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Economics at Trinity

JrW

Does anyone here do economics at Trinity? If so, I have a few questions...

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yes i do. fire away.

What are you supervisors like?

What is the work load like, because I have heard that hey particularly stretch you at Trinity?

Do you reckon the admissions tutors would prefer the combination Maths, Further Maths, History, Economics or Maths, English, History, Economics? I know they are very similar but I was just wondering whether, at Trinity, they favour further maths greatly.

Reply 3

minimo

jamierwilliams

Hi there!! Are you a Trinity '05 Economics acceptee? My subect combination is exactly the same as the second one that you listed, but I also study A Level French...its quite a lot of work, but I really enjoy it :smile:

Reply 4

minimo

oh also...since my Cambridge Economics thread appears to have died, :frown:

I think I'll move my questions to this thread...

I was wondering what "exactly" happens in a supervision? Are there simply essays, and say maths problems that you prepare in advance and then discuss? I'm just curious really since it appears that some of the postees on this forum get quite disgrutled with their supervisors/supervisons. Also, are the supervisors at Trinity the teaching Fellows, or graduate Ph. D students?

I know it probably sounds a bit daft, but I am actually looking forward to my supervisions next year...hopefully they'll be fun!! (Or as fun as supervisons get... :rolleyes:

)

Reply 5

thinktwice

sam19

yes i do. fire away.

hello, sam.

Could I ask you a question?
My subjects are : Maths, Further Maths, Politics and Economics. Do you think they are OK for Trinity(or even Cambridge) Economics....
I don't have History, but Trinity seems love people study it....should I take AS History in my A2 year?

Thank you very much. :rolleyes:

Reply 6

JrW

minimo

Unfortunately not, I'm a future applicant. Well done on being accepted! As i said I have to chose between those two combinations. I'm just scared that the combination for the second option is immensely strenuous, in terms of essay writing.

Reply 7

JrW

jinsisi

If you can take history AS i think that would look very good but do not just do it for your application, only if you enjoy history.

Reply 8

sam19

jamierwilliams

What are you supervisors like?

Supervisors are on the whole very nice and approachable. I was a bit intimidated at first as they are literally referred to in all the books that you will read, and in some cases, will have even written the set books, but after a couple of supervisions, I realised that they are very approachable and are keen for you to ask questions. They are there to help you, not make you feel stupid!

jamierwilliams

What is the work load like, because I have heard that hey particularly stretch you at Trinity?

Yep. Definitely. Workload is intense - from what I have heard from economists at other colleges, we get about 1.5 times the amount of work that they do...and they get a lot! This is mainly due to the performance of Trinity economists last year: 8 1sts out of 15 economists, and also 1st, 3rd and 5th position in the whole university - they are working this years 1st year a lot harder than last years so the results don't go down.

jamierwilliams

Do you reckon the admissions tutors would prefer the combination Maths, Further Maths, History, Economics or Maths, English, History, Economics? I know they are very similar but I was just wondering whether, at Trinity, they favour further maths greatly.

You need maths. I think out of this years first year, the overwhelming majority did further maths. So I would say do the first combination, even though I did Further Maths and English (I didn't do history).

Hope this helps.

Sam

Reply 9

sam19

minimo

I was wondering what "exactly" happens in a supervision? Are there simply essays, and say maths problems that you prepare in advance and then discuss? I'm just curious really since it appears that some of the postees on this forum get quite disgrutled with their supervisors/supervisons. Also, are the supervisors at Trinity the teaching Fellows, or graduate Ph. D students?

What happens varies within each paper.

Micro and Macro: you are usually given a problem sheet, but sometimes essays, or a combination of both, for which you are given a reading list. You complete the essays and/or problems and submit them a day or so before the supervision. In the supervision, you will probably be asked to do the questions on the board so the supervisor can see your train of thought and logic process, and you will discuss your answers with the supervisor.

Maths/Stats: Always problem sheets. Supervisions same as above: questions on board and then discuss them or discuss other methods that can be used to solve them.

Politics and History: Always an essay, for which you are given a LONG reading list. You submit your essay, and then discuss it in the supervision, as well as discussing other points which you may have missed, were not in the books or new developments that have not been written about yet.

At Trinity, the supervisors are as follows:

Micro: teaching fellow
Macro: PhD student
Maths/Stats: PhD student
Politics: Neither-someone from London comes to supervise us.
History: The history supervisor is retired (I think!), but he still comes to supervise us.

Reply 10

sam19

jinsisi

Hi

Your subjects are fine. Maths and Further Maths is a good combination to have. I didn't do history, and I don't think the majority of economists in my year at Trinity did, so I wouldn't say just do it to get an offer. Having said that, I did English, which is a good essay-writing subject. You need to be able to write essays as four out of the five papers require mainly essay answers. I don't know much about politics. Is it essay based? If it isn't, then I would perhaps consider doing History for an essay-writing subject in your application.

Reply 11

JrW

Do you know any economists that are choral scholars?

Reply 12

JrW

sam19, thanks for your help; have some rep.

Reply 13

sam19

jamierwilliams

sam19, thanks for your help; have some rep.

cheers, and no, i don't know any economists that are choral scholars

Reply 14

minimo

Thank you ever so much for you post Sam - I doubt that even the Admissions office at Trinity could have provided me with better information.

I'm a bit nervous I don't do Further Maths at A-level, but am thinking of going thrugh the Pure and Stats modules myself over the summer. Would this be all right to get me through the course?

I'm so glad to here that the supervisors are friendly. I really got the impression during my interviews (I had Dr. Low) that they genuinely wanted to help you out and appreciated everything that you said. I'm really looking forward to Trinity, although the prospect of studying there does seem rather daunting given the brilliant results that Trinity Economists have achieved in recent years!!

Oh by the way, considering the workload, do Economists end up having time for a few extra-curricular activities. I'm really interested in the musical side of things.

Thank you in advance, and best of luck in your exams (although i'm certain you'll ace them!!)

:smile:

Reply 15

sam19

minimo

Glad to help. YES!!! Do as many pure and stats modules as you possibly can. Even a brief skimming over will help you a lot when you get here. I did P1-6 and we are currently doing P6 stuff in the maths paper. I only did S1 and S2, and from what i've gathered, a lot of the stats we have done and are currently doing can be found in the remaining stats modules.

In terms of extra-curricular activities, you have to make time and be organised. One of my New Year resolutions was to stop 'wasting' time on msn etc so i could actually work harder AND have more fun this term than last term. It seems to be working - i play badminton and/or squash at least twice a week, have cricket once a week, can be found in the bar (almost) every night, go out to a club or bar once or maybe twice a week, have been going to Special Formal Hall twice a week on average and have just been elected as treasurer of TCSU. So, as you can see...if you are organised and don't waste time doing nothing in your room, you can fit a lot in, although it should be noted that I do have to do a couple of late nights working each week (ie up till about 4am) in order to keep my head above water regarding supervision work.

If anyone has any more questions, i'm happy to answer them (i wish i could have had someone to answer my questions this time last year). I look forward to seeing the new freshers in October. Now i'm on TCSU, I will be much more involved in the fresher's week partying!

Sam

Reply 16

minimo

Sam - you've been brilliant!! Thank you! My school doesn't get that many people into Cambridge and none of our Economists had ever been accepted at Oxbridge until now, so I knew very little about the process...TSR has been a lifesaver!!