Olivia wrote this at the end of her second year studying Economics at Christ's College Cambridge. She is from Coventry, West Midlands, where she took A-Levels in Economics, Mathematics, Further Mathematics and an EPQ based on Politics and Economics.
What attracted you to a) study Economics and b) study Economics at Cambridge?
When I was growing up I initially wanted to study Maths, but as I began my GCSEs and A-Levels, I realised that I wanted to study a broader subject which combined my wider interests in Mathematics, Politics and Economics. Economics seemed like the perfect fit and the Cambridge course appeared to be a lot more quantitative than other degrees, particularly as during first and second year you can take Maths and Statistics papers which focus on mathematical theory whilst highlighting some economic applications. Whilst I wanted to study Economics, I didn’t want to end my mathematical studies at A-Level and the Cambridge papers provided me with the opportunity to develop my knowledge further without studying a pure mathematics degree. The political economics papers in first and third year also stood out to me as this is an intersection of economics that I am really interested in, but it did not seem to be covered in other economics degrees I considered.
Why did you choose Christ’s?
Since I applied to Cambridge during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was difficult to visit colleges and gauge the atmosphere and sense of community at each of them so my decision was primarily based on online webinars with admissions teams and current students. I attended the James Meade Economic Taster Series back in 2021 (now the Christ’s College Women in Economics Taster Series) and I really enjoyed the teaching style, and all the students seemed very friendly and approachable (which has been reinforced through my time studying at Christ’s). This welcoming nature was repeated throughout other webinars so I felt like it was the right choice for me, and the medium size of the college means that you can get to know everyone in your year whilst still socialising with different people based on their interests.
I had also emailed a few colleges to check if I could be a competitive applicant with three A-Levels and the admissions team at Christ’s assured me that for Economics this was acceptable and applications are viewed holistically so this also contributed to my decision to apply to Christ’s.
Has the College lived up to your expectations?
Definitely, Christ’s has surpassed my expectations in so many ways and feels like home every time I return after the vacations. I have felt supported with exceptional standards of teaching and pastoral support from my tutor, and the experiences I have had at Christ’s are unlike those I would have anywhere else. From matriculating in fresher’s week to dancing at May Balls after exam season, walking through pretty colleges to lectures or enjoying formal dinners with friends, life at Cambridge is like nothing I have ever experienced, and I try to make the most of all the opportunities available.
What advice would you give school students considering an application to Cambridge in your subject?
Go for it! Since you can apply to five universities on UCAS, there’s no downside to applying so if you are intellectually curious, enjoy critical thinking and are interested in studying Economics then you should strongly consider an application to Cambridge.
Was there anything that surprised you about the application process?
I was positively surprised by the amount of communication by the admissions team – they kept us up to date with relevant deadlines and the stage of the process they were at on the dedicated website page which helped to calm my nerves and made for a smoother process.
Are there any particular books, websites or other resources that you’d recommend for prospective students interested in your course?
There are a broad range of super-curriculars available for Economics so don’t feel confined by the below, but here are a range of resources I found helpful when applying to Cambridge which may be a useful starting point:
- Essay competitions: Marshall Society Essay Competition, Royal Economic Society Young Economist of the Year, IEA Essay Competitions
- Books:
- ‘Game Theory: A Very Short Introduction’ (Binmore), ‘People, Power and Profits’ (Stiglitz), ‘Why Nations Fail’ (Acemoglu & Robinson)
- A few advanced options: ‘Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach’ (Varian), ‘Mathematics for Economists’ (Pemberton & Rau)
- MOOC platforms: Coursera, FutureLearn, edX
- Summer schools for state school students: UNIQ, Sutton Trust
I would also highly recommend mentoring programmes like Zero Gravity and the Oxbridge Launchpad for state school students. They match you with current students studying your subject of choice who support you with the application process through weekly mentoring sessions. If you have any questions about personal statements, admissions tests or interviews, mentors can offer useful advice and also an insight into day-to-day life as a Cambridge student.
For the TMUA there are many resources which may support your preparation. I found past papers to be the most helpful way to prepare, but I would also recommend attempting papers from similar tests like the MAT or UKMT Maths Challenge. To get used to the time pressure, I also had an unusual technique of trying to complete AS / A-Level Maths papers in half the allocated time (i.e. 45 minutes for a 90 minute paper) to improve my mathematical accuracy and speed.
Any particular advice for female students considering an application for Economics?
Please don’t be put off by any misperceptions you or your peers may have of gender stereotypes for quantitative subjects at university – I have made lifelong friends with lots of women on my course and although there are fewer women on the course, this has created a tight-knit community both in and out of the lecture hall. I have performed just as well as my male peers on the course in all papers and it can often be advantageous to be one of the few women in the room as people are more likely to remember your name!
What was being in the second year of the course like? Was it very different to first year?
I enjoyed second year as we are able to take one optional paper in Economics, from which I selected ‘Mathematics and Statistics for Economists’. Since I am more interested in the quantitative aspects of Economics, this allowed me to focus my learning and complemented my interest in game theory which is the focus of the second year Microeconomics paper.
The main difference from first year was that it felt a lot less overwhelming to start the course. Although the lecturers do bridge your knowledge from A-Level and don’t throw you in the deep end straight away in the first term, by the time you reach second year you will have likely gauged how to answer supervision questions and tailor your studying and revision to each paper.
At Christ’s the Economics students form a strong community between year groups so I enjoyed welcoming the new first years and answering their questions as they got used to the course.
Was your timetable different to last year?
Since you study 4 papers in second year rather than 5, there are fewer contact hours overall but for each paper there was typically 2-3 hours of lectures per week and 4 supervisions per term as in first year. Whilst you do have more ‘free’ time, I found that there were more questions in each supervision sheet to make up for this, and since I was on a couple of committees for societies, I had plenty of events, meetings and responsibilities to fill my time.
What was the most interesting / enjoyable thing that you worked on this year?
My most interesting piece of work this year was the Part IIA Econometrics Project, where all students are given a choice of four topics to research and then produce a short econometrics paper over two weeks in Easter term. I decided to research the effect of COVID-19 on the housing premium for good state schools in England and found the project very enlightening as I was required to form and justify measures of school quality whilst conducting a range of econometric analysis techniques which I had not used extensively in practice prior to the project. I enjoyed being able to apply government education policy to my results to form interesting conclusions and after the project had concluded it was interesting to discuss the different ways me and my friends had approached the topics.
As our lecturers and supervisors were unable to support our work on the project during the two week period, I developed a lot of resilience from trial and error, which I foresee being good preparation for my dissertation next year!
Did you have a particular way of organising your work in order to get everything done, and if so, did this change between last year and this year?
I like to plan my work in advance so I try to have a weekly and daily to-do list to stay on top of my work. We are often given all supervision dates at the start of term so have to manage our work throughout based on the deadlines for each piece of work. I usually put a ‘start … supervision’ reminder in my calendar 7-10 days before the deadline to give me sufficient time to complete all preparation and questions as I often find that questions require a lot of thinking before anything is written. This also gives me time to discuss the work with other Economics students if there are any questions we are collectively stuck on. I also intend to briefly read the lecture material beforehand to give me an idea of the topic for that day (although often an extra 10 mins of sleep is prioritised instead).
Have you been able to manage a reasonable balance of work and other things you wanted to do?
For sure, I’m a big believer that your work will expand to fill the time you have so I try to ensure I have lots of plans in my calendar (whether these are sports, societies or socialising) to take a break from the library and busy Cambridge life.
What do you do when you’re not working?
Outside of academics, there are hundreds of societies to get involved with at Cambridge so you will definitely be able to find a group of people with similar interests to you (and if a society you are interested in doesn’t exist, you can set one up yourself via the Student Union!). This year I was Welfare Officer for Christ’s JCR (the college’s student union) and Events Executive Director for Cambridge Investment Banking Society. Both of these took up most of my time outside of work but I thoroughly enjoyed supporting students pastorally and with their career goals, and I was very proud of the events I organised with both of these committees (such as the inaugural ‘Cambridge Banking and Finance Conference’). Outside of these responsibilities, I enjoy attending the Cambridge Union (the world’s oldest debating society) for their weekly debates, and have even given floor speeches in a couple focused on economics and politics. Keeping healthy through the busy Cambridge terms is also super important to me so I try to go to the gym or running when I can, and have spent many enjoyable evenings playing squash with my friends in the court in the Yusuf Hamied Centre in college.
What have you most enjoyed about this year?
One of the highlights of the year was the May Ball Launch Formal in Lent Term, which was revealed to be ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. The menu was specially selected to reflect the mystical theme and the committee had decorated the hall with decorations and props. Formals are an enjoyable and cost-effective way to celebrate special occasions with friends and since many of my friends were on the committee, it was great to see their hard work pay off.
Where did you live this year? What did you think of it compared with last year’s room?
I’ve lived in New Court in the Typewriter building in both first and second year and I really like these rooms as they have an en-suite but are also the cheapest in college and the kitchenette is only shared with 2-5 other students. Before joining Christ’s, I thought it might be annoying to have to pack and unpack every term, but there is luckily storage space close to each room in New Court to store your belongings so you don’t have to take everything home.
One of my favourite things about my corridor is that we see any occasion as a chance to decorate so we have added some spirit to the building during various celebrations including Halloween, Christmas and Pancake Day. The homely community atmosphere at Christ’s means that your room can be a social hub in any building at any time (if you would like it to be!) and most rooms have an additional chair and table where you can host friends for coffee or revision sessions.
Where is your favourite spot in College and why?
This is a difficult question as all of Christ’s is lovely to walk round, but I would probably say Third Court as it is where a majority of students live so you will always see someone you know for a conversation. The sunken garden is a hive of activity throughout term and you can often find Finch or Baines wandering around looking for someone to stroke them at all hours of the day.
(The Northern Lights were also visible from Third Court last term, although this isn’t a spectacle you’re likely to see often in Cambridge!)
How have you spent this summer?
Typically I spend time with my family and friends from home during the vacation as there can be limited time to travel home during term, and a rest is well-appreciated after term. Compared to my friends at other universities, Cambridge terms do seem to be busier but since they are only eight weeks long we have plenty of time in the vacations to rest alongside revision and any outstanding supervision work.
This long vacation has been slightly different for me as I have been completing an internship at Morgan Stanley in Canary Wharf. If the industry you are seeking to enter offers work experience like spring weeks or vacation schemes, I would really recommend making the most of these opportunities as they can save you a lot of time on applications in later years of studies if you are able to secure an internship or graduate job from earlier programmes. It was 10 weeks and paid and I developed a detailed understanding of the sector whilst being given lots of responsibility which I enjoyed. My team were very welcoming and supportive and I am looking forward to joining full-time next summer after my final year. Even if you are unsure of what sector to enter, work experience can be a great way to eliminate sectors you find may not be for you, and this will make your decisions somewhat easier in the future when you enter the world of work.
Do you know what others in your year in your subject are planning to do?
Whilst I may be living up to the stereotypes of Economics students going on to work in finance, a lot of my friends are interested in other sectors. Graduate studies in a range of subjects including economics, finance and maths have been popular in recent years at Christ’s and my friends have also done internships with government economic departments and consultancy, trading and quantitative research firms.
What papers will you be doing next year and why did you pick them?
Next year I will be continuing with the compulsory Microeconomics and Macroeconomics papers which I studied in first and second year. This year this will take a policy-focused approach to the theory introduced earlier in the course so I am looking forward to applying my knowledge to the real world more. I am also writing a compulsory 7,500 word dissertation which I plan to focus on political economics and econometrics.
Selecting my optional papers for third year was a difficult decision as there was a much broader choice available in third year compared to last year, ranging from Industrial Organisation to Trade and Development and Econometrics. I have selected Economic Theory and Analysis (ETA) as part of this expands upon the game theory topics covered in Part IIA which were some of my favourite lectures last year, and I will also be taking Political Economics which was one of the papers which initially stood out to me when I applied to Cambridge.
Any other things you’re looking forward to?
The past two years have gone quicker than I thought so next year I’m looking forward to making the most of time with my friends in Cambridge before we move across the world for our respective careers and further studies. There are many unique experiences at Cambridge like formals, May Balls, Bridgemas and punting so I would like to make more memories at these occasions whilst I can.
September 2024
Please be aware if you're considering an application that our student writers describe their experiences. Although the majority of the information stays the same, some details may change from year to year. Do read the student profiles in combination with our undergraduate admissions pages for full information.
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