DD is having a last-minute panic that economics is too competitive and she won’t get any offers. Can anyone help me per her off the ceiling?

[DelinquentSnails]

DD is all but ready to submit her university applications. She is very keen to do a BSc in economics but after a great big doom scrolling session last night is convinced that economics is far too competitive, even at mid-tier universities and she has no chance of getting an offer. Apparently even kids with 3A* get routinely rejected. Her second choice is actuarial science, but she loves economics.

She has GCSE grades 9(maths)88777665 (English lang, she’s dyslexic) and is predicted A* economics, A maths, A classics. EPQ around econometrics. She has done a week long economic summer school, a week of virtual work experience with one of the Big Four and has lots of extracurricular like choral singing, book club, volunteering.

She hoped to apply for BSc economics at RHUL, Southampton, Birmingham, York and UEA . How founded in reality might her concerns be? Are there any words (or preferably data) that might reassure her?

@racoonsinbins The top universities for economics didn’t have it in clearing. It’s a very sought after course. Mid range is very very different.

@OhDear111 depends what you define as higher - Nottingham is usually in the top 10 of many rankings for economics and was in clearing as was Southampton (although that ranks lower). Given the current pressure on finances in the sector my guess is all but a handful of elite unis will be even more flexible next year. And I would recommend to aim as high as possible as they are more likely to have some protection against the inevitable staff cuts.

@racoonsinbins Yes Nottingham is top 10 and I’d look at that over several the op has suggested. However Nottingham had a dip in applications due to the student murders. It doesn’t follow that UCL and Durham were in clearing too.

@OhDear111 i never suggested the most elite unis will be in clearing, but if ever there is a year to throw in a wild card aspirational choice I think it’s this year if she wanted to give it a go based on her predicted grades.

@racoonsinbins. I do agree. I don’t think the choices need to include both RHUL and UEA. I’d definitely swap one of those for Nottingham. As I said earlier, 3 of them (the RG ones) are all very similar. I’d definitely add in a higher ranking one but not an elite one.

Tell her if her heart is set on economics, she should apply for economics. If - worst case scenario - she doesn't get in, she could go through clearing, or reapply next year, or change her plans. But if she doesn't even apply, she has zero chance, so may as well take a chance. If it doesn't work out, it is very far from the end of the world.

My DC started at Manchester Uni doing economics this year and so I looked at clearing places in the evening before as we nervously waited her A level results (which she thankfully got what she needed). Loughborough was in clearing at BBB (from AAA) but Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, and Manchester had no clearing places for UK students. I didn’t think Nottingham did either but you may be right.

I think OP’s DD has a good chance of securing offers from the unis she likes which is great. Best to afford holding out for clearing in economics if you can.

I am confused about the regular references to "top" universities.

A lot depends on what sort of economics she wants to study. DS managed a Masters at LSE without writing a single essay. His choice, though other people's idea of hell.

Very mathematical courses are LSE, UCL, Warwick, Cambridge and Imperial, though options within those courses will allow you to dilute a little. Recruiters looking for people to fill quantitative roles will be looking for people who have gained technical skills, probably from one of those Universities and probably with a Masters as well.

But not everyone wants to recruit illiterate techies. (Sorry family joke - DH in contrast read PPE at Oxford, writes well and has worked in Government policy ever since.) Being economically literate but also having a good range of soft skills, is desirable in other roles. Some traditional City firms will be looking at Oxford, and maybe Durham or Bristol, but other employers will be more open. And this is first job. A scroll through Linked In profiles will see that often getting your foot in the door via a back room operations role with a degree from a post 1992 is all you need. Once in opportunities can arise, though you need to be good and this is where soft skills start to count. .

There is also pressure on employers to look further afield. One of my current tenants has a graduate job with a very swanky City firm, despite attending the sort of RG University some on here sneer at. I am not surprised in that she is super-organised and personable. This is where Universities offering a year in Industry (Bath is the obvious but there are others) can give advantage.

And this is assuming the end aim is the City. It is worth looking closely at course content. I wish behavioural economics had been a thing in my day. Others are interested in development economics. Look to see who is teaching and perhaps follow them on Twitter. Economics is a very broad field. Far better to be engaged and interested than to be struggling with a load of complex equations because someone tells you you need to be on a "top course". Not least because you then have the headroom to develop leadership and other skills through involvement in University or community life.

Thanks so much for the contributions everybody made. It was really helpful and boosted my daughter’s confidence a great deal. As did a meeting with her economics teacher and applications coordinator at school, who both gave her head a bit of a wobble! They are a large, non-selective sixth form but have multiple students move onto very strong universities each year and have so much experience around this.

In the end, she applied for:

York
Southampton
Exeter
Royal Holloway
UEA
Kent

I think in the end she got a nice balance and they were universities she would be happy with. A lot of the Russell group universities are in very large cities, and she just does not want that.

She has already had offers from York, Exeter, UEA, Kent and RHUL.

We were very surprised that the offers came through quite quickly, and we’re not sure why we know a few people who are still waiting from those universities for economics and for different courses. I think that she actually had a strong application because of good extracurricular and supercurriculars. It is really boosted to confidence in her ability.

Her current preferences are for Exeter, York or UEA and she’s going to go to offer holders days for all of them. She’s a bit nervous about how far away Exeter is, but a lot of kids go there from her college and from our local area, and the campus looks gorgeous. York is lovely and she would be very pleased with that, of course.

She can’t have applied to all of those - five is the max. But great that she’s got offers.

Sorry, not Kent in the end. I just knew she’d not got an offer from Southampton. I think sue was going to use Kent as her extra if she didn’t get offers?

@DelinquentSnails What university used extra curriculars as a factor in its admissions statement? They really should have no bearing on offers at all.

@OhDear111
You seem pretty knowledgeable about university admissions so maybe you can answer some questions:

1. If Nottingham is ranked highly for Economics (8th) but not that high in the overall rankings (26th) is it still considered a semi-target university for employers of those with economics degrees e.g. banks?
2. In your opinion should students not put any extra-curricular activites on the personal statement at all only super-curricular?
3. Assuming top grades, how do you make a personal statement stand out in Economics? If everyone refers to a lecture they have attended and a book they have read and a competition they have entered.
4. Which universities pay attention to the personal statement and which ones do not?

@fairyring25 The overall ranking of a university doesn’t tell the whole picture. Eg Nottingham is very good for law and its law grads go on to city jobs. Ditto economics. The CUG ranks subjects, and you can see the criteria, but most universities have some subjects that out perform the rest of the university, eg law at QMUL. It is of course down to the grad to apply for top jobs and some don’t want to. However employers won’t explicitly employ Nottingham grads over Exeter grads and all grads have to prove themselves in selection processes from any university.

They can of course fill in the PS as they wish. However what course admissions officers use it to determine admissions? You really would have to check each university. Bristol use it as a tie breaker. I suspect you won’t find a university that does except the elite ones who interview . Most want to judge dc’s suitability for the course not their flute playing.

Therefore it’s only at very few universities where a ps needs to stand out. Read what the university actually wants to see. This can be leadership, interest in the subject and yes, outstanding additional achievement. Mostly it’s academics that come first. Dc could learn about how a business is run and affected by economic decisions, (work in a small one) and follow up any A level topic in greater depth.

Universities tell you of the ps is part of the selection process or not. You have to look it up.

@OhDear111 Thanks for your comments.

Poor old endlessly under confident DD

Has DD come across imposter syndrome? Very very widespread esp amongst women. If not, it might be helpful for her to look it up now rather than later in her career. All the best.

I know Industrial Economics was in clearing at Nottingham in 2025 as ds' friend got in with quite low grades (BBD I think, but might be wrong). My dd's housemate graduated from that course in the summer and had several really good (and well paid!) grad scheme offers, so worth considering if it's in clearing again this year - although it sounds like the OP's daughter will have a safe insurance offer anyway.