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Economics Undergraduate
Open Day
Ian WalkerProfessor of Economics
Slides available at: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/iwalker
Welcome to Warwick• This meeting is for students thinking about
applying for Economics here– Parents, partners, teachers, etc.
• To tell you about Economics at Warwick – So you know what to expect
• Chance to see if we might be a good match• NOT a hard sell
– We only want students who will do well here
• Not sure about studying economics?– See WhyStudyEconomics?
Timetable• 50-minute talk
– Note any queries you might have• Check out links, chat later, or email me
• If you like what you see and hear today– Apply to us
• If you get an offer, we’ll invite you back– Sometime Jan-May 2009
• Another talk, chat to students and staff, tour …
• And come to our Economics Summit – Usually every February
My 50 mins• Finance/Accommodation/Campus life• Something about the programme
– Why its distinctive
• Something about our reputation– Research and teaching
• Something about what our students go on to do– careers
• Offers
Accommodation• Campus room for all 1st years
– £70 - £115 pw• All have free broadband / wi-fi• Price depends on facilities and cleaning
• All self-catered– Campus supermarket, Tesco’s nearby– Lots of campus dining options
• Post 1st year– Warwick leased or private sector house
Finances• Warwick’s current fees are £3145 p.a.
– Min living expenses £100+pw including rent
• AimHigher for info about loans etc.• WUAP scholarships £1800 / £1100 p.a
– for “home” full-time students (i.e. pay full fees)• if family gross incomes < £36k pa / £39k• Plus £2k p.a. if on IS, JSA, HB, CTB
• Disabled?– DSA and practical help
• Money is not a reason not to come
Campus life• Student Union
– Scheduled for renovation
• Sport, Health, Security, Arts Centre• Library and Learning Grid
– Fully renovated
• Careers Service• Economics is world class department
– So its a multicultural environment• >60% of Economics staff not UK born• >30% of undergrad students not from UK
Economics at Warwick • Warwick is top-5 in UK by every metric
– Times (4), Guardian (3), Good University (4)– QAA teaching quality top marks (24/24) - BUT
• RAE (official research rating) was 5*– Along with LSE, UCL and Essex
• 4th in EU’s Mapping of Excellence• 34th in world (by publications)
– Oxford (31st), Cambridge (39th)– Closer to Harvard (1st) than to Nottingham (80th)– But LSE (12th)
Why this matters for students• Our reputation leverages a lot of cash
– Cross-subsidises our teaching
• More resources for learning– Better library, computing facilities …..
• Staff– Better staff, More of them
• More favourable SSR, Better class tutors, etc
• Greater visibility in the job market– Warwick Economics is in the “magic circle”
• Get short-listed more often by best employers
Research led teaching• Warwick Economics is a research dept
– …… that also teaches
• We are researchers who lecture– …… we have no “teachers”
• But faculty are enthusiasts for learning– How well you learn depends on you!
• Warwick is for students who want to learn – If you want to be taught go to …….
• And if you don’t want to work at learning– Study ……..
Warwick BSc Econ programme• A professional training in economics
• A specialised programme– aims to make you think like an economist
• Flexibility is limited– Only a little each year that’s NOT economics
• no more than 25% of load can be non-economic
– E.g. finance, maths, a language, or …..
• Not sure that you want to specialise?– Go to ….
Warwick BSc Econ programme• This is an intensive 3 year programme
– We don’t do sandwiches
• If you want a year in “industry”– Go to ………
• We do provide an excellent springboard for careers – especially in finance areas– More on careers later
• And we do offer the possibility of a year of study abroad– “Erasmus” and US
Study abroad• Between years 2 and 3 (so 4 years)
– Only at the BEST institutions– EU
• Amsterdam , Carlos III , Munich, Sorbonne, Pompeu Fabra
– USA• California
• Reserved for our “good” students– Complements regular Warwick studies– Some help with fees and expenses
• Check out Erasmus
Course delivery• Lectured by permanent full-time faculty
– We have no “temps”, no “PT”s, no “TF”s– We are ALL heavily in engaged in research at
all levels
• Supporting classes by PhD students– Top researchers = best research students– We train them to provide support– We pay them well for a few hours of work
• Excellent administrative support– Helps faculty to help you
Teaching• We teach from first principles
– A-level Economics is NOT required
• No prior knowledge is assumed– But if you think that you have done it before
• You probably haven’t understood what we said
• But we will assume that you are clever– And not worried by a little maths
• So it moves very fast– You have to work very hard to keep up
• But we have (almost) no dropouts
The course structure• Year 1
– Micro, Macro, Quant Tech, Econ Hist + 1 Option• Industrial Econ, Math Econ, Language, WBS …..
• Year 2– Micro, Macro, Econometrics + 1 Option
• Industrial, Public, …, Language, WBS …..
• Year 3– No rocket science– Research Project + 3 options
• Labour, Econometrics, Development,…. Language, WBS…..
Year 3 research project• Really important part of our programme• Seriously difficult
– Its your idea• Consolidates previous training• Develops generic skills• Bridge into world of work
– We provide a lot of expensive support• We get some weird ideas
– And some great projects• Best projects presented in Washington DC• Some published in Reinvention
– Some fine tuned as MSc dissertations
Warwick’s other programmes
• We have a number of other degrees– Industrial Economics– Economics and Economic History– PPE– EPIS– Maths and Economics– MORSE
• These have more complicated structures– See the Handbook on our website
Time use• Our courses (really) are full-time
– Contact time will be about 15 hrs per week
• The course moves fast– You’ll need to work hard to keep up
• The “return” to doing well is very high– Most of our students become very successful
• We advise against a heavy (paid) workload– A few hours a week is fine (possibly beneficial)
• If you need more money than this ….– Borrow!
Difficult?• Yes
– technically demanding, analytical approach• Other places fudge this – we don’t
– But our drop-out rate is tiny
• On the other hand– A small amount of maths goes a long way
• Basic algebra, calculus, a little stats …– We teach all this from first principles– You will get many examples to work with to test your
understanding
• important that you don’t have a maths phobia
Other training opportunities• Warwick Skills Certificate
– Can be incorporated for credit– Or just dip into it for career enhancement
• “Recipes for success”• Study skills advisors• E-Learning for skills development• Language Centre
– Academic or “leisure” courses
“Pastoral” support• University has a range of support facilities
focussed on UCS• Economics Department
– Every student has a Personal Tutor• See minimum 3 times a year
– Writes your references, advises/helps with your career planning, holds your hands
• Bails you out of jail• Brings you flowers in hospital
– Smacks your wrists ……..
• And we have (almost) no drop-outs
Quality assurance• SSLC
– Student led and organised
• Programmes are overseen by “externals”– Assure standards, suggest improvements– Criticise content and assessment procedures
• University has its own review processes– Assures existing courses meet targets
• “HEFCE” also has QAA procedure
• But we know we produce quality ………
A few exemplars• Gus O’Donnell
– Class of ‘73– MPhil Nuffield, Oxford ‘75
• Economist at HMT 1985+
• HMT’s “Humphrey”, 2002
• Cabinet Secretary 2005– Head of Civil Service, KCB– Salary ~£280k
• Referred to in No. 10 as GOD
A few exemplars• Katie Hobbs
– BSc Ind Econ, 1st, 2004– Goldman Sachs
• Equity markets team
• Ali Browning– BSc EPIS, 2.1, 2006– Goldman Sachs
• Investment analyst
A few exemplars
• Jeremy Franklin– BSc Econ, 1st, 2006– Home Office, Economist
• Working on crime and immigrants
• Leena Sukhram– BSc Econ, 2.1, 2005; MSc 2006– DWP Economist
• Working on child support reform
A few exemplars
• Meera Shah– BSc EPIS, 2.1, 2006
• Erasmus year at the Sorbonne
– Management trainee at Shell
• Paolo Caruso– BSc Econ, 2.1, 2006– Research Assistant to an MP (no
relation)
What’s an economics degree worth?Estimates from the LFS 1993-2007
• About 40% (men) and 67% (women) extra for 40 years– £400k (men)– £500k (women)
• These are national averages– Warwick students
much better than average
020
4060
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ate
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Men Women
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Source: Walker and Zhu, ScanJE 2008
How do you get in?• We are overwhelmed with applicants
– conditional offers only to students expected to get straight A’s
• Standard L100 (plain vanilla BSc Econ course) offer is– AAB at A2 (incl Maths) plus a B at A/S level– Or IB 38 points
• Our other courses are a bit less demanding– HINT: if you want to come and don’t have
Maths A-level, apply for BSc Industrial Economics
We don’t do strategy• We don’t discriminate in favour of non-EUs
– We have lots of non-UK students• Everyone here, is here on their merits• Our admission mechanism is “needs blind”
• But if you don’t achieve the offer– you are very unlikely to get in.
• Sorry• We don’t negotiate and never use “Clearing”
– we are (a bit) flexible only with IB students• We are usually happy to “defer” entry• And if you change you mind
– and decide to go elsewhere - we won’t mind
Apply to Warwick Economics if….• Your referee will say that you’re a you’re a
straight A’s student• You’re sure you want to specialise in
Economics• You want a professional, vocational training• You want a fast pace• You are prepared to be challenged
– Work things out for yourself– Seek help when you’re stuck
• You want to be very successful
If not Warwick, where else?• We are similar to UCL and LSE
– but have some advantages over them
• And similar to Soton, Bristol, Notts– but quite different from Durham, Bath,
Manchester, Glasgow, Exeter, Sheffield,…..
• Good places you might not have considered– Leicester, Edinburgh, Essex
• Our training is probably more reliable than Oxford and Cambridge– But perhaps they have other advantages???
Somewhere else?• Warwick is pretty good at:
– Macro, Micro, Econometrics– Finance, Labour, Education, Development,
Industrial, Public Economics• But we don’t really do:
– Health (York, Bristol)– Environment (UEA, York)
• Want a good course, but won’t get 3 A’s?– Try Essex, Leicester, Edinburgh ….
• Don’t want a specialised course try:– Manchester, Bath……
Made up your mind?• If you haven’t been put off…..
– Apply to Warwick ….. – Get those A-grades– Get to know what economists do with
their time• Subscribe to The Economist (£166 for 3-yrs)• Read about what interests economists
– Steve Levitt’s “Freakonomics”– John Kay’s “The truth about markets”
• But if I have put you off ….– Good luck, wherever you go