Networking Group - JCs General

[jtoh]

Boys2Men:

My child told me that he plans to take 2 Science (Bio and Chem). While he is very sure of his choice for the Sciences, he is unsure of which Humanities subject to take. Currently he is taking English Literature as well as History and seems to be doing quite OK for both (scores an average of A2 for both). Some of his friends are suggesting that they should take Economics. As my son is geared towards the Sciences, he seems quite neutral when it comes to making a choice for the Humanities subject. Hence I am trying to see if I can help him in his decision-making. Are they any national statistics on how studentsfare in the Humanities subject in the A levels? Among Eng Lit, History and Econs, which is the better performing subject? Which subject is easier to study/score?

There are national stats around but they're not easily available. Sometimes schools will mention at briefings what the national average is and how the school performed against it but I haven't seen a chart stating the national stats. For students taking PCM and BCM, Econs tends to be the most popular contrasting subject. Possibly because it's seen as the most useful, and also because it's considered the most 'science-y' of the humanities subjects. Combinations like BCML and BCMH are what some call combis taken up by those who can't decide if they want to take medicine or law. I would say go for the subject the student enjoys most, be it Lit, History, Geog, ELL or Econs. The syllabus in JC is quite intensive so studying something you enjoy will make it less of a struggle when the going gets tough.

[sharonkhoo]

Boys2Men:

Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I can't answer that! There are people who find Econs hard and uninteresting too, so a lot depends on individual interest and aptitude.

[zbear]

Boys2Men:

Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I don't think so. You need to have a passion/interest in the subject in order to score a distinction.

Just getting facts n concepts right is not enuf. I don't think it's easy to score A grade n usually Humanities students perform better than Science students but of course, there are exceptions.

[sharonkhoo]

zbear:

Boys2Men:

Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I don't think so. You need to have a passion/interest in the subject in order to score a distinction.

Just getting facts n concepts right is not enuf. I don't think it's easy to score A grade n usually Humanities students perform better than Science students but of course, there are exceptions.

Econs at A level is still treated as a Humanities subject (more wordy, less mathematical), so I guess that's why Arts students may do better. But once they get to university level, it can get very mathematical.

[Song22]

slmkhoo:

zbear:

[quote=\"Boys2Men\"]Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I don't think so. You need to have a passion/interest in the subject in order to score a distinction.

Just getting facts n concepts right is not enuf. I don't think it's easy to score A grade n usually Humanities students perform better than Science students but of course, there are exceptions.

Econs at A level is still treated as a Humanities subject (more wordy, less mathematical), so I guess that's why Arts students may do better. But once they get to university level, it can get very mathematical.[/quote]That's what I heard a lot, I have a friend's daughter quit after one year in SMU studying Econs (she did IB), she is more of humanities person and she switched to Liberal Arts . I am curious just how much emphasis is on Maths.

[sharonkhoo]

Song22:

That's what I heard a lot, I have a friend's daughter quit after one year in SMU studying Econs (she did IB), she is more of humanities person and she switched to Liberal Arts . I am curious just how much emphasis is on Maths.

It depends on the university, but it's quite mathematical at higher levels now. Econometric modelling is one of the main techniques for economic research these days, so students have to understand the Maths when they study the various topics. And if they want to do research, they have to be able to really use the Maths. There are options to get even more mathematical depending on what electives are chosen, and some Econs Nobel Prize winners were actually mathematicians who got into economic applications. I've seen some university admissions sites which warn that students applying for Econs courses should have a strong Math foundation (which at that level, I would guess means something like H2 Maths).

[Juz Mum]

slmkhoo:

Song22:

That's what I heard a lot, I have a friend's daughter quit after one year in SMU studying Econs (she did IB), she is more of humanities person and she switched to Liberal Arts . I am curious just how much emphasis is on Maths.

It depends on the university, but it's quite mathematical at higher levels now. Econometric modelling is one of the main techniques for economic research these days, so students have to understand the Maths when they study the various topics. And if they want to do research, they have to be able to really use the Maths. There are options to get even more mathematical depending on what electives are chosen, and some Econs Nobel Prize winners were actually mathematicians who got into economic applications. I've seen some university admissions sites which warn that students applying for Econs courses should have a strong Math foundation (which at that level, I would guess means something like H2 Maths).

This is a very useful piece of information!
Thank you for sharing

[Boys2Men]

slmkhoo:

zbear:

[quote=\"Boys2Men\"]Thanks for sharing. I suppose that since Econs is a mid-way subject between art and science, it would be easier to score a distinction as compared with the other arts subjects if one were to get the facts and concepts right?

I don't think so. You need to have a passion/interest in the subject in order to score a distinction.

Just getting facts n concepts right is not enuf. I don't think it's easy to score A grade n usually Humanities students perform better than Science students but of course, there are exceptions.

Econs at A level is still treated as a Humanities subject (more wordy, less mathematical), so I guess that's why Arts students may do better. But once they get to university level, it can get very mathematical.[/quote]Thanks. I was about to ask why as I have the impression that Econs should be more quantitative than qualitative. Now I know

[Boys2Men]

jtoh:

Boys2Men:

My child told me that he plans to take 2 Science (Bio and Chem). While he is very sure of his choice for the Sciences, he is unsure of which Humanities subject to take. Currently he is taking English Literature as well as History and seems to be doing quite OK for both (scores an average of A2 for both). Some of his friends are suggesting that they should take Economics. As my son is geared towards the Sciences, he seems quite neutral when it comes to making a choice for the Humanities subject. Hence I am trying to see if I can help him in his decision-making. Are they any national statistics on how studentsfare in the Humanities subject in the A levels? Among Eng Lit, History and Econs, which is the better performing subject? Which subject is easier to study/score?

There are national stats around but they're not easily available. Sometimes schools will mention at briefings what the national average is and how the school performed against it but I haven't seen a chart stating the national stats. For students taking PCM and BCM, Econs tends to be the most popular contrasting subject. Possibly because it's seen as the most useful, and also because it's considered the most 'science-y' of the humanities subjects. Combinations like BCML and BCMH are what some call combis taken up by those who can't decide if they want to take medicine or law. I would say go for the subject the student enjoys most, be it Lit, History, Geog, ELL or Econs. The syllabus in JC is quite intensive so studying something you enjoy will make it less of a struggle when the going gets tough.

I see , thanks. I thought I saw somewhere in this forum ( can't remember exactly which thread though) that the the national Econs distinction rate is about 20%. Hence, I thought that the national stats should be available somewhere.
By the way, why \" Combinations like BCML and BCMH are what some call combis taken up by those who can't decide if they want to take medicine or law\"?

[zbear]

slmkhoo:

Econs at A level is still treated as a Humanities subject (more wordy, less mathematical), so I guess that's why Arts students may do better. But once they get to university level, it can get very mathematical.

This is correct but I don't understand why there is no consistency in subject content from A levels to Uni level. Isn't it very misleading for both Science and Humanities students?

Any idea why it's so mathematical at tertiary level?