what degree should I study? (oxbridge)

Apologies if this is not exactly the answer you were hoping for in terms of resolving your Cambridge dilemma, but a number of universities offer an economics and modern languages degree — the best of these probably being Warwick, which is widely considered to have the most prestigious econ department outside of Oxbridge and London. Also, if you want to combine modern languages with social sciences, it may be worth at least looking into Oxford’s Modern Languages and Linguistics course. As far as Cambridge Economics is concerned, as you probably know, it has an extremely low acceptance rate — you probably need to be very committed to the subject and/or extremely good at maths to stand a decent chance of getting in (and not liking microeconomics is potentially not a great sign, although micro is much more interesting at degree level than A level).

If your aim is just to get into Oxbridge - go for the easiest thing to get into. That would be modern MML, history or classics at Oxford or MML, Geography or History at Cambridge. So it is a no brainer if that is your aim.

However it is a myth that going to Oxbridge increases your chances in the general workplace though - only exception is banking, law or civil service - where Oxbridge still carries weight. My Aunt works in recruitment for one of the big accounting firms and she said they prioritise graduates from Warwick, Bristol, Manchester, UCL, St Andrews etc and other top Russell group rather than Oxbridge as they tend to be more well-rounded. Oxbridge are viewed as nerds in a vacuum by many employers. But you are still more likely to get an interview than say you went to some low end uni.

Warwick seems too out the way from me, but I know there are other unis which I never even thought of such as Nottingham, Leeds and Sheffield which are closer to where I live that do Econ and mfl. Apparently at Oxford the languages course is a lot more literature based and I want an mfr degree which is more tailored to the history, art, politics, sociology and movements of the country in which the language is spoken. I think microeconomics is too bussiness-y and is going to be filled with really hyper competitive wannabe trillionaires or smh. I feel like a joint honours shows a lack of clarity, and I believe a Cambridge, as well as some other unis I've applied to such as Edinburgh and durham that you can take a language course for a year to improve proficiency (Cambridge) or do language modules for extra credit (Ed. and Durham). I am good at maths, and I can do maths in a degree, but if it's going to be weighted 70-30 maths then I don't think I could do it. I am very good at it, but I don't just want to dog a maths degree in disguise, otherwise I would have picked maths. If its about 50 50 weighted maths and stats v essay writing and social sciences then I could cope, Im predicted A*s in maths and FM for year 13 and I am rlly good at them plus essay writing. I just feel like because Ive always been quite smart I feel like its a must that I go to Cambridge or Oxford, and I don't know if I would get in for economics or if I would be bored if the people would be too boring or what. But then again mil doesn't pay as well andddddd now I'm just rambling sorryyyy

Thank you so much for your reply though, it was very informative and I will definitely consider what you mentioned about Warwick

Thanks for your reply, would you mind sharing with me what other universities would be considered in the "etc"? I don't live close to many of those, but just wanted to know if there were any more specifics. Would other top 10/15 unis be ok? : )

One thing I would say is don’t go to oxbridge just because of the status. Look into the course and how it will work at that uni specifically. It’s way more intense at oxbridge and going just for the name is going to give you such a shock if you aren’t prepared for the workload.

If you’ve done a lot of research on the unis and genuinely think that the course at oxford/cambridge is for you, then by all means go for it! You don’t have to go to oxbridge just because you are really smart! Go somewhere where you can really flourish (maybe oxbridge is that for you, or maybe it’s not!)

Sorry, I don't have a list - I was just remembering what my Aunt said. I suppose it is the Russell group plus a few outside the Russell like Bath, St Andrews Lancaster and Durham. She did say a 'good' university and solid summer work experience gets you an interview - but that is all - the rest is down to interview and entrance tests.

No problem at all. You’re definitely right about Oxford modern languages being very literature-heavy, so, yeah, fair enough, you might want to steer clear if that’s not what you’re after. With regards to micro, if anything it’s often seen as somewhat more academic/theoretical/mathematical than macro — it certainly makes contact with a wider range of topics in the other social sciences (e.g. lots of overlap with political science), and even moral philosophy. As far as wannabe trillionaires are concerned, option courses like money and banking which they’d likely be attracted to are often actually more macro-based. At any rate, everyone on an econ degree has to take core micro and macro modules, so you’re not going to find any difference between them in the type of person who takes them.

If your aim is just to get into Oxbridge - go for the easiest thing to get into. That would be modern MML, history or classics at Oxford or MML, Geography or History at Cambridge. So it is a no brainer if that is your aim.

However it is a myth that going to Oxbridge increases your chances in the general workplace though - only exception is banking, law or civil service - where Oxbridge still carries weight. My Aunt works in recruitment for one of the big accounting firms and she said they prioritise graduates from Warwick, Bristol, Manchester, UCL, St Andrews etc and other top Russell group rather than Oxbridge as they tend to be more well-rounded. Oxbridge are viewed as nerds in a vacuum by many employers. But you are still more likely to get an interview than say you went to some low end uni.

I am definitely capable, I know that, as are many other applicants who apply to go there, obviously the workload would be intense and challenging but that is the case for everyone and otherwise it wouldn't be Oxbridge. My original post was me contemplating between an economics degree and a mil degree, which I could do either of and still enjoy; the question is should I do the easier one to get into for Cambridge or the harder but higher paid one at another uni potentially? I could do both and thoroughly enjoy them which is the dilemma I'm having, thanks for your reply : )

"However it is a myth that going to Oxbridge increases your chances in the general workplace though"

This is definitely not true. Oxbridge 100% confers an advantage.

Ah sorry about that, it’s just because you said about potentially going to cambridge, just because it’s cambridge is all
I mean obviously having ‘cambridge’ attached to the degree will ‘sound’ better, but fewer and fewer employers are looking at what uni you go to as it doesn’t matter so much; a 2:1 or 1st from bristol is better than a 2:2 or 3rd from cam for example.