economics or eng lit........ and further maths

i want 2 apply for an economics degree at a gd uni- ucl, lse, cambridge etc.

my GCSEs are:A*AAAAAABBB- A* in RE short course (lol), As in chem bio maths physics geog eng lit, Bs in eng french business. (hopefully, they dont matter alot lol)

i will do maths chem bio for a level. i will probably end up doin further maths- any thoughts on this please!! but im, not sure whether 2 take economics or eng lit. as both r essay based subjects they will help in my appication, but i've heard that when u apply for an economics degree, some unis prefer u not 2 have taken economics????

any advice would b appreciated

Reply 1

ExRx123

Take Economics, do Further Maths too it will help a lot and it will show that you're mathematically capable. Your GCSE's are quite low though, especially for LSE where they appear to give offers for straight Economics with high GCSE's.

Reply 2

purple-girl

Do Economics. Seeing as you haven't done it before, and you've only done business, then I think it'll help you decide whether economics is really what you wanna do, rather than going to uni and hating it (not saying you will, but you never know). It'd just be more useful than english lit. And I haven't heard of unis preferring you not to have economics. And top unis would prefer it, I think, though it's not essential.

Reply 3

calcium878

Take Further Maths and English Literature. Some universities prefer you not to have had Economics "taught badly" at A-level.

Reply 4

vinsta

thanks for the advice guys ill do economics and probably further maths :smile:

Reply 5

vinsta

calcium878

Take Further Maths and English Literature. Some universities prefer you not to have had Economics "taught badly" at A-level.

yeah thats what i meant by unis prefering candidates not 2 have economics, and unis want a good grade in an essay based subject- n what better than eng lit?? although i know very little about ho much essay writing is in fact incorporated within economics

Reply 6

ExRx123

vinsta

The way I see it, pretty much all unis may prefer you not to have it, but they don't state it so it's unlikely to be part of the selection process. So you're better off taking it, which means when you go to an interview or write your PS, you already have the economic logic and understanding from your AS syllabus on top of which you have your extra reading.

As someone else mentioned, you may not even enjoy it, I suggest you have a look at the course if you haven't done so, and you should really know what it's about before considering doing it as a degree course. A lot of people think "I'll do economics for the money" without really knowing what's in the course let alone the actual career opportunities.

Reply 7

Nieva-en-el-invierno

El Mariachi

Your GCSE's are quite low though, especially for LSE where they appear to give offers for straight Economics with high GCSE's.

his GCSEs are low..really?

Reply 8

super'girl

Your GCSE's are fine! But my teacher showed me some statistics on his computer and it displayed that most* people who apply to LSE for example and get into LSE have a very high ucas points, eg some may do around 5AS's or more, and 4 or more A2's. I can't really remember how many points he said. I say go for economics.

Reply 9

sugar_cane

Nieva-en-el-invierno

his GCSEs are low..really?

Apparently, the average cut off for L101 at the LSE is 8-ish A*s at GCSE. By that comparison the OP's GCSEs may seem low, but otherwise they are fine.

Reply 10

vinsta

sugar_cane

Apparently, the average cut off for L101 at the LSE is 8-ish A*s at GCSE. By that comparison the OP's GCSEs may seem low, but otherwise they are fine.

even for cambridge or UCL???

Reply 11

sugar_cane

vinsta

even for cambridge or UCL???

No.
Those unis aren't known for actively taking GCSEs as a major component of the selection process.
I think, for UCL it's more the personal statement and for Cambridge the separate tests as well as the interview.
(though there have been cases such as St. Johns, Cambridge saying that the average GCSE grades of those who successfully gained a place was roughly 7A*s, but that was not a determining factor).