dannym Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 Hello Dear All As it is in the topic - would be so kind and suggest to me some universities for which having gone through Math HL in the high school isn't prerequisite? Are there some unis with some decent economics courses (or economic-related) without such entry requirement? I have heard that Durham is quite decent and so is the Manchester uni - could you confirm? Looking forward to hear your opinions/suggestions In case you need my study subcjects: History HL Geogrpahy HL English HL Polish (my national language) SL Math SL Chemistry SL I should also add that there is no such possibility to study economics or buisness and whatsoever Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sceptyczka Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 (edited) From what I can see from the league tables below Durham is considered a better university (not only specifically for Economics but also in general). 1. University subject table for Economics (2015): http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=economics 2. UK university league table (2015): http://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2014/jun/02/university-league-tables-2015-the-complete-list On the other hand, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and QS World University Ranking from 2014 consider Manchester better for Business/Economics degrees (as for the ARWU, Durham isn't even there): 1. http://www.shanghairanking.com/SubjectEcoBus2014.html 2. http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2014/economics-econometrics#sorting=rank+region=+country=208+faculty=+stars=false+search= Manchester University is considered better than University of Durham also in general: 1. http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2014.html 2. http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2013#sorting=rank+region=+country=208+faculty=+stars=false+search= So as you can see different rankings show different results but you could roughly tell that they are on a similar level (though they both aren't the top notch for anything economics/business related - that would be rather Oxbridge, LSE and UCL). As for the Math HL... it may be difficult to find a right uni as UK universities generally require high level of math for Economics. I have done some research and apparently Durham requires A level Math (Math HL would be probably an IB equilavent, though they haven't stated it): https://www.dur.ac.uk/natural.sciences/prospective/entry/ On the other hand, Manchester seems to have no problem with Math SL as long as it is a BA degree: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/2015/05134/economics-3-years-baecon/entry-requirements/ Other universities that are good for Economics and don't require Math HL are: University of East Anglia (https://www.uea.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degree/detail/bsc-economics#requirements), University of Leeds (http://business.leeds.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry-requirements/), University of York (http://www.york.ac.uk/economics/undergraduate/courses/bsc-economics/#course-applying), University of Lancaster (http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/economics-bsc-hons-l100/), etc. You just have to look at the league table, visit universities' websites and check the entry requirements independently. However, you should keep in mind that these universities aren't top notch universities for Economics because top universities would require Math HL for anything business-related. So if you're aiming for a really good university then maybe you should consider either switching to Math HL and working hard to achieve a great score (it's possible even if you aren't a natural mathematician) or choosing another social science degree like e.g. PPE, Politics, Law or Business & Management. Hope I helped. Edited August 29, 2014 by Sceptyczka 3 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flinquinnster Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 Hey! I'm afraid I don't know much about economics in the UK, so I really can't speak for the economics courses at Durham and Manchester. My impression is that they're both good universities - well, I've heard of them, which is always promising - but I don't know for economics. You could always try consulting the various university ranking tables that are available. Other universities which offer an economics course without Maths HL might be Edinburgh, York and Nottingham - though I'm not sure if it necessarily means that what level of maths you do is irrelevant. Might be best to check directly with them if you're worried if something which isn't listed as an essential subject might affect your application. If you're willing to look at courses which are not strictly economics but economics-related there are a lot more options without Maths HL. Economic history, business or land economy might be options, and I think there are quite a lot of universities which won't require Maths HL. Again, I'm not sure, so I would suggest checking with university websites directly. If you really don't know which university you could apply for with Maths SL, what you could do is go down the list of universities on ranking tables for economics/economics-related subjects. Check their entry requirements, and then find the ones that don't require Maths HL. Time-consuming, but if you're really stuck it might help. Of course, if you're willing to look beyond the UK, you would have many options without Maths HL! For instance, US and Australian universities pretty much will not require Maths HL for economics. 3 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannym Posted August 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 Thanks for all the answears! That helped me a lot and also I am beeing impressed with the fact that I got a response so quickly Thank you for your effort. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
valaistunut Posted August 29, 2014 Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 Don't be discouraged by the requirements of the elite unis, you can always contact their admissions department to enquire over the possibility of compensating the lack of HL Maths by taking 1st year uni courses before the start of your studies. Another plausible way might be to sit the STEP exam used primarily by Cambridge to assess its Maths applicants but also occasionally engineering and econ. applicants. Even if you failed to score a Cambridge level grade, you would at least demonstrate your (apparently strong) motivation for an economics degree.And always remember that you can still choose 4 universities you're 100% sure don't require HL maths. Just make sure you score 7 in SL maths and never give up on your aspirations! 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannym Posted August 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2014 Thanks a lot, that was highly motivating to hear that from you Of course I would never give up or back down on my passion and dreams, so I will try to do my best and struggle a little bit to achieve 7 in Math SL. I really liked the idea of this whole Cambridge exams, as I have heard sometimes universities do not stick to the prerequisite requirements they have set themselfes but also desire to study particular subject and so on is important. For now, I have listed and written down some universities that actually I would "fit into": Edinburgh (I guess this is the place I would like to study most), Lancaster, Exeter, Queen Mary, St Andrews. What do you think about my choices? Can somebody give an opinion about their economics departments and courses? I would greatly appreciate it Thanks for the answear, cheers! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
valaistunut Posted August 30, 2014 Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 (edited) To my eyes, your university choices seem just right as all five unis are at the top 15 of the Economics ranking (http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Economics). This is far from an absolutely objective ranking but is nonetheless an adequate indicator. You might want to pay special attention to such universities that don't discourage deferred entry since you could possibly take a gap year and study mathematics either independently or at a (Polish?) university before the start of your actual studies. Your personal/referee's statement should be sufficient to explain your issue. I'd suggest your uni choices would include two from Scotland, two good (not LSE, Oxbridge etc.) English unis and a wild card like UCL. What are your predicted grades? (sry if I'm lazy and won't bother to look for them ) E: This web page might provide some additional information http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Economics_Degree Edited August 30, 2014 by valaistunut Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannym Posted September 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 Thanks for the answear and involving into topic! I am just starting IB so actually I don't have any predicted grades I am just looking around to see which uni will be my choices next year. Anyways, thanks for help, I will look all these pages up Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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