Economics or Economics and Finance

[SaltyEdamame]

Hi we are looking at Economics vs Economics and finance at Leeds University and similar
... any comments on course content/ career implications/ competitiveness of offers etc very welcome....
Studying Maths Biology Economics A levels.... might add Furyher Maths AS or A......

Many thanks ❤️

Employers don’t just look at degree but Economics has a wider career span and Finance can be a job with an economics degree. Finance in the degree pushing holes it a bit so I’d keep it broad. However any student these days needs a decent cv with some work and relevant work experience on it. Plus an ability to pass selection tests and interview well. So don’t just rely on a degree.

Please could you retype the sentence as don't understand!!!!

Finance in the degree pushing holes in it so I'd keep it broad...

Please explain 🙏💕

@SaltyEdamame Oh dear! Didn’t read the rubbish before I pressed the button! Apologies.

Basically I was trying to say the Finance element is more niche than economics. It’s a narrower focus. Economists can do finance jobs. I think economics is broader but there is much more to getting a job than a degree. If he wants to be an accountant, anyone with adequate numeracy can do that. Doing something like PPE won’t stop a young person getting a job in banking - they don’t need grads with finance degrees I think. However if he really wants finance, go with it.

My son applied for Economics and Finance (with year in industry) at Leeds with predicted grades A star, A star, A and did not get an offer so it's very competitive. He got offers from everywhere else (Exeter, Sheffield, Liverpool, Lancaster - did not want London uni experience) He is at Exeter doing the above the course with an offer Astar AA which is what he got. We found that if you look at the modules for straight economics you could probably select the more finance orientated ones if you didn't want to do the combined degree. He is doing a degree with an industrial placement ...it's hard going applying for the placements and doing course work, exams etc and no luck so far unfortunately.

Only add the 4th A level if it doesn't affect the grades likely to be achieved in the other 3 as they only take 3 into account.

@Tealfish The industrial placements are a nightmare! See other threads. There are not enough to go round. It takes many students loads and loads of applications so it can be very time consuming. As the placement makes it 4 years, consideration should be given to whether a masters would be better use of another year above the standard 3 years. Grad jobs are down by 1/3 and placements will show the same decline I would think.

Thankyou

Interesting/ depressing re placement challenges.... yes maybe a straight 3 year is better then add masters x

Someone I know did an economics degree at a non London uni but a masters at LSE. Obviously that more or less guarantees employment.

I also know someone who did their first degree at Durham and then a Masters at LSE. They now have an internship at a bank and hoping to get a job.
Maybe this is the way to go if you want a non-London university experience but it is an extra year to pay for at university.
Placement years usually only cost about £2500 for the year and students are usually paid money when they are on their placement so this is a cheaper option than a Masters degree.

@fairyring25 A masters from lse is often worth more though - in the long run.

@OhDear111
Thanks for the information.
I wasn't sure whether a Masters Degree would make any difference in investment banking if you can get a job straight after an undergraduate degree.

I would do a straight economics degree - keep it simple. No year in industry either. Think in year 1 about possible future careers and work on that.

@fairyring25 I only know one friend of my DCs that got into investment bsnking and he had 5 A levels taken 1 year early and did PPE at Oxford. It’s that competitive unfortunately. The hours are horrendous.

@OhDear111
Yes, I've heard how competitive it is and the hours. I think my DS and half the boys he knows just see it as a way to get rich.
I have talked to him about the hours but I am letting him explore the idea even if it is unrealistic. I just want to find out more myself too. I am quickly getting the picture that it is extremely hard to get into even with the best qualifications.
I was wondering whether doing economics with data science, which is a new course at many universities would be better than straight economics as it leads to more different jobs.
Possibly a career in corporate finance or risk management for a retail bank might be more realistic.
He wants to work in finance or consultancy and there are many jobs out there
I think he would find accountancy boring due to its routine nature.

Economics is flavour of the month at the moment and unfortunately some YP are going into it with completely unrealistic expectations. For investment banking which is what a look of YP are trying to get into, it's more about where you went to Uni rather than your actual degree. Investment banks have target and semi target universities and largely recruit from those universities.
Target universities are Oxbridge, LSE and Imperial and then slightly below that UCL and Warwick. Semi target universities are Exeter, Nottingham, Durham, Bath etc.
I know some people are going to comment and say that your university doesn't matter etc and that times have changed etc etc, but there is lots of evidence to the contrary.
Unfortunately a geography Oxbridge graduate has a better chance of getting into a top investment bank than a finance/economics graduate from Reading for example.
It's not right, but like law, your university definitely does matter.

@SaltyEdamame, my ds applied last year with 11 GCSEs graded 8 or 9 and Astar AStar A prediction in economics ,
biology and maths. He didn’t apply for economics because he wasn’t doing FM.
He applied for economics and finance and got offers from Bristol, Exeter, Leeds and Newcastle. He was rejected from Manchester. He firmed Bristol for AAA and insured Newcastle and on results day got into Bristol with AAB. He is loving it and enjoys the accountancy modules the most.

i have another dc at uni and placement years are a complete nightmare to get sorted even if you are at Bath where they offer a tiny bit of support.

I would just go for which of the two they prefer and research each course - Discover Uni has earnings by course. I don't think there will be much difference between the two for careers.

My DD does Economics and Management which contains finance and she says the maths is harder in finance than in the economics - she applied for economics at other places with 3 A stars predicted and 12 x 8s and 9s at GCSE plus an A in level 3 FSMQ and applied for 4 economics courses and got 3 offers (Oxford, Bristol, Bath). No FM. Investment banking is very hard to get into (as is development economics) but finance overall is quite achievable and offers good prospects. If you look on Discover Uni Reading Economics and Finance out earn Oxford Geography at 5 years so not sure its true degree subject is irrelevant though agree university can matter to some employers (all I worked for in finance). There are different jobs in finance (some which don't require any degree) but many require maths which economics contains lots of but it also covers writing skills making it an attractive degree for jobs which need both. Looking at job adverts would give a good guide if they know what they want to do. It is a very competitive degree to get offers for with lots applying but you only need one offer and one insurance and as long as you are careful to list achievable universities it should be fine. You can also add universities one by one until Jan deadline if nervous about offers and see what comes back. That's what DD did though she ran out of time for number 5 but had what we needed.

@SilkiePenguin I’d be amazed if Geog grads would out earn Economics grads. Hardly a comparison as they don’t really go for the same jobs.

@sailingsunshine Interesting about placements. I’ve been flamed on other threads for saying how difficult these are to get. Bath is supposed to be the crème de la crème for placements but if they aren’t available, they just aren’t. The world and his wife wants them. Interestingly Oxbridge doesn’t offer them and their grads mostly do pretty well!

@SilkiePenguin Useful to know that you can add universities one by one until the January deadline.