Economics vs Industrial Economics

I am currently deciding between the two. I am leaning towards Industrial Economics because I am quite interested in business / industry as well as economics. However, I've heard that a straight economics degree is far more respected - is this true?

Also, would it hurt me if I applied to both? I am considering ditching one of my other 5 options and applying to both Economics and Industrial Economics

Thanks!

Reply 1

tangsiuje

industrial economics --> less maths and more business --> less respected

do what you feel you'd be happy with and could do well in. a 1st in ind econ will be more respected than a 2.1 in econ.

Reply 2

chrisbishopston

i went through the same process with Industrial Econ and Economics last year, basically L100 Economics is more maths based than the others, you'll also do seperate micro and macro modules whereas in industrial these are lumped into 'Economics 1'. I do 'The Industrial Economy' as an optional module but it'd be compulsory if I'd chosen Industrial Economics. Depends what you're good at really, if maths is your thing then do economics, if you're more into business/history then do Industrial

Reply 3

sadiqhassan

thanks for the helpful replies. I think I'll apply to both, and see what happens

Reply 4

mangomaz

Straight econ is generally more respected, most things like industrial econ/ econ history are seen as a bit more 'diluted' if that makes sense. Although IMO they are way easier so its good in the sense that you'll come out majoring in economics while having skipped all the hard modules :p:

straight econ has been absolutely pants at points due to its ridiculous dryness in second year and its not that easy either but I still wouldn't change it because it'll be more valuable at the end of it.

Reply 5

adept95

hey where did u go in the end?

Reply 6

Barzini

I picked Economics over Industrial, and MORSE. I think Econ is the middle ground between crazy hard, and mickey mouse-ish degrees in terms of quant nature. At the end of the day though, job prospects aren't really that different. Industrial econ students tend to be well placed in the banking industry.

I agree with mangomaz - 2nd year can be a pain in the butt with it's dryness. And if you take modules like Metrics 2, international econ, Topics in econ theory etc in your final year, you are only prolonging your pain when doing straight econ. On the other hand, ind. econ can take 60 cats of business school (ie. joke modules for getting grades) in your third year, but econ can take 30. It can make the difference between a 2.1 and a 1st.

At the end of the day, that can make the difference between you going for oxbridge/lse masters or a lower ranked uni. For jobs though, it's not much different.