Is Economics an 'easy' A?

I'm going to do either Medicine or Dentistry at university, so I need 4 A's as standard. I've chosen Bio, Chem, Maths and Economics which I will do for the full two years. I'm pretty confident with three of my choices, but I'm not sure about Economics.

I chose the subject because I'm interested in it, but the most important factor of all is whether or not I can achieve an A grade in it. So this question is to current or past economics students, is it 'easy' for a fairly intelligent and hardworking person to get an A in Economics at both AS and A2?

I'm not suggesting that any A level is 'easy', especially not Economics. But for subjects like Maths, most people can get an A if they put the work in; while for other subjects like English Literature it is more based on your natural ability, rather than how much work you put in. Essentially, I need a subject that I can count on getting an A in.

TL;DR- Can an averagely intelligent guy get an A in Economics if he puts enough work in?

Reply 1

LiberiFatali

Well seeing as I've not sat any Economics exams yet (I've got both my AS and A2 papers coming up, first sitting), I couldn't possibly comment on the "easy A" part.

However as someone self teaching the content, I've not found the content difficult at all. I wouldn't say that it's necessarily easy though, just that if work at it for two years and hone your ability to write coherent essays, it's certainly easier to understand compared to say, Chemistry.

Reply 2

bob247

Economics is one of the subjects where it's a bit of a mix between science and essay writing.

You do need decent essay writing skills, simply because of the way the exam is structured. You can understand the concepts fairly easily and do well in 2/3 of the exam but if you don't understand economics you will fail at the 25 marker. Depending how well you do on the rest of the exam you might still scrape an A.

But if you're competent at writing essays and have a good knowledge of economics concepts, it shouldn't be too hard to scrape 80 ums. I did it at GCSE so am not struggling too much but almost everyone who got a 'C' at GCSE or didn't do it at all are struggling, simply because it takes your brain a while to function like an economist.

This is only to AS level, I've heard it gets much harder at A2.

Reply 3

Harry.K

You can get an A in any subject if you put the work in tbh, but economics is definitely not an easy A. It's one of the hardest alevels that you could take apparently. I'm taking AS Economics at the moment and it can be in some places hard to understand as it focuses mainly on application rather than knowledge. Also there's very little maths involved in Economics during alevel. Being a mathematician doesn't really matter unless you want to do Economics for university in which case maths is very important, but for alevel there's none at all.

Reply 4

Cheesecakefactory

Original post by LiberiFatali

I have heard that a lot of the stuff in the exams is just common sense, this is BAD for me. I want a subject where I can guarantee myself an A, as long as I learn all of the material off by heart. I hate it when exams ask you 'common sense' questions that have nothing to do with the syllabus.

Reply 5

alexthekid

The exams are easy to revise for. Though it requires dedication. You should focus on exam technique. It's not easy, especially in unit 5 + 6 where essay and a critical mind come into it far more. It's less hard than history and chemistry but harder than biology.

Reply 6

The Polar Dude

I've done Gcse economics and I'm doing the exact same subjects you will be taking this autumn.
Gcse economics is very similar to AS economics IMO so it's easy for me, but economics is not that difficult but timing is crucial in the exam. don't go into any a level exam thinking it's easy, you would still have to revise economics as much as your other subjects :smile:

Reply 7

Mizukii

economics is difficult.

Yes. Very easy.

Economics is pretty easy. The trick is getting the hang of exam technique- which is basically sticking in as many definitions, diagrams, "evaluation" (the exam boards' favourite word!) and real life examples.

Reply 10

Don Serious

Not related, and I know you didn't say they were..but I don't see why so many people think Dentistry and Medicine are similar.

Reply 11

Freerider101

Do physics. It bridges between maths and chemistry and is much less work that economics apparently. In fact nearly everyone in my physics class was doing maths, physics, chemistry and economics for AS and everyone dropped economics after AS since it required the most work.

Reply 12

Millz

Original post by Cheesecakefactory

When it comes to economics you either love it or hate it; it is not easy to get an A unless you are interested in it. The best way to see if you would like it is to watch the Bloomberg channel on sky. If you want an easy A, do media studies.

Reply 13

bravoechoxray

i find with economics it's a matter or learning the content + then being able to apply it. alot of the time you can work out an essay structure so that if that topic does come up you have a basis on which to write around.

i wouldn't say it's an easy A but it's do-able, + it would help if you have an interest in it. lots of the content is quite interesting + you'll find keeping up to date with real world economics is pretty helpful in understanding the theories + concepts too.

i'd say go for it. uni's regard it as a strong A level + if you're willing to put the work in then why not :smile:

Reply 14

Cheesecakefactory

Next Question: If not Economics, what is the best 4th subject to take for Medicine? Something that is respected, but also not difficult to get an A in.

Reply 15

Awesomesauce

I do Maths, Chem, Physics and Econ. Economics is the hardest for me, mix of being boring in my opinion and I suck at essay writing and applying economic theories.

Also, you should not take a subject to get an 'easy A'.... Medicine is competitive and only for the best. Take a subject which you enjoy, and will be happy to work for, there will you get an A.
I took economics having the same mentality as you, because I though of it as 'that fourth subject'. I hate it, and will now get the worse grade in it.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 16

MagicNMedicine

No I wouldn't say it was an easy A.

A lot of students do get As but you have to put a fair bit of work in to get to grips with the basic concepts as they can be tricky when you first meet them. It's not like the science subjects which just build on material you have been studying all through school already.

Unfortunately if you're not sure what you want to do and are hunting round for an easy fourth subject you are probably the type of student who is going to end up rejected for Medicine or Dentistry.

Reply 17

RedCasino

If you're interested in Medicine, Physics may help you a bit more. It's essentially applied maths and less-so Physics, plus it's good preparation for BMAT if you're interested in 5 UK Medicine Schools that use it.

You'll cover some of the Physics in Medicine anyway, and from talking to admissions tutor they really do enjoy all the sciences and maths (Cambridge requires a minimum of 3), so I'd go with Physics instead of Economics and you've got yourself the perfect A-levels for almost any scientific course.

This is coming from the Medicine consideration point, I don't know Economics's difficulty but I have talked to Medicine Admissions Tutor who said they all enjoy candidates with purely science A-levels, but Arts subjects is a good a mix with Biology, Chemistry and Maths too. (Though the Cambridge tutor that I talked to did hint his preferred candidate is someone who has done all the sciences and maths, since they are more acclimatised for the content since you'll be taught all the sciences anyway in Medicine).

Economics is a great subject though, but with Medicine being very tough, Physics is quite beneficial to Medicine, so I'd opt for that. However, if you're passionate and keen on Economics then go for it, it's not a disadvantage at all!

Don't let my post come off daunting, but as you're unsure about the 4th option, do something related to what you've already chosen as Physics is closely linked to Maths (Mechanics more so).