Geography (BA) at LSE, Durham or UCL... Anyone with DC who applied and how soon did you hear back please?

[innerspinner]

Hi, just wondering if anyone might be able to give us a clue as UCAS form is sent in now. I’ve heard Durham and LSE can be really late in responding, but also others have said they sometimes get back fairly quickly? I guess it varies course to course, but any insights would be very much appreciated!

He’s also applied to Bath for International Development and Economics, just in case anyone knows about Bath? Also Oxbridge, but obviously, its a clear timescale there.

Two of my children read geography (BSc not BA). My son, who chose Bristol over Durham in the end and just finished, received a Durham offer in the January of the year he went ( just looked it up) which is not as late as some. I think it was his last offer (he did not apply to any London ones as we live in London and nor did he apply to Oxbridge, none of my 5 children did,as they did not think they would get in and did not want the extra work hassle!) I have no experience of Bath.

It’s worth bearing in mind that as most admissions teams are working from home, the timelines common in previous years May be drastically different.

Thanks Xenia. January for Durham is not too bad. I’m sure I’ve heard stories of people not hearing a thing until May with them!

Good point Pasta that admissions teams are likely to be fielding applications from home this year. Let’s hope it’s doesn’t delay things too much.

The LSE is normally very late, other than for the very strongest and weakest candidates. It is a small, popular, University and they need to give equal consideration to all those who apply by the January deadline. Expect March, but hope to be surprised.

(Don't know about geography, and think last year was even tougher.)

@innerspinner DD applied to UCL and LSE (plus KCL, Manchester and York) for BA Geography last year.

She submitted her UCAS application in the first week of December and had a UCL offer in early January and KCL, Manchester and York offers a week or two later. She heard from LSE with an offer on 14th February.

what did she do.

She is at LSE doing BA Geography.

Some interesting 'What do they know' requests for the universities you mentioned @innerspinner

Durham:
www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ba_geography_l702_admissions_sta#incoming-1268744

BA Geography: 530 apply, 520 get offers around 250 firm/insure but around about 100 of these candidates miss their offer.

LSE:
www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/application_statistics_geography#incoming-1609667

Of the 121 who got offers for BA Geography (and did A levels rather than, say, IB) only 15 did A level Geography. I was amazed at this statistic. (341 applications, 177 offers)

UCL
www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/geography_ba#incoming-1471734

Hi Oldowl. Thankyou so much for these stats. Yes, I’m amazed that so few applying for Geography at LSE actually have a Geog A-level . I would have thought that was almost a prerequisite tbh. I do know at Cambridge, it’s AAA for Geography. They say that having a Geography A-level is not essential, but that the vast majority will have this and quite a few colleges specify that the A needs to be in Geography as well. I mean, it would be tricky to show up at an interview and argue why you are so motivated to study Geography etc etc if you didn’t even take it at A- level. I could understand it if you’re going for a degree in something like Anthropology or Sociology which not all schools offer at A-level, but surely most schools do offer Geography.

Also, I’m surprised that the offer rates at these unis are so high. I realise everyone is going for 5 unis and can only take one, but still... Durham only don’t make offers to ten?

• only didn’t

I suppose quite a few of them have Economics. But loads have Sociology A-levels, so you wonder why they’re not applying for one of the Sociology- orientated degrees at LSE because I think there are several.

I can see why Durham was panicking when CAGs were awarded if most years circa 100 students miss their offer. They would normally accept 150 on offer day, this year it would be 200+ students and that is just one course.

One of DD's friends had Durham Geography as his firm and he has deferred in order to get first choice of college, accommodation and a cash incentive.

This shows how much grades went up with CAGs www.bstubbs.co.uk/a-lev.htm

(the algorithm, on the face of it, was being generous). I can see why the government want exams to go ahead next year.

Inner spinner, I had assumed that students were interested in the urban landscape, with ambitions towards urban planning. It is an LSE forte. However according to their website most graduates go into banking or accountancy.

Perhaps they like sociology but preferred the idea of some broader with more obvious applications.

(The geographers I knew when at LSE often went on to stress the LSE rather than the subject, leaving other to assume they had read economics. It worked quite effectively.)

Yes sure, I think there is a tendency to think geographers will go into town planning or teaching. Nothing wrong with that either!

But if you think about the big questions facing their generation - how will societies cope with climate change; globalisation; human migration patterns driven by war, famine or global warming; how to balance an increasing demand for finite resources with fragile environments; the rise of megacities; increasing economic disparities between producer and consumer countries - this is the stuff of human geography and somebody will need to develop the policies of the future.

Perhaps we need a seperate thread on what course we would choose if we were the ones applying. Compared with what we actually did study.

LSE geography and economics would be on my shortlist

They used to go to Manhattan for the field trip, but now apparently, they go to Havana.

Where can I sign up??