BESS Thread

daithiolabhrai

subz3r0 wrote: »

(not sure whether it's best to start a new thread but sure I'll ask here since its about BESS.)

So, I'm in 6th year now. Right now all my CAO's are 'creative', Multimedia in DCU, Photography in DIT/IADT etc. I'm into graphic design and photography so my CAOs seem to suit my interests.

But recently I thought that since Economics is my favourite subject in school and that I'm very comfortable at it, why not do an Economics minded course instead? Economics and Russian intrigued me first (since I'm fluent) but I decided if I were to do a course in Economics I'd like to keep my choices open so I'm more interested in BESS now. At the moment I'm split 50/50 whether to put BESS as my first choice or stick with Multimedia in DCU.

At the moment I'm researching (well, reading the prospectus!) the course and it's always best to ask opinion of those doing it so here goes:

Taking into consideration I find most of the LC Economics course enjoyable (apart from the SR and LR graphs!), is it a fair assumption to presume that I will find BESS interesting, especially if I were to take on Economics for 3rd and 4th years?

I'm not doing and have never done Business as a subject in school. If I go for this course, will that be a major disadvantage to me?

I'm doing OL Maths and very comfortable at it (A2 in the mocks); will I find the Math aspect of BESS (Statistics I think?) very difficult?

I know it's a very vague, debatable and open-ended question but: what are the career prospects of an average BESS graduate like at the moment?

Thanks in advance to anyone who may try to answer my questions, I tried to be as clear as possible!

Hey.

Okay so me and you are quite similar. I did economics for the LC, and it was my favourite subject, and didn't do business. I also do OL Maths, and got an A2 in the LC. I chose BESS with the intention of doing a either a single honors or joint honors degree in economics. I liked it for the fact it kept my options open (in case I liked business/politics/sociology).

However, on getting to college it wasn't what I expected. I didn't particularly like Economics, especially when it got very mathsy, which it often does. The Maths part of Maths and Stats is do-able, if you go to class and pay attention. It basically just brings you up to honors LC standard. The stats part I found very tough though, as did most people. I failed that part of the exam in the summer.

I was surprised by how much I liked business. It really was perfect for me. Credit to the business department in Trinity, their courses are very well run. In the end I decided to just go the route of single honors Business (something I never considered previously, but hey, thats what a broad course like BESS is for). I'm so glad I got to experience economics in college (which is quite different to the LC) before I committed to it long term.

I'm in my third year now and am really happy with the route I've taken. I have an internship for the summer and a job once I finish in one of the big four accounting firms (providing I get a 2.1). The employment prospects in BESS are, I believe, so much stronger than most other Trinity courses (especially if you go the Business or Economics route). If getting a job is one of your priorities then I'd strongly recommend it.

You seem to enjoy being creative, and most people would assume if you go down the business route, your creative side has to go down the drain. Not true. Marketing is fascinating and requires creative individuals. Human resource management similarly. And career prospects seem to be quite decent with these as well!

Hope this helps

Richieee

daithiolabhrai wrote: »

I'm in my third year now and am really happy with the route I've taken. I have an internship for the summer and a job once I finish in one of the big four accounting firms (providing I get a 2.1)

I'm interested in getting an internship next summer either in a company or in the Trinity Economics department. Is it a case of you were approached for the internship through Trinity or did you apply for one through your own initiative? And the same question applies to the job you have lined up.

Really should read up on these things..

daithiolabhrai

Richieee wrote: »

I'm interested in getting an internship next summer either in a company or in the Trinity Economics department. Is it a case of you were approached for the internship through Trinity or did you apply for one through your own initiative? And the same question applies to the job you have lined up.

Really should read up on these things..

Yeah I'd advise it, looks good on your CV if you do an internship. I applied myself for the internships with the Big 4 accountancy firms. They generally open applications to third year students in December, and carry out interviews in February.

I got offered an internship with KPMG. Pricewaterhousecoopers said they couldn't give me the internship because of limited places, but they were impressed with me so they would give me a graduate position when I finish (won't have to reinterview or anything) providing I get a 2.1.

Tragedy

Did you like second year Business Daithi? The business module was my favourite in JF (for the seminars) but then SF hit and it was "Welcome to ****ty tutorials with 40-70 people per tutorial and zero interactivity".

Incredibly disappointed with it this year.

andrew

subz3r0 wrote: »

At the moment I'm researching (well, reading the prospectus!) the course and it's always best to ask opinion of those doing it so here goes:

Taking into consideration I find most of the LC Economics course enjoyable (apart from the SR and LR graphs!), is it a fair assumption to presume that I will find BESS interesting, especially if I were to take on Economics for 3rd and 4th years?

I didn't do econ for the LC so I can't properly answer this, other than to say if you enjoy economics in general (and like the idea behind it, if you know what I mean) then I don't see why you'd dislike it in college. Though there's probably more maths involved in college.

I'm not doing and have never done Business as a subject in school. If I go for this course, will that be a major disadvantage to me?

No. 100% without a doubt no (I didn't do business for LC either).

I'm doing OL Maths and very comfortable at it (A2 in the mocks); will I find the Math aspect of BESS (Statistics I think?) very difficult?

I also did OL maths; you'll be well able for the maths & stats modules, (especially if you study for them).

I know it's a very vague, debatable and open-ended question but: what are the career prospects of an average BESS graduate like at the moment?

Well, they're a lot better than the career prospects for multimedia in DCU, and if it's a choice between one or the other, that should probably be the operative criteria. As someone who almost did Journalism in DCU (and have friends who did communications and journalism in DCU) I feel like i dodged a bullet in terms of picking BESS instead of journalism. The employment prospects for an economics grad are decent enough, because employers (banks, accountancy firms, stockbrokers, corporations, businesses in general) like people who have quantitative skills, and quantitative skills + a degree with the word 'business' in it makes you relatively attractive to employers than others (even if you know nothing about business in reality). In terms of my class this year, most people are going on to do a masters, but I can think of a decent number who've been offered jobs already. Since it's such a big class, I can't give more comprehensive numbers.

In contrast, people I know who did communications or journalism in DCU regret it, and where they do have jobs, they're not 'graduate' jobs. Where people I know who went to DCU do have jobs, they did EPL; Economics Politics and Law, which is basically DCU's version of BESS.

The way I rationalised it, was that if you want a career in media, you probably don't need a degree in it. Editing or sub editing a college newspaper is as much experience (if not more) experience than you'd get doing a multimedia degree, with the bonus that you've a relatively marketable degree to fall back on. And to the extent that publications like the Trinity Bull (a student run finance newspaper in Trinity) exist, there's decent scope for combining media type endevours with economics.


...well, I should stop procrastinating now. G'luck.

daithiolabhrai

Tragedy wrote: »

Did you like second year Business Daithi? The business module was my favourite in JF (for the seminars) but then SF hit and it was "Welcome to ****ty tutorials with 40-70 people per tutorial and zero interactivity".

Incredibly disappointed with it this year.

I agree that the tutorial situation in second year was a bit ridiculous, to the point where I just didn't go. Unfortunately, some of the tutorials in third year (accounting, marketing) can carry similar ridiculously high numbers. I think the business department view tutorials as just another class, whereas they probably should look more at things like small class discussions, etc (like Org and Mgmt in first year).

Tragedy

daithiolabhrai wrote: »

I agree that the tutorial situation in second year was a bit ridiculous, to the point where I just didn't go. Unfortunately, some of the tutorials in third year (accounting, marketing) can carry similar ridiculously high numbers. I think the business department view tutorials as just another class, whereas they probably should look more at things like small class discussions, etc (like Org and Mgmt in first year).

That's a shame. I assume it's to do with the Business department not having many(any?) phd students?

UrbanSea

Two questions:


You know for Chandler, what were the three prongs of his strategy? I've something different in my notes than I did a piece of work on, and it doesn't explicitly say in the paper in the book.


Also, what length should our answers in Intoro to Organisation and Management be?

Hande hoche!

3 to 4 pages. Chandler's prongs are investment in management, production/manufacturing and distribution/marketing.

JohnnyDoogue

Just wondering is anyone doing Strategic Management have lecture slides? Doing my masters, they would be a great help but none of my BESS friends seems to have done the course last year. Any help?

Keen2win

A friend of mine is after getting sick (IrishGirl10), and she was wondering if continuous assessment still stands to those repeating in august due to illness??

ummm1

Does anyone know what happens if you get less than 20 in 1 or 2 subjects but get over 40 in the rest?

Hande hoche!

You sit the repeats in that situation if I remember correctly.

ummm1

Hande hoche! wrote: »

You sit the repeats in that situation if I remember correctly.

Okay I hope so, it's a bad situation.

Miruku

Hi I was wondering if anyone can tell me...
1) Would it be a major disadvantage going into BESS if you didnt do accounting and economics in the Leaving Cert?

2) What are the main career path you can take after doing BESS other than accountant?

3) Do many company hire BESS graduates?

4) Is the French program really hard? And if you studied French, in third year can you still opt to go to another country like America or Hong Kong instead of France?

5) are the maths in business and economic modules very difficult?

Thank you .

blucey

Miruku wrote: »

Hi I was wondering if anyone can tell me...
1) Would it be a major disadvantage going into BESS if you didnt do accounting and economics in the Leaving Cert?

2) What are the main career path you can take after doing BESS other than accountant?

3) Do many company hire BESS graduates?

4) Is the French program really hard? And if you studied French, in third year can you still opt to go to another country like America or Hong Kong instead of France?

5) are the maths in business and economic modules very difficult?

Thank you .

1) no. An uncluttered mind is good
2) anything. Everything. Anything but
3) lots
4) its a university....and yes.
5) no, but amazingly every year people fail them.....

Jegger

Miruku wrote: »

Hi I was wondering if anyone can tell me...
1) Would it be a major disadvantage going into BESS if you didnt do accounting and economics in the Leaving Cert?

2) What are the main career path you can take after doing BESS other than accountant?

3) Do many company hire BESS graduates?

4) Is the French program really hard? And if you studied French, in third year can you still opt to go to another country like America or Hong Kong instead of France?

5) are the maths in business and economic modules very difficult?

Thank you .

2) You'll have plenty of time to worry about this is 4th year but if you really want to know go to gradireland.ie, it lists loads of current vacancies for graduates. BESS grads can apply for any which requires a business degree or economics degree (depending on which degree you choose). Anything really from general management to financial analyst to marketing/sales etc.

4) you can but if you are still doing French in 3rd year you will probably choose France. Yes languages are difficult, you have to learn about French business etc. in French.

5) They aren't very difficult but you would want to be doing honours maths unless your really going to put in loads of extra work. If you pass honours in the LC and go to lectures and tutorials (especially tutorials) then you should be fine. Also you can drop all maths and economics after first year.

AgathaK

anyone in 2nd year econ & pol science who wouldn't mind sharing their timetable pretty please?

Smiley Laura

I will be doing my leaving cert next year (ahh), but i want to sort out my CAO as much as i can during the summer. I'm torn between doing maths and economics, or BESS. Could someone tell me what is the most 'mathsy' degree I can come out of BESS with? Is there much maths at all in this course? Is economics very mathsy?

Thanks very much!

higgz

Smiley Laura wrote: »

I will be doing my leaving cert next year (ahh), but i want to sort out my CAO as much as i can during the summer. I'm torn between doing maths and economics, or BESS. Could someone tell me what is the most 'mathsy' degree I can come out of BESS with? Is there much maths at all in this course? Is economics very mathsy?

Thanks very much!

I'm guessing most mathsy would be pure Economics, or maybe Economics and Business.

If you like computers on top of maths and economics, I'd check out MSISS. That's my course and it's highly employable. Very low points too which is great, quires HL maths.

Tragedy

Smiley Laura wrote: »

I will be doing my leaving cert next year (ahh), but i want to sort out my CAO as much as i can during the summer. I'm torn between doing maths and economics, or BESS. Could someone tell me what is the most 'mathsy' degree I can come out of BESS with? Is there much maths at all in this course? Is economics very mathsy?

Thanks very much!

BESS students only study economics related Maths (and it doesn't seem to get amazingly complex), Economics & Maths students do pure Maths if that makes sense.

Maths & Economics is probably a better degree (given the same results) than pure Economics if you want to get into the financial industry or do a Ph.D in Econ.

Maths in BESS = one semester in 1st Year, one semester in 2nd Year, one module in 3rd Year and Quants in 4th Year.

Economics isn't 'very' mathsy, although it's still at a level that makes most students uncomfortable.

ronano

anyone know if it's possible to find out the breakdown for what each year is worth towards your final degree classification?

andrew

ronano wrote: »

anyone know if it's possible to find out the breakdown for what each year is worth towards your final degree classification?

bess is 100% final year

c0nor

Any BESS students just finished 2nd year? I have a query, it relates to EC2020: Economy of Ireland. I just need something clarified relating to question B2, question is "(i)Discuss the principles of efficiency, equity and simplicity and the tax system. ((ii) Illustrate the points you make with reference to taxes on personal income in Ireland)". It says efficiency, equity, simplicity AND the tax system, does that mean that its 4 separate points? Or I am I led to believe that "AND" should really mean "of", implying 3 parts?. I apologise if it sounds like a stupid question. Thanks in advance.

blucey

c0nor wrote: »

Any BESS students just finished 2nd year? I have a query, it relates to EC2020: Economy of Ireland. I just need something clarified relating to question B2, question is "(i)Discuss the principles of efficiency, equity and simplicity and the tax system. ((ii) Illustrate the points you make with reference to taxes on personal income in Ireland)". It says efficiency, equity, simplicity AND the tax system, does that mean that its 4 separate points? Or I am I led to believe that "AND" should really mean "of", implying 3 parts?. I apologise if it sounds like a stupid question. Thanks in advance.

And your email to the lecturer got the response of....?

c0nor

No response as of yet, was looking for a quick reply which led me to post here too.

Richieee

When I wrote out my essay for that question I understood it to mean discuss efficiency, equity and simpliity in the context of the taxation system. So my take on it is that you are expanding on the three aspects mentioned and how they relate to taxation.

andrew

c0nor wrote: »

Any BESS students just finished 2nd year? I have a query, it relates to EC2020: Economy of Ireland. I just need something clarified relating to question B2, question is "(i)Discuss the principles of efficiency, equity and simplicity and the tax system. ((ii) Illustrate the points you make with reference to taxes on personal income in Ireland)". It says efficiency, equity, simplicity AND the tax system, does that mean that its 4 separate points? Or I am I led to believe that "AND" should really mean "of", implying 3 parts?. I apologise if it sounds like a stupid question. Thanks in advance.

Yes; the 'and' should be an 'of,' since those principals relate to the tax system. That's how I answered it at the time.

Bears and Vodka

I'm going into JF BESS and choosing my optional Module at the moment. I excluded all the languages for various reasons so I have Law, Social Policy and Russian/Central European Area studies.

While Law and Social Policy seem relevant to BESS, Russian area studies seems a bit random. I was thinking of choosing it since I'm Russian myself and have some interest in the topic but is it a useful module to take or will it be more worthwhile to choose one of the other two?

Also, will the decision I make now affect my options later on?

P.S. And another thing. I was talking to a student from NUIM and he asked me what are my hours like. Can anyone give me a rough estimate of lecture/tutorial hours per week in JF BESS?

polka dot

subz3r0 wrote: »

I'm going into JF BESS and choosing my optional Module at the moment. I excluded all the languages for various reasons so I have Law, Social Policy and Russian/Central European Area studies.

While Law and Social Policy seem relevant to BESS, Russian area studies seems a bit random. I was thinking of choosing it since I'm Russian myself and have some interest in the topic but is it a useful module to take or will it be more worthwhile to choose one of the other two?

Also, will the decision I make now affect my options later on?

P.S. And another thing. I was talking to a student from NUIM and he asked me what are my hours like. Can anyone give me a rough estimate of lecture/tutorial hours per week in JF BESS?

I don't do BESS, I do Business Studies and Russian so I'm just answering about Area Studies. Personally I can't see how it relates to Business in JF at all (I've just finished JF so that's all I can give my opinion on). I know someone in Sociology and Social Policy (I think?) who picked area studies as her optional module because it was one of the easier ones to pass.

It is quite easy to do well in if that is all you were looking for but otherwise I don't see how it ties in yet.

When picking my modules for SF there were some I wasn't able to pick because I didn't choose to do politics or sociology or something this year, but there were still plenty of other options regardless.

My hours last year were about 20 but I'll let someone from BESS reply, they'll probably be more accurate