An economic's students 2nd year (GYG 2018-19)

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Reply 20

sadforsadboys

Sounds like a hefty schedule 😱

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Reply 21

Toastiekid

Best of luck with getting the grades :woo:

I look forward to seeing what you get up to T, will be following along :wink:

Reply 22

pereira325

Day 9 03.10.18:

Don't stop believing

One thing I've realised is that life as a student constantly has its ups and downs.
Not necessary life or death stuff, but more like being bored and having a great time.
I'm saying that today because it was an okay day and it wasn't too fun, but an okay day has gotta be better than an actual bad day.
So... the solution is to find something positive for the next day. That means you have something to look forward to.
In reality, life is generally less exciting and more awkward than expected, and usually not much happens, lol, but keep dreaming.
Tomorrow is a new day, and where there is life, there is possibility.
At university you interact with so many different people every day, and who knows who you might bump into accidentally (I'm still waiting for that one to happen :tongue:

). The only certainty is in not trying. So yeah.

Today I just had 2 classes and a lecture.

Anyway, the thing I have to look forward to (apart from a class and lecture ! ) is I need to do a video interview for a part-time job application. I'm getting my friend to help me out, and I've started drafting a whole script really for it (even though the vids only 2 mins!), including locations where I'd like to have a backdrop lol.
So, tonight, I look forward to that!

Anyway, another early night for me. I'm gonna say anything before mid-night is considered early by a uni student. Oh, and no 9am tomorrow, but I think I'll get up by 9 anyway.

Original post by emilynxlan

Sounds like a hefty schedule 😱

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I thought I'd have more free time in university and now, I'm not sure if I do or don't.
I think the thing is "the power is in your hands" (reference to Take me out if you watched that!). So I pretty much have almost full control of my weekly time (okay, there's meal times, sleep times, family time, lol) but in terms of university demands only 4 hours a week is compulsory (classes).
So technically by attending lectures, doing extra reading, doing classwork before the class, revising etc... it's giving myself a hefty schedule.
I don't mind though as I need to make up for my first year self-disappointment, and life could be a lot worse than having to study :smile:

Original post by Toastiekid

Best of luck with getting the grades :woo:

I look forward to seeing what you get up to T, will be following along :wink:

Cool, thank you and goodluck also. I believe you've entered sixth form?

Reply 23

Toastiekid

Original post by pereira325

Cool, thank you and goodluck also. I believe you've entered sixth form?

thanks

and yes I have :woo:

Reply 24

pereira325

Day 10 04.10.18:

The week ends on Thursday!
Now, can't deny I'm feeling quite a happy buzz today.
I think it's down to a multitude of factors:
- Got free nachos at subways
-Got a meal deal for £2 at Whsmith
- Did my application video and pleased with how it's come out
- Done with university lectures/classes for this week!
- Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday are all my days!

Anyway, so yeah, my "weekend" is beginning today and I look forward to using my independence wisely. As we know from Superman, with great power comes great responsibility. And, doing well at university is all about being responsible with your time.
Let's hope I get that job too eh!

Original post by Toastiekid

thanks

and yes I have :woo:

Are you making a GYG for it? Or, no pressure year 12 :smile:

? I suppose with AS' largely being eliminated, the final outcome of a year 12 GYG is less. However... It's the journey which counts, not just the final result. A large part why I've made this thread of course, to illustrate the journey.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 25

Toastiekid

Original post by pereira325

Yes I am

I mean there’s definitely less pressure as I’m only taking one as level but the end results still do matter for predicted grades (and if I want to stay at my school :eek:

)
Agreed

Reply 26

pereira325

Days 11,12,13,14 05.10.18-08.10.18:

GG streak

Now, firstly, I hope I counted 4 days correctly, and that the 5th,6th,7th,8th is 4 days. Surely that settles it <-.
Rightio- explanation for the absence time.
My mum came over and I didn't really have any space for private computer time LOL. So, I dunno, it felt a bit awkward going on TSR, so I didn't.
We pretty much did shopping, watching programs and eating. And, thankfully, I'm back today and it's all back to normal.
So yeah, the last 4 days were anomalous and didn't go to any plan (as it was out of my control).
So yeah, my post streak starts from scratch.

Anyway, it's not even Sunday, but it's a new week for me, starting tomorrow (Tuesday).
Thankfully, my first lecture is 10am :biggrin:

, and, I don't formally have any class-work required to be done/attempted for tomorrow.
So, tomorrow is the day I catch up basically, and there is enough time to do so.
Fingers crossed for the energy and motivation :smile:

Reply 27

rasputshealthbar

Sounds like you have a really close relationship with your parents. That’s sweet.

Reply 28

pereira325

Original post by krissxkross

Sounds like you have a really close relationship with your parents. That’s sweet.

Well, at this stage, it's partly a close relationship due to practicality, love for my parents, enjoying being with my parents and yeah the utility of it.
For instance, my parents kind of annoy me by not letting me wear contacts, but they buy me designer glasses, so that's money saved :smile:

.
Same with clothes lol, my parents are picky with clothes (not so bad here as I'm not actually a hipster).

So yeah, I mean it's part of the deal. Being close has it's perks. And I know it's ungrateful of me to be annoyed at my parents considering they do so much for me, and they want to. However, I just feel like sometimes I want more independence, and being close to them means I won't be able to get that.

Maybe that's normal though- loving your parents but finding them annoying at times!

Reply 29

pereira325

Day 15 09.10.18

Normal doesn't have to mean boring!

Happy to say today was back on track, and I'm happy to have ticked along with the day.

The free time I had in-between my lecture/class kept me relaxed and able to focus and pay good attention in them.
My main focus is really on tomorrow (Wednesday) as I have 2 classes (which means prep), and then my training session for student ambassador (yay?).
Don't feel like my "head's in the game" so instead of procrastinating till the early morning hours, I'm giving myself about 30 mins now to mess around.
What sort of helps is that my sister has work tomorrow so she'll be getting up at 7, so it kind of makes sense for me to sleep early and attempt to awake at that time too. But, we will see. It's easy to talk, or type in this case.
That's me sorted for today :smile:

Reply 30

pereira325

Day 16 10.10.18

That's a good day

So I'm pretty knackered and understandably so as it's pretty much the end of the day.
It's knackered in a good way from doing "work" though.
So had my 2 morning classes (macro II, financial markets) 9-11 then left for my training day.
Reached the training session at 12, and everyone was really friendly and the place was awesome.
Just that whole experience left me feeling great and ready to do the job. It's also a great way to keep my general confidence up.

So in short, I'm now a student ambassador for getting people into teaching, and the target is university students.
I have my own personal link actually so if you'd like to put yourself on that database and give me a signup... the link is here:
http://ocply.co/dfe-18-q-mary-dfe
Please note, you don't need to be 100% sure you want to go into teaching to fill out the survey, nor will you be spammed emails by the Department of Education, nor do your responses commit you to becoming a teacher or entering teacher training. What's asked is any responses are made as honestly as possible.

Today my goal was to try and get 10 signups so being at home I had to spend a few hours pretty much debating/discussing with Facebook friends to complete the signup. Hopefully I've made 10! Anyway, that's all

Reply 31

pereira325

Day 17 11.10.18

Mixed feelings

Wow. TSR isn't helping me feel any better. Wrote a post for today which was quite decent and I hit submit and it didn't post. Not the first time it's happened on TSR for me, and doubt it'll be the last.

Ah well, I'll try again- but the motivation from writing it the first time ain't there.

Okay- so I didn't reach 10 signups, which sucked. I felt like my friends let me down. I ended up with 9 which felt so close, yet so far of course. There's no consolidation prize and I suppose that's reflective of life. You either make it, or you don't. It sucks as I wish I could have kept the positive momentum going and now I'm starting to question if I'm even right to be a brand ambassador. It reminded me of my 1st year failure- being <1% off... which wasn't great either.

The positives were that uni today was great and pretty much every other aspect today went well, however, that one negative pulled my mood down. I think a sleep might fix that. When I saw the news saying I was 1 short... I was absolutely fuming and completely triggered. Now I'm calm and accept it though. I think the thing is it's happened now and I just have to move on as yeah I can do better next week.

Anyways, got Friday, Sat, Sunday, Monday to get myself done some uni work, so hopefully ticking off and having more things complete on my personal spreadsheet will reduce my stress, make me feel like I've achieved something and overall be more happy. I'm hopeful!

Reply 32

anythinggoeshe

Original post by pereira325

when plotting total revenue against quantity should the y axis be price or total revenue? have it as total revenue but its actually in price units?

Reply 33

pereira325

Original post by anythinggoeshe

when plotting total revenue against quantity should the y axis be price or total revenue? have it as total revenue but its actually in price units?

It depends for which module.
In microeconomics it's not a major issue, and I suppose for mathematical economics it's not a huge issue either.
However, the general consensus is you plot price on the y axis, and quantity on the x axis.
This is because you are calculating things like rates of change i.e. dy/dx or dp/dq so it's just easier to graph things/visualise doing it this way.

So for your example specifically, you would have total revenue on the y axis, quantity on the x axis.
You are plotting Total Revenue because that's what you have, no? Or that's what you're using the graph to look at some relationship between TR and Q.
TR = P * Q so it incorporates price into it anyway.

Reply 34

pereira325

Days 18,19,20,21 12.10.18-15.10.18:

A reflection

I think I'll just be updating for each Friday/Sat/Sunday/Monday in one post like this- on Monday evening.
Just because yeah I'm now treating it as an extended weekend which is an excuse for me to be lazy.
What I used to do was leave everything that I didn't like doing to Sunday as I would have Sixth Form/ Uni on Monday, but yeah now it's moved to Monday.
So as you can tell, I reserved the bulk of work I wanted to do uniwise for today. So... today wasn't exactly too fun and it was tiring. But, hey, life has to balance out.
Also got contact with my brand ambassador colleague so that seems good although they haven't replied back to me yet, so that's not the best start...

Anyways, so tomorrow I'm planning on leaving at 8am, reaching uni at about 9.40, hopefully giving me time to go into Asda quick and buy a tin of chocolates for like £5. 10-12 I have the macro II lecture, then 12-1 I'm planning on hopefully getting people to sign up (using my sweet incentive) in the library... 1-2 I have a mentoring thing to do, if people turn up. Then 2-4 I have a financial markets lecture. 4-5 idk what I'll do yet. Have to see what state my head's in at that stage. 5-6 is my econometrics class.

In terms of my goals, I've done what was feasible except for one thing which was catching up on my econometrics lecture I missed last week due to having to leave for my training day. One thing my parents were quite clear about was not letting any "external work" affect my university performance so I need to get that sorted out before it builds up. Was planning on doing it today evening, but I went for a "quick" nap which I intended to be 20 mins but then I woke a little depressed or whatever so I felt I needed an hour instead lol. My head wasn't in the game after.

I thought it'd be interesting to say this next bit, to see if my opinion changes later on...
Favourite model in theory:
Econometrics- seems like something I want to do and has real practical use. Plus it would make me seem really smart which is always a great thing.
Favourite model in reality:
Games and strategies- It's a module which is pretty interesting in terms of content and the lecturer is very organised which I like, and although he makes it boring at times, I feel like it's a module that I can do well in and enjoy thinking about.
Most boring module:
Financial markets- I expected it to be cool, like about trading or something trendy, however the lecturer is boring as heck and it just seems like our job is to memorise 1000 definitions and formulas and theory. So, that's boring even by my standards.
Module with greatest potential to improve:
Macroeconomics II- Still waiting for the lecturer to ramp up the lectures and uh keep me engaged. To be fair what he does is okay, but considering we've had 3 lectures / 10 so far and we've not really covered anything new yet... I'm waiting and wondering what's so different about year 2, lol.

Reply 35

SilverWater

Nice blog

I've applied for Economics and mangement at Leeds and I was wondering how heavy is the maths in Economics?

I don't have a level maths but I taught myself a little bit of AS maths in the summer and I really enjoyed it tbh. I plan on using this book "Ian Jacques - "mathematics for economics" for next summer and pretty much cover all the first year content so I'll be set for the first year as I won't be playing catch up when I'm hopefully at uni.

Is this a good idea in your opinion?

Reply 36

pereira325

Original post by SilverWater

Nice blog

Perhaps as you're doing Economics and management, the management side might mean less "intense" maths. I don't really know anything about management though.
The maths isn't really too heavy overall in Economics anyway, it's mainly differentiation in use for macroeconomics, microeconomics and game theory. Differentiation is so important because the objective is very often finding the "optimum" of whatever.
Obviously, there is statistics involved too... so for that statistical stuff is tested including integration. But, nothing too serious...
And, you might have a sort of "pure maths" module. I did anyway. In that module yeah as you would expect, it's all maths. But, the furthest it goes to really is advanced differentiation and matrices. If it makes you feel better though, it's linked to economics still, so you won't be doing Pythagoras or working out angles!

To be honest, if you haven't done A-Level maths I would feel like it would be quite difficult. Differentiation in particular is used quite a lot during the A-Level and even integration, so they sort of take that level of knowledge as base for degree level. However, I suppose if it isn't a compulsory pre-requisite for applying for your degree subject, perhaps Econ and management is far from pure Economics? What could be useful is checking out the 1st year modules which should be available (technically I could just do this too but I'll leave you to that).

The book we used (which is very good, but with some challenges) was by Renshaw called Maths for Economics. I don't know where you live but I actually still have that textbook (used) and would be up for selling it at a reduced price ofc. Obviously, the maths module (s) went through the topics in that book too, so I'm familiar with that.

It's a good idea what you're doing... I guess I'd ask how are you finding questions from that book? I'm guessing the first chapter is probably like simultaneous equations (starting slow), so yeah go a few in till you reply heh. You don't really need to cover anything in too much detail from the textbook for now, just like I've said learn differentiation and integration and statistics (although I'm unsure if your book would have that- mine does not).

Reply 37

pereira325

Day 22 16.10.18

Tiring Tuesday

No doubt about it I'll probably come up with a lot of names to describe my semester A Tuesday for this term... maybe terrible next week. Although that implies I don't like the day, which is false.
I really feel like my personal timetable is coming in use... keeping me structured and in all honesty that's what I need. Order and routine.
Anyway, so had the weekly 10-12 noon Macro II lecture. I seem to be enjoying it more every week.
12-1 I ate lunch and tried to advertise a little in the library to get people to signup to my campaign. Small success which is better than no success... the whole deal is pretty awkward and embarrassing but people have sold their souls in worser ways, so I suppose I should be grateful...and I'll keep trying.
1-2 I had a mentor session for PASS (Peer Assisted Study Scheme- run by students for students), and it was interesting because only 1 first year turned up. Anyway, it was a fun and relaxing session overall because I got to know the other mentors in some detail and it seemed like they were pretty much all 3rd years so they had great advice to offer me. Didn't have much clue to a lot of what they were saying though. Ah, at least I'm networking! Second year is going a lot better on that field.
2-4 I had a Financial Markets & Institutions lecture which was as usual boring. However, I had a slight revival as I had a little chat with this girl I kind of like but I don't take it too seriously as she doesn't seem to be majorly interested either. It's a weird situation but I enjoy what I can, lol. Like I said, it's the small happy things each day that keep you going and looking forward to the even better days.
4-5 I was contemplating what to do, and me and my friend ended up going to the library where he was studying and I was doing a bit more advertising. It was again nerve-wrecking as the library was pretty packed and it felt awkward being a salesperson for teaching essentially. Think I've got 9 signups this week so far, so I should be able to get the 10th atleast tomorrow!
5-6 I had an econometrics IT lab session which was good in theory. However, we had some coursework group to think about and to be honest I don't know anyone in my econometrics class so I thought I'd leave it to randomness and have let the teacher decide who my group will be... should be interesting. No-one great really in my class anyway, so it's not a great game.
Anyway, so that was pretty much it for uni. I gotta limit what I say or I'll be typing for ages and that's not a wise use of time!

Regarding tomorrow...
-Hope my short term student ambassador colleague finally responds to my email sent on the 15th in the morning!!!! Would really rather not do an event for this campaign by myself.
- Have to try and find the balls to take a photo with the rest of my class or dare I dare rest of the people in my lecture hall for a photo competition for the brand ambassador. It just seems like an awkward as hell thing to do and it was really something I was planning on doing today but I chickened out. They are expecting my photo still though so dang...
Funnily enough my stresses are self-inflicted as if I didn't choose to take this job/position I would have been free. Nevertheless, need that experience and he who dares wins!

Reply 38

SilverWater

Original post by pereira325

I'm on PRSOM. Thanks for such an indepth response :smile:

I know you said to reply till I'm further in but I'm was gonna pick up the the book again in the summer of 2019 :smile:

I'll have like 10 or so weeks to cover alot of it. It was under "Essential reading" for Newcastle which was originally my firm and it pretty much covered all the first year modules by the looks of it.

Learn differentiation, intergration and stats got it :smile:

The difference in year one of pure economics at Leeds vs E+M is this

Economic Institutions (Industry)
Research Skills for Economists

Swapped for

Organisational Behaviour
Starting Your Own Business
Accounting for Managers

Modules such as mathematics for economics are the same. There are booster sessions for people without AL maths which I would have to attend at Leeds but tbh I don't want to rely on that solely tbh.

The main difference by the looks of it comes in year 2 where from the outset it looks WAAAY less mathsy :lol:

Things like Econometrics become optional etc -( I have been told this is very challenging)

Pure Econ

•

Compulsory modules

•

Theories of Growth, Value and Distribution 10 credits

•

Intermediate Microeconomics 10 credits

•

Mathematics for Business and Economics 2 10 credits

•

Applied Economics 10 credits

•

Introduction to Econometrics 10 credits

•

Intermediate Macroeconomics 10 credits

•

Statistics for Business and Economics 2 10 credits

E+M

•

Compulsory modules

•

Anthropology for Business 10 credits

•

Intermediate Microeconomics 10 credits

•

Economics Research Methods 10 credits

•

Intermediate Macroeconomics 10 credits

•

Marketing 20 credits

I'd happily buy that textbook off you :smile:

I don't need it right now tbh but if the price is fair I'd be interested :biggrin:

I'll reply from now on in pm, I don't want to derail your GYG. Good luck and you never know I might actually be at Leeds this time next year :h:

Reply 39

pereira325

Original post by SilverWater

I'm on PRSOM. Thanks for such an indepth response :smile:

I know you said to reply till I'm further in but I'm was gonna pick up the the book again in the summer of 2019 :smile:

Things like Econometrics become optional etc -( I have been told this is very challenging)

Pure Econ

•

Compulsory modules

•

Theories of Growth, Value and Distribution 10 credits

•

Intermediate Microeconomics 10 credits

•

Mathematics for Business and Economics 2 10 credits

•

Applied Economics 10 credits

•

Introduction to Econometrics 10 credits

•

Intermediate Macroeconomics 10 credits

•

Statistics for Business and Economics 2 10 credits

E+M

•

Compulsory modules

•

Anthropology for Business 10 credits

•

Intermediate Microeconomics 10 credits

•

Economics Research Methods 10 credits

•

Intermediate Macroeconomics 10 credits

•

Marketing 20 credits

I'd happily buy that textbook off you :smile:

I don't need it right now tbh but if the price is fair I'd be interested :biggrin:

I'll reply from now on in pm, I don't want to derail your GYG. Good luck and you never know I might actually be at Leeds this time next year :h:

That's okay.
Yeah, I don't think I actually had any "compulsory reading" over the summer for uni. Sorry-essential.

So far, econometrics seems less daunting than originally made out. It's basically statistics (so far) and I had that module in 1st year . Stats is "mathsy" ofcourse but yeah it's do-able... wait a few more weeks I might be changing my tune though!

Interesting about the modules- quite different to mine at QMUL.
Economic Institutions might be very easy? But possibly very boring. I'm going to guess it's exactly what it says on the tin... so, saying that, I guess it'd be a lot of learning theory/stuff and not much "complex" thinking. But, I dunno. It's still not easy to remember 30 pages of notes :biggrin:

Research skills for economists also seems 'vague' and perhaps easy? Not sure what they'd really cover in it. Referencing? Using excel? Haha.
The swapped modules seem okay anyway. Then again, so do the "un-swapped" modules.

But yeah, I think the "hardest" modules for you will be the maths and statistics one, given that they're hard already and that you haven't done A-Level maths.
Macro, micro, they're okay. And the rest, I dunno.

The thing with these textbooks (obviously you've not read too much of the one you've got so far)... is they're pretty good even at self-teaching. I think it's intentional though as they know lectures aren't intended to be fully covering content. Like I've got 12 hours of teaching time a week and they reckon I should be doing 28 hours of independent study. So makes sense.
Saying that, if you spend 2 hours a week if possible (1 hour reading/learning theory, 1 hour attempting some questions), you'd be in an amazing position for 1st year and have your head around it first time when the lecturer is going through the content. There's no way you would need to attend a maths help session.
Same could apply for statistics (which I "had" the electronic version of the textbook, but yeah PM me as I don't want to breach copyright of course.)
We can talk prices there lol. You can get my number too if you want to ping any questions I guess on whatsapp or whatever. That's free :tongue:

And yeah, focus on your actual A-Levels for now of course. This whole worrying about uni is great, but obviously you need to get the grades to get there in the first place, so spend a little time on this. And, no stress!