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hmm... I got 3/15 on the written, even though I was sure I got at exactly 3 points right (9 marks) on the first 5 natural selection premises.... I didn't do it in order except the first one, I guess I lost marks on that? such anal marking
As someone who is done with econ and finishing up some stupid breadth requirements before leaving this stupid school, here is some advice that no one gave me. This is anectodal, and only for those who want to graduate econ with a 3.5+ GPA, or go to Grad school, or be head hunted or in general just have a passion for the subject. If you are happy just to leave with a degree and have no passion for econ, then read no further.
If you want to DESTROY econ courses at SFU, especially 201 (which is the first big hurdle you must cross and demonstrate you are worthy of being in the program), you need MATH.
Math 158 (or 157 I forget) is not going to cut it. Note I said destroy, not merely pass. You can pass any econ course with 158 (except maybe 331), but if you want to be top tier, you are going to have to brush up on those math skills.
I HIGHLY recommend getting a hold of Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics by A. Chiang and SFU's Kevin Wainwright. Read all the chapters and do all the problems before going into 201. Just by doing this will bump you up a full letter grade. You will need some basic calculus before attempting this.
2ndly, each bit of math increases your grade marginally.
So I highly recommend picking up a Calc textbook and literally going cover to cover. Stewart's Early Transcendentals 7th E is a good one. You will only ever need about half or maybe 60% of that book even in 331 and the 400 level courses, but it never helps to think 'caluculusly' and understand proofs.
If you are taking a break in the summer, I also recommend a Linear Alegebra book. As far as I know, other than reading PHD journal articles, or taking 331 you will NOT come across matrix algebra in econ courses. That doesn't mean you shouldn't learn about linear algebra because you might end up taking 331 in the future (which is a pre-req for honors, which is a pre-req for grad school). 331 btw is a 5 credit course and should you ace it (no easy feat), you get 1. bragging rights 2. a huge boost in GPA 3. a letter of recommendation for grad school 4. pops up on the prof's radar
So learn some linear algebgra, concentrating on matrices and their rules and Markov chains, Leontiefs, Jacobians, Hessians etc. ALl this is covered in Wainwright's book and 331, btw.
Finally pick up a book on Real Analysis (not complex, not Fourier, REAL). It will teach you about proofs and how to write your own so you won't be lost when you come across models and journal articles (which you WILL encounter in upper division).
Extra books that will help you and make you a super star econ undergrad ,( totally up to your discretion):
Books on discrete mathematics/ set theory
Public choice
Game theory
Differentiation
Integration
Operations research
What will doing all that do for you? Well for one, you made yourself exponentially brighter. Secondly you will laugh at the econ proofs and models in your textbook since your math skills will be so much more advanced than 99% of your peers and so you will have an intuitive understandings of the underpinnings in the models. You will also breeze through most if not all problem sets, assignments and exams. Imagine studying less than 6 hours for midterms and walking out with a B+ or higher. Finally I guarantee you will CRUSH econ at SFU and graduate with a very high GPA which is good prep for grad school, or to get recruited.
A good barometer would be to pick up econ papers from the profs' webpages. See if you can make sense of their models/maths. No? Then work until you can.
Godspeed young padawans.
ah crap...only did 157, just barely hanging on right now and doing 333,302,305 right now gfg
if only i knew better...
Yea, I thought he was going to be a massive douche. I am glad he's moving all the assignment deadlines by one week.
How did your first draft of your group report go ?
Moving all the assignment deadlines by one week just saved my life haha. When he gave us all the handouts last class, I was just like wtf. And surprisingly we got an A on the draft.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SNSD
i got 80 on buec 232 but 62 on arch 131 ( i studied) QQ
I hate it when that happens... you study so much for an exam just to end up with a mark in the 50s or 60s.
[QUOTE= envee;8060621]Moving all the assignment deadlines by one week just saved my life haha. When he gave us all the handouts last class, I was just like wtf. And surprisingly we got an A on the draft.
We got a B+. Originally it was supposed to be a A- but we missed a section. Apparently I can't even spell "inadvisable" right. w/e not for marks so it's all good
My AFC gave me an ABS CEL code of LOL while at WOT!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vyrospec
Spoiler!
ah crap...only did 157, just barely hanging on right now and doing 333,302,305 right now gfg
if only i knew better...
wow gg. i would never recommend to anyone to take 302 and 305 together. not to mention throwing 333 into the mix. ur asking to get ur angus peppered. on a side note, 157 really doesn't prepare u for the level of math needed for upper div econ courses. its even worse when u end up taking these 300 lvl econ courses close to a year or 2 after completing 157 thus forgetting most things u learned.
=.= sigh...ya it hit me quite hard last semester when i took 301
but on the bright side, it did somewhat help prepare me for this semester. In addition, it really depends on what style of teaching your instructor chooses to format the class.
Right now for 302/305/333, what i found most troublesome are the assignments.
What hasn't Killed me, has made me more tolerant of RS!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vyrospec
=.= sigh...ya it hit me quite hard last semester when i took 301
but on the bright side, it did somewhat help prepare me for this semester. In addition, it really depends on what style of teaching your instructor chooses to format the class.
Right now for 302/305/333, what i found most troublesome are the assignments.
I blame SFU for having such lax math requirements. Look at any top tier econ department (Stanford, NYU, MIT, the Ivys) and look at how inundated with math their cirriculums are. The holy trinity to become a succesful economist is: Calc (1-3), Linear algebra, Real analysis with a heavy dose of discrete maths thrown in. All those top programs have at least the calc and lin algebra requirements even at the basic UG level, with their graduate students also having real analysis and stochastic calc thrown in. It's no wonder all the best classes that econ has at SFU can only be offered at the grad level due to the low level of maths in the undergrad. How the hell can you teach heavy game theory or general equilibrium without a strong math background? Of course the top programs already teach it at the undergrad level, but not SFU.
If it were up to me, SFU Econ would have a huge quant portion and the 302, 305 will be 2nd year courses with the 3rd/4th year courses reserved for the specialized econ branches: financial econ, public policy, general equilibrium, behavioural and econometrics. That's how MIT and Chicago does it, and look at their programs. It will also make econ even harder than to get into than it is now and the SFU drop out population will go up exponentially...though maybe that's not really a bad thing.
Whose your prof? I had galdikas and if you gave her a photo of yourself with your name and student # on the back you were basically guaranteed a B+/A-. If you go talk to her, tell her your concerned about your mark and make a half assed effort you'll get an A/A+
Oh, wtf really.. I have Sandgathe, guess I'm SOL. I should probably still try and talk to him though.
7:45 am --> Alarm goes off, I have 9:30 class
hit snooze repeatedly until about 8:15
8:20 am --> Think to myself "Man .. I'm gonna have to really rush to get to school on time"
8:30 am --> "I'm probably gonna be late anyways, I better just go back to bed and rest for my 11:30 class"
11:00am --> "Man its way too late, no way in hell I'm making it to my 11:00am class. "
7:45 am --> Alarm goes off, I have 9:30 class
hit snooze repeatedly until about 8:15
8:20 am --> Think to myself "Man .. I'm gonna have to really rush to get to school on time"
8:30 am --> "I'm probably gonna be late anyways, I better just go back to bed and rest for my 11:30 class"
11:00am --> "Man its way too late, no way in hell I'm making it to my 11:00am class. "
Sigh. Every monday the same internal debate
LOL SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME TODAY.
Class at 830AM
Alarm rang at 7AM Snoozed til about 730.
Wont make it to class on time, next class at 1230PM
Wake up at 1140
We got a B+. Originally it was supposed to be a A- but we missed a section. Apparently I can't even spell "inadvisable" right. w/e not for marks so it's all good
I bombed that spelling thing haha. I realized that there's so many words I can't spell and I rely too much on spell check.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
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envee;8060621]Moving all the assignment deadlines by one week just saved my life haha. When he gave us all the handouts last class, I was just like wtf. And surprisingly we got an A on the draft. 
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