Commerce/eco combined degree (2 Viewers)

[barbecuedflava]

hey everybody

atm im kinda torn between doing a commerce or eco degree, but i have noticed that there is a combined comm/eco degree available. however, i have some questions to ask:

1. how do you enter this course? do u just choose bcomm then ask to do a combined degree with beco?

2. i thought the point of combined degrees was to allow you to broaden your career paths e.g. comm/engineering, so what's the benefit of doing a combined degree where comm and eco are pretty similar? is it worth the extra year, and would you just be better off doing a single comm or eco degree and doing honours? would employers value a comm/eco degree, or a degree with honours?

3. im probably leaning towards a comm degree, because i believe that there will be greater employment opportunities than with an eco degree. is that true, and where do economists find work besides with the government?

i checked the unsw website and noticed that they have changed the comm/eco degree for 2010 Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics in 2010 | Undergraduate | Future Students | Australian School of Business | UNSW

im unsure of what the changes are, and if they are that significant at all. can i have your thoughts please? thanks in advance for the help

 

[whoisurdaddy]

1. Yes

2. Well im doing comm/eco as it allows me to get 2 majors for commerce and 1 major for economics (personal interest really) in 4 years whilst for comm/eng u are only getting 1 major in comm and 1 major in engo (a major is kinda like a focused study of a branch of your course) in 5.5 years. Doing a varied double degree does improve the range of possible employment but not specifically in commerce (since you are focusing less on it duh). If you are serious about commerce/business and considering a long term career in it then i dont see any real merits in doing say a comm/sci or comm/arts double degree. You are better off just going single comm or comm/eco.

3. Comm > eco in employment yes.
no idea, i thought all economists end up in the rba or someshit.
I think they changed only the core subjects (1st year level) and i think now u can get a maths or stats major in economics which is pretty sweet. Doubt it will change things all that much tbh.

 

[wrong_turn]

whoisurdaddy. contrary to your last point, commerce students outnumber economics students and therefore, they will relatively deem to have greater employment opportunities. especially when the notion data regarding commerce graduate are therefore more readily available.

A less biased approach to answering 3, would be a dependence on major. Most Commerce students tend to choose an Accounting/Finance double major and therefore tend to find jobs more easily (unless whoisurdaddy presumed employment meaning opportunities and also dependent on his definition of employment, he may be right in this regard)

An Economics student can also acquire an Accounting major. Many Economics students tend to go into analyst positions if they majored in econometrics and those who double majored in economics and finance have quite high employability (probably not for Finance anymore though).

 

[Jago]

unless you want to have 3 majors, i would probably just choose a straight up comm degree and do honours/masters instead.

the extra year isn't worth it imo

<- comm/econ student

 

[tallkid34]

After seeing all your normal 3rd year com friends graduate, it might make you revaluate why you're doing this degree in the first place?

 

[barbecuedflava]

hey thanks every1 for your input. however, ive still got some questions to ask. the way i see atm is that a comm/eco degree demonstrates that you have a really wide understanding of both business and economics whereas an honours degree would show that you really know your stuff. i know it depends on a range of factors, but which option would appeal more to an employer? also, what sort of stuff is done in the honours year?

sorry for being such a noob, but i also want to ask if it is possible to drop a degree if you are doing comm/eco. additionally, where do economists find work besides with the government? i know that there are accounting firms etc, but are there economics firms? thanks ppl for ur patience

 

[Jago]

Concept Economics - Home -

 

[duckcowhybrid]

Can't you do combined and then Honours in one?

 

[hollyy.]

the only reason im going it is cause when accepting, it was like:
"would you like to change to one of these double degrees"
me:
"ok sure"

haha it was a split decision i dunno if its the right one yet tho cause both courses r the same in first yr. but its like another whole degree, and just one yr soo, more diversity i guess.

 

[Jago]

^ haha that's exactly the same for me.

"shit i have nothing else to do, might as well..."

 

[Heinz]

hey thanks every1 for your input. however, ive still got some questions to ask. the way i see atm is that a comm/eco degree demonstrates that you have a really wide understanding of both business and economics whereas an honours degree would show that you really know your stuff. i know it depends on a range of factors, but which option would appeal more to an employer? also, what sort of stuff is done in the honours year?

sorry for being such a noob, but i also want to ask if it is possible to drop a degree if you are doing comm/eco. additionally, where do economists find work besides with the government? i know that there are accounting firms etc, but are there economics firms? thanks ppl for ur patience

The honours year in business typically involves four advanced subjects and a thesis. In economics, the subjects are usually taken with Masters/PhD students and classes range from 5-30 students. As for the thesis, its an original piece of research that's around 15000 words.


There's a few economics consulting firms out there. Outside of government, you can find economists/economics majors in most business organisations (Professional services, banks, management consulting etc.)

Can't you do combined and then Honours in one?

Yes. A few students have done Com/Eco and then did their Honours in economics. This isn't a problem.

 

[xMaFF]

Hi everyone,

I am also interested in studying Commerce/Economics at UNSW after Yr. 12

Just a quick question -

What is the minimum required ATAR score to be considered / accpeted in this course?
Also, are there any specific "prerequisites"?

A brief outline of each would be great.

Any advice is very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

[LordPc]

Hi everyone,

I am also interested in studying Commerce/Economics at UNSW after Yr. 12

Just a quick question -

What is the minimum required ATAR score to be considered / accpeted in this course?
Also, are there any specific "prerequisites"?

A brief outline of each would be great.

Any advice is very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance

min atar: changes from year to year, this year it is 95.65. you can use the uac site to search for university courses, required atar, brief description. it is the site you will use to apply to university so you will become familiar with it soon enough (Search for courses at participating institutions - UAC undergraduate website). the page specific to that course is UAC Undergraduate Course Description

as you can see, no prereqs, just assumed knowledge and recommended courses.

check out that uac site for course outlines. also check out the unsw handbook for more info if you want it

 

[lyounamu]

is commerce (actuarial + finance)/ eco a good combination?

 

[whoisurdaddy]

is commerce (actuarial + finance)/ eco a good combination?

yeah thats pretty badass

 

[FuJu]

is commerce (actuarial + finance)/ eco a good combination?

I do it, and enjoy it.

 

[danielvh]

Current econs/commerce double student here.

Best bit of advice you'll ever hear is: do NOT do the combined commerce/economics degree.

It is completely pointless.

Compare these options:
1) Do the double degree and take 4 years over it. Come out with 3/4 majors.

2) Do a single (economics or commerce. Not much difference - choose whichever appeals more or if you have to, flip a coin) degree and then with that extra year you have the choices of:
- Honours year in something you're very interested in. Result is you come out more employable than option 1 and with the option of doing a PhD after this if you want to. And in the same time!
- Work for a year, gaining experience and earning, say $50-$70k over that time.
- Do something else for that year. Volunteer in Kenya, travel, write a book etc etc etc

I guarantee that all three of the paths in the single degree path will result in you being better off.

Now, also consider some of the additional disadvantages of the double
- You don't move through your degree with the rest of your cohort. So while they move onto level 3 units in 3rd year, you're still on level 2. This means that building long-term friendships (or even long term study budies) with those in your course is more difficult. The uni experience is also diluted.
- Constantly having to answer that annoying question: why are you doing a double in two very similar degrees (annoying because there really is no good answer).

And to top it all off, if for some reason you REALLY wanted to do the double, you could just switch to it in 2nd or 3rd year (you can't argue as well that you can easily drop to the single because you might have already screwed up the units you've done too much - as in done too many 2nd year units.)

Finally, people may say: well, with 4 majors I'm real hardcore and employees will lick my boots to hire me. It's simply not true. Majors make very little difference for employment prospects.

PS: as a note, thankfully I didn't screw up my timetable too much and was able to recently switch to just a bachelor of economics. (and the economics major hasn't held me back at all - I've done 6 months worth of internships total in management consulting and about to start an internship at PwC on Monday.

 

[lyounamu]

^but in terms of actuarial, since ur better off being in the 4th year, wouldn't double degree be at a significant advantage?

 

[danielvh]

Why are you better off being in 4th year?

 

[lyounamu]

Why are you better off being in 4th year?

because you have to complete the 2nd part of the exemption.