Ultimate Economics Thread for Future Economists

[ZohaibAsad]

If Economics is your passion and you're thinking of a career in the field, this thread is going to help you.

A few things to start with:

- Economics is not business administration, it is not Accounting. It is in reality an applied mathematical tool to study why markets function the way they do, how to predict future levels of demand and set targets for profit and to see that happen.

- Economics is the best background preferred by firms in Investment Banking, Management Consulting which are the top 2 highest paying careers in the field.

- Just like other fields it has several branches including Development Economics, Financial Economics, Industrial Economics.

- With an undergraduate economics degree you can go on to pursue a masters in the field, choose to do MBA, or to do Law, or if you have the pre-medical pre-requisites then to apply for Doctor of Medicine (MD)

- According to North American statistics Econ majors are the top three highest scorers on the GMAT, LSAT, MCAT

- Generally to work as an economist you don't need a license anywhere around the world (you do though need to be a graduate of a really reputed university and have solid work experience).

For specific queries regarding to A level Economics, course selection at university you can post here.

As an appetizer: You might have wondered how the demand curves that you rigorously study in A levels and have been doing at O levels are made. It's done using data sampling and then applying regression analysis. This part of economics is called 'Econometrics'.

 

[parthrocks]

If Economics is your passion and you're thinking of a career in the field, this thread is going to help you.

A few things to start with:

- Economics is not business administration, it is not Accounting. It is in reality an applied mathematical tool to study why markets function the way they do, how to predict future levels of demand and set targets for profit and to see that happen.

- Economics is the best background preferred by firms in Investment Banking, Management Consulting which are the top 2 highest paying careers in the field.

- Just like other fields it has several branches including Development Economics, Financial Economics, Industrial Economics.

- With an undergraduate economics degree you can go on to pursue a masters in the field, choose to do MBA, or to do Law, or if you have the pre-medical pre-requisites then to apply for Doctor of Medicine (MD)

- According to North American statistics Econ majors are the top three highest scorers on the GMAT, LSAT, MCAT

- Generally to work as an economist you don't need a license anywhere around the world (you do though need to be a graduate of a really reputed university and have solid work experience).

For specific queries regarding to A level Economics, course selection at university you can post here.

As an appetizer: You might have wondered how the demand curves that you rigorously study in A levels and have been doing at O levels are made. It's done using data sampling and then applying regression analysis. This part of economics is called 'Econometrics'.

Really helpful!!
As you said,"Just like other fields it has several branches including Development Economics, Financial Economics, Industrial Economics."
Are these options available today???and what do they exactly do!!like industrial economics???what is in it?

 

[ZohaibAsad]

Really helpful!!
As you said,"Just like other fields it has several branches including Development Economics, Financial Economics, Industrial Economics."
Are these options available today???and what do they exactly do!!like industrial economics???what is in it?

Yes, all of these fields are available once you have your bachelors in Economics. Industrial economics focuses on producers in the industrial sector, they are just like corporate economist specialized in manufacturing industries to evaluate and analyse their factors of production, cost curves, demand curves, strategies to increase demand, profit maximizing decision, sampling the market of a particular industries to track the progress. Likewise Health Economics focuses on the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

The highest paying field however is Economics + MBA (both from top schools) or Economics + Law (again from top schools)

 

[parthrocks]

Yes, all of these fields are available once you have your bachelors in Economics. Industrial economics focuses on producers in the industrial sector, they are just like corporate economist specialized in manufacturing industries to evaluate and analyse their factors of production, cost curves, demand curves, strategies to increase demand, profit maximizing decision, sampling the market of a particular industries to track the progress. Likewise Health Economics focuses on the medical and pharmaceutical industries.

The highest paying field however is Economics + MBA (both from top schools) or Economics + Law (again from top schools)

Are you serious!!highest paid filed is Economics???I thought other fields???

 

[ZohaibAsad]

Are you serious!!highest paid filed is Economics???I thought other fields???

I was referring to the highest paying within the branches of economics. In reality the highest paying (pay cheque) goes to people on top posts in international investment banks like Goldman Sachs if you're lucky enough to get in to one of them, in terms of pay cheque other ridiculously high paying job is if you were intelligent enough in your whole life to become the dean of an intentional university such as McGill university's Principal Heather Munroe Blum, she has an annual pay cheque of 500,000 $ a year, almost an equivalent of 38 lakh Rs in Pakistani currency a month.

The highest 'earning' careers however tend to be CEO's running their own business (but that does not come into the category of pay cheque because then you are the owner).

 

[parthrocks]

I was referring to the highest paying within the branches of economics. In reality the highest paying (pay cheque) goes to people on top posts in international investment banks like Goldman Sachs if you're lucky enough to get in to one of them, in terms of pay cheque other ridiculously high paying job is if you were intelligent enough in your whole life to become the dean of an intentional university such as McGill university's Principal Heather Munroe Blum, she has an annual pay cheque of 500,000 $ a year, almost an equivalent of 38 lakh Rs in Pakistani currency a month.

The highest 'earning' careers however tend to be CEO's running their own business (but that does not come into the category of pay cheque because then you are the owner).

So share some of your experince here!!how was it all!!You are in Mc Grills university and which year???when are you going to complete????and are you going to get into a good bank??

 

[ZohaibAsad]

So share some of your experince here!!how was it all!!You are in Mc Grills university and which year???when are you going to complete????and are you going to get into a good bank??

My experience so far with economics has been great, and the fact that if you don't like maths you won't like economics because at university it's all maths and stats with theory.

I would prefer not to tell my future plans

 

[AlphaCentauri]

How can we prepare for an undergraduation in Economics? Anything in particular that can help us on the course?

The thread is a very good idea.

 

[ZohaibAsad]

How can we prepare for an undergraduation in Economics? Anything in particular that can help us on the course?

The thread is a very good idea.

A level maths, A level economics are a must to survive in the hard universities that offer it. As far as I've seen if you have a pure-science background too then it helps a lot. Economics is much like Chemistry in difficulty and attention to minute details

 

[AlphaCentauri]

A level maths, A level economics are a must to survive in the hard universities that offer it. As far as I've seen if you have a pure-science background too then it helps a lot. Economics is much like Chemistry in difficulty and attention to minute details

Yeah. I'm doing Further Maths too.

No, but what I meant was, is there any book you'd recommend us to read before embarking on the course?

 

[ZohaibAsad]

Nopes, just focus on A level

 

[SalmanPakRocks]

Very helpful Information, indeed.
Thank you for sharing, and please do mention some universities in Pakistan, the one you think are the best for studying Undergraduate degree for Economics.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

Nopes, just focus on A level

Hmm... alright. Thank you.

 

[ZohaibAsad]

Very helpful Information, indeed.
Thank you for sharing, and please do mention some universities in Pakistan, the one you think are the best for studying Undergraduate degree for Economics.

I would only stick to LUMS if Pakistan was the only option

 

[bleedingwords123]

can I still get in at LUMS for Econ if I don't have A level math? Will I struggle once I'm there? I had 6A*s and 2As in O levels.

 

[TheZodiac]

What about the stuff we study in A levels? I find Economics theory very interesting, however, I am not so interested in Maths.

 

[bleedingwords123]

What about the stuff we study in A levels? I find Economics theory very interesting, however, I am not so interested in Maths.

Sameeeee!

 

[kulsoom.hisam]

Hey I didn't have Olevel econ but I have it in a level and managed an A in AS level. But I ended up with a B in AS math and I was planning to major in economics and math but the B in math is making me doubt what undergrad degrees to pursue. I'm not sure what I will do but I know I want to pursue studies in economics in the future and since I won't be going abroad for undergrad I need solid great degrees that can land me in a top tier business school in post grad. can you tell me what are the best undergrad degrees for economics in iba or lums? And also even though I love economics I don't see myself doing a job in a bank sitting behind a desk all the time.is there any job in economics that somehow coincides with medicine or bio or agriculture? Like those jobs which require field work or lab work something interesting rather than sitting behind a desk and using computers? Thankyou