EC3101 Microeconomic Analysis II
This module was taken by Prof Mcgee. I personally think the textbook is useless, not to mention its exorbitant price. The lecture notes (which are actually ppt slides from the publisher) are sufficient. But for anyone who's interested, the textbook used is Intermediate Microeconomics by Hal Varian, 8th Edition.
Topics covered before Week 7
Review of topics covered in EC2101 like budget line, indifference curve etc.
Intertemporal Choice
Uncertainty (covered in EC2101)
Exchange
Externalities
Topics covered after Week 7
Game Theory
Game Applications
Oligopoly
Asymmetric Information
Weightage
End-of-tutorial quizzes: 10% (best 8 scores will be counted)
Homework: 20% (one before and one after midterms)
Midterms: 30%
Finals: 40%
The midterms tested on all the topics covered before Week 7. The median for midterms was 54/100. I scored only 63 as I made countless careless mistakes in the midterms. On top of that, having only 1 hour 45 minutes for 7 questions was pretty insane; most people couldn't finish. In addition, Prof Mcgee likes to use algebra in his questions so it is important to exercise extra caution when writing those complicated expressions. Anyway, you have to go to the general office to collect your midterms.
Finals wasn't cumulative and only topics taught from Week 7 onwards were tested. Having said that, the finals will obviously be more difficult but there is less of a problem in terms of time constraint.
Result: B
For this semester, the emphasis in the finals was on asymmetric information which happened to be my weakest topic, resulting in a mediocre overall grade. On the other hand, the questions on game theory and game applications were rather simple.
The important thing for this module isn't practice but understanding of concepts.
EC3102 Macroeconomic Analysis II
This module was taken by Prof Ho Kong Weng. There were approximately 15 chapters covered in total including IS-LM, AD-AS for closed and open economy. I strongly recommend getting the textbook for this module even though many people commented that the notes were sufficient and that there wasn't time to refer to the textbook anyway. But I self-studied this module all the way so I needed the textbook. Even so, I think the textbook is much better than the notes as the notes is simply a summarized version of the textbook. The textbook used is Macroeconomics by Blanchard and Johnson, 6th Edition.
Weightage
Tutorial attendance: 10%
Tutorial participation: 5%
Midterms: 35%
Finals: 50% (open-book)
Midterms consisted of 4 questions to be done within one hour. Many complained that the time was insufficient. As typical of Prof Ho, he likes to twist the expressions we have learnt in class to test whether you fully understand the concepts. Also, Prof Ho only releases z-score for midterms, 0 being the mean while positive scores mean you are above the average and vice versa. I got 2.0 for the midterms as I screwed up one question on lagrange multiplier. (The question wasn't difficult but it was just because I had no idea how to do lagrange multiplier at all since I took MA1102R in place of EC2104 and instead of self-studying multivariate calculus when I could last summer, I procrastinated.) Typical of Prof Ho, midterm z-scores were uploaded on IVLE.
Finals on the other hand did not seem to test you on your concepts but rather, on your derivation abilities. In fact, I think even if I had not studied, I would still be able to do the paper.
Result: A
I did not do very well for the finals as well because there were many things I did not explain properly due to the lack of time. That was probably the main reason why I ended up with an A.
EC3314 Mathematical Economics
This module was taken by Prof Goenka. There was a total of only 8 or 9 chapters covered. This module is one of those few Level-3000 electives offered in only one semester. In fact, very few FASS students will take this module and majority of the students are from FOS or FOE. On top of that, the total number of people enrolled in this class is only 44 which shows how steep the bell curve can get. Plus, only the last topic covered was new for most FOS students. Lectures aren't really very useful (I skipped lectures from Week 8 onwards though I do watch webcasts for the last two lectures).
Nevertheless, I took this module as I found the content covered to be quite useful and it is the only level 3000 elective that is really mathematical in nature.
Topics covered include
Review of Linear Algebra
Static Optimization
Nonlinear Programming
Dynamic Optimization
Weightage
Tutorial attendance and participation: 10%
Homework: 20% (one before and one after midterms)
Midterms: 30%
Finals: 40%
The mean for midterms was 35/45 and I scored 40. The 5 marks lost was purely due to carelessness. But the midterms was really easy; there wasn't any proofs or even derivation. All the questions tested on was the ability to apply. I think even the first homework was more difficult than the midterms. Apparently, the midterms had to be collected from the general office but I had no knowledge of that until probably Week 10 or 11 (because I did not attend his lectures and he did not make an announcement on IVLE).
The finals was of course a lot more difficult. In order to score, you had to display a certain level of understanding especially for concepts like upper and lower hemicontinuity, correspondence and the maximum theorem but the Prof did not explain these clearly. I actually thought I screwed up the finals really badly as I could not get the full answer for the dynamic programming question and that my understanding of the above-mentioned concepts was still very shaky. The only question I was really confident of securing full marks was the one on nonlinear programming.
Result: A-
Understand the concepts covered during lectures and tutorials. Practise if possible. Oh by the way, the textbook is Further Mathematics for Economic Analysis by Sydsaeter, Hammond, Seierstad and Strom, 2nd Edition.
EC3341 International Economics I
This module was taken by Dr Lu Yi. He is a very helpful lecturer and will answer your queries promptly. A total of approximately 9 chapters was covered. A lot more emphasis was given to the micro topics of trade. Many had said that Dr Lu's lectures were good as there was additional information given and he would take extra effort to go through the more difficult concepts. However, I did not attend the lectures and self-studied this module based on the notes and textbook which I do agree caused me to lose out a bit on some crucial information as well as assignment marks. But the textbook was probably not really necessary though I still recommend to get it: International Economics Theory and Policy by Krugman, Obstfeld and Melitz, 9th Edition.
Topics covered include
Ricardian Model
Specific-factors Model
Heckscher-Ohlin Model
Standard Trade Model
Monopolistic Competition
Money, Interest Rates and Exchange Rates
Price Levels and Exchange Rates in the Long Run
Weightage
Tutorial participation: 10% (but actually I think you can get that full 10% by just attending tutorials)
Weekly assignments: 30% (10 assignments in total)
Group project: 10%
Finals: 50%
There were no tutorials for this module. Basically, students were expected to finish an assignment every week and during the tutorial, the tutor would go through the solutions for the assignment that had been submitted.
Group project was simply comments on two papers that Dr Lu has chosen. There wasn't any word limit.
For finals, there was one macro question while the other three questions were micro. Past-year papers may help in scoring for finals but understanding the concepts well is a lot more crucial.
Result: A
I gave up quite some marks in the assignments plus I think I did not do that well in the finals hence resulting in only an A. Even so, I should think that the bell curve for this module was not really that steep though there were less than 100 people taking this module but many of them were exchange students.
PH1102E Introduction to Philosophy
This module is taken by Prof Pelczar. He is a really enthusiastic prof but maybe philo is just not my thing, so I did not attend his lectures. Readings for this module were actually not very long but even for the longer ones, you would just know which parts to skip based on experience.
Themes covered
Free Will
Moral Philosophy
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of Mind
Metaphysics
Weightage
Tutorial attendance and participation: 10%
Weekly summaries: 50%
Finals: 40%
For the weekly summaries, students will be expected to summarize the assigned reading. However, it is important to keep in mind what the question is asking exactly. My advice is that for most summaries, do not attempt to source for information outside of the reading unless otherwise stated. There were a few times at the start that I did this in the hope of getting higher score only to end up with a mediocre score. The summaries are bell-curved. I scored only 6/10 for most summaries and 8/10 for a few. There is also one MCQ Quiz (which are PYP questions) to be submitted during Week 7 in place of the summary.
Finals was a 20 MCQ paper. I could check the paper 4 or 5 times even before the first hour ended. Most people will leave after the first hour. However, the questions tend to be tricky so study your lecture notes (not readings or ppt slides) well. That is all you need for the finals. As the prof said himself, only a handful of people out of a cohort size of almost 300 can score 18 and above for the finals which tells you how gentle the bell curve for finals is.
Result: A-
Despite scoring only slightly above average for the summaries, I could still pull up my overall grade to an A-. What I did was to study the lecture notes in detail and with consistency as well as practise the PYP.
