economics or history degree?

In general economics at degree level is significantly more mathematical than economics at A-level. I don't think it's something you ought to really consider as an "essay subject" at degree level. If your strength and interest is in essay based work then stick with that and do something which builds on that strength. Also no A-level Further Maths and only an A in A-level Maths means you are not likely to be competitive for Cambridge economics regardless.

Worth noting if your dearest desire is to go into investment banking to make as much money as you can get your grubby little hands on, investment banks literally don't care what subject your degree is in, they only care if you went to a target uni. You could do classics or philosophy or anthropology or any other subject and go into investment banking - if you went to a target uni.

If you want to do anything else then every other grad scheme cares even less what subject you studied (or where you studied it) and cares a lot more what you bothered to get up to work experience wise between terms/years at uni and how well you do in their psychometric tests and assessment centres. Literally nothing you have said suggests you would want to study or even enjoy studying economics at degree level, and as far as I can tell the only reason you're even considering it is in the great misconception that your degree subject is going to make a difference when you're applying to graduate jobs.

You have clearly thought about this. You potential future career choices are too varied and you need to really focus more on that. This in turn will help you determine whether economics or history is the better choice. Thus one can study law with either an economics or a history degree but to become a stock trader definitely a quant subject like economics or maths will stand you in better shape. You say you may want to become a lecturer - very different from becoming a lawyer or trader so what is it you want to do? Even stating you want to become a lecturer - what kind of lecturer? An economics lecturer is a very different animal from a history lecturer.

Much of what you say about economics attracting a certain type of 'alpha' character is true so go in with your eyes wide open. Frankly, A*A*AA kinda puts you in that 'alpha' personality too

History at university is very different to A-Level history. It's much less prescriptive, not nearly so dependent on "box-ticking" essay questions, and it can be what you make it - you can take it down a cultural, highly interpretative, artistic route, or you can take it down a really quantitative, data-focused, social science type route. In fact some universities class it as a social science rather than a humanities subject. It overlaps with so many different subjects and research methods that you really can bring your own preferences to the table, and all are equally valid and important approaches to historical inquiry.

Most of your chosen universities have history departments with a big focus on economic and social history, so you would find a good selection of modules that fit your interests, and you can always take optional modules in economics if you want. From what you've said, this may fit your temperament better if you want a degree with all the social analysis and trends of economics, but without the maths.

Also what you say about history undergrads is true - they do tend to be pretty relaxed, interested people with a broad range of ideas and perspectives, rather than being completely success-oriented.

Hi and thanks for you reply. I’m okay with the maths, I got a good grade at gcse and at a level and I do enjoy it but I also like social science - humanity - essay writing as well. With economics, I like macroeconomics and then I like stats and maths (not loads though) but I can deal with maths. I think it’s more the business side of economics so microeconomics which I don’t enjoy as much and I’m not passionate about really. But contradicting that is my passion for macroeconomics, essay writing and stats and maths, so it depends. I guess with economics after I have thought about it for a couple more weeks, I’ve sort of come to the conclusion that I don’t know if it would be exactly for me if I know I don’t really have a passion or much knowledge on certain parts of it but that the main advantage of taking econ would be that I could eventually end up getting a well paid job like in finance or stocks and shares and in the very distant future hopefully set up my own business using some of the money I made from the *hopefully* well paid job.

However, like you rightly said, history is a very broad subject which I like because it’ll mean I also have the chance to specialise in an area that I really like such as economic or social history. I do worry though that a history degree doesn’t have the potential to secure a higher paid job than an economics degree, but if getting into something like stocks and shares or finance with a history degree + any extra qualifications or training needed for a job like that then that takes a bit more pressure of me feeling like I need to take an economics degree just to have a nice salary.

Also is it possible that say I did a degree in history or economics as an undergraduate, could i then decide to change degree for a masters or PhD or would I have to stick within the realms of that subject? For example, I don’t mean I want to do a bachelors history degree and then do a masters in medicine but if I wanted to change to something like International Relations or Econ at a masters i’d that possible with a history degree and would it allow me to go into stocks and shares etc

I should have really shortened this down but I’m too lazy too sorry

In general economics at degree level is significantly more mathematical than economics at A-level. I don't think it's something you ought to really consider as an "essay subject" at degree level. If your strength and interest is in essay based work then stick with that and do something which builds on that strength. Also no A-level Further Maths and only an A in A-level Maths means you are not likely to be competitive for Cambridge economics regardless.

Worth noting if your dearest desire is to go into investment banking to make as much money as you can get your grubby little hands on, investment banks literally don't care what subject your degree is in, they only care if you went to a target uni. You could do classics or philosophy or anthropology or any other subject and go into investment banking - if you went to a target uni.

If you want to do anything else then every other grad scheme cares even less what subject you studied (or where you studied it) and cares a lot more what you bothered to get up to work experience wise between terms/years at uni and how well you do in their psychometric tests and assessment centres. Literally nothing you have said suggests you would want to study or even enjoy studying economics at degree level, and as far as I can tell the only reason you're even considering it is in the great misconception that your degree subject is going to make a difference when you're applying to graduate jobs.

I’m applying to Edinburgh, Durham, Newcastle, Cambridge and one more out of either York or Liverpool, but I’m stuck on which degree to take out of economics or history. Here’s some background info:

I got mostly 7s, 8s and 9s in my GCSEs and got two A*s and two As at A level in economics (a*), sociology (a*), maths (a) and history (a). I got a better grade in economics but I think that was more due to the fact that maths and history took up a lot more time than the other two, and had more content so it was easier to get the better grades in economics and sociology.

I like history because I find it really interesting and surprisingly relaxing, and I have a passion for learning about anything that happened in the past however I would say it was never a subject that was my all time favourite, but I love learning outside of school about other historical topics that peak my interest.

On the other hand, economics is a perfect blend of the sort of subjects I like, as it is a mix of being a social science and being quite mathematical, so I wouldn’t get too bored or sick of writing essays all the time. I love learning about other countries’ economies and GDP growth and trade and other random stuff like that. However, some of my concerns are that economics might be a bit too maths-y at university, and that it will be really different from a level and not as much about other countries and society. I’ve also heard rumours that lots of people who takes economics are very hell driven on being millionaires and being big in business when they’re older and I’m not sure if I could deal with those sorts of people, whereas history students seem very chilled and relaxed like they could talk about anything.

I think as a job I would either like to do something regarding law or being a lawyer, stock markets and economics, researcher, university lecturer etc.

Another solution is to do a combined honours in economics and history, however I don’t want to do that as I would rather study one subject in great depth then share my focus on two, and I’ve also known people who have done combined honours who feel like they don’t belong to one department in particular and that they don’t feel like a student of either subject they study due to the conflicting amounts of time spent on different subjects.

Sorry for how long this has been and I usually don’t comment on TSR but read lots on it so yeah any advice or help would be great thanks

Probably a bit late but did you ever consider economic history? Oxford and lse as far as I know have courses called history and economics and economics and economic history, meaning you get to learn about economics alongside past gdp growth of countries as you mentioned.

I saw that actually, I was thinking of LSE’s economic history, economics, or economic history and economics. I don’t know if I would go there for undergrad or masters though. I really want to live in London in the future, but I worry that going to LSE for an undergraduate degree means I won’t have a good social life, but will have good pay after my degree, whereas I worry going for a masters there would be not as good pay, and the social life would be expected for a masters since the focus would be on academia. I also want to go into stocks and shares so dk what would be good. Thank you so much for your reply thought I greatly appreciate it!! :)

A straight BSc Economics degree course would be more mathematical than essay based. Have you thought about combining the two (maths/essay) and looking into something like Philosophy, Politics and Economics or History and Economics?

My son is doing BSc Economics and doesn't really get a lot of opportunity for essay writing. When he does he excels in it. He had a dilemma between a History degree (has a love of history, English literature and essay writing) or an Economics degree which would provide many more work opportunities upon graduation. I think he went with his head rather than his heart.