Oxbridge, LSE, UCL and Edinburgh as a french high school student int the United States. Please help!

respectfully disagreeing, @elguapo1. Most courses are specific that you do not have to have Econ at A level, and I know that Oxford, Cambridge and LSE do not require it. I have also heard directly from econ people at Oxford that the econ APs are not particularly well regarded. It’s the math they care about.

You may not need A level economics but how many successful candidates wont have it? Agree math seems super important these days for economics, but in my personal opinion is it is a means of imparting scientific rigour into a discipline where it isn’t warranted, but if maths and (further maths) is required there is no getting around it.

Agree that a lot of econ applicants at LSE do have A level econ, but for PPE, E+P or even E&M at Oxford not so much. Remember that a lot of schools don’t even teach econ at A level, and although the numbers taking it are recovering, it is still relatively small cohort. Did a little checking, and no Econ course in the UK requires A level Econ.

Interesting. These universities will require minimum of 3 A’s at A level, and so if you take A level economics it will need to be an A, and yet it is not a prerequisite. I would maintain the vast majority of UK kids will pick a non vocational university course based on one of the subjects studied at A level, I don’t think economics will be any different in this regard.

The difficulty is that without AP econ (both Micro and Macro) the op wont be able to answer even basic interview questions. However the economics questions can be answered by reading widely zkd/or taking cc courses. The expected AP 5s would definitely include BC.

@collegemom3717 You piqued my interest regarding the popularity of economics as an A level in the UK. In a 2015 Ofsted report of the 32 A level subjects listed, economics was the 14th most popular. The most popular dozen subjects listed included Biological Sciences, Business studies, Psychology, Sociology and Media studies. As far as matriculation to the universites the OP mentioned, I am sure media studies will be nixed and economics will trump business studies, so economics lands in at least the top ten. If we are talking unpopular subjects I was shocked by modern languages, A level economics was more popular than German, Spanish and French combined.

ps More popular courses also included Art and Design which I am pretty sure will also be excluded

When S18 interviewed at Oxford last December, almost everyone there (from the UK) was doing math and further math A level. Not many had done economics but they had read widely around the subject (that was his downfall, especially when the economics problems were presented in a very mathematical format). I think that’s because for PPE you’d tend to pick something that involves writing as your third A level, most likely history or perhaps politics.

The list of “most popular” A level subjects above (Biological Sciences, Business studies, Psychology, Sociology and Media studies) would very likely be regarded as a less challenging/rigorous selection by Oxbridge, just as AP Environmental Science, US Government and Geography are among the most popular APs but are not necessarily sought out by top students (all have >50% scoring 1 or 2) unlike the hard sciences.

Check out https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/the_subject_matters.pdf

Hey everyone,

Turns out I got a 5 on both of my AP exams, does that change anything in terms of my chances at these schools?

congrats @kiwi351! It’s definitely better that you’ve removed a possible negative (the 4 in stats). Any offer from Oxbridge or LSE will almost certainly be conditional on some senior year APs (esp BC, obvs). Have you picked your courses yet?

Thanks @collegemom3717! I have not exactly picked my courses, however I know I want to do something math related, so maybe actual math, statistics, finance, economics, physics, applied math or anything similar. I am also considering applying to many other European schools so in which of these majors would my application be considered the most competitive?

Those are some pretty different directions.

You really need to figure out more of what you want to be doing. Your focus is on getting accepted, but you will be doing whatever subject full time for 3-4 years. Read carefully the program descriptions for both single subject and joint subjects (eg, Math + Stats, Econ + Math).

You may be better off in the US system that will let you feel your way forward towards your strongest interest more organically than picking just 1 (or 2) and committing now.

You will not have trouble getting accepted to most European schools*- but after getting in there is the job of staying in- and thriving. Changing your mind in the European model s not easy.

*barring Oxbridge, LSE, and a few others.

I think you are getting ahead of yourself here.

Unlike US universities, most European systems will focus on your junior AND senior year subjects, and on standardised exams taken in those, and they will not care about the rest of your high school record, academic or otherwise. So, unlike in the US, at this point, your application isn’t competitive anywhere in Europe for an unconditional offer, because these systems will admit over the summer on the basis of actual grades (St Andrews may be the exception here, so it should definitely be on your list).

It may be competitive for a conditional offer in systems that work with those, like most other universities in the UK, but at the end of the day, you have to produce those grades.

Note that there is no holistic admission anywhere, so if specific grades are required, there is no countering grades below that requirement with other qualifications. Nor is there a point in doing more than what is required (with the possible exception of an additional science or social science for Oxford, depending on the subject you’re applying for).

In order to maximise your chances to make your application competitive for most European countries, try to recreate a European style “diploma” or baccalaureate. Then cross check with:

Your high school’s/district’s/state’s graduation requirements
The minimum requirements of the US universities you’re targeting (by now, you should have a tentative list).
The requirements of the UK, possibly Irish universities you’re targeting.
The requirements of the programs your targeting in Europe (I can’t remember whether you have mentioned another European language you’re conversant in, so im assuming, at this point you are thinking of English or French language programs in places such as France, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands or Germany). Again, at this point you’re u should have a tentative list.

Excellent exam grades in the following subject exams:

AP in maths (for most countries, certainly for Oxford, that would be calc BC). Covers all your bases. The combination of stats and Math II will be considered a good junior year qualification that will help with a conditional offer in systems that work with those. Will cover the requirements of any US university easily.

AP in the language of instruction, so English lang or lit. I’m thinking lit, but US posters with knowledge of the ALevel system in the UK will be able to advise you best. Covers all your bases.

AP in a science other than CS. You were planning on doing a physics AP anyway, so you’re good there. If you want to take a science degree in the UK, US posters familiar with A levels will advise you which one works best as an equivalent. Will cover all your bases.

Another science AP, if you want to do a science in the UK. Your 5 in AP CS should have you covered there.

AP in an additional language. Your 5 in AP French in sophomore year has got you covered for Europe. With US universities, check whether you have to actually take a foreign language for a required number of years in high school.

A social science. This is where you have to make a choice for UK universities whether you are still interested in anything such as history with economics, for which you’d probably need AP USH and Euro, or something else with economics, for which you’d probably want AP micro and macro. If you want to do a p math or science degree or a combination thereof, it won’t matter, but a 5 would be nice. Otherwise, either would probably cover all your bases.

Good luck!

Other programs: look at BESS at Trinity Dublin, ESSEC BBA, Sciences Po Reims, Commerce or university colleges within Dutch universities.

At a Scottish school you likely could do physics, math and stats as a first year and narrow down as a second year to one or two of those. Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews might be a better fit than English universities.

If you’re from the EU, the offer rate for Economics at St As is 11.5%. At Edinburgh, it’s 20.7%.

With your stats, I am not confident that St As will be the exception.

A French citizen who immigrated and is a permanent resident in the US would not qualify for EU tuition/admission to a Scottish university.

Also what should I be aiming for in terms of scores on the TSA?

For what course? PPE @ Oxford? E&M @ Oxford? Based on last year, 66+ to get to interview.

Ok thanks for the info. Would it be negative for my applications for one school if I applied to 2 different subjects to this same school? For example Finance and Accounting and Finance at the LSE.