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BA Economics @ Cambridge

Hi all,

I've decided that the place I most want to go to a degree at is Cambridge, and to study Economics. (I'm in year 12)

Next year, I want to take A2 Double Maths, Physics and History. I'd love to get strong A's in them, but I'm not so sure about History, as in the mock I gained myself a nice E from not revising at all.

My main concern, however, is that I got a low B in one of my Further Maths modules, D1. I'm aware that D1 and D2 incorporate some material that is relevant to Economics. I'm confident however, of A's in FP1 and NM. Will this relatively low grade in D1 significantly pull down the chances of my application?

Thanks everyone
Jon :cool:

p.s. Will this also affect applications to do Economics + Mathematics at Warwick or Gov't + Economics at LSE?

Reply 1

mercexe

Don John

p.s. Will this also affect applications to do Economics + Mathematics at Warwick or Gov't + Economics at LSE?

Hmmm, your GCSEs aren't very strong for LSE, tbh. They are damn fussy about them unless you went to a really crap school?

Reply 2

Don John

OP

17

Went to a relatively good independent school

Reply 3

mercexe

Don John

Went to a relatively good independent school

Don't hold out a huge amount of hope, then. Govt + Econ isn't as fussy as straight Econ (which generally requires 7A*+ for applicants from decent schools....), but your GCSE grades certainly won't help your application. Make sure your PS is bloody good and get a decent reference.

Reply 4

mercexe

PS - why aren't you doing a-level econ? It's fine if your school/sixth form/collge don't offer it, but if they do then it will look a bit weird. How can you convey your 'passion' for the subject if you couldn't even be bothered to take it for a-level?

Reply 5

bella0123

2

they are really strict with maths, further maths and economics so unless you got really good grades (and i mean grade A) for them and also the other subject for A level, then you will be fine. i'll be starting my As maths in June! and am gonna do further maths as well in year 12. what grades did you get at GCSE? cos if you wanna go to cambridge, then they are really strict with these grades, especially seeing as how they are going to introduce A* in A level (but that doesn't affect you at all) so you prob need all As in A level to get in.

Reply 6

mercexe

bella0123

they are really strict with maths, further maths and economics so unless you got really good grades (and i mean grade A) for them and also the other subject for A level, then you will be fine. i'll be starting my As maths in June! and am gonna do further maths as well in year 12. what grades did you get at GCSE? cos if you wanna go to cambridge, then they are really strict with these grades, especially seeing as how they are going to introduce A* in A level (but that doesn't affect you at all) so you prob need all As in A level to get in.

A-Level Economics is not a necessary pre-requisite, although it is generally expected unless your school fails to offer it. You need AAA to get in, unless the college is especially harsh and gives a stricter offer, or especially generous (i.e. Christ's) and gives a martriculation (EE) offer.

Cambridge aren't half as fussy about GCSE grades as LSE. Since they interview people, they can make arguably more informed choices, but again, the OP's are unfortunately not going to work in his favour.

Reply 7

Speedbird2008

3

You will need >7A* for LSE, and Cambridge will (surely?) expect more than 4A* at GCSE for a decent application.

If you don't get AAAA for AS Level, I (personally) would re-consider my options.

I mean, UCL have (effectively) only been giving out offers for Economics applicants with ~5A*!

It is such an oversubscirbed course these days - so your PS, reference and WEX must be pretty darn good!

Reply 8

Tom

15

Speedbird2008

Cambridge will (surely?) expect more than 4A* at GCSE for a decent application.

No. There is no "you must get X GCSEs to apply" requirement, or anything like that.

It's so frustrating still seeing this stuff being put about; the most cursory search of the forum will reveal thread after thread where people have worried about GCSEs, been told by some idiot that you have to get all/x number of A*s to have a chance, and have people who actually know call it out as bull****.

Good GCSEs will help an application; genuinely bad ones (i.e., Bs) could hinder it if there's not a good reason: but getting A's in the A-levels, PS, and interview/interview tests are the important things.

Reply 9

Don John

OP

17

Our college doesn't offer A-level Economics, but didn't want to take Business Studies.

My head of sixth form says that all the people who have gotten into Oxbridge from the college have all had 5A*s or more... :frown:

And also we only get 2 or 3 each year.

With my GCSEs, do you think my aspirations are realistic? Or should I look at other universities instead...

EDIT: 2A*s, 5As, 2Bs

Reply 10

mercexe

Tom

No. There is no "you must get X GCSEs to apply" requirement, or anything like that.

It's so frustrating still seeing this stuff being put about; the most cursory search of the forum will reveal thread after thread where people have worried about GCSEs, been told by some idiot that you have to get all/x number of A*s to have a chance, and have people who actually know call it out as bull****.

Good GCSEs will help an application; genuinely bad ones (i.e., Bs) could hinder it if there's not a good reason: but getting A's in the A-levels, PS, and interview/interview tests are the important things.

Speedbird2008 never said it was a requirement. He said that they surely expect 4A*+ - and you can't really disagree with that. The Cambridge average is 6A* so it is more than reasonable for admissions tutors to expect applicants to have at least 4. However, if an applicant shines at interview then, obviously, they will be willing to waiver their expectation.

At LSE you would struggle to find anyone who came from a decent private school with fewer than 7A* on the Econ course.

Reply 11

Don John

OP

17

mercexe

At LSE you would struggle to find anyone who came from a decent private school with fewer than 7A* on the Econ course.

I suppose LSE is out of the question then ha! :p:

Moving on...

I do have to admit this whole business of number of A*s does dent my confidence on applying quite a bit. What about the Land Economy course at Cambridge? Seems interesting... although it would be a lack-of-confidence application =/

Reply 12

Tom

15

mercexe

He said that they surely expect 4A*+ - and you can't really disagree with that.

I can and do. They expect a candidate who can think well for themselves and who shows a passion for their subject. While this *might* (and, often does) correlate with good performance in exams taken at 16, to suggest that there is an expectation that a candidate must have a certain set of results to show from that is ridiculous - as I said, more recent, and harder exams, plus interview etc, are far far more important. Perhaps the word "expect" might still be OK if one doesn't take it as implying "require" but still, I was objecting really to the tone of the post (and thread) which seem to be very discouraging to the guy's application. It would be ridiculous for anyone expecting As at A-level and with a real desire+drive to apply to top unis to be put off by an A* or two more or less in their GCSEs.

Reply 13

Jibzy

15

Don John

Our college doesn't offer A-level Economics, but didn't want to take Business Studies.

My head of sixth form says that all the people who have gotten into Oxbridge from the college have all had 5A*s or more... :frown:

And also we only get 2 or 3 each year.

With my GCSEs, do you think my aspirations are realistic? Or should I look at other universities instead...

EDIT: 2A*s, 5As, 2Bs

hey. from what iv gathered. applying to LSE for Government and econs with your grades shouldnt be a problem atol. for that course, they tend to focus more on the PS and the EC's uv undertaken to convey the interest. so in short your PS has to be amazing. I know people with 1a* 5A'S who got into LSE for that course.
With regards to Cambridge, i assume it would be far more difficult. the fact that some colleges at Cambridge check individual module results, is something you should consider. However, if you get 4a's at AS level, then by all means apply to camb's and make sure ur written work and referrences are stellar. I know a girl who got into Cambridge with 3a*'s. but went on to get 4a's at AS level to prove herself. Cambridge interviewed her based on her refferences and the fact that she got a*'s in the relevant subjects at GSCSE.

so in short, get 4a's at AS and give it a shot! :wink:

(and yeah, perhaps select the college at camb's carefully!)

Reply 14

mercexe

Don't discount LSE completely. I was referring to the straight Econ course, which is mega competitive. Gov + Econ isn't so bad, so it might be worth a shot. I doubt they are half as fussy as for straight econ.

Land Economy is quite competitive, around 4 to 5 applicants per place. Some people slag it off but it's graduates have the best employment rates across the university and the few LandEc grads that I know are now earning mega bucks in the City.

I wouldn't choose Land Economy over straight Economics because you think it might be easier to get in for......choose the one you are actually most interested in studying.

Reply 15

Tom

15

Don John

Our college doesn't offer A-level Economics, but didn't want to take Business Studies.

My head of sixth form says that all the people who have gotten into Oxbridge from the college have all had 5A*s or more... :frown:

And also we only get 2 or 3 each year.

With my GCSEs, do you think my aspirations are realistic? Or should I look at other universities instead...

EDIT: 2A*s, 5As, 2Bs

If you're expecting As at A-level, and you think you're really gonna be enthusiastic about economics to shine in a PS and at interview, then yes, you have a very realistic chance for Cambridge.

I would be more worried about what you said in your first post, about not being sure you can get an A in History. As your essay-based A-level, that one's gonna be important in showing you can think in something other than numbers! :p:

edit: Just as another reassurance, I know there are ppl on TSR at Cambridge with no A*s at GCSE (in fact, no doubt some will show up in this thread at some point). It's really not a massive deal.

Reply 16

mercexe

Tom

It would be ridiculous for anyone expecting As at A-level and with a real desire+drive to apply to top unis to be put off by an A* or two more or less in their GCSEs.

I agree in terms of making a Cambridge application. However, for straight Econ at LSE it really would be a waste of an application - the OP honestly wouldn't stand a chance. LSE's straight econ and law departments are really very fussy about A* grades at GCSE.

Reply 17

V1000

1

Don John

Our college doesn't offer A-level Economics, but didn't want to take Business Studies.

My head of sixth form says that all the people who have gotten into Oxbridge from the college have all had 5A*s or more... :frown:

And also we only get 2 or 3 each year.

With my GCSEs, do you think my aspirations are realistic? Or should I look at other universities instead...

EDIT: 2A*s, 5As, 2Bs

Don't worry to much about GCSEs for Cambridge, they look at the whole picture. As long you make up for your slightly weak GCSEs with good A Level grades especially in maths (good grades meaning As with high UMS marks), good ps and reference and especially a good interview performance (vey important for Cambridge). There are plenty of people here with GCSEs similar or worse than yours. However I would say you are at a big disadvantage with LSE who place a big emphasis on GCSEs.

Reply 18

alex_hk90

19

Don John, despite your GCSEs you might as well apply to Cambridge; the worst thing that can happen is that you get rejected, which happens to 3/4 of the applicants anyway. You have five choices on UCAS for a reason, and you'd only be giving up your 5th/6th choice that you probably wouldn't have gone to in any case.

But I would be concerned about not getting near enough full marks in D1. I'm revising for it at the moment and as long as you remember and follow the instructions for the algorithms, it's pretty hard not to be getting an A in my opinion. Did you have a bad day or just not revise enough?

And out of interest, why are you not doing Further Maths with Edexcel?

About how it will affect your application, as long as the D1 mark was a one-off and your other modules turn out good (ideally 90/95%+) then there's a good chance that it will be overlooked. Besides, there's always the interview for you to shine in. :smile:

Oh, and don't underestimate the importance of the personal statement, especially as you are not doing Economics at A-level.

Reply 19

ninety_nine

12

I thought for BA Economics at LSE it's usually 9A*s. It may be slightly flexible in some cases.

For Econ & Management it should eb about 6+A*s I would've thought.

Cam aren't as fussy about GCSEs but you're going to have to SHINE at interview to convince them.

BA Economics @ Cambridge

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