economics honours Archives - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

The University of Delhi made some changes with the calculation of best of four percentage for both B.Com (Hons.) and B.A. (Hons.) Economics which has severly impacted the students.

University of Delhi (DU) in a monumental move has announced that Class 12 marks in Mathematics will now be mandatory in the best of four (BoF) for students aiming to study B.A. (Hons.) Economics from the academic year 2019-2020. Students aspiring to pursue B. Com (Hons.) will also require 50% marks in Maths to stand eligible for the course.

Earlier, the prerequisite for these two sought-after courses was to pass in Mathematics but this move has created another hurdle for students.

Devyani Arora, a B. Com (Hons. ) student commented, “The 50 percent marks requirement in Mathematics is essentially an important caveat for admission to B. Com (Hons.) simply because a lot of students would take mathematics as their additional subject and get the passing requirement, just for the sake of securing an admission in DU in the honours course. However, the mathematics taught in Class 11th and 12th is extremely important in Business and is a core subject in the course too, but there are barely students in class who actually know the subject.”

While this announcement has its positives, what is being criticised is the timing of this news. With the admission process now in its first step, for several the aspirations of studying at the prestigious University will reach an uncertain step. Several ex-students are also protesting against this move.

Vidhi Arora, a B.A. (Hons.) Economics student of Kamala Nehru College commented, “DU admissions are not as wholistic as it should be considering it solely focuses on marks. But this is a good move because if you are studying Economics, you need a good grasp of maths otherwise you will face difficulties in many concepts. This will affect percentages, obviously, but from a more long-term view, it is best.”

In a situation like this it is important for students applying to not panic and plan their next course of action. One should maximise options for later by keeping an open mind in selecting courses in the undergraduate application. If there is a significant drop in the best of four, the previous percentage can open doors to many other courses and colleges. Those holding onto their course should, with full composure, wait for the successive cut-off lists to be released. These two courses being a popular choice will be available in several colleges so keep an eye open and mind for all colleges in both the campuses. Furthermore, aspiring students should remember that lakhs of other students will also face this same obstacle, and which could reflect in the cut-offs as they are released.

Image Credits: DU Bulletin Board

Shivani Dadhwal

[email protected]

Keep Reading

Theology Behind The Title:

Boasting the highest cut-offs and the most lucrative placements on completion of the three-year bachelors course, Economics Honours is the Khaleesi (queen) of all undergraduate courses in the University of Delhi (DU).

There are 42 colleges in DU which offer the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Honours in Economics. This list includes the University campus colleges, evening colleges and morning-shift colleges.

Course Content in DU

Real Estate tycoon, T.V. Mogul, and the President of the United States of America Donald Trump had majored in economics. Whether you like him or not, the guy knows money.

While he had pursued his degree from the University of Pennsylvania, some of the basic elements of Economics (H) are shared by universities across the world. These include the shared emphasis on statistical methods, economic history, econometrics, development theory, and so on.

However, in India, the curriculum has undergone changes after the semester system came into effect in 2011. “The focus has altered a little and involves the rigours of Mathematics. Options like comparative economic development have been edged out by econometrics, as it is more practical and scoring. The course is at par with any conventional Economics (H) programme in the world,” said Associate Professor of Economics at Miranda Hosue, Meeta Kumar.
The Economics of Why You Should Take Economics

The Economics of Salary:

Professor Karen Mumford at the University of York had remarked, “Economics graduates can easily find jobs in the civil service, the City, industry or education…If you want to make a difference, you can. If you don’t want to make a difference, at least you can make a lot of money”.

It is indeed veritable that salaries for Economics graduates are among the highest, relative to other disciplines. Different research trends show different starting salary values but it emerges that economics graduates are comparatively well paid.

The Artistry of Versatility

Economics (H) is the course that allows you to study Tesco’s and ASDA’s (two retailing institutions) methods of competition one day, and learn about the environment and pollution permits the next.

The Virtue of Informed Citizenry

Economics (H) teaches you how to make well-informed decisions. A large part of the subject is decision making: what should the government do to cut the budget deficit, what should a business do to raise profit margins, where to invest your money in or which bank to use, and so on.

Eligibility to Pursue Economics Honours in DU

Admission will be based on the merit list. The merit shall be determined on the basis of one language and three best elective subjects i.e. the ‘best of four’ criteria.
The applicants must have qualified 10+2 (12th examination) from any recognised board.
The applicants must have studied and passed Mathematics in the qualifying exam.
An aggregate of 45% marks in the qualifying examination is the minimum percentage required for admission to this course.

Trends in Cut-off of Previous Years:

Interestingly, the minimum scores for admission to this course are some of the highest in this subject. In 2017, the cut-off was 95% or above at over 20 colleges, and over 90% at all colleges.

While Hindu College, Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), and Kirori Mal College had set their cut-offs for Economics (H) at 97.5 per cent, SRCC had pegged the cut-off just a little higher at 97.75 per cent for the same.

The category-wise width or range of last year’s cut-offs are as follows-

General- 98.5% to 84.5%
Other Backward Classes (OBCs)- 96.75% to 66.5%
Scheduled Castes (SC)- 96.25% to 58%
Scheduled Tribes(ST)- 93.5% to 43%

Expected Trends in Cut-off in 2018:

Jaswinder Singh, Principal and Professor of Economics at SGTB Khalsa College said, “The cut-offs for Economics (H) are a little behind B.Com. (H) every year. However, the cut-offs of the former are likely to remain high this year as the number of high scorers has ballooned while the seats have remained the same.’’
Road Ahead and Scope:

The skills developed through studying Economics (H) are incredibly versatile. For instance, student of Economics Lara Dutta had applied her knowledge in the subject to ace the Personality Round at the Miss Universe Pageant in 2000 and had subsequently gone on to win the same. On the other hand, Kofi Annan, who had pursued Economics from Macalester College had gone on to become the Secretary General of the UN.

Banking, consultancy, Professorship, Indian Administrative Service, further academic study (such as an MBA or Ph.D. in Economics), Corporate Law, government jobs (like in The Indian Economic Services and the Reserve Bank of India), Think Tanks (such as the NITI Ayog) are some of the fields which can be considered by a student pursuing Economics (H) from DU.
Feature Image Credits: India Today
Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
[email protected]

Keep Reading