Economics degree w/o A level maths

Is there anyone here who has/is doing Economics Bsc without a level maths?
Could you tell me about your experiences with economics as a course, with emphasis on the maths part?

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

22

Original post by Skittles_beans

Is there anyone here who has/is doing Economics Bsc without a level maths?
Could you tell me about your experiences with economics as a course, with emphasis on the maths part?

I have done A Level Maths whilst doing a degree in economics. Having said that, I have went onto mathematical economics modules that involves maths beyond A Level Maths, so I can somewhat relate to your situation.

If you want me to describe my experience or what specific topics from A Level Maths you would need to know for your degree, I would be able to help.

You should have introductory maths modules for your economics degree anyway, so you should be covering the necessary stuff before you go into the course anyway (it's a bit of a steep learning curve if you haven't done it before though).

Reply 2

Euapp

21

I did an economics degree without maths A level and although most of it wasn’t difficult, certain compulsory modules were challenging.( and I chose a uni that wasn’t heavily maths orientated in its economics program)
A good grasp of GCSE maths was a sufficient basis for all the stats modules, but econometrics was hard and involved a fair few hours of additional work and help from other students etc to get through it.
I think you can manage if you didn’t do A level maths just because you preferred another subject, but if it’s because you wouldn’t have coped, then you may be in difficulty with the more mathematical elements of most economics degrees.

Reply 3

Skittles_beans

OP

8

Original post by MindMax2000

I have done A Level Maths whilst doing a degree in economics. Having said that, I have went onto mathematical economics modules that involves maths beyond A Level Maths, so I can somewhat relate to your situation.

If you want me to describe my experience or what specific topics from A Level Maths you would need to know for your degree, I would be able to help.

You should have introductory maths modules for your economics degree anyway, so you should be covering the necessary stuff before you go into the course anyway (it's a bit of a steep learning curve if you haven't done it before though).

Thank you for your insight and yess, could you list the maths topics that would be used

Reply 4

Skittles_beans

OP

8

Original post by Euapp

I did an economics degree without maths A level and although most of it wasn’t difficult, certain compulsory modules were challenging.( and I chose a uni that wasn’t heavily maths orientated in its economics program)
A good grasp of GCSE maths was a sufficient basis for all the stats modules, but econometrics was hard and involved a fair few hours of additional work and help from other students etc to get through it.
I think you can manage if you didn’t do A level maths just because you preferred another subject, but if it’s because you wouldn’t have coped, then you may be in difficulty with the more mathematical elements of most economics degrees.

Alrightt, thank youu! I do have a decent grasp of maths because of an A in gcse, also if you went to a non-Russel uni, do you think going for economics without a level maths disadvantaged you in a way? Because a lot of Russel groups require maths so that restricts options

Reply 5

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

22

Original post by Skittles_beans

Thank you for your insight and yess, could you list the maths topics that would be used

The main topics that you would definitely come across are:

•

Calculus (differentiation in particular)

•

Logarithms

•

Series and sequences

•

Hypothesis testing/normal distribution

It's very unlikely you would have to cover matrices unless you do mathematical economics modules or something in industrial economics in depth, but it's a good idea to look through it just in case.

The mandatory modules I think you would need to pay attention to would be microeconomics as it would contain the most maths. Econometrics would be second, but virtually no calculations involved. Macroeconomics contain the least maths, but you would still need to understand calculus to get through the material. (If you pick modules like mathematical economics, then this supersedes anything previiously mentioned.)

When I picked my mathematical economics modules, I didn't do further maths, so stuff like differential and difference equations, matrices, and complex numbers kind of threw me. In particular, I had no experience with matrix calculations, so it was something I had to go well out of my way to learn from scratch very fast (difference and differential equations involve logarithms and differentiation, whereas complex numbers was a minor point along with the trignometry used in the Euler equation).
So when I was studying the mathematical economics module, I not only had to use all of the textbooks outline in the unit outline, I also had to use and study from the beginner's book on matrix calculations. It involved me spending an extra 10-20 hours in the library throughout the course, but it was doable. It was key that I spent as much time as I could on practice questions, as maths isn't one of those subjects where you can just read and expect to get the material off the bat. I finished the module doing OK (not a first class, but nothing embarassingly low).
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation where you're struggling with the math topics, you would very likely need to hit the library and do extra work.

If you want to look at the materials in advance and not want to use an A Level maths textbook, then I recommend the following:

•

Basic Econometrics by Damodar Gujarati (a book I recommend buying if you intend to do econometrics or any stats later on, even at postgrad level; very easy to read)

•

Mathematics for Economics and Business by Ian Jacques (pretty much covers all the A Level Maths material you would need for the degree, but not necessarily for the mathematical economics modules).

•

Schaum's Outline of Introduction to Mathematical Economics by Edward Thomas Dowling (gives you a good overview to a number of mathstopics in economics, but I think it covers more than what you would need, so pick the topics accordingly; it's also ridiculously cheap)

•

Schuam's Outlines also have books that cover: statistics, econometrics, differentiation, calculus, college algebra, etc., but you won't need to use all of the books, and a lot of the material would be overlapped with the books mentioned above or with of the other books (the US education system is like that). If you can get your hands on these, use them as reference as opposed to an outright purchase.

If you don't understand certain areas of A Level maths, there are a good number of A Level Maths tutorial videos on the Net to go over the basics.
Again, maths is not a subject where you can just read your way through the material and expect to get it. You would need to go through practice problems.

Reply 6

Euapp

21

Original post by Skittles_beans

Alrightt, thank youu! I do have a decent grasp of maths because of an A in gcse, also if you went to a non-Russel uni, do you think going for economics without a level maths disadvantaged you in a way? Because a lot of Russel groups require maths so that restricts options

Depends what you want to do afterwards. I got offers from all of the big 4 in London with an Economics degree from Loughborough , but was a while ago.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 7

Bohgtui7654

1

Original post by Euapp

Depends what you want to do afterwards. I got offers from all of the big 4 in London with an Economics degree from Loughborough , but was a while ago.

Hi, I'm also applying to Loughborough. I'd like to ask about your experience apply to firms with doing an Economics degree that isn't Russel group. Was it harder to get offers?

Reply 8

Euapp

21

Original post by Bohgtui7654

Hi, I'm also applying to Loughborough. I'd like to ask about your experience apply to firms with doing an Economics degree that isn't Russel group. Was it harder to get offers?

Firstly the RG label is only really of relevance to a post graduate student due to the level of finance they receive for their research. There are a number of excellent non RG unis including Bath, Imperial,St. Andrews, and of course Loughborough.
I found that the big 4 when I applied were looking for more than just academic ability which is obviously a pre requisite, but for their consulting and audit functions wanted well rounded people. Jobs in this sector are heavily client based, so you have to be able to get on with people. I was a National sports player so I showed that I could balance academic study with sporting obligations, that I worked well under stress etc. However, whatever uni you go to there will be tough competition for graduate places afterwards and your degree will only one of many factors taken into consideration in the recruitment process. I worked in all of my holiday periods as well as having bar jobs during term time. Some jobs were relevant to the profession, others weren't at all ( fruit picking) . But all showed that I was versatile, could get on with people, and was committed to everything I took on.
There is no reason why choosing Loughborough would prevent you from gaining a place as a graduate with a big 4 company.

Reply 9

BenRyan99

Careers Forum Helper

17

Original post by Euapp

Firstly the RG label is only really of relevance to a post graduate student due to the level of finance they receive for their research. There are a number of excellent non RG unis including Bath, Imperial,St. Andrews, and of course Loughborough.
I found that the big 4 when I applied were looking for more than just academic ability which is obviously a pre requisite, but for their consulting and audit functions wanted well rounded people. Jobs in this sector are heavily client based, so you have to be able to get on with people. I was a National sports player so I showed that I could balance academic study with sporting obligations, that I worked well under stress etc. However, whatever uni you go to there will be tough competition for graduate places afterwards and your degree will only one of many factors taken into consideration in the recruitment process. I worked in all of my holiday periods as well as having bar jobs during term time. Some jobs were relevant to the profession, others weren't at all ( fruit picking) . But all showed that I was versatile, could get on with people, and was committed to everything I took on.
There is no reason why choosing Loughborough would prevent you from gaining a place as a graduate with a big 4 company.

Imperial is actually in the RG.

But imo this poster's point is fair. Literally nobody cares about the Russell Group if you're aged about 18 and up. It's a group of research focused universities and so has virtually no impact on undergrad students so I wouldn't let it influence your university decision at all. For economics specifically for example, places like Bath and St Andrews have stronger economics undergrad courses than the majority of RG unis.

In terms of getting offers from firms in areas which some consider the more elite parts of finance (e.g. investment banking, trading, research, strategy consulting, private equity, etc), the university you attend plays some role, but internships are arguably more important (tho getting these is also partially based on where you study). For these sort of grad roles, the distinction isn't RG uni vs non-RG uni, it's more of a tiered system like Oxbridge/LSE/Imperial/UCL/Warwick in the top tier, places like Bath/Notts/King's/Edinburgh/Durham/Bristol/etc in the middle tier, and so on.

Everyone has a different view on what's in each tier, as well as which unis are better within each tier. But the important thing to note is that you can still get great grad/internship offers from all sorts of unis, the tier for high finance careers are more of a very rough guide which suggests the chances for an average student (there's a great deal of self-selection bias going on), not a specific student - I have friends who went to complete non-targets and got grad roles at the very top investment banks, I have friends who went to Oxbridge/LSE/etc who didn't get any decent offers, so it really depends on the individual in question. And this is all for 'high finance', different areas of finance/economics/business have different sorts of 'ideal candidates' and so have different requirements.

TLDR: take everyone's view of career prospects from X course at Y uni with a handful of salt.

(edited 1 year ago)

Economics degree w/o A level maths

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