Economics at Cambridge vs E&M at Oxford

Hi, I’m planning to apply for Economics at Oxbridge but I’m still not sure whether to go for Economics and Management at Oxford or Economics at Cambridge. I’d really appreciate some advice from anyone studying the course

I’m taking Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Physics for A level. I prefer the maths side of economics and I’m not that good at essay writing. Also will they be teaching you about how to structure your essays and making citations.

I’ve heard that the Cambridge course is a lot more mathematical, but if you choose all the quantitative modules at Oxford, is it a similar level? Also, people say you have to write essays every week at Oxford, but does that continue after first year if you pick the more maths-based options? At Cambridge there’s the history and politics paper and a dissertation, so that probably means more writing too.

I like the Oxford course more overall, but I’ve heard Cambridge gets very applied and stats-heavy in third year, which also sounds interesting. I’ve also heard that how quantitative the course is can depend on the college at Oxford. Is that true, and which colleges are known to be more quantitative?

In terms of getting in, which one might give you a slightly better chance? Do they weigh the personal statement, interview, admissions test, A levels and GCSEs differently?

I think I’d do better in the admissions test and A levels, since my TSA and TMUA practice scores have been above average, but I’m weaker at interviews and personal statements. I also heard some Oxford tutors don’t really read the personal statement much – is that true? Does Oxford care less about the interview compared to Cambridge since Cambridge interviews almost everyone?

Also, Cambridge has a higher acceptance rate, about double Oxford’s, so I’m wondering how that affects the difficulty of getting in.

For anyone actually studying these courses, could you share what it’s like? How’s the workload? Do you find the course interesting and useful? What’s student life like? And do you have any regrets about choosing your course or uni?

Thanks a lot for any help or advice.

Reply 1

marcus.0

Hi, can't offer you anything on the curriculum for either but can certainly tell you about the admissions processes.
Oxford only really look at your TSA, your A-Level predicted grades, and your GCSEs for the initial interview shortlisting. Some courses (not E&M though) even calculate numerical scores using GCSEs + admissions test only and rank based off of this score (called an R-score). The personal statement is not really relevant for Oxford, they probably find the interview a better indicator for character anyway.
After interviews are done and scores are in, they have another holistic look at your entire profile including interview scores, but the general rule is that if you did good in the interview, you are in. Cambridge offer more interviews and look at GCSEs less overall, though getting past the interview is the single most difficult part of their process and is where most of their applicants get knocked out. So in summary, Oxford is harder to get an interview with but statistically easier to get into if you do get one statistically speaking. But both interviews are just as important to securing admission.

I also wouldn't look at acceptance rate as too much of an indicator. For starters, Cambridge economics has double the student intake of Oxford E&M.

Reply 2

alevelsarescary

I do PPE at Oxford, so I don't have first hand experience, but in first year we do the same economics modules as E&M and quite a few of my friends study it. For most of first year for Econ you won't be writing proper essays each week, you'll be doing problem sheets which are pretty much only maths. I know for management it is closer to an essay a week/one every two weeks, but this goes along side maths based work and accounting etc. For PPE you can choose modules after first year that are incredibly maths dominated, so I imagine it's the same for E&M, though I don't know much about management past first year