BA Economics Course options

Due to the pandemic and the ****up applying to unis over that time frame, I've ended up at an Ex-poltechnic scottish uni studying BA economics because it was high in the complete university guide rankings (I know). I'm in my second of 4 years, and have lost most of my hope honestly. The standard graduate from my course works back office in a bank, or becomes a tax consultant. I want something more quantitative and interesting, and higher paid honestly. The disparity between BSc and BA Economics grads is insane in terms of pay upon graduation, and the stress is starting to eat me alive. I'm considering reapplying to Russel group unis which do BSc courses (yes I have the grades), putting me 2-3 years behind in the long run. I've tried pulling through it at this uni and sticking with my studies but I'm so miserable. Most of my course mates are deeply unmotivated, got BBC's in A Levels, and I feel disconnected from everyone here in terms of aspirations. I feel like the only shot at 'making it' from my uni is topping the class (best in cohort awards). I'm well aware that I might be able to do a masters at a better uni, but I don't feel this is worth the debt vs the actual benefit it brings to career prospects. Should I drop out and reapply? Are there any crazy conversion courses I could try to do well from? Thank you.

Reply 1

Chris2838

8

What are your grades?

Reply 2

CantHelpMyself

OP

5

Original post by Chris2838

What are your grades?

AAB in English, Economics and Mathematics. Seriously considering doing the BSc business economics course at Surrey. I reckon I could get into Birmingham or Exeter, but Surrey is offering me a transfer option so I'm going to jump at it I think.

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 3

Chris2838

8

Original post by CantHelpMyself

AAB in English, Economics and Mathematics. Seriously considering doing the BSc business economics course at Surrey. I reckon I could get into Birmingham or Exeter, but Surrey is offering me a transfer option so I'm going to jump at it I think.

For second year 2?

Reply 4

CantHelpMyself

OP

5

Original post by Chris2838

For second year 2?

Yeah, transfer would mean I have 5 years of student debt, but surrey grads seem to do much better than Strathclyde grads, from the days I've spent scrolling Linkedin and looking at employment outcomes. Maybe it's cos they're all closer to London, I'm not sure.

Reply 5

Usisolsms

3

Well what are you doing now?

Reply 6

CantHelpMyself

OP

5

Original post by Usisolsms

Well what are you doing now?

Transferred to The Uni of Surrey into second year for the BSc course in Economics, and the maths content is a lot more demanding. Loving it here, got a chance to keep my head down and be properly challenged. Staff here are also great. Spent this summer as a research assistant intern in Health Economics at a very good Uni, and am looking to do an NIHR funded MSc in either Health Econ or a MPH to enter the field when I leave uni. Feeling a lot better about myself vs my position 6 months ago, and no longer worrying about a life of back office / audit. Supportive colleagues at work, antidepressants, and a stoke of luck with my transfer application have really turned around my outlook and built my motivation.

Reply 7

Usisolsms

3

Original post by CantHelpMyself

Transferred to The Uni of Surrey into second year for the BSc course in Economics, and the maths content is a lot more demanding. Loving it here, got a chance to keep my head down and be properly challenged. Staff here are also great. Spent this summer as a research assistant intern in Health Economics at a very good Uni, and am looking to do an NIHR funded MSc in either Health Econ or a MPH to enter the field when I leave uni. Feeling a lot better about myself vs my position 6 months ago, and no longer worrying about a life of back office / audit. Supportive colleagues at work, antidepressants, and a stoke of luck with my transfer application have really turned around my outlook and built my motivation.

that’s so good for you im happy it all worked out !

Reply 8

ChiefBrody

20

really good to hear, good outcome :smile:

can I ask, how did you find the summer internship? My daughter is in 1st year and looking for a summer internship, but everything she has looked at is for second year / final year students

Reply 9

CantHelpMyself

OP

5

Original post by ChiefBrody

really good to hear, good outcome :smile:

can I ask, how did you find the summer internship? My daughter is in 1st year and looking for a summer internship, but everything she has looked at is for second year / final year students

Hey, would be happy to help. I can offer you some better advice if I knew what her specific field / interests were, but here's what I did in my case.

Undergraduate research assistant positions are almost never advertised online, on places like indeed etc, but a lot of uni departments could really use an extra hand. It's the sort of role where if you ask and are keen, you can easily get a position.

In some cases, you can literally just speak to your professor after class at your own university about what they / their department is / are working on, and if it suits your fancy then you can get onboard quite easily. In my case, my University did not have a department for Health Economics, so I had to look at other Unis around the country.

So as a first year, I emailed a handful of academics who researched in the area I was interested in (Health Economics in my case). Emails of lecturers and professors are well advertised and they're easy to reach - just go to a University page, browse people and in most cases you'll find someone doing something that sparks your interest. In a lot of cases, on the directory you can also find an individuals current research interests, publications and ongoing projects.

This step is admittedly quite daunting - reaching out to complete strangers asking for a job - but I found all the academics I reached out to incredibly welcoming. Of the 7 emails I sent out to people, all 7 replied, and I got 2 job offers (both from top Russel groups). Most of the rest couldn't take on anyone but pointed me in the direction of someone who could. You've got to remember that a vast portion of an academics' job is driven by their desire to help and teach students, and drive their own research and passion for their field. They're all happy to hear from you.

Work itself was laid back, colleagues were very helpful and had a lot of insight on roles in the private sector too. I was on the same salary as some of my peers who took internships in audit & project management- pretty much all internships pay the base rate 22k annual, or roughly £13 hourly. The academic I was working alongside and the wider team really liked my contribution, so I even got my name on a paper, which makes applications to competitive masters' degrees a lot easier too.

Also bear in mind - I did this around April / May time in a mad panic about not landing an internship for the summer - about the same time I initially made this post. If you start now you'll have a far better chance.

As another example: I have a mate who studies computer science at Surrey (had pretty abysmal grades) and through some emailing landed a summer job as a research assistant at Oxford University. He just had a lot of passion for the specific subfield, and used the brand name of Oxford on his CV as leverage to open the door to some very competitive roles.

Couldn't recommend it enough. Let me know if you need any more advice.

BA Economics Course options

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