Best uni and ways to prepare for economics majors?

[kodakraverm]

Hi everyone, I am wondering what is the best uni to go to for Economics and other Business related majors. I want to do perhaps honours or masters (which one should I do??) and hopefully go onto a PhD and work in the academic setting. What would be the best way to prepare? What kind of subjects should I study? Thanks

[JTrudeau]

Hi there! I think most of the business/economics courses are pretty similar for the top unis, so it really depends on which uni you think suits you!
I’m currently doing Commerce at the University of Sydney, and most of my professors did both Honours and Masters— do a bit of research and see how you feel. As for preparation, don’t worry too much and concentrate on your current high school studies, especially if you’re doing maths or economics! Look into scholarship applications and accommodation if they apply.
Most unis have a progression guide for different degrees and majors. You can look at the specific units you have to take for each and plan out your semesters, but do this when you settle for a particular uni, because it takes quite a while to figure out Good luck!

[TrueTears]

For Econ, most of the G8's have great undergrad programs. However, if you are looking at going into Econ academia, I highly suggest you take as much maths as possible. Econ is one of the most maths intensive areas (similar to mathematical physics), I would recommend you do a Bsci and major in mathematics rather than doing an econ degree. Besides the standard sequence in maths, enroll in as much proof-based maths courses as you can, e.g., real analysis, functional analysis, complex analysis, measure theory, topology, abstract algebra, number theory etc. I highly recommend doing an Econ honours (not econ masters) or a MSc. Regarding PhD, I highly advise you to do it overseas in the US (preferably at a top 10: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Chicago, Columbia, and UPenn). The econ job market is very crowded nowadays, and unfortunately, if you do a PhD in Aus, you will most likely not find a job in the Aus job market (and you will have no chance at entering the US job market) because the market is filled with top 10 graduates; Aus PhDs are simply not competitive/prestigious enough. That said, it is extremely difficult to get into a top 10 Econ program in the US (acceptance rate is around 0.1%), you should take as much maths as possible first, and then try to do a lot of research (preferably get a publication or two), however, even then your chances are still quite slim. If you want to go into industry, however, that is a different story.