School of Oriental and African Studies

London

SOAS Economics

I have just accepted my offer to do BSc Economics at SOAS. Is anyone else planning to come to SOAS to do Economics this year i.e. start their course in September 2007?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Ninye

Hey!

I've received an offer to do BSc Development Economics next autumn, still pondering a bit on the standard of Economics-teaching there though, since SOAS is better known for its History department and languages.. Does anyone have any comments on the economics there, are the lecturers interesting for example? I'm having a hard time finding more extensive information about it on the internet, and I don't have the possibility to visit the school before the beginning of semester, so all personal experiences, hearsays etc. count!

School of Oriental and African Studies

London

Reply 2

saladin

I will be doing Economics and Arabic, but what I have quite stupidly realised now is Economics will only be counted as a BA which is a rather weak qualification :s-smilie:

Reply 3

Socrates

All this BA/BSc chat is a load of nonsense. If you go to Oxbridge, you get BA even if you do Chemistry. It matters how good your degree mark is.

Reply 4

asattar9

njt26

I have just accepted my offer to do BSc Economics at SOAS. Is anyone else planning to come to SOAS to do Economics this year i.e. start their course in September 2007?

Im also coming to do BSc Economics in september. whts ure offer ?

Reply 5

g_money

Im also coming to do BSc Economics in september. whts ure offer ?

ABB

Reply 6

asattar9

ah same here anyway see there then

Reply 7

asattar9

ah same here anyway see u there then

Reply 8

Ninye

Hey,
I'm curious to know how big the classes are in the first year in Economics, and in general, the size of a graduating class in Development Economics? Also about the course literature: are there often study packs for different courses, or are you required to buy most of the books, as I've heard there aren't enough of them in the library..?!

Reply 9

chex

Econ at SOAS is good - we were ranked 4th in the country for 4 years straight, though we dropped a little this year because of the inclusion of NSS to the rankings - I wouldn't worry too much, SOAS students have a habit of complaining about everything.

First year lectures are pretty big 'coz they're often shared with develoment studies students.

Classes get smaller through the year as attendance drops, and numbers will fall over the next 2 years as the classes get more specialised. Tutorials will usually have a max of 15 people in them; by my 3rd year some tutorials only had 3 people in them.

The actual choice of modules for Economics and Dev. Econ. is exactly the same, the only difference is that the quantitave and pure economics modules are compulsory/core for Econ, whereas Dev. Econ.'s compulsory courses are focused on development.

There were very few Dev. Econ. students in my year - the number increased a little going into 3rd year because Econ. students that get bad grades in core courses either have to repeat, or drop down to Dev. Econ.

Research for most modules is based on a variety of readings, the main ones are included in study packs, the rest are available online; only the Econ. Analysis really uses a textbook, the Quantitative Techniques class is easy for anyone with A level or IB math, and the teaching is straightforward so I wouldn't get a textbook.

The only book I would buy in my first year is the one for Economic Analysis by Begg. Later on it's often convenient to buy books 'coz there's no way the library can cater for 100 people that want the same book, though you can borrow from the Senate House library and LSE library too.

The first year is very much focused on being an introductory experience, you only learn the basics, and you get to do a floater.

Personally, if I started off in Dev Econ and got good grades in Quantitative Methods and Analysis I would get my degree changed to BSc Economics (which is what I did (as advised by the 2nd year supervisor)).

Reply 10

agent008

I studied economics at SOAS, so hope that I can give you an idea.The SOAS courses are essentially text-based. You read a lot, and hopefully develop your critical perspective and understanding of economic theory and practice. Evaluation at SOAS essentially consists of essays on topics in development economics, and you can get an excellent mark without much of maths.

I would say that if you plan to become an academic economist, then a standard maths-based economics degree provides the theoretical foundations that you will need for PhD studies and which are not provided at SOAS beyond relatively simple econometrics and basic economic theory. On the other hand, if you think that you will be doing little maths based work as a professional economist, and rather wish to focus your studies on becoming familiar with the literature in development economics, then this is what SOAS provides. Essentially the economics degrees at SOAS are degree in political economy rather than a degree in economics as defined by the use of maths-based methods.

Reply 11

ooh_harry

agent008

to be fair, having done certain combination of courses, I have found that its not as unorthodox as you may think and that some of the more difficult courses will have substantial elements of math and proof.

Advanced economic analysis
Applied econometric techniques
Banking and finance
Econometrics
Introduction to quantitative methods
Intermediate economic analysis

All of these courses require a highly in depth abilities in dealing with mathematical proofs and expositions, in particular the growth theories, econometrics and options models. Additionally some topics and themes of the regon specific courses (i.e. Middle east, China, South Asia) also require ability to intepret mathematical expositions, formulas and regressions (i.e. post reform growth, financial liberalisation, FDI etc)

Reply 12

username148360

Thanks for the necro posts!

Reply 13

eMJaaay♥

Sorry I'm posting in a dead thread but I thought it would be better than creating a new one ...

My question is, I got some emails from the Economics department with some attachments on how to choose courses and register for them.

I'm doing BA Economics and Development Studies and was under the impression that Econometrics and all the Quantitative units were NOT Compulsory / Core for the BA students and only the BSc Economics Students had them.

But the email from the Economics Dept was kind of confusing, so can anyone verify if we HAVE to take Quantitative units either way or if we get to choose with a BA?

Reply 14

Ozzbozz

agent008

Evaluation at SOAS essentially consists of essays on topics in development economics, and you can get an excellent mark without much of maths.

Essentially the economics degrees at SOAS are degree in political economy rather than a degree in economics as defined by the use of maths-based methods.

This is music to my ears! I've been given an offer for the BSc course but I stopped doing maths after GCSE so I'm glad to hear that any disadvantage won't be a major one.

:smile:

Reply 15

Lapidus

Economics at SOAS isn't particularly good, considering there is little or no mathematics involved. It barely meets the requirements for a BSc. It should be a BA, I think.

Reply 16

Ozzbozz

Lapidus

Economics at SOAS isn't particularly good, considering there is little or no mathematics involved. It barely meets the requirements for a BSc. It should be a BA, I think.

I disagree. Firstly, SOAS is ranked 10th in the country for Economics in 2009, but more importantly it's because it's more conceptualized, more political and less theoretical that it's better and much more relevant and applicable to the world around us. Issues of development around the world, especially focusing on emerging markets are some of the issues of today and the future, so learning them is very worthwhile indeed. As for whether or not that devalues it from BSc level, that's debatable as well.

Just my $0.02 :smile:

Reply 17

Cruzaro

Lapidus

Economics at SOAS isn't particularly good, considering there is little or no mathematics involved. It barely meets the requirements for a BSc. It should be a BA, I think.

What makes you an expert? IF you actually did some research BEFORE you make such sweeping comments you would know that:

1st Year) 25% mathematics (compulsory)
2nd Year) 25% mathematics (compulsory) another 25% mathematics (optional)
3rd Year) 25% mathematics (compulsory) another 25% mathematics (optional)

If you think that is not enough to warrant a BSc certificate you are off your trolley.

Reply 18

grt

Besides, it's not all about math. The study of economics should also give you a rough understanding on how and why it is important without giving you mathematical models only. You just don't get it if you do rather simple business math stuff (and that's all you will do when studying economics) only - for three years. If you want to work as a quantitative analyst in math-based industries (banking, insurance), SOAS basically isn't the right choice anyway (even if not everyone wants to hear that). Still, there's enough math to get an idea of this side as well (and you could even improve this by doing options/floaters at other UoL colleges).

As a last side note, we have to have 'enough' knowledge about basic business mathematics when we finish our degree, else I wouldn't understand why so many SOAS students get offers to do their postgraduate studies in this field.

But you should know this anyway as you're being a SOAS student yourself.

(While being far from being an expert, I studied math-based economics at one of the most reputable German universities for some time - as far as I know it was quite similar to the LSE econ course)

Reply 19

Lapidus

Cruzaro

You're from norf weezy so I understand your aggression, I've not claimed to be an expert, I'm simply stating that an BSc Economics degree should be about a 50/50 split between mathematics and theory because otherwise, it's just a BA in disguise.