by Tasha Jayabalan
 |
| Image source: Economics Society website, University of Edinburgh |
How do I even start? Ah, uni life. University life is amazing in all aspects, you’re constantly meeting new people from completely different backgrounds, engaging in sport and activities, and there’s just about 1000 societies that will cater to whatever your interested in. Not forgetting the drunken nights out, hungover mornings and laundry-filled weekends, and you’ll have your typical week at university set up.
In terms of economics, I feel blessed to have studied Economics at A level at GIS, because of the fact that so much of what I’m learning now, overlaps with what I’ve learnt for the last two years. In that sense, I already feel like I’ve got a mile head start for the semester, where we’re covering topics that we covered immensely at A level such as Theory of Consumer Choice and Competitive Markets. Don’t get me wrong, it is harder in the sense that the two lectures a week are around 200-300 people and each topic is buzzed through in 50 minutes, but studying A Level Economics provided me perfectly with the background knowledge to take this course and (hopefully!) really excel in my first year at the University of Edinburgh.
The only real key difference is the amount of independent studying you have to do on your own. If you don’t understand a concept or the mathematical side of Economics (which tends to be much heavier at university, and trust me I don’t like maths), you have to spend the extra time reading the textbook, or independently finding resources online to help you understand. I’m sorry to break it to you Year 13s, but essentially that is the POINT of university. There are sessions that you can pop in to get help (usually from a 3rd or 4th year) or you can even ask questions in your one hour tutorials, yet I can safely say that I think I’ve learnt more about myself and the way I learn in these two short months at university, than I have in a long time. It’s a fairly large and scary change in environment, but being out of your comfort zone pushes you to learn new things about yourself because ultimately the only person that can really help you, is YOU.
I would say though, if you’re applying for purely Economics, be prepared for a lot of math and theory coming your way. I personally enjoy more of behavioural economics (my favourite is probably microeconomics, specifically focusing on markets, failures and government intervention) and so my course of, MA Politics and Economic and Social History suits me perfectly in that respect. Nonetheless, even a purely Economics degree will have elements of both behavioural and theoretical economics, so if that suits you better then bring it on!
To summarise, I know people always tell you this, but university really are the best years of your life. It might not always feel like it amidst the homesickness, the 'fresher’s flu', and longing for your friends and family who me be the other side of the world, but you develop as a person more than you can imagine and are able to use it as a learning curve to make yourself tougher.
The only real key difference is the amount of independent studying you have to do on your own. If you don’t understand a concept or the mathematical side of Economics (which tends to be much heavier at university, and trust me I don’t like maths), you have to spend the extra time reading the textbook, or independently finding resources online to help you understand. I’m sorry to break it to you Year 13s, but essentially that is the POINT of university. There are sessions that you can pop in to get help (usually from a 3rd or 4th year) or you can even ask questions in your one hour tutorials, yet I can safely say that I think I’ve learnt more about myself and the way I learn in these two short months at university, than I have in a long time. It’s a fairly large and scary change in environment, but being out of your comfort zone pushes you to learn new things about yourself because ultimately the only person that can really help you, is YOU.
I would say though, if you’re applying for purely Economics, be prepared for a lot of math and theory coming your way. I personally enjoy more of behavioural economics (my favourite is probably microeconomics, specifically focusing on markets, failures and government intervention) and so my course of, MA Politics and Economic and Social History suits me perfectly in that respect. Nonetheless, even a purely Economics degree will have elements of both behavioural and theoretical economics, so if that suits you better then bring it on!
To summarise, I know people always tell you this, but university really are the best years of your life. It might not always feel like it amidst the homesickness, the 'fresher’s flu', and longing for your friends and family who me be the other side of the world, but you develop as a person more than you can imagine and are able to use it as a learning curve to make yourself tougher.
Economics at university pushes you in terms of workload and concepts, however if you are an A-level or even GCSE Economist, you’re learning all the right things to be able to cope with it and really excel at it in university.
All the best!
Tasha
Comments
Post a Comment