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A Few Questions Concerning My Application At Trinity (Economics)
I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this, but it seems to be the closest I can find 
. I would be very grateful if someone could clarify the following for me:
1. Is it true that at Trinity, since it's so oversubscribed that only 50% of the applicants are interviewed for Economics?
2. Also, for some reason, my school has decided to do the A2 syllabus in reverse. In other words, they've decided to do the Macroeconomics first leaving me with little advanced Microeconomics by the time I get to the interview (should I be lucky enough to get one...). Considering that most other schools will have studied Microeconomics at advanced level first, would this put me at a major disadvantage in the interview considering that the interviewers may focus on the Micro aspect?
I'm particularly worried about the interview involving the preperatory study extract which may have a lot of complex microeconomic concepts which I have yet to cover in class. Admittedly, I understand that this is quite a lame excuse and I will certainly do a lot of reading up on the advanced Microeconomics beforehand. Nonetheless, I'd be very happy if anyone could be nice and shed some light upon the situation.
Thanks in advance!
- Jeff
. I would be very grateful if someone could clarify the following for me: 1. Is it true that at Trinity, since it's so oversubscribed that only 50% of the applicants are interviewed for Economics?
2. Also, for some reason, my school has decided to do the A2 syllabus in reverse. In other words, they've decided to do the Macroeconomics first leaving me with little advanced Microeconomics by the time I get to the interview (should I be lucky enough to get one...). Considering that most other schools will have studied Microeconomics at advanced level first, would this put me at a major disadvantage in the interview considering that the interviewers may focus on the Micro aspect?
I'm particularly worried about the interview involving the preperatory study extract which may have a lot of complex microeconomic concepts which I have yet to cover in class. Admittedly, I understand that this is quite a lame excuse and I will certainly do a lot of reading up on the advanced Microeconomics beforehand. Nonetheless, I'd be very happy if anyone could be nice and shed some light upon the situation.
Thanks in advance!
- Jeff
Reply 1
J2K
I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this, but it seems to be the closest I can find . I would be very grateful if someone could clarify the following for me:
1. Is it true that at Trinity, since it's so oversubscribed that only 50% of the applicants are interviewed for Economics?
2. Also, for some reason, my school has decided to do the A2 syllabus in reverse. In other words, they've decided to do the Macroeconomics first leaving me with little advanced Microeconomics by the time I get to the interview (should I be lucky enough to get one...). Considering that most other schools will have studied Microeconomics at advanced level first, would this put me at a major disadvantage in the interview considering that the interviewers may focus on the Micro aspect?
I'm particularly worried about the interview involving the preperatory study extract which may have a lot of complex microeconomic concepts which I have yet to cover in class. Admittedly, I understand that this is quite a lame excuse and I will certainly do a lot of reading up on the advanced Microeconomics beforehand. Nonetheless, I'd be very happy if anyone could be nice and shed some light upon the situation.
Thanks in advance!
- Jeff
. I would be very grateful if someone could clarify the following for me: 1. Is it true that at Trinity, since it's so oversubscribed that only 50% of the applicants are interviewed for Economics?
2. Also, for some reason, my school has decided to do the A2 syllabus in reverse. In other words, they've decided to do the Macroeconomics first leaving me with little advanced Microeconomics by the time I get to the interview (should I be lucky enough to get one...). Considering that most other schools will have studied Microeconomics at advanced level first, would this put me at a major disadvantage in the interview considering that the interviewers may focus on the Micro aspect?
I'm particularly worried about the interview involving the preperatory study extract which may have a lot of complex microeconomic concepts which I have yet to cover in class. Admittedly, I understand that this is quite a lame excuse and I will certainly do a lot of reading up on the advanced Microeconomics beforehand. Nonetheless, I'd be very happy if anyone could be nice and shed some light upon the situation.
Thanks in advance!
- Jeff
1. Trinity does receive a large number of applicants but also admits quite a few economists. I reckon they would try and interview as many people as they can. However, i dont see why you should be worried as you'll definately be invited for interview with excellent GCSE results and outstanding UMS' (of which I am extremely jealous
)2. You shall receive, if you havent already, a supplementary application questionnaire. On it, they will ask for details of you have covered already on you syllabus/at school. Not all colleges send out the exact same SAQ, but a friend of mine has applied fro Economics at Trinity and was asked about A level topics covered on the SAQ. So, hopefully they wont ask you anything on microeconomics. Even if they did, you have expressed a keeness to read ahead anwyay so you should be fine, ( or you could just tell the tutors you havent covered that area if they ask you about it).
Regarding the preparatory study, I couldnt say what it would be like (partly why i chose a college that didnt require you to do this
). I dont think it would be *that* hard though. I remember someone mentioning they had an extract from Freakonomics. Perhaps try reading economics articles etc on the net and see how you find them.Best of luck with your application
Hehehe... Hopefully they'll read the extra application questionaire I sent them 
. Still though, I'm just so scared; the selection process is so competetive and it seems nowadays that the small things could differentiate. Freakonomics is a cool book, I read it a long time ago, could be interesting if I get an extract of that sort to talk about . Reading articles on the net and discussing with friends sounds like a good idea, I'll give that the try .
Thanks for the advice and best of luck to you with your application too!
- Jeff
PS. Your results are pretty immense as well :P
. Still though, I'm just so scared; the selection process is so competetive and it seems nowadays that the small things could differentiate. Freakonomics is a cool book, I read it a long time ago, could be interesting if I get an extract of that sort to talk about . Reading articles on the net and discussing with friends sounds like a good idea, I'll give that the try . Thanks for the advice and best of luck to you with your application too!
- Jeff
PS. Your results are pretty immense as well :P
I'm sure if you explained to them about the way your school chose to teach you the A2, but you had already read up on the Microeconomics material, it would only work in your favour... 
I doubt only 50% will be interviewed, but with your grades, I'd be very surprised if you didn't get one.
Best of luck.
I doubt only 50% will be interviewed, but with your grades, I'd be very surprised if you didn't get one.
Best of luck.
OK I'm doing Part IIA Econs at Trinity sooo....
1) Don't be daft, with your results they will call you.
2) Don't worry, just specify this on the topics covered bit of your SAQ.
3) see my Oxbridge Admissions Profile: http://www.oxbridge-admissions.info/profiles/profiles-show.php?w=1
PM me if you need anymore help
1) Don't be daft, with your results they will call you.
2) Don't worry, just specify this on the topics covered bit of your SAQ.
3) see my Oxbridge Admissions Profile: http://www.oxbridge-admissions.info/profiles/profiles-show.php?w=1
PM me if you need anymore help
OK I'm doing Part I Econs at Trinity sooo....
1) They interview a very high proportion of applicants. Probably higher than 90%.
2) They may cover Micro, they may not. It changes a lot from year to year (I was told this by Dr D.). They know you haven't studied Micro (if you've told them/if you tell them), and they only focus on the way you think. Your knowledge is largely irrelevant. I didn't use any A-level Economics words/glossary in my interviews, even though they were heavily related. They let me in because of the way I think.
Some other points about Trinity Economics, according to my DoS:
- The average quality of applicants to Trinity is higher than other colleges.
- Trinity may look at applicants in different ways to other colleges.
- Some applicants are declined very early if there's something fundamentally wrong with their application.
- UMS scores matter. A lot. He has found high UMS scores correlate well with degree performance. GCSEs do not matter much.
- The interview is of course, very important, but so are the other parts of your application. Sometimes the interview may not even be the key part of your application.
Some general observations:
- The current second years have 14+ Economists. My year only has 10. It appears to fluctuate, but they're in no hurry to make 14+ offers. Apparently they made around 13 offers this year. Jan converted to Maths and one person chose another university. Not sure about the last person. (This isn't to scare you, just the way Trinity tends to work, according to my DoS).
- About half of us in my year haven't done A2 Further Maths. It isn't a problem.
- We hate History and Politics and essays. A lot of people do. Apparently, Trinity Economists tend to be more mathematical on average, so we tend to hate these modules more.
- A lot of people are content with a 2.1. A 1st leaves you with a high likeliness of having no social life.
1) They interview a very high proportion of applicants. Probably higher than 90%.
2) They may cover Micro, they may not. It changes a lot from year to year (I was told this by Dr D.). They know you haven't studied Micro (if you've told them/if you tell them), and they only focus on the way you think. Your knowledge is largely irrelevant. I didn't use any A-level Economics words/glossary in my interviews, even though they were heavily related. They let me in because of the way I think.
Some other points about Trinity Economics, according to my DoS:
- The average quality of applicants to Trinity is higher than other colleges.
- Trinity may look at applicants in different ways to other colleges.
- Some applicants are declined very early if there's something fundamentally wrong with their application.
- UMS scores matter. A lot. He has found high UMS scores correlate well with degree performance. GCSEs do not matter much.
- The interview is of course, very important, but so are the other parts of your application. Sometimes the interview may not even be the key part of your application.
Some general observations:
- The current second years have 14+ Economists. My year only has 10. It appears to fluctuate, but they're in no hurry to make 14+ offers. Apparently they made around 13 offers this year. Jan converted to Maths and one person chose another university. Not sure about the last person. (This isn't to scare you, just the way Trinity tends to work, according to my DoS).
- About half of us in my year haven't done A2 Further Maths. It isn't a problem.
- We hate History and Politics and essays. A lot of people do. Apparently, Trinity Economists tend to be more mathematical on average, so we tend to hate these modules more.
- A lot of people are content with a 2.1. A 1st leaves you with a high likeliness of having no social life.
Wow... Thanks so much guys!!! The information is really really useful! Considering Trinity is more mathematical, would it be particularly useful for me to do a lot of work on developing my mathematics in preperation for the interview?
Also, may I ask - any idea who will be taking the interviews this year? Is it Dr Doppelhofer and Dr Gatti?
Also, may I ask - any idea who will be taking the interviews this year? Is it Dr Doppelhofer and Dr Gatti?
J2K
Wow... Thanks so much guys!!! The information is really really useful! Considering Trinity is more mathematical, would it be particularly useful for me to do a lot of work on developing my mathematics in preperation for the interview?
Also, may I ask - any idea who will be taking the interviews this year? Is it Dr Doppelhoffer and Dr Gatti?
Also, may I ask - any idea who will be taking the interviews this year? Is it Dr Doppelhoffer and Dr Gatti?
No, Trinity Economics isn't more mathematical, the students have tended to be.
Also, it varies from year to year whether they include ANY maths in the interviews. Last year they did not.
Dr G is away, so it definitely won't be him. Could be any of the others. Usually four of them interview.
Don't over-prepare for your interview. Preparation is useless in most cases because, as I said, they're looking at how you think, not what you know.
Reply 10
Don't over-prepare for your interview. Preparation is useless in most cases because, as I said, they're looking at how you think, not what you know.
So you dont think theres anyway a candidate could prepare for interview? Is it just a case of being born with a certain way of thinking?
J2K
Four of them interview? So it's like a kinda 2 on 1 interview for each of them?
No, four of them carry out interviews. You aren't interviewed by all of them. You will be allocated two of them, who will each interview you individually.
clueless101: they're looking for potential. You can be very well read and know the A-level course inside out which might help, but if they ask you a question outside what you know, that's where your thinking comes into it. Besides, they're not just going to ask factual questions.
J2K
*nods* That's a good point N9ne, so does that mean that what's written on your personal statement generally won't get asked as they'll assume you know plenty around those areas?
- Jeff
- Jeff
They may talk about your PS shortly in an interview. What they talk about simply cannot be known though. What they discuss might be something you wrote about knowing about on it.
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