What is BESS like??

BomChika WowWah

I am in 5th year and might possibly put BESS on my CAO. Could anyone give me an insight into it?? Do TCD offer any other business degrees?

xebec

There's plenty of BESS people on here, so I'll let them answer that question.

Just to point you to something with far more variety and a similar focus: MSISS

BESS itself isn't exactly one degree - consider it as a choice within a choice. You will get the chance to choose to go various ways within the BESS course, so technically other 'business' degrees are contained therein

There have been several threads on this before - if you have time, check them out. They're linked in this thread (see the section entitled 'Academic' and sub-section 'Courses'). Plus to echo xebec, there will probably be many a BESS minion appearing to answer your question shortly.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

gilroyb

I graduated BESS last year, so here's my two cents. Some of the info may be out of date, so later posters can feel free to correct me.

I chose BESS because I was generally interested in a number of the social sciences. I'd really enjoyed economics in school and always had a general interest in politics/business. That said, I didn't know for sure which of them I wanted to do. I liked that BESS offered a general first year where I got to do business, economics, politics, and sociology, (and maths and stats, but that's just there with regard to the others). I hadn't done accounting since the junior cert, and I knew I didn't want to touch it again. This was possible in BESS as accounting only came on the scene from second year onwards, and then only if you decided to keep on Business. Even then it could be avoided after you did the basics (I think half a years worth).

As you go into 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year, your choice of subjects becomes more and more idiosyncratic depending on which of the specific areas of the general social sciences you feel interests you most. There is a lot of choice of subjects, and what you do is really in your hands.

From my experience, BESS has a fairly good social side, it's a big group and you'll find friends if you put in some effort. You can do optional modules in either German or French which provide a small subset of people to get to know. Good way to meet new people. The 'limited' number of lectures means that you should have enough time to get involved in societies if you want to.

As for job prospects, the range of subjects in BESS means that making a blanket statement about how good job prospects are is difficult. That said, my experiences suggests that BESS graduates are very employable in general. Personally I'm doing further study, but can't think of any friends who had any major difficulty. The reputation of the degree seemed to get them in most doors, and the content of the degree (especially business, which I didn't do) seemed to give them concrete examples to talk about in the interview.


I Just reread my post, it sounds very organised. That's not really how it was, the main thing I liked about BESS is that it stopped me having to make huge decisions at the start. Unless you know exactly what you want to do after college (and maybe even if you do), I'd encourage you to give BESS serious consideration.

Hope this helps, and any other questions feel free to ask on here, or else by PM.

europerson

Hello,

I'm a third year BESS student, reading single honours Economics, and I hope some of this information will be of use to you.

For a start, see the new, shiny BESS web-site at http://www.shs.tcd.ie/bess/. Just note that the 'handbook' PDF there is for this academic year, so some of its information wil be out of date, especially when considered in the context of changes in course structure as a result of the Bologna Process (that is, European standardisation of university awards to facilitate exchange students and comparison of qualifications).

The most popular way of entering BESS is BESS Common Entry (TR081). For everyone who picks this, there is a common first year, where foundation studies in Economics, Maths and Statistics, Business, Sociology and Political Science are taken (this is the case at the moment). As a result of the Bologna Process (mentioned above), from the academic year 2007/2008 on, first year students must take six courses: the five I mentioned above, as well as a language course or "another option" from a list yet to be decided.

At this point, it would be useful to point out the various degree combinatins allowed under this common-entry programme. A student may take single honours Economics, single honours Business, single honours Political Science, single honours Sociology, a joint honours comnbination of any two of these (except Economics and Sociology, which may only be studied through the TSM system: see your CAO handbook). There is also a degree title in 'Contemporary European Integration', where a student selects appropriate courses within a European context.

So, by second year, you ought to have a fair idea where you're heading in terms of a degree, so the odds are you'll say goodbye to at least one of your first year subjects. In second year, you again take six courses: some of these will be decided for you, as they are requisite courses for a particular degree subject (it's very important to look ahead to prerequisites for future years, when you're picking your subjects), while others will be options taken of your own accord. This all depends on the subjects, in which you wish to specialise. If you take a language in first year, you can continue the study of it in second year to achieve a Certificate qualification, which is necessary, should you wish to study abroad in your third year.

By third year, the vast majority of BESS students will know what degree path they wish to follow. Indeed, you must inform the Faculty of what path you wish to take. However, in exceptional circumstances, some flexibility is allowed. Personally, I've found that third year is the year that starts to work us really, really hard, and I'm sure this is a sentiment, with which my third-year colleagues would agree. Third years take five course at present, however, from next year, they will take six courses.

Fourth year offers the greatest degree of choice in terms of courses: many of the courses in this year have very small numbers as a result. Fourth-year students will take four courses from next year on. Up until now, students took four courses and also a general paper (which tested material from second through to fourth year) or a dissertation. Depending on which Department you're in, you may still have the opportunity to substitute one of your course choices with a dissertation, on which you would be working for the duration of the year.

BESS is highly regarded, both by potential employers and by graduate schools. BESS is such a large degree course that there is a wide-ranging social scene, and you'll have plenty of time in your early years to become involved in clubs and societies. As gilroyb points out, a beauty of BESS is that a student does not have to make decisions about what degree to read for at the beginning of their studies.

There are also Business Studies and a Language courses (with Russian, French and German available). These include a compulsory third year abroad. As xebec pointed out, MSISS is another option, especially if you're quantitatively-oriented.

Drop me a PM or post up more questions, if you like, because I probably haven't covered half of what you want to know.