Economics Student here to help! (answering general questions as well!)

Hi everybody! I'm a Economics student at Royal Holloway and I know that this period may be quite difficult for people deciding :confused:

... So, I am here to help and to clarify any doubts you may have, regarding Economics at RHUL, OR NOT :cool:

!

Post your questions!!!! :biggrin:

Reply 1

Half-blackpearl

I have loads of questions for you. First I'm an international student and by now I'm a little bit scared about settling there and finding new friends.. And is the course hard? is there a lot of maths? How was your first week? In which accommodation do you live? Are you satisfied with the university? I mean are the lectures good and understandable? Are the tutors good? Are the exam very hard? Sorry for my many questions. I hope you can answer some of them. :smile:

Royal Holloway

Egham

Visit website

Reply 2

absurdity69

Hi giu94, Im going to be joining this September so im well excited.

I heard we get a choice of options to choose from in the 1st year, what are they, do they matter?

Whats the pass mark for 1st year?

Thanks for helping us out!

Reply 3

Giu94

Original post by Half-blackpearl

Hi Half-blackpearl! Don't worry about the questions! I'll try to answer as many as possible! let's begin.. :smile:

I'm an international student as well, however I've been living outside the campus since the beginning (for personal reasons, nothing to do with the uni accommodations), but I know many friends that live on campus and that enjoy it! Making friend is easy and most people are nice! It is easier when you live on campus, since the first group of friends you'll probably have are going to be your residence mates.

Although in the first week we don't have classes (it is Welcome week), it is very important to participate to inductions, where the staff will try to explain the basics you need to know.

The courses aren't very hard, but you have to be constant with your studies if you don't want to overload yourself before the final exams. Economics is very mathematic in general, but if you have a good basis you probably don't need to worry. The "maths" module is called Quantitative Methods I (QMI) and it is divided into Maths (in particular calculus) during the first term, and Statistics during the second term. If you are a little bit afraid about the maths, I would suggest you to revise before starting uni, in August, for example. If, during the course, you are struggling with the module, you can always ask for further help in the department, they will always find a way to help you (I am a maths peer tutor, for example :biggrin:

)

I really like my course and I'm very satisfied with it! As in everything in life, some things I like better than others, but it is very personal. The lecturers are always very prepared and knowledgeable! they can really pass their experience to you! One thing that is very important is trying to keep in touch with them during office hours. Lectures are often attended by many students and we don't always have the chance to interact with professors there. You can meet them in their offices and they will be very glad to have a chat with you about any concern you may have.

During the year we have small quizzes (usually online) and mid-term tests. We are also assessed for coursework, such as presentations and essays. Overall, tests are very similar to the contents covered during the lectures and present in the book. So if you attend the class and read your notes, you'll do fine with quizzes. I am now preparing for my final exams, and since it is my first year I still don't know how hard they are going to be. I'll let you know! :biggrin:

I hope I could help you with my answers! If still have some doubts, please write me back!

Cheers!

Reply 4

Giu94

Original post by absurdity69

Hello!
You heard right! The options you have depend on the course you applied to. To complete a degree you have to have 360 credits, which are divided into 3 years, so in each year you have to complete 120 credits. For economics students (pure economics) it is compulsory to complete Principles of Economics I (which gives you 30 credits), Quantitative Methods I (30) and Economics workshop (30). The remaining 30 credits you can achieve with modules of your choice, but usually they recommend you to take Economics Philosophy (15) and International economic policy (15). This structure varies if you are taking Economics with something else, such as finance, management, etc.

Regarding the pass mark, to proceed to the second year you have to pass Principles and Quantitative methods, if you don't pass these two you fail the year. If you don't pass the other courses, but pass Principles and QM, you ca still proceed, but you'll have to re-take the exams for those modules. The minimum grade to pass is 40%, but remember that in the UK you have classes of degrees. So achieving only 40% would give you a third class degree (if I'm not wrong), while to have a first class you need a grade above 70.

I hope it was useful!

Cheers!

Reply 5

Half-blackpearl

Original post by Giu94

Hi Half-blackpearl! Don't worry about the questions! I'll try to answer as many as possible! let's begin.. :smile:

X

Cheers!

Thanks for answering so fast. I came up with a few other questions. Are they lenient with the requirements especially for economics? Are there more boys or girls in your year? Are there a lot of international students?

Reply 6

Giu94

Original post by Half-blackpearl

Hi again! If you mean lenient as being tolerant, I think they may be more lenient while accepting applications. However, during the course, they require a minimum understudying and studying. As a I told you before, if you keep updated with your studies, the course overall is not very difficult, but if you leave everything to the last month, you may find yourself in problems. The class is very homogeneous, maybe there are slightly more boys than girls, but overall it's almost 50-50. About the international students, I don't now the exact ratio, but there are many international students as well!

Bye :biggrin: