BESS Thread

zuchum · 03-12-2008 3:19pm

grimloch wrote: »

If it's your man Fallenz you pretty much have to know everything in the chapters he assigns, he can ask some pretty specific things but when I did the test (last year) there wasn't any negative marking so you can plug any gaps in your knowledge with some cunning guesswork and bit of luck.

Accounting is nowhere near as bad as you think it will be, he pretty much told us what was coming up on the exam, he's not going to throw in any curve balls and he's all about changing the weighting of the exam if you mess up to boot.

Thanks very much.

Unrelated, is there anywhere with a calendar of the year,so I could find out when reading week etc. is?
Basically, I need to be free Week 5 of Hilary Term, but if thats the week starting Monday 9th February..well..then I'm boned.

To counteract this n00b post and earn me goodwill,have a funny video of a kitten playing whack a mouse. A kitten! http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2008/11/26

swimfan22 · 03-12-2008 10:28pm

Reading week in Hilary Term is the week beginning February 2nd. At least that's what I've worked it out as...

Are there any politics people out there fighting with this International Relations essay? Love the course, hating the essay!

Randomness · 04-12-2008 10:06pm

Yep same as...love the course, then he went ruined it all with that weird essay. Can't wait till I click submit on turnitin.com!

zuchum · 09-12-2008 7:25pm

Ah organisational behaviour, what a nonsense subject. Glad that's over..for now.

andrew · 09-12-2008 7:40pm

2 Full questions on stuff we havn't had tutorials on, presumably because he was too lazy to change the test to stuff we've actually done. Wanker.

BlueCam · 09-12-2008 8:49pm

Agreed.

Go eat some more mince pies, Francis. You used to be cool...

Randomness · 09-12-2008 9:01pm

zuchum wrote: »

Ah organisational behaviour, what a nonsense subject. Glad that's over..for now.

Ugh that exam....it was just ugh.

quirkster · 09-12-2008 9:27pm

well that economics test didnt go at all well, as expected

serious contemplating not studying for maths either as its a GAURENTEED fail on my part. ugh stupid necessary exams

d93c2inhxfok4y · 09-12-2008 10:16pm

BlueCam wrote: »

Agreed.

Go eat some more mince pies, Francis. You used to be cool...

Wowza....

I was pissed about the test too, ridiculous that two of our five questions were on two chapters he assigned us 4 days ago. Oh well.

The Walsho · 09-12-2008 10:27pm

Wasn't pleased with Economics either. Was a bit of a disaster. I've left maths so late too, can't see that going well. The maths itself is grand, it's just the applications and economics mumbo jumbo that gets me.

manicmonoliths · 09-12-2008 11:08pm

zuchum wrote: »

Ah organisational behaviour, what a nonsense subject. Glad that's over..for now.

Randomness wrote: »

Ugh that exam....it was just ugh.

Don't worry, I'm sure in 3 years time when we're all managers we'll know all about expectancy theory and the 5 bases of power, essential stuff for all top jobs so I'm told.

But for the moment, I too am going to reserve my right to bitch and moan about that god awful exam.

Moorsy · 10-12-2008 12:37am

Any grown-ups who did Accounting in 4th year have any advice for Pearse Colberts exams....?

The Christmas exam's on friday, seems ok.....any tips would be nice though!!

banterful · 10-12-2008 12:45am

Anyone have any idea what dates bess schols will be on this year or what date they were finished by in previous years?!! Would be very helpful as am thinking of doing schols but want holidays too:)!! i know the 9-27th march is locked down for schols but is anyone aware of bess schol exams being finished earlier than this in previous years? Cheers!

House of Wolves · 10-12-2008 12:57pm

I thought i might actually do well in economics this year, but after the exam i am not so sure. Org Behaviour was weird because he said there would be negative marking and on the paper it said no negative marking. i re-read that a good few times, and then decided to answer everything! was a good guessing game, i added up my As, Bs, Cs and Ds and got like 11:10:9:10 so or something like that so probability is with me! lol

defiantshrimp · 10-12-2008 1:49pm

banterful wrote: »

Anyone have any idea what dates bess schols will be on this year or what date they were finished by in previous years?!! Would be very helpful as am thinking of doing schols but want holidays too:)!! i know the 9-27th march is locked down for schols but is anyone aware of bess schol exams being finished earlier than this in previous years? Cheers!

They generally end on the last day of the exam season, when the general essay paper takes place. Schols = No Easter holidays. But if you get exemptions you will have all of Trinity Term free and no summer exams. Thus you probably shouldn't bother doing them if you are not sure you will get an overall 2:1.

Awayindahils · 10-12-2008 1:51pm

banterful wrote: »

Anyone have any idea what dates bess schols will be on this year or what date they were finished by in previous years?!! Would be very helpful as am thinking of doing schols but want holidays too:)!! i know the 9-27th march is locked down for schols but is anyone aware of bess schol exams being finished earlier than this in previous years? Cheers!

General papers are examined on 27th (e.g. the last day of exams) so BESS are always in right till the very last day. Science, and courses such as Hist-Pol and I think maybe European Studies are also in right till the end. General papers are interesting exams though, just avoid all the other people who finish earlier.

manicmonoliths · 12-12-2008 7:46pm

John O'Hagan is a legend.

If U Seek Amy · 13-12-2008 2:46am

manicmonoliths wrote: »

John O'Hagan is a legend.

He really is! The end of the last SF econ of Ireland lecture this term was hilarious. He cracks me up.

isthisit? · 02-01-2009 4:12pm

anybody else having problems understanding ANY of the sf stats assignment !??

manicmonoliths · 02-01-2009 10:56pm

isthisit? wrote: »

anybody else having problems understanding ANY of the sf stats assignment !??

All of it

Time Magazine · 02-01-2009 10:58pm

If you've put an honest attempt into it and don't expect to be simply handed an answer, you're welcome to look for help on the Economics forum.

Tricity Bendix · 03-01-2009 1:58am

Shill!

Time Magazine · 03-01-2009 2:18am

b.ie curious wrote: »

Shill!

N00b. A shill is someone who pretends to be genuinely recommending a product when they are in fact marketing it. My name, avatar and mod badge should remove any concept of secrecy, you big n00b.

P.S. I would like to point out that I had to explain the concept of "1337" to b.ie curious either last night or the night before. N00b.

Tricity Bendix · 03-01-2009 12:10pm

iFAIL.

P.S. You did a crap job of explaining what it means. I just smiled and nodded.

europerson · 05-01-2009 7:21pm

The Economist wrote: »

P.S. I would like to point out that I had to explain the concept of "1337" to b.ie curious either last night or the night before. N00b.

Sheesh, even I know about that.

RuehlTheWorld · 05-01-2009 7:27pm

Which would be better, Bess or EC & SC in TSM?

The initial broadness of Bess?

Opinions on both courses anyway.

Thanks

Randomness · 05-01-2009 9:17pm

RuehlTheWorld wrote: »

Which would be better, Bess or EC & SC in TSM?

The initial broadness of Bess?

Opinions on both courses anyway.

Thanks

Hello and Welcome!

Right so I'll throw in my 2 cents worth to get the ball rolling for you. By the by if you read through this ENTIRE thread you'll pick up random bits of info also to fill your brain.

Anyway, hmmmm BESS or Eco/Soc??? Well I can tell you all you want to know about 1st year and one term of 2nd year if that's any help. Also I know the Eco/Socs in the class so I know a bit about that as well.

To begin with to answer the question you posed I would suggest picking BESS, not in a biased way but just because it's a good idea.

However now I will try and explain why..... (anything to take me away from THAT essay!)

OK firstly BESS is great. Well I like it anyway. I'm sure you know the deal, broad first year (6 different subjects) and then you begin to specialise from 2nd year onwards.

Personally I enjoyed 1st year, had a good mosey into each of the 4 main subjects (Econ/Soc/Bus/Pol), had a great year in terms of fun and frolics and did well in the end.

Then when entering 2nd year, I knew what I liked/disliked/didn't love as much and swiftly got rid of them while at the same time embracing my chosen subjects.

From my wise perch of 2nd year I'd say to anyone considering BESS, if you can deal with the broad 1st year do it. Some people can't handle the broadness etc and then don't like it but they would like it in 2nd year etc.

Ok what was my next point? Oh yeah the difference between Eco/Soc in first year and BESS is one subject (I think), namely the Eco/Socs do Economic Policy. Other than that they do the same subjects as us (queue someone to shoot me if I'm wrong). Well obviously they don't do Business but they pick from the same list as us.

My point is that the difference isn't huge in terms of actual subjects covered. Of course picking your two subjects from the get go is advisable if your sure you know what they are about, you really want to pursue them/that area etc etc. However if your not sure (you and 95% of BESS) then you have some wiggle room if you chose BESS.

In the worst case scenario you could pick BESS, decided on doing single honours economics from 2nd year and fill in your 3 empty subject spaces in 2nd year and 3rd year with Sociology options to keep you happy. You would end up with a Single Honours Degree in Economics and you would have to only do Economics in 4th year but it's a weird and wonderful example of what BESS allows. P.S If this doesn't make sense ask.

I'm gonna press submit now for two reasons, a) since I started typing someone may have submitted a cooler answer and b) I need to think of more things to say and at some point finish my essay.

P.P.S Well done for reading this far!

RuehlTheWorld · 05-01-2009 10:34pm

Right.

Yeah, that's helpful. I guess the main thing stopping me from going straight into Ec & Soc is that Economics could be too Maths intensive, something which isn't my strongest card.

Right now I'm at around a B2 standard in Ordinary Level Maths, is that enough?

Randomness · 06-01-2009 1:36am

Agh the maths question.

Well like many things there are varying opinions on this.

I can only speak from my experience and that of my class as I see it.

I did honours maths for LC and found last year grand.

However friends who had done pass for the LC did stuggle, some significantly HOWEVER others did well because they made an effort from the start. I suppose you know yourself how you get along with maths. If you are a consistent worker you'll be grand, if your a crammer I say you'll struggle because in fairness there is so much else going on, new subjects, your first year in college etc.

Stats last year was fine but had a few tricky bits.

This year we have started with Stats, I'm not gonna lie, it's hard, EVERYONE finds it hard and we have an assignment worth 10% of the year due next week, lets just say that result curve is gonna be a funny shape.

There are a few people who know what's going on but the majority do find it hard.

We have been told that Maths will be significantly harder than last year when we start it in two weeks time.

If you do that funny option I mentioned which is a roundabout and non-official way to do Econ/Soc through BESS, you will come across lots of Maths. From what I've heard Economics gets very Mathsy from here on out. There are the wordy Economic subjects but as far as I know you'll always have a bit of the Maths thrown in for good measure (i.e I don't think you can escape it in 3rd and 4th year). The more senior and graduated BESS people will probably tell you more.

We had to do a survey at the end of last year and some interesting results came up. Mostly that people who did Honours Maths for the LC tend to pick the Maths and Stats course in 2nd year and people who did pass tend to pick the Social Research course (one of which is mandatory for a single honours business or joint honours business). If you want to continue with Economics in 2nd year you have to do the Maths and Stats course.

Also my friends who do Intermediate Economics this year (a follow on from the 1st year intro course), say that it is basically just maths.

Would you have any interest whatsoever in Business or Politics or do you just have a preference for Economics and Sociology? If you think you'd be open to giving them and go in first year then I would definitely encourage you to do BESS.

Also I haven't really spoken about Sociology....
I thought that while it was interesting in 1st year at times it was downright silly and annoying. Having said that I did learn alot but I just wouldn't be interested in studying it further.

House of Wolves · 06-01-2009 3:49pm

Wow this stats assignment is hard. I found the first question to the assignment on the internet but i cant find the book or the answers

if anyone has found out what it is, please put it up. im wrecked from looking!
http://idea.uab.es/tmajer/teaching/modeloseconometricos_08-09/lista2/lista2.pdf

BESS Thread

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