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Msc Economics Admissions Guide (including a Warwick specific post)

I have now started a spreadsheet to store info for taught Postgrdauate courses in Economics at Uk universities:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rcf0S1p4-udUcSa6BD3cXVw&output=html

[pre]_7) Oxford1234 Mphil (2 year) 1st year UK/EU £9,900/£10,300 Overseas £13,650/£14,050
1234567890123456789012345678902nd year UK/EU £6,400/£6,800 Overseas £13,650/£14,050[/pre]
[pre]10) LSE123456 Msc (1 year) UK/EU £18,048 Overseas £18,048[/pre]
[pre]27) Warwick123Msc (1 year) UK/EU12£8,160 Overseas £11,810[/pre]
[pre]36) UCL123456 Msc (1 year) UK/EU12£9,280 Overseas £14,040[/pre]
[pre]51) Cambridge Mphil (1 year) UK/EU12£9,560 Overseas £15,525 [/pre]

[PRE]82) Nottingham Msc (1year) UK/EU £4,370 Overseas £10,610[/PRE]

Note:
1) The Oxford fees is the sum of the University Fee and the College Fees. College fees vary by college hence the / figures.
2) The UK/EU fee for UCL is still the 08/09 fee as the 09/10 fees have not been publisched yet.
3) The Cambridge fees are formed by totalling the University and College fees.

Why the funny numbering?
The numbers reflect the Universiteis worldwide research rankings for economics:
http://ideas.repec.org/top/top.inst.all.html

If go to a moderate uni after I complete my degree will I be able to do a masters at a better uni?
In general with top unis the constraints are financial not academic. In terms of academics whilst LSE and OXbridge requries Firsts (both actual and predicted) outside those three a 2:1 is probably acceptable. e.g. at Warwick a good 2:1 is ok. Top unis will also look at the content of your course esp. in terms of Maths and Statistics.

So in general the challenge is not getting offers. e.g. If you study econ at an AAA-AAB uni and are predicted a 2:1 or are at an ABB-BBB uni and are predicted a 1st I would expect you to get offers outside the Top 3. However the constraint on applicants are financial not academic. i.e. hard to find funding as the funding that is available is more focused on PhD than Msc students.

Issue is how well you do once you get there. The material taught at undergraduate varies as you go down the table and is no longer a good preparation for msc.

Also check out:
i) the Warick preliminary knowledge post: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10923238#post10923238
ii) the spreadsheet http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rcf0S1p4-udUcSa6BD3cXVw&output=html for the fees and academic requirements on each msc course.

Can I go to a mid table uni for undergraduate and then a top uni for an msc? (1)
At undergraduate level TAELT has 5 ridiculously ridiculously competitive (RRC) unis and 6 ridiculously competitive (RC) unis. At Msc level the picture would be very different. Instead there would be perhaps only 3 RC unis and no RRC unis. For example:
i) Warwick make a lot of offers (e.g. between half and 2 thirds of applicants get offers) and have students from places like Cardiff, Sheffield and Royal Holloway in the last few years.
ii) Notts this cycle had a student from Kingston.

Why is there such a big drop in competitivity between Bsc and Msc?
Well:
i) Lots of Bsc Econ graduates are very employable and hence don't want or need more education.
ii)The Msc fees are higher. So unlike at BSc level prices are not artificially low and hence there is not excess demand.

Can I go to a mid table uni for undergraduate and then a top uni for an Msc? (2)
Getting into a top uni for Msc is one thing doing well is another. i.e. the material taught varies between top and mid table unis. And whilst there is a natural progression in the material taught between Bsc and Msc at top unis, there is no such guarantee at other unis.

So in conclusion. Yes you can move up from a mid to a top uni, but:
i)there are likely to be more issues with the material.
ii)It is expensive and coming from a less good uni it is harder to get funding.

How do I go about applying to do postgraduate study in economics at a UK university?
In terms of applying for postgraduate study you do that directly to each uni so you do not have to do that through UCAS. You can apply to as many or few as you like. And you are not limited to 5 choices.

What are the deadlines?
Well in general there are no hard application deadlines. But sooner is better. e.g. for many funding schemes you need to have made an application first before you can applying for funding. And many funding schemes do have hard deadlines.

Reply 360

DaddyT

12

Paulwhy

What was the book?

something along the lines of Global Financial in Crisis: The politics of regulatory change.

Although i didn't use it quite as much as a 'Critical Review' book on the causes of financial crisis. That book i took for all it was worth lol.

Reply 361

Mustard-man

18

Paulwhy

Surprised you are not on campus?
Most students live in leamington not Cov.

p.s. sorry for the slow reply. I lost you.

I applied late and plus I took a long time to respond to the offer because I was unsure about masters. After my internship (ends on Friday) I'll start sorting it out. Gaaah... The pre-sessional exam as well! :o:

Worth 5% I think.

Reply 362

ntkris

Paulwhy

I got 69.5 in Diploma
I got 74.5 in Msc
and 80.5 in PhD.

Which reflects that I found diploma hardest.

Oh ****

Did you find it more taxing than the Masters in terms of work as well? Since it probably requires more effort/study because they cover more?

I just started on the books!

Reply 363

Paulwhy

OP

13

ntkris

Oh ****

Did you find it more taxing than the Masters in terms of work as well? Since it probably requires more effort/study because they cover more?

I just started on the books!

Well a diploma is the 2nd year of an undergraduate course. So it feels the whole time like you have missed out a year. Which you have! :smile:

Reply 364

Mikl6969

Can I do an MSC in Financial Economics with just a BSC in Maths ?

thanks

Reply 365

DaddyT

12

Mikl6969

Can I do an MSC in Financial Economics with just a BSC in Maths ?

thanks

Yes possibly.

Some uni's do consider those with a strong mathematical background because they obviously don't have to worry about the technical side. That being said i think you have to make a strong case of your interest and knowledge of economics as you will be at a bit of a loss from missing second year micro/macro.

Reply 366

IanMalta

Hi, does anyone know when the applications for the major universities start please? Because I cannot find any information on the websites yet (except Oxford).

I applied for Warwick last year and I unfortunately got rejected, even though I had excellent grades. The predicted overall grade was first class. What may have been the problem? Could it be that I applied late (I applied in March)? Or may be something else? FYI, I did get my first class eventually.

I would appreciate if someone can help me here, because I don't wish to repeat the same mistakes.

Thanks.

Reply 367

Mustard-man

18

IanMalta

I applied for Warwick last year and I unfortunately got rejected, even though I had excellent grades. The predicted overall grade was first class. What may have been the problem? Could it be that I applied late (I applied in March)? Or may be something else? FYI, I did get my first class eventually.

I would appreciate if someone can help me here, because I don't wish to repeat the same mistakes.

Thanks.

I don't think it was your academic performance or when you applied, because you beat me on both counts.

Which University did you go to? Also what course?

Reply 368

kalaperson

Hi I was wondering if it would be better to transfer onto a BSc Economics course from BA Economics and Mathematics joint hons after first year, since I want to do a masters in Economics after my degree. I know I have a year to think about it but, I like to think ahead :biggrin:

. Also, does it matter if you have a BSc or a BA if you want to apply for a reputable department for your masters? Sorry if the question has been asked before but, I don't have time to go through all 19 pages! Thanks in advance :smile:

Reply 369

.ACS.

19

kalaperson

Hi I was wondering if it would be better to transfer onto a BSc Economics course from BA Economics and Mathematics joint hons after first year, since I want to do a masters in Economics after my degree. I know I have a year to think about it but, I like to think ahead :biggrin:

. Also, does it matter if you have a BSc or a BA if you want to apply for a reputable department for your masters? Sorry if the question has been asked before but, I don't have time to go through all 19 pages! Thanks in advance :smile:

Which university are you currently at?

If anything, the BA Economics/Mathematics will be a better bet for postgraduate study in Economics.

The designation doesn't actually matter, whether it's BA or BSc. What matters is that you have the sufficient background knowledge in micro/macro theory, as well as a grounding in multivariate calculus, optimization, matrix algebra, and statistics/probability theory.

Reply 370

kalaperson

Thanks for that! I'm currently at Liverpool Uni. Would that reduce my chances in the competition if I applied for a reputable uni?

Reply 371

kalaperson

Thanks for that! I'm currently at Liverpool Uni. Would that reduce my chances in the competition if I applied for a reputable uni?

Edit - Oops didn't mean to double post, the comp went funny for a sec...

Reply 372

IanMalta

Mustard-man

I don't think it was your academic performance or when you applied, because you beat me on both counts.

Which University did you go to? Also what course?

I went to the University of Malta, and the course was Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Economics.

I know of people who followed this course in this same university and eventually made it to Warwick.

Do you think it could have been some flaw in my application?

Reply 373

Mustard-man

18

IanMalta

I went to the University of Malta, and the course was Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Economics.

I know of people who followed this course in this same university and eventually made it to Warwick.

Do you think it could have been some flaw in my application?

Might have been your Personal Statement then.

Reply 374

Tarutaru

2

IanMalta

Hi, does anyone know when the applications for the major universities start please? Because I cannot find any information on the websites yet (except Oxford).

I applied for Warwick last year and I unfortunately got rejected, even though I had excellent grades. The predicted overall grade was first class. What may have been the problem? Could it be that I applied late (I applied in March)? Or may be something else? FYI, I did get my first class eventually.

I would appreciate if someone can help me here, because I don't wish to repeat the same mistakes.

Thanks.

University of Malta? I have never heard of it. And what is your maths background? But looking at the syllabus of the Warwick MSc Economics, I don't think the course requires very strong technical background as the MSc is designed in such a way to accomodate the needs of students with not so good technical background (e.g. econometrics A (B?), the some what qualitative components in the economics analysis) And I think Paulwhite mentioned something in somewhere that some international students there had just business management background :frown:

Might be your personal statement or your references.

Reply 375

IanMalta

Tarutaru

University of Malta? I have never heard of it. And what is your maths background? But looking at the syllabus of the Warwick MSc Economics, I don't think the course requires very strong technical background as the MSc is designed in such a way to accomodate the needs of students with not so good technical background (e.g. econometrics A (B?), the some what qualitative components in the economics analysis) And I think Paulwhite mentioned something in somewhere that some international students there had just business management background :frown:

Might be your personal statement or your references.

Thanks for your replies.

I am quite confused now because I was somewhat convinced that it had to do with the fact that I was slightly late, or maybe since I had not yet finished my course they may not have believed my prediction of getting a first class. My university should not be the problem because there are a number of Maltese students in Warwick who have done extremely well.

My personal statement was corrected by a person who has considerable experience in drafting personal statements. So maybe my references? Or may be I screwed up in the application somehow.

Thanks.

Reply 376

kalaperson

Did you not ask Warwick for feedback? Sometimes if you ask they do give it, but of course it depends on their policy...

(edited 15 years ago)

Reply 377

pharmakos

8

To update the rankings on IDEAS, as of August 2010, major UK institutions are ranked as follows:

7 LSE
8 Oxford
31 UCL
36 Warwick
38 Cambridge

http://ideas.repec.org/top/top.inst.all.html

Reply 378

Tarutaru

2

This thread is dead... perhaps the information needs to be updated...

Reply 379

bbjaylive

Anyone have any idea if as a 2.2 Mechanical Engineering Graduate for Notts I would be able to get on the Diploma program for Warwick, and if not was is the best I could hope for?

Msc Economics Admissions Guide (including a Warwick specific post)

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