Question about taking economics.
 

Just some quick info, I will be taking associates of arts in economics at douglas beginning of september then in 2 years transfer to SFU to finish my bachelors.

I was wondering since its march and I got basically 5 months I have never done calculus and wanting to get a head start. Any inputs on what I should do or know going into economics.?

I read all the others threads but I got my own questions.


Thanks.

it seems that you are not familiar with econ - why are you going into it?

I am not familiar with it. I have read up on it and everything about it intrigues me.

go to bctransferguide (google it) and take all the required courses you need. I suggest saving all your BS "breadth" courses for SFU for future GPA boosters.

I believe you need econ 103, 105, buec 232, math 157 (which is calc) and something whole lot other ones.

best thing to do is go on SFU Econ's site and check their course requirement.

Math 157 or a simple calculus course is all you need for BA Econ

1st and 2nd year course - simple math, no calculus
3rd and 4th year course - simple optimization

The math in graduate courses are the ones that kills.
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If you haven't done Calc or you've been out of school a while I would recommend taking Douglas' Pre Calc class first then Calc. Also, you should take a couple of Econ course before you decide for sure that's what you want to do your degree in.

just dont base your opinion off first year micro and macro classes. try out a intermediate econ class and see if you like it after that.

I'm not sure about SFU but at UBC you're also required to take Econometrics and that's what a lot of students have difficulty with. Its also what makes you an economist when you can actually work with data and use it to analyze stuff. Its basically probability, statistics, multiple regression analysis and others. You do need calculus but only a basic understanding of it.

Buec333 is econometrics. It's the hardest course I've taken at SFU, bar none. As for th other core courses, they're all pretty easy.
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just get a tutor to go over the basics..

buec 333 sucks

what u guys talking about? BUEC 333 was so dam easy

ECON 301/302 on the other hand...

^Marie Rekkas, right? LOL

Lavine..or however you spell his name is a total mind fuck. The way he teaches econometrics is based on a thorough understanding of the concept...and asking conceptual questions rather than practical calculations, for the most part. I've seen his HW assignments and tests...they're on a different level.

Econometrics (buec 333) seems pretty decent so far. It's over half way into the semester and all we've done so far is buec 232 review. While it's not that easy, it's not mind blowing shit either.

Econ 301 is what I have trouble with. Fuck that shit.

i'd really think hard before going into economics. its not a easy faculty at all despite what some might believe. take a few lower division and second year economics courses to get a feel. to be honest, everything in 2nd year and less in the econ department will not prepare you for the bullshit and difficulty in 3rd and 4th year. intermediate micro, macro and econometrics is what really killed me.

Thanks so much everyone for the reply's.

The problem is I am 19 turning 20 in september and I need to start. I can't wait and test out to find what I want to do. A lot of you said that its the 3rd and 4th years are the hardest so maybe I will take my associate of arts in economics and pursue something else then economics. It is my fault that I waited this long and didnt try different programs out but Its getting late.

Lastly, It looks like its not a walk in the park so what books or subjects do I need to read and learn in this 5 month time before I begin. Its the calculus that kills everyone
so what areas in calculus should I look at.

Thanks again.

As long as you can do and understand basic differentiation and can integrate you should be ok. Important to know maximization and minimization. Chain rule and some properties of exponents and logs. For some reason you'll see Lagrange multipliers.

Pretty much first year calculus and its nice because you won't see the trickier stuff like integration by parts etc and they give you really simple math.

Don't be scared to try econ!

The real question is... What do you want out of the degree? An economist job?

For those, you will need to have a MA or PhD. That requires you to be top of the class.

If you graduate economics with a 2.5-3.0, you WILL have a hard time finding a job. Basically competing with thousands of BA and BBA grads.
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Thanks for the help guys.

I was thinking in government/investment.
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Government - MA (What I am doing now)
Investment - banks? Wrong degree, you don't learn anything in terms of investing. Finance degree + CFA.
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^ ooh TRDood, since you are a econ guru


would you think public/international finance is similar in terms of economics?

Economics def covers those areas but from a economics perspective. For undergrads, you will learn all the beautiful theories about small open economies, monetary policies, theories about international balances, which applies to the big picture to a perfect ideal world without friction and uncertainty.

But when you hit grad courses, shit get real with data and the math to explain risk is a mess.

Economics courses teach you jack shit about finance. That's why I have taken a couple of finance courses... meh they are okay. if your question is compare intl finance from a finance department and economics department perspective, then I don't know because I have only taken the econ side.
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Another question guys. I tried looking everywhere but I can't find out how much this cost
Associate of arts in economics and then a ba in economics. I am going to need to get student loans
Any experience with this guys?
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yea man she's awesome, totally aced that course with ease

and BA Economics definitely doesnt get you a good job unfortunately, but what can you do if you cant get into Business right?

What do you mean. It says government positions.?

Anyone here already got there ba of ma. What jobs are you in.
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