Commerce/Economics VS Commerce (1 Viewer)

[WrittenLoveLetters]

What is the difference between Commerce & Economics?

I'm interested in transferring into Law/Commerce at UNSW but I'm unsure whether to do Commerce or Commerce/Economics in my first year.

Insights?

 

[turntaker]

if you are transferring into law/commerce then its more logical to just do commerce then transfer.

from my understanding, economics is more maths focused than commerce.

 

[WrittenLoveLetters]

if you are transferring into law/commerce then its more logical to just do commerce then transfer.

from my understanding, economics is more maths focused than commerce.

Yeah, I'm definitely weighing up just doing Commerce and going ham towards transferring. You're probably right about the Maths in Economics being more but it won't really be that scary for me (hopefully...)

 

[sida1049]

It really depends on what you enjoy, and what you plan to do.

Economics is more mathematical, though I'm sure you'll be able to hand it.

Commerce is more... business-y, really. It involves essay writing, assignments on case studies, and it's more about how to participate in the business world, I'd imagine. For that reason, it's probably more employable than economics (though keep in mind that there's more competition in commerce, since it's more popular). (Hopefully someone who does commerce gives you a better answer than I.)

Economics is quite different. It's a social science, and often feels like a subtle mix of philosophy and applied mathematics (microeconomics in particular). The discipline teaches you how to analyse and understand not only the business world, but other, more broad phenomenon. Real economics is nothing like what you do in the HSC.

 

[WrittenLoveLetters]

Thanks Sida! Thats some really good information/insight on the two

Well. I have been flipping through all the UAC and university booklets and I feel I'm 90% confident that I want to do Law. Of course, I have fears of how difficult the Law course will be in comparison to Commerce and thats the only thing thats holding me back BUT the curriculum and things learnt in Law (based on the booklet information) look very, very interesting (hence the want for transfer).

I'm also seeing that a lot of the Economics core courses that I'm interested in, can be learnt in the Commerce course as well but the subtle differences as you have listed (LOL, I see Psychology as an Economics-approved major) makes me unsure whether to do a single or a double in my first year.


If I was to take the double, would I have to do both Commerce and Economics in my first year? I'm also considering the possibility of what happens if I'm unable to actually transfer into Law.

 

[turntaker]

If I was to take the double, would I have to do both Commerce and Economics in my first year? I'm also considering the possibility of what happens if I'm unable to actually transfer into Law.

you can accept the double degree offer but only choose Commerce subjects first year and no economics subjects. If you are unable to transfer into law, you can then choose economics subjects in second year. Keep in mind there is some overlap between the two.

Its really up to you when it comes to double degrees.

 

[si2136]

If you're thinking about transferring, and you are definitely sure about it, I would risk it with a single commerce degree and get awesome marks. But you'll have no backup unless you wanted to just do a single commerce degree.

 

[sida1049]

Thanks Sida! Thats some really good information/insight on the two

Well. I have been flipping through all the UAC and university booklets and I feel I'm 90% confident that I want to do Law. Of course, I have fears of how difficult the Law course will be in comparison to Commerce and thats the only thing thats holding me back BUT the curriculum and things learnt in Law (based on the booklet information) look very, very interesting (hence the want for transfer).

I'm also seeing that a lot of the Economics core courses that I'm interested in, can be learnt in the Commerce course as well but the subtle differences as you have listed (LOL, I see Psychology as an Economics-approved major) makes me unsure whether to do a single or a double in my first year.


If I was to take the double, would I have to do both Commerce and Economics in my first year? I'm also considering the possibility of what happens if I'm unable to actually transfer into Law.

No problem!

turntaker is right, there is some overlap between B. Commerce and B. Economics. For that reason, it may be beneficial to just enrol into B. Commerce for your first year and complete the compulsory units to both degrees. The junior overlapping units include:
- ACCT1501 Accounting & Financial Mgt 1A
- ECON1101 Microeconomics 1
- ECON1102 Macroeconomics 1
- ECON1203 Business & Economic Statistics

And you can choose how you want to spend the remaining 4 units.

In double degrees, you don't have to do units of both degrees concurrently. (Although for B. Commerce/B. Economics, the overlap works well).

Anyway, it would be a good idea to just do B. Commerce and complete the above units for first year, then reassess whether you want to transfer into combined law with commerce or economics, or combined commerce/economics.

Good luck!

 

[Anonman1553]

I'm in Year 12 this year and I'm certain I want to do something in finance or markets, or in advisory/business analytics/management. My strongest subjects at school are economics and business studies (I thoroughly enjoy them both), and I also have a decent interest in math (I'm on track for a mid-E3 in 4u).

Recently I've been leaning towards a Comm/Eco double degree at UNSW however I'm worried that an Eco degree wouldn't go far in the private sector, and more specifically in the fields I've listed above ^. As such, I'm wondering whether a straight commerce degree (and possibly go for honours or a post-grad finance course) could be better?. I'm confident I'd really enjoy the eco course but just not sure how useful it'd be in terms of my career, but I'm also worried that a straight commerce degree is just wayyy too common.

If there are similar degrees that you think could be of interest to me (based on what I've described) please let me know!!

I'd appreciate any advice or thoughts Thanks

 

[sida1049]

I'm in Year 12 this year and I'm certain I want to do something in finance or markets, or in advisory/business analytics/management. My strongest subjects at school are economics and business studies (I thoroughly enjoy them both), and I also have a decent interest in math (I'm on track for a mid-E3 in 4u).

Recently I've been leaning towards a Comm/Eco double degree at UNSW however I'm worried that an Eco degree wouldn't go far in the private sector, and more specifically in the fields I've listed above ^. As such, I'm wondering whether a straight commerce degree (and possibly go for honours or a post-grad finance course) could be better?. I'm confident I'd really enjoy the eco course but just not sure how useful it'd be in terms of my career, but I'm also worried that a straight commerce degree is just wayyy too common.

If there are similar degrees that you think could be of interest to me (based on what I've described) please let me know!!

I'd appreciate any advice or thoughts Thanks

Go for the double degree if you're interested in economics. But if your main motivation for doing economics is to give you an edge as a Commerce graduate, don't do it. It's not worth the extra effort; all that additional effort that you put into an economics degree could be used instead to further yourself as a commerce graduate, which would be a far better advantage in that case.

If you're unsure whether you're interested in university economics, you can try the double degree for a year, and drop B. Economics if you don't feel like it's for you (this doesn't waste your time as a commerce student, because usually the two degrees overlap to some extent in first year). That said, if you enjoy maths, you'll probably appreciate university economics.

Good luck.

 

[Anonman1553]

Go for the double degree if you're interested in economics. But if your main motivation for doing economics is to give you an edge as a Commerce graduate, don't do it. It's not worth the extra effort; all that additional effort that you put into an economics degree could be used instead to further yourself as a commerce graduate, which would be a far better advantage in that case.

If you're unsure whether you're interested in university economics, you can try the double degree for a year, and drop B. Economics if you don't feel like it's for you (this doesn't waste your time as a commerce student, because usually the two degrees overlap to some extent in first year). That said, if you enjoy maths, you'll probably appreciate university economics.

Good luck.

Thanks so much!
I definitely think I'd enjoy studying economics at uni but do you think there will be much application or use of an economics degree in finance/markets/business analytics/advisory areas if I already had a commerce degree?

I do like the idea of starting out with the double and then dropping Eco if I either don't like it or find it to be pretty useless. Thanks.

How does the work load stack up when compared to the HSC (given I'm about a 94-97 ATAR student)? My last question is: how difficult would it be for me to land an internship in the summer holidays in second, third, and fourth year? What extra-curricular activities and marks would I be needing?

I appreciate your time.

 

[sida1049]

Thanks so much!
I definitely think I'd enjoy studying economics at uni but do you think there will be much application or use of an economics degree in finance/markets/business analytics/advisory areas if I already had a commerce degree?

I do like the idea of starting out with the double and then dropping Eco if I either don't like it or find it to be pretty useless. Thanks.

How does the work load stack up when compared to the HSC (given I'm about a 94-97 ATAR student)? My last question is: how difficult would it be for me to land an internship in the summer holidays in second, third, and fourth year? What extra-curricular activities and marks would I be needing?

I appreciate your time.

Doing a B. Economics in addition to B. Commerce does open some doors, for example, government economic institutions such as the RBA would be a lot more difficult to get into if you didn't do an economics major. (Mind you, a lot of B. Commerce degrees allow you to do a second major in economics anyway. So if you don't have a second major in B. Commerce, just do an economics major under B. Commerce.)

However, in general, economics is more of a theoretical discipline. For most people who study economics seriously, the beauty of economics is first and foremost in the abstract theory, then real-world applications. I think it's important to stress that fundamentally, economics is an arts and social science area of study (for example, I'm doing a combined Arts degree, and my Arts major is economics [USYD really doesn't try to sugarcoat that economics is an Arts subject lol]), and not a business or commerce subject. The kind of economics I'm currently gearing towards (for now) is really just an extension of applied mathematics. Even if you decide to enrol into a unit like environmental economics, it's going to be partially essay-based, and partially maths based. Behavioural economics, for example, sounds like it's going to be psychology, but actually, it's mostly just applied maths (e.g. how people make choices under risk, across time periods [for example, hyperbolic discounting model]).

If you're worried about the maths, don't be. Doing Extension 2 Maths is enough for at least first-year and partially second-year economics, and things like partial derivatives and optimisation will be taught to you at some point in uni, if your courses need it.

From my experience, most of my workload in economics has been the content/topics/theory. But in terms of things like tutorials and assessments, economics has the least workload for me (most of my economics units tend to have, say, a midsem exam and an essay during the semester, so literally two assessments, and the tutorials are short and manageable). This is in comparison to the other units I do, like maths, stats and computer science (my maths degree). I think a motivated student such as yourself should find no problem in coping with the workload of economics units. (That said, understanding the content is very important. But that shouldn't be difficult either, as long as you can read maths.) (Note that first-year economics have considerably less maths than second-year on-wards, mostly because HSC economics actually does not resemble economics as a discipline at all, so universities tend to ease students into it. But your exams for both microeconomics and macroeconomics should still be 90%+ calculation based in first year.)

I haven't had any experience with internships yet (I'm a second-year), but generally you don't really need extra-curricular activities for them. The main thing is to keep your marks high enough (at least a distinction). Most unis have internship programs, so I suppose they're first you should approach when the time comes.

Hope this helps!

 

[Anonman1553]

Doing a B. Economics in addition to B. Commerce does open some doors, for example, government economic institutions such as the RBA would be a lot more difficult to get into if you didn't do an economics major. (Mind you, a lot of B. Commerce degrees allow you to do a second major in economics anyway. So if you don't have a second major in B. Commerce, just do an economics major under B. Commerce.)

However, in general, economics is more of a theoretical discipline. For most people who study economics seriously, the beauty of economics is first and foremost in the abstract theory, then real-world applications. I think it's important to stress that fundamentally, economics is an arts and social science area of study (for example, I'm doing a combined Arts degree, and my Arts major is economics [USYD really doesn't try to sugarcoat that economics is an Arts subject lol]), and not a business or commerce subject. The kind of economics I'm currently gearing towards (for now) is really just an extension of applied mathematics. Even if you decide to enrol into a unit like environmental economics, it's going to be partially essay-based, and partially maths based. Behavioural economics, for example, sounds like it's going to be psychology, but actually, it's mostly just applied maths (e.g. how people make choices under risk, across time periods [for example, hyperbolic discounting model]).

If you're worried about the maths, don't be. Doing Extension 2 Maths is enough for at least first-year and partially second-year economics, and things like partial derivatives and optimisation will be taught to you at some point in uni, if your courses need it.

From my experience, most of my workload in economics has been the content/topics/theory. But in terms of things like tutorials and assessments, economics has the least workload for me (most of my economics units tend to have, say, a midsem exam and an essay during the semester, so literally two assessments, and the tutorials are short and manageable). This is in comparison to the other units I do, like maths, stats and computer science (my maths degree). I think a motivated student such as yourself should find no problem in coping with the workload of economics units. (That said, understanding the content is very important. But that shouldn't be difficult either, as long as you can read maths.) (Note that first-year economics have considerably less maths than second-year on-wards, mostly because HSC economics actually does not resemble economics as a discipline at all, so universities tend to ease students into it. But your exams for both microeconomics and macroeconomics should still be 90%+ calculation based in first year.)

I haven't had any experience with internships yet (I'm a second-year), but generally you don't really need extra-curricular activities for them. The main thing is to keep your marks high enough (at least a distinction). Most unis have internship programs, so I suppose they're first you should approach when the time comes.

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much Sida! That helps a lot, certainly something for me to think about and consider over the next 6 months.

 

[Amundies]

I haven't had any experience with internships yet (I'm a second-year), but generally you don't really need extra-curricular activities for them.

If you're talking about internships with firms, I'd have to disagree with this point. I think EC's are really important for employers. I've had part-time jobs/internships, and have gotten rejected from other internships because of my lack of EC's. Of course there was a bit more to it, but it certainly is still quite important and I would say especially more so for internships because candidates aren't usually expected to have had internships/jobs before and so they look to EC's to help distinguish people.

 

[RivalryofTroll]

If you're talking about internships with firms, I'd have to disagree with this point. I think EC's are really important for employers. I've had part-time jobs/internships, and have gotten rejected from other internships because of my lack of EC's. Of course there was a bit more to it, but it certainly is still quite important and I would say especially more so for internships because candidates aren't usually expected to have had internships/jobs before and so they look to EC's to help distinguish people.

ECs just make you seem more of an 'interesting' person.

Solid academic marks and work experience will illustrate that you have the work ethic and that you're capable.

Extracurricular activities (whether it be competitions, society positions or even your hobbies) show that you're more than just your WAM.

Examples of why ECs and hobbies are important:
- Makes a solid interview topic, especially the interviewer has similar hobbies. I know many people who talked about sports and family with their interviewers at accounting firms. Easy way to build rapport and they'll end up skipping a lot of interview questions because they prefer to talk about their family over asking more behavioural questions. That being said, it depends on your interviewer. Some are by-the-book which means they'll ask you every single question and others are not by-the-book.
- Certain application questions. If they ask you about leadership positions you've held --> you're generally in junior positions at work so the best way to get leadership experience is through society leadership positions. Also, I know a law firm that asks you to list 3 things that aren't on your resume for one of their application questions --> Perfect place to talk about your hobbies and personal interests (they already know your experiences and 'extracurricular activities' from your resume).
- I've been told by a law firm's HR that one candidate had listed Rubik Cube society on their resume and the interviewer(s) actually brought in a Rubik Cube. No one ever remembers that person who got a 'HD average' and works at a small accounting firm but people do remember that person who is the president of the 'Rubik Cube Society' and has their own 'fashion' start-up.

How does the work load stack up when compared to the HSC (given I'm about a 94-97 ATAR student)?

Can't comment on Economics specifically but I'd say Commerce in general (cause it does depend on your majors) has a relatively good workload (it doesn't have large contact hours like Engineering, Maths, Medicine, Optometry, etc. and it doesn't have huge amounts of independent readings like Arts, Law, etc.).