I came across one in my second year when I was considering applying (a couple of years back)
I think janjanmmm posted a link (not sure if this thread or another), you can log in as a guest to access.
Original post by Lalafell
I still maintain my argument that if the UCL MSc Economics students to do the Cambridge MPhil Economic Research instead, over 40% of the people would fail. Comparing the materials between the two courses, the Cam MPhil Ecnomic Research covers more advanced stuff for sure. Since 32% of the people could not even pass a standard maths and stats exam, I almost certiain that at least 40% of the people would fail in the Cambridge MPhil Economic Research if they are actully doing the course...
Does UCL ask which texts you covered in undergrad? I seem to recall Cambridge do this? I guess this is why!
Original post by Lalafell
I am not doing MSc Economics so there are some files I cannot get access to. But there is a 2008 maths and stats exam paper on my computer. I don't know how to post the exam qustions on the forum.
But the questions are very standard:
Qustion 1: Compute the derivatives of the following functions: 2^sqrt(x), f(x)^g(x)
Question 2: Compute the follwoing definte integrals some fuctions with expotental and natural log
Question 3: a very simple 3X3 matrix. And you are required to show what is the rank of this matrix; 2) is it positive definite, negative definite, or indefinite; 3) solve the system of linear equations.
Question 4: max x^2+x+4y^2, subject to some inequality constraints
Question 5: solve the differential equation: (97+e^2t)y'(t) + y(t)e^2t = 0
6. In a certain city, 30 percent of the people are Conservatives, 50 percent are Liberals, and 20
percent are Independents. Records show that in a particular election, 65 percent of the Conservatives
voted, 82 percent of the Liberals voted, and 50 percent of the Independents voted. If a person in
the city is selected at random and it is learned that she did not vote in the last election, what is
the probability that she is a Liberal?
7. Suppose that X and Y have the same variance, and the variances of X + Y and X − Y also
exist. Show X + Y and X − Y are uncorrelated.
And then there are some questions about utility maximization, finding the expectations of some distribution function, the law of interated expectations and so on.
But the questions are very standard:
Qustion 1: Compute the derivatives of the following functions: 2^sqrt(x), f(x)^g(x)
Question 2: Compute the follwoing definte integrals some fuctions with expotental and natural log
Question 3: a very simple 3X3 matrix. And you are required to show what is the rank of this matrix; 2) is it positive definite, negative definite, or indefinite; 3) solve the system of linear equations.
Question 4: max x^2+x+4y^2, subject to some inequality constraints
Question 5: solve the differential equation: (97+e^2t)y'(t) + y(t)e^2t = 0
6. In a certain city, 30 percent of the people are Conservatives, 50 percent are Liberals, and 20
percent are Independents. Records show that in a particular election, 65 percent of the Conservatives
voted, 82 percent of the Liberals voted, and 50 percent of the Independents voted. If a person in
the city is selected at random and it is learned that she did not vote in the last election, what is
the probability that she is a Liberal?
7. Suppose that X and Y have the same variance, and the variances of X + Y and X − Y also
exist. Show X + Y and X − Y are uncorrelated.
And then there are some questions about utility maximization, finding the expectations of some distribution function, the law of interated expectations and so on.
Thanks, I think that's the one I saw with the 2^sqrtx, although it might just be the standard paper they post
Original post by dreadnaut
cheers, are you at UCL currently then?
sorry, that appears to be the breakdown of performance, do you have an actual question paper, Im sure I came across one in my second year when I was considering applying (a couple of years back)
sorry, that appears to be the breakdown of performance, do you have an actual question paper, Im sure I came across one in my second year when I was considering applying (a couple of years back)
Here is a link to the similar paper from University of Edinburgh MSc Economics:
http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~yfchen/SGPEmath/MathsClassExam_1011wCover.pdf
This is their directory, which, unlike UCL, is much easier to access:
http://www.sgpe.ac.uk/courses0910/
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by sj27
I think janjanmmm posted a link (not sure if this thread or another), you can log in as a guest to access.
Does UCL ask which texts you covered in undergrad? I seem to recall Cambridge do this? I guess this is why!
Does UCL ask which texts you covered in undergrad? I seem to recall Cambridge do this? I guess this is why!
Oxford = Don't ask for information about texts used
LSE = Don't ........
Warwick = Don't.....
UCL = Don't.......
Cambridge = The only one that requires the above.
I can't see the correlation between performance and asking for texts.
Original post by Lalafell
I still maintain my argument that if the UCL MSc Economics students to do the Cambridge MPhil Economic Research instead, over 40% of the people would fail. Comparing the materials between the two courses, the Cam MPhil Ecnomic Research covers more advanced stuff for sure. Since 32% of the people could not even pass a standard maths and stats exam, I almost certiain that at least 40% of the people would fail in the Cambridge MPhil Economic Research if they are actully doing the course...
It looks like you are trying to convince yourself that you took the best option by choosing Cam instead of UCL.
Saying that UCL students would perform even poorly in Cambridge is not a polite way to say that Cambridge is maybe even rigurous than the first.
Maybe it is, but we could argue for years about who is the tough guy in the street and I don't understand what would be the sense for doing this.
Still I have some doubts about your assumption:
Why there is a lot of people that recommends UCL, LSE and Oxford, and even Warwick for Phd purposes afterwards. I have seen a lot of posts here and in urch forum where there is a lot of current Phd students in prestigious US universities, and almost no one mention Cambridge for this purpose. When it is named is mainly if for someone who is looking for job in private sector because his strong brand.
If what these people are claiming is true, wouldn't be necessary a more rigorous preparation for Phd than for industry?. In this case UCL would be tougher than Cambridge.
Now, to compare the difficulty level between both, you would need both exams for the same year, then you could see if the level of questions are similar of differ in some way.
Trying to infer that if 30%...blah blha...then.......is a waste of time since you are pre-assuming that cambridge is harder and this would lead to errors in your "model".
Cambridge is an excellent university, I think everyone would like to be there. In my case I didn't bother in taking GRE so didn't apply to any school that request this. I just didn't want to and I think there is a lot of people in UCL that did the same.
Again, Cambridge is really...Cambridge, but you have to be careful when you lightly imply that it is tougher than UCL, specially in your case that you want to be a cambridge researcher
(edited 12 years ago)
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Oxford vs UCL vs Warwick Masters
- UCL The Bartlett DPU or KCL Department of International Development
- Master in Economics at Birkbeck
- Energy/environmental policy Masters - LSE vs UCL vs Imperial
- Postgraduate Economics
- UCL One Pool Street accommodation swap
- Looking for london accomodation (open to swap deal)
- Decision time- Msc finance UCL
- Applied Psychology and Economic Behaviour (Bath) VS Behavioural Science (Durham)
- Is A MSc Finance or related worth it?
- UCL accomodation swap
- UCL postgraduate offer holders 2023-2024
- doctorate in economics without undergrad economics?
- An overview of LSE MSc Economics
- Birkbeck UOL Masters
- Msc finance
- UCL St. Pancras Way accommodation swap 2023
- 2023-24 MSc Finance applicants + GMAT prep
- How much maths is there in an Economics undergraduate course?
- Postgrad: LSE non business/finance degree or MSc Management for Investment Banking?
Latest
Trending
Last reply 4 days ago
Why University of York MBA is not accredited?Last reply 6 days ago
Please Help! Seek input on University selection for FinanceLast reply 1 week ago
Durham or City(Bayes) for MSc FinancePosted 1 week ago
KCL Masters?? ESG Management??Last reply 1 week ago
MSc in Management from University of Exeter or University of BathLast reply 3 weeks ago
LSE MSc Finance / Finance & Risk 2024/25Last reply 4 weeks ago
LBS MFA vs. Bocconi Master FinanceLast reply 4 weeks ago
Masters in Behavioural Science to further pursue Market Research associated fieldsLast reply 1 month ago
KCL or WarwickPosted 1 month ago
What to pick??? Imperial Finance or LSE Finance and Economics?Last reply 1 month ago
Target Universities for Top Companies in the UK (AF)Last reply 1 month ago
Bayes vs Manchester vs Nottingham vs Cranfield MSc in Finance- International studentLast reply 1 month ago
MSc Business& Finance at Warwick or MSc Finance at Others?Posted 1 month ago
LSE vs Imperial College LondonLast reply 1 month ago
MSc Management: UCL School of Management vs Warwick Business School (wbs)Last reply 1 month ago
LSE or Imperial for MSc ManagementLast reply 1 month ago
Choosing between LSE and Imperial's MSc FinanceLast reply 1 month ago
Investment banking universityTrending
Last reply 4 days ago
Why University of York MBA is not accredited?Last reply 6 days ago
Please Help! Seek input on University selection for FinanceLast reply 1 week ago
Durham or City(Bayes) for MSc FinancePosted 1 week ago
KCL Masters?? ESG Management??Last reply 1 week ago
MSc in Management from University of Exeter or University of BathLast reply 3 weeks ago
LSE MSc Finance / Finance & Risk 2024/25Last reply 4 weeks ago
LBS MFA vs. Bocconi Master FinanceLast reply 4 weeks ago
Masters in Behavioural Science to further pursue Market Research associated fieldsLast reply 1 month ago
KCL or WarwickPosted 1 month ago
What to pick??? Imperial Finance or LSE Finance and Economics?Last reply 1 month ago
Target Universities for Top Companies in the UK (AF)Last reply 1 month ago
Bayes vs Manchester vs Nottingham vs Cranfield MSc in Finance- International studentLast reply 1 month ago
MSc Business& Finance at Warwick or MSc Finance at Others?Posted 1 month ago
LSE vs Imperial College LondonLast reply 1 month ago
MSc Management: UCL School of Management vs Warwick Business School (wbs)Last reply 1 month ago
LSE or Imperial for MSc ManagementLast reply 1 month ago
Choosing between LSE and Imperial's MSc FinanceLast reply 1 month ago
Investment banking university
