BA in Manchester vs BSc in Loughborough for Economics?

Help guys! xx

Better university? probably Manchester
Better university for IB? again, probably Manchester

course-wise? Loughborough because it's a BSc, which is seen as more respected in the IB industry

Thanks, it is quite a tough decision, Loughborough is also offering me a sandwich course
What would you do if you were in my position?

Is the Sandwich course a year in industry? if so, take it and go for Loughborough - it should give you experience that will help in getting into careers in future

Yeah, its a year in industry - something that Manchester doesn't offer with their economics courses.
Aside from that, I'm aware that Manchester economics students are targeted highly by IB's, not forgetting that Manchester is a member of the Russell Group.

I'm trying to weigh up both the pros and cons.

True but then your Manchester course is a BA, not a BSc. Were it a BSc I'd say go to Manchester.

Is it possible for you to switch to the BSc at Manchester? do you meet the pre-requisites?

Unfortunately A level Maths is imperative for the BSc course in Manchester, I can't even do a conversion after my 1st year in the BA course - which has maths modules within it (I thought that this would be a stepping stone to get onto the BSc course)

Hmm that does make things harder.

The Loughborough course, with the year in industry, will allow you to gain experience and so help you in future to get a career.

But then Manchester is in the Russell Group, but a BA.

I think I'd still be tempted to go for Loughborough. It is still a respected university and will probably break into the Russell Group at some stage in the future, plus it has the year in industry. But it might be worth getting someone elses point of view as well, not just mine

Which university should I firm out of the two?
Which university is best to break into IB?
Compromises that would be made regarding night/party life, scenery, city etc.

Thanks xx

I was going to respond to each post in turn, but honesty there is too much to go through and I think one coherent post would be easier to address all issues raised.

The first issue raised: Manchester is BA whereas Loughborough is BSc. True, but that does not make the Loughborough course better. It’s BSc, but employers are more than aware that BA programmes are not necessarily less mathematical/technical; you only need to look at Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and even Exeter. Additionally, many universities title their programmes BSc as students falsely believe BSc is better whereas the courses in reality are not technical or mathematical in the least.

A side-point on the above: if one programme is BSc but another is BA, and in both cases you do not have A-Level Maths, your end level of mathematical ability will be the same. Loughborough won’t be more technical because, quite simply (and logically!) you do not have the mathematical grounding to take more technical modules. In all honesty, this should be blindingly obvious.

A second side-point: You will realise quite quickly on leaving university that the vast majority of large employers now actually ask for your modules at university, grade breakdown, and will discuss in detail with you in interviews about the content covered in each module to ascertain the technical level of your courses. Employers know not to rely on BSc vs BA debate; it has been relegated to student pontification.

Second issue: BSc is more widely appreciated than BA in IB. Well, how about all those in IB who have done a BA History at Oxford/Cambridge? As above, it isn’t. What counts far more is the university attended, and also your ability to answer application form questions well and do well in interviews, online tests, etc. etc. There are so many worthwhile screening options available to employers they don’t bother with the BSc vs BA debate. In reality, this is more true with much smaller employers where they don’t have the resources of large firms to screen properly.

Third: the sandwich placement. I agree, sandwich placements are good. But at Loughborough, who organises this placement? Is it up to you, and if you fail to organise one, do you simply do the three year course without one? This is a vitally important question. Also where have previous students secured placements?

Fourth: Manchester does not allow sandwich placements. WRONG. They do, but it is up to you to organise it, and you can take one if you want. It isn’t something they promote, however, and the vast majority of students do three month internships during the summer period between years. You can do internships between every year of your university study, so do not be put off if you do not secure a placement.

Fifth: I wouldn’t say Manchester is ‘highly’ targeted by IBs, but that’s subjective. LSE, Oxford, Cambridge etc. are though, clearly.

Sixth: Loughborough will not break into the Russell Group anytime soon. The Russell Group is ONLY about research output, and Loughborough does not receive enough research funding (apart from in Sports Science) to qualify really and its output in pretty much all subjects in small. The Russell Group is very self-selective and wants to keep the grouping as small as possible, and there are a lot of better contenders for entry compare to Loughborough.


Ending commentary: The BA at Manchester is more flexible, offers you the possibility to take technical modules, so you won’t leave with less knowledge of maths or econometrics compared to Loughborough. It does offer the opportunity for year placements, like Loughborough. The BA vs BSc debate is meaningless apart from on Student Forums where it has been going on forever. Whichever university you decide to attend, just take as many maths/econometrics modules available to you, and take as many finance related modules as you can. Also ensure you get a placement/or internships and do as many ECs as you can.

Apologies for the long reply!