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Why is Economics so popular?

Hey guys

I am a first year A&F student at LSE and i was just wondering how respected a A&F degree is compared to Economics?
I know Economics at top universities is much more competitve and popular and nearly all the guys who were into finance at my school and were waay smarter than me ended up doing Economics at top economics schools eg Oxbridge, Warwick or LSE. Why is Economics so highly looked upon compared to lets say A&F even in my family i have a few economics students from Warwick/LSE and everytime in family gatherings everyone seems to rate them so highly like "wow your doing economics at LSE/Warwick you must be soo smart" and whenever i tell someone im doing A&F everyone seems to think its some non academic mickey mouse degree even doe its from LSE.

I am not trying to rant im just asking what makes economics so prestigious and respected amongst society. Thanks

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Accounting and Finance is well respected. Especially from a prestigious university such as LSE. However the name gives the connotation of it being strictly associated with either being an accountant or someone in finance, whereas Economics is always considered a rigorous degree that opens many doors in life.
I think the name A&F suggests its something very specific and its fairly new compared to an economics degree which has existed since centuries hell even your university has economics in its name. That being said A&F students at top universities are also smart students but economics is highly academic and rigrous which makes it a more prestigious degree amongst society hence as you mentioned all the smartests guys at your school ended up studying economics at top economics institutions.
Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what GCSE's and A Levels did you get? :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by tictactoe5
Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what GCSE's and A Levels did you get? :smile:


AAA in maths english lit and geography and A*A*A*AAABBC at GCSEs
Thanks, thinking of applying for a and f course, but the competitiveness is kinda scary XD
Reply 6
Original post by tictactoe5
Thanks, thinking of applying for a and f course, but the competitiveness is kinda scary XD


They arent as competitve as some of the top courses eg maths economics physics law engineering but at the more prestigious universities such as LSE and Warwick they can be pretty tough to get in.
Because people are sheep and think that economics = investment banking.

I find that Econ students are some of the most money hungry, overtly-ambitious and materially obsessed (i.e. favour prestige, a top career) students you can find. It'll be a shock to the system, when (if) they end up on an IBD/S&T desk next to a History grad.
Reply 8
Original post by Princepieman
Because people are sheep and think that economics = investment banking.

I find that Econ students are some of the most money hungry, overtly-ambitious and materially obsessed (i.e. favour prestige, a top career) students you can find. It'll be a shock to the system, when (if) they end up on an IBD/S&T desk next to a History grad.


Relax lol, im not sure what investment banking has to do with the prestige of economics, i think its just seen as a more rigour and academic subject and also combines elements of finance which makes it a very popular degree for upcoming university students. I dont have any idea about investment banking and nor do i care about it but i do have a banker who works at JP morgan in my family (economics grad from warwick) and has told me that most of the banks are filled with economics grads from top universities such as oxbridge lse warwick.
Original post by Brinkgod25
Relax lol, im not sure what investment banking has to do with the prestige of economics, i think its just seen as a more rigour and academic subject and also combines elements of finance which makes it a very popular degree for upcoming university students. I dont have any idea about investment banking and nor do i care about it but i do have a banker who works at JP morgan in my family (economics grad from warwick) and has told me that most of the banks are filled with economics grads from top universities such as oxbridge lse warwick.


Which proves my point. People see Econ as a ticket into a high paying job, rather than for an actual interest in the subject. The over-manifestation of econ grads amongst top banks is proof alone that they're the most money hungry.

Top IBs are filled with people from all of those unis, not just from Econ.

But to your point, IB is seen as prestigious and high paying (which it is), the issue, however is that sixth formers attach a certain exoectation of a job in the field with those who study econ at a top uni. Rather than, Econ students at these places caring more about IB as an industry and hence applying more than students from other subjects.

I'm simply giving my opinion lol. Econ is just another subject to me - a slightly more quantitative one, but still pretty much the same as any old academic subject.
Original post by Princepieman
Which proves my point. People see Econ as a ticket into a high paying job, rather than for an actual interest in the subject. The over-manifestation of econ grads amongst top banks is proof alone that they're the most money hungry.

Top IBs are filled with people from all of those unis, not just from Econ.

But to your point, IB is seen as prestigious and high paying (which it is), the issue, however is that sixth formers attach a certain exoectation of a job in the field with those who study econ at a top uni. Rather than, Econ students at these places caring more about IB as an industry and hence applying more than students from other subjects.

I'm simply giving my opinion lol. Econ is just another subject to me - a slightly more quantitative one, but still pretty much the same as any old academic subject.


Yes but i was just wondering why most of the society sees economics as so prestige i doubt just investment banking has such an effect that aso many top students want to study economics, it is also the subject with the highest apps per place ratio in the uk out of any other subjects which proves to me that there is something about economics that attracts loads of students, i think its probably a combination of career prospects and academic prestige.

That being said i dont want to take anything away from them (nor should you) economics students are obviously extremely talented (especially at the universities i mentioned) which isnt surprising since so many people apply for economics so the top unis can just cherry pick the best.
Original post by Killer910
Yes but i was just wondering why most of the society sees economics as so prestige i doubt just investment banking has such an effect that aso many top students want to study economics, it is also the subject with the highest apps per place ratio in the uk out of any other subjects which proves to me that there is something about economics that attracts loads of students, i think its probably a combination of career prospects and academic prestige.

That being said i dont want to take anything away from them (nor should you) economics students are obviously extremely talented (especially at the universities i mentioned) which isnt surprising since so many people apply for economics so the top unis can just cherry pick the best.


Dude, you have noooo idea. If IB didn't exist I can guarantee that this obsession with doing Econ at a top tier uni would die down completely. Money, and career aims have a huge ingrained effect on people's university choices. The academic prestige is ancillary to the pursuit of money - given how Econ is the study of money and choices anyway. You can argue that Law has prestige, being a discipline that has existed for millenia, but Econ has not, as of yet, achieved that.

I agree, the students themselves are pretty smart but the subject is like most other academic subjects in that it doesn't directly lead to a job. Yet those who aim for the high paying jobs, seem to think that Econ (by itself) is a ticket to get there.

I'm not slating Econ here, I just don't see the hype; it's a standard, slightly above average in conceptial difficulty, degree choice
Original post by Princepieman
Dude, you have noooo idea. If IB didn't exist I can guarantee that this obsession with doing Econ at a top tier uni would die down completely. Money, and career aims have a huge ingrained effect on people's university choices. The academic prestige is ancillary to the pursuit of money - given how Econ is the study of money and choices anyway. You can argue that Law has prestige, being a discipline that has existed for millenia, but Econ has not, as of yet, achieved that.

I agree, the students themselves are pretty smart but the subject is like most other academic subjects in that it doesn't directly lead to a job. Yet those who aim for the high paying jobs, seem to think that Econ (by itself) is a ticket to get there.

I'm not slating Econ here, I just don't see the hype; it's a standard, slightly above average in conceptial difficulty, degree choice


Agreed with all your points but i do think economics is quite prestigious now since it has become extremely competitve.
Original post by Killer910
Yes but i was just wondering why most of the society sees economics as so prestige i doubt just investment banking has such an effect that aso many top students want to study economics, it is also the subject with the highest apps per place ratio in the uk out of any other subjects which proves to me that there is something about economics that attracts loads of students, i think its probably a combination of career prospects and academic prestige.

That being said i dont want to take anything away from them (nor should you) economics students are obviously extremely talented (especially at the universities i mentioned) which isnt surprising since so many people apply for economics so the top unis can just cherry pick the best.


Lol this is exactly what i was going to say the competition these days for economics at top universities is beyond ridiculous
Original post by Killer910
Agreed with all your points but i do think economics is quite prestigious now since it has become extremely competitve.


That's definitely true! I think the main driver behind Econ's popularity is its competitiveness. As the saying goes: 'The heart wants what it cannot get'.
Original post by Princepieman
Dude, you have noooo idea. If IB didn't exist I can guarantee that this obsession with doing Econ at a top tier uni would die down completely. Money, and career aims have a huge ingrained effect on people's university choices. The academic prestige is ancillary to the pursuit of money - given how Econ is the study of money and choices anyway. You can argue that Law has prestige, being a discipline that has existed for millenia, but Econ has not, as of yet, achieved that.

I agree, the students themselves are pretty smart but the subject is like most other academic subjects in that it doesn't directly lead to a job. Yet those who aim for the high paying jobs, seem to think that Econ (by itself) is a ticket to get there.

I'm not slating Econ here, I just don't see the hype; it's a standard, slightly above average in conceptial difficulty, degree choice


I think killer made a good point about economics being sooo competitve for a reason and i am still not convinced that its fully due to investment banking. Another thing i would consider economics more prestigious than law purely due to how difficult it has become to get into top universitieis for economics, since competitiveness and now hard it is to get into something makes up a HUGE part of prestigeness.
Reply 16
Another economics thread turned into a IB thread haha, but yeah back to your question i think you were comparing A&F with Economics and in terms of prestige and competitveness it blows A&F out of the water at both LSE and Warwick, that being said its not a golden ticket to anything just a very quantitative finance course which attracts very talented students. But if your looking into banking or finance in general even doe degree doesnt matter (unless you want to go into more quantitative positions), in my opinion economics would probably be the degree i would pick for such careers as it would probably give you a good base especially econometrics
Economics is called the dismal science for a reason, very few people study it out of passion. They aspire to be the next Fred Godwin. Although the same can be said about accounting.
I'm studying a and f too and doing economics it's really good and. I understand it however it's kind of annoying for instance: t accounts and absorption costing -__- so bleeping annoying especially when you have lost teachers
Reply 19
Original post by Ariana Grande
I'm studying a and f too and doing economics it's really good and. I understand it however it's kind of annoying for instance: t accounts and absorption costing -__- so bleeping annoying especially when you have lost teachers


Haha what school you attend?

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