Land Economy

I'm not one to judge but when I had my interview I walked past the Land Economy department...

They have a crummy building.

Anyways to quote 3322 about Land economists "do no work in the first 2 weeks..." I'm not so sure about the music tech but the maths chemistry and french should do the trick they're all considered traditional subjects

Reply 2

shadowsintherain

OP

9

Totally Tom

I'm not one to judge but when I had my interview I walked past the Land Economy department...

They have a crummy building.

Anyways to quote 3322 about Land economists "do no work in the first 2 weeks..." I'm not so sure about the music tech but the maths chemistry and french should do the trick they're all considered traditional subjects

Thanks for your reply.
I don't suppose there are any pictures of the department? The ones on the Cambridge websites look like arty mockups...

Reply 3

Lidka

13

Totally Tom

Anyways to quote 3322 about Land economists "do no work in the first 2 weeks..."

The only Land Economist in my year seems to do nothing. I'll be sitting at my desk working all day, and every time I look out the window he'll be lounging round our court, greeting people coming in and out of the library... I don't know how he does it!

Reply 4

shadowsintherain

OP

9

Hmm. Not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing...

Just so confused as to what I want to do!!

Reply 5

--

3

Did I say 2 weeks? I must've been drunk, I meant 6.

Reply 6

steve2006

Firstly, is there a huge open choice as to what you go into after your degree? What do most people go into?

According to the Cambridge Website with a degree in Bsc Farming sorry i mean Land Economy:
* commercial property;
* land law and commercial law;
* development and planning;
* property valuation;
* land tenure and land policy;
* environmental liability and contaminated land;
* rural resource management;
* housing policy and finance;
* financial market analysis;
* urban and regional economics;
* environmental protection;
* agricultural economics.

Secondly, would Maths, Music Tech, Chemistry, and French do the trick in terms of A-Levels (predicted AAAA).

According to the cambridge website:
"The interdisciplinary nature of the course attracts students with different interests and wide-ranging backgrounds. There is hardly a subject at GCE A level (or equivalent) that hasn’t been studied by one of our students. You can have a background in the arts or sciences (or a mixture) and no specific subjects are required: for instance, no previous knowledge of law and economics is necessary."

So you are fine there.

Thirdly, what sort of things look good on your personal statement (work experience etc)?
You can submit a personal statement for your other uni choices in Law. The on the additional CAF form you can put down why you want to study Land Economy as an additional Personal Statment.

Finally, is it slated as a degree - do people take the piss out of it? I mean, I was before I found out it actually looked really interesting. Is it hard/easy to get in for? Are there any current students here who can supply me with any feedback about it?

Supposedly its supposed to be a doss degree. It teaches disciplines from Law, Economics, Geography with the hard stuff taken out such as the maths etc. According to my mate who studies Econ and Trinity he says its very rare to find a land economist studying cos they are always partying. Whatever it is, its a degree from Cambridge and it demands respect. I was thinking of applying for it but i was put of. As i am thinking of doing an Msc to boost my job prospects after uni, most of the good ones require a candidate to have a degree with Mathmatical content and so as LE lacks this, i would have a hard time getting far in IB.

Thanks

Reply 7

Lidka

13

3232

Did I say 2 weeks? I must've been drunk, I meant 6.

That's more like it. :p:

shadowsintherain

Hmm. Not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing...

Just so confused as to what I want to do!!

Why do you have to decide now? Why not use your gap year as a time to figure it out? If you really want to get a good idea of what Land Eco is like (3232 and I are largely taking the piss, if that helps) then get yourself to Cambridge on an open day/arranged visit and talk to tutors and students who are there. Also, the Cambridge website will the e-mail address of at least one rep for Land Eco who probably gets questions like yours all the time - that's probably a lot more help than posting on here when AFAIK no one here does it anyway.

Reply 8

http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=86&subid=11

Useful maybe?

Reply 9

Tom

The hardest-working person I know at Cambridge was doing Land Economy (he switched to Geography after the first year, actually, but there were extenuating factors in that...).

I think you probably could get away with writing a PS for Law at most places and Land Economy at Cam. You have the space on the CAF to go into a bit of detail specifically about Land Economy, and since part of the course is Law, so long as you are able to slip some stuff in about interests in the areas where Law meets Economics, and so on, into the main PS, it should be OK.

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to get in touch with some current students and get their impressions - either try to visit Cambridge yourself, or get some e-mail addresses.

Is it respected? Well, no. That's the honest response. If there's going to be a degree that people at Cambridge mock, they usually pick Land Economy. I'm not saying it's not respected 'cos it's not a rigorous degree, necessarily, but more because it's a perpetuated stereotype - everyone likes to have something to look down on, and Land Economy fills that slot - the realities of the situation not especially mattering. Kinda similar with Geography - the "colouring in subject" which is widely assumed (at least by the NatSci's) to have a non-existant workload (despite, naturally, that not actually being the case). One would hope employers would take a more serious view, but being realistic, a certain prejudice might still exist. It depends if all this bothers you or not really - so long as you really want to do the course then it'll have as much to offer you as any other course at Cambridge might.

Reply 10

epitome

11

Re: the respect factor.

As Tom very carefully says, LE is the degree that's kind of looked down on, in a bit of a ridiculous way. I say "ridiculous" because a 'doss subject' is defined, reallly, by the individual studying it, rather than the subject per se. English is supposed to be a doss subject, too...but I know plenty of English student who are categorically not dossers.

So, LE CAN be a bit of a doss, becuase it's minimum workload is probably significantly less than many other subjects. This does not mean, however, that you can't fill your time with work should you wish to -- the subject covers all kinds of things, so there's potentially limitless material to get through. Just depends on your own expectations! And getting a 1st is just a difficult in LE as in other subjects, so that certainly would still earn you a lot of respect. Generally, people slating it are talking out of their arses, and know little about it. Or, are Land Economists themselves and happen to be dossers (or only know LEs who are dossers...). I hope you see what I mean, in all that tangle.

It actually looks like a pretty cool degree, if you like bits of this and that! :smile:

Also, if you do lots of extra-curriculars (sports, music, politics, whatever), it's ideal -- because the minimum workload is low-ish you will have lenty of time to do lots of other stuff. Yay!

Get on an open day, and chat to some people in the dept (students or staff) and see what you think. :smile:

Reply 11

steve2006

its a cambridge degree and at the end of the day your application will be boosted by the Cambridge factor. Many jobs nowadays target unis for jobs. THis can be seen in law for example. A cambridge degree will boost your application regardless what it was in.

12A*s and 4As at A2 will be a great app. It makes my 6A*s look sh***

Reply 12

sammyrj

My friend, I am very much the same. I have very far-reaching interests and academically I've always been an all-rounder. It was bloody hard enough choosing four subjects at A-Level let alone just one to study as a degree :frown:

I ended up choosing Economics, but now and again I do still have my doubts. If I don't get in I might try and give Durham a ring and see if they'll let me do Combined Social Sciences. Well, that or go to LSE. I'm indecisive enough as it is so not getting into Cambridge is going put me in a bit of a pickle.

Anyway, enough about me. Land Economy. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't give a crap. If someone said to me "You're the biggest dosser at Cambridge", I'd just smile and think to myself "I'm at Cambridge!". A Cambridge degree is a Cambridge degree which ever way you spin it, and just by getting in you will have proved yourself to be among the very best minds your age. Plus, the small workload I would take as a positive. I am prepared to work hard (and doing Economics I will likely be worked like a dog if I get in) but if I got three years to take my time, chill, have fun, and think more about what I want to do with my life... I think I'd love it. And if you love your subject you'll do even better, so if Land Economy piques your interests, go for it!

Reply 13

wazzup

why would you choose to turn down LSE economics to go to study LE at Cambridge?
A Cambridge degree is a cambridge degree, but it also depends which one. Some subjects are just more respected and much harder to get in than others.

Reply 14

becozz its cambridge dummy.

and they have a cool sainsbury's

'nuff sed.

Reply 15

--

3

No we don't, we have one irritating supermarket that always has massive queues. And you'd have to be completely mental to turn down Economics at LSE for Land Economy at Cambridge.

Reply 16

Chrisateen

14

shadowsintherain

Hi there,

I applied for 2008 entry for Computer Science at a number of Universities, all of which I got offers for except for Oxford.

However, due to my rejection from Oxford and my worries that I don't have the sort of mind appropriate for my course, I've been thinking of taking a Gap Year and changing. It's not mainly because of the Oxford rejection, but that does play a small part. I'm very much an all rounder at school, I don't specialize in any particular subject, and whilst this got me great grades at GCSE, it's also really annoying because the mathematical minds of my school know exactly what to apply for. I was browsing the Cambridge site and stumbled across Land Economy. I thought it was a farming degree when I first saw it, but it seems really interesting, due to the fact that it combines so many aspects. I have a Mathematical mind (otherwise I wouldn't have applied for Computer Science), but I'm also logical, hard working, and vocal with an ability for argument. I would like to use all sides of my character rather than just maths/logic, so this is why Land Economy appeals to me.

And of course I have a few questions about it. Firstly, is there a huge open choice as to what you go into after your degree? What do most people go into? Secondly, would Maths, Music Tech, Chemistry, and French do the trick in terms of A-Levels (predicted AAAA). Thirdly, what sort of things look good on your personal statement (work experience etc)? And what would you get asked at interview? Also for your other Uni choices, I'm thinking of putting Land Economy down for Cambridge, but Law for the other ones. Do you think it's easy to write a personal statement for this subject considering it is offered nowhere else? I don't want to be in a hole where I don't get any offers at all because I'm not talking enough about Law. What other subjects do people put down as a support for the degree at Cambridge?

Finally, is it slated as a degree - do people take the piss out of it? I mean, I was before I found out it actually looked really interesting. Is it hard/easy to get in for? Are there any current students here who can supply me with any feedback about it?

Sorry about all the questions, but I think it would help lots if anybody was kind enough to explain just a few to me?

Thanks

I have a variety of AS and A2 subects and wanted to Law with something else and when I saw the land econ course I thought that it was good as it combined both maths and Law (sort of anyway).

Other unis do similar couses such as Law and Economics, law with Finance. I have PM you giving you more details about what you can do course wise

Reply 17