04/11/2006, 10:36 PM
If you didn't get an interview I guess your statement could really have let you down (there's also the teachers reference but by the sound of it your teachers would have written a pretty good one), but it could also be your choice of subject - maths, f maths and CS imply your more of a sciencey person than a social sciences person (I'm sure that's not true but admissions tutors don't have much to go on either). The tutor may have been looking for someone with more essay based subjects at A-level.
Admissions tutors don't actually have that much information they can look at - most people applying to UCL for economics will have good grades so the PS and interview are the only thing to distinguish candidates - maybe if you didn't get across your love of social sciences in the PS the admissions tutor passed you over.
Don't dispair though, this isn't likely to be a problem everywhere - many economics courses have a lot of maths content where your chosen subjects will put you at an advantage to those with shakier maths skills.
As an aside - I applied for E&M at Oxford and was offered a place with similar A-levels and lower predicted grade than you (Maths, Economics Physics, Further maths AS).
Admissions tutors don't actually have that much information they can look at - most people applying to UCL for economics will have good grades so the PS and interview are the only thing to distinguish candidates - maybe if you didn't get across your love of social sciences in the PS the admissions tutor passed you over.
Don't dispair though, this isn't likely to be a problem everywhere - many economics courses have a lot of maths content where your chosen subjects will put you at an advantage to those with shakier maths skills.
As an aside - I applied for E&M at Oxford and was offered a place with similar A-levels and lower predicted grade than you (Maths, Economics Physics, Further maths AS).