HowtoStudyforEconomics?

1. Bebestfriendwithyourtextbook.Thelecturenotesarecomplements,
notsubstitutes,ofyourtextbook.
a. Ifyouhaveaquestion,chancesareithasbeenansweredinyour
textbook.Somepeopleneverrealizethatbecausetheyneverread
theirtextbook(notatallornotcarefullyenough).
b. Readtherelevantsectionsimmediatelyaftertheclass,whenyour
memoryisthefreshest.
c. Beforethenextclassbegins,spend15to30minutestoquickly
readthroughthematerialscoveredinthepreviousclass,sothat
youarenotcompletelylostinthisweeksmaterialsandyouknow
thecontextoftodayslecture,especiallywhentheclassmaterials
arecumulative.
2. Dontreadyourtextbookandlecturenotessuperficially.Thinkabout
whatyouread.Questionwhatyouread.
a. Checkwhetheryouunderstandthelogicofthearguments.
b. Checkwhetheryoucanreconstructthelogicofthearguments
withoutlookingatyournotesortextbook.
c. Checkwhetheryouknowwhatthegraphsandmathematical
equationsmeanintuitively.
i. Doyouknowwhattheslopemeans?
ii. Doyouknowwhatwillshiftthecurve?
iii. Doyouknowwhatthemathematicalequationsmeanin
simpleEnglish?
iv. Canyouseethatboththemathandthegraphsaresaying
thesamethinginsimpleEnglish?
3. Understandthatmathisreallyalanguage.Soyoushouldbeabletosay
whatthemathematicalequationssayinsimpleEnglish.Similarly,graphs
arealsoalanguage.Soyoushouldbeabletosaywhatthegraphssayin
simpleEnglishaswell.
4. Whenyoustudy,dontmemorizewhatyouread,understandthelogicand
thearguments.
5. Whenyouanswerquestions,dontregurgitateeverythingyouremember,
analyzetheproblemusingthelogicandargumentsthatyouunderstood.
6. Dontthinkyoucansmokethroughthefinalexamwithontheone
hand,thisOntheotherhand,that.kindanswers.Itmayormaynot
haveworkedinAlevel.ButitquitecertainlywontattheUniversity.
a. Advancedeconomicsclassestypicallytrytoteachyousome
specificframeworks(intheformofintuitiveconcepts,curvesin
graphs,ormathematicalequations).Theexamquestionsthentest
yourabilitytoapplytheseframeworkstosolveaproblem.Thatis
whyitisimpossibletosmokeyourwayoutoftheexam.Thatis
alsowhyyouneedtounderstandthelogic,reconstructthatlogic
basedonunderstanding,andanalyzetheproblemsratherthan
memorizewhatyoureadandregurgitatetheminexam.
b. Someexamquestionsareofthetypethatifyouhaventstudied,
youjustcannotanswer.Butthisisgood.Thisisthevalueadded
ofthecourse.Thinkaboutit.Ifyoucananswerthequestions

withoutstudying,youhavebasicallywastedyourtuitionmoney.
Whycometotheuniversity?Whathaveyoulearnt?
7. Askyourselfhowyouwillusetheconceptsandeconomicframeworkyou
havelearnttounderstandoranalyzewhatyoureadintheEconomistor
WallStreetJournaloranyrelevanteconomicnewsingeneral.
8. Intheidealsituation,trytosolvethetutorialquestionsbeforeyourclass.
IfyoujustgototheclassandlistentotheTAssolutions,chancesare
everythingappearsintuitiveandstraightforward.Butifyouhavetried
beforehand,youwillrealizethatitisanillusion.Whenyouhavetodoit
intheexam,suddenlyitseemsveryuncertainhowyoushouldproceed,as
thereseemstobemanypossibilitiesandyouarenotsurewhichisthe
rightonetopursue.
a. Butwhoarewekidding?Iconsidermyselfaveryconscientious
student.NotevenIhavethetimetosolveeverytutorialquestions
beforehand.
b. Soinreality,insteadoftryingtospendafewhourstosolvethe
questionsbeforehand,spendhalfanhourbeforeyourtutorialsto
readthroughthequestioncarefully.Outlinehowyoumaygo
aboutsolvingit,forexample,thinkaboutwhatframeworkor
diagramwillbeneededtosolvethequestions,andhowthe
answersmaylooklike.
i. Ifyouhavenoclue,trytothinkaboutthereasonswhyyou
dontknowhowtosolveit.SowhentheTAcoversit,go
backtounderstandwhyitseemssohardwhenyoutriedit
andhowtheTAsolvestheproblem.AskTAquestionsif
youarepuzzledaboutthesolutionsandthesolutionsdidnt
addressyourdoubtwhenyoutriedit.
c. Butinreality,sometimeseventhisisnotfeasiblebecauseofthe
heavyworkload.SowhatIwillsaynextisabsolutelytheminimum
oneshoulddobeforethetutorials.READTHROUGHTHE
TUTORIALQUESTIONS.Ittakesonly10minutes.Dontattendthe
tutorialswithoutevenknowingwhatthequestionsare.Some
studentsdothat.Iknow.
9. Trytounderstandthetextbookmaterialsandtutorialsolutionsbefore
youattempttosolvepastyearexamquestions.Thehardestquestionsin
thepastyearexamquestionsareoftenjustextensionofthetextbook
materialsandtutorialsolutions(theeasiestarejustrepetitionsofthe
textbookmaterialsandtutorialsolutions).Butifyoudonteven
understandthebasicframeworkorarguments,howcanyoupossibly
solvetheextensions?Itsliketryingtorunbeforeknowinghowtowalk.
EvenifyourTAorprofessorsgiveyouthesolutionofaparticular
question,youwillneverbeabletogeneralizethatunderstandingand
transferlearningtoothersituations,becauseyoudidntunderstandthe
basiclogicorargumentsusedtosolvethequestions.Sometimestogo
forward,youneedtotakeastepback,especiallywhenyouareonloose
groundasyouhastilythrustforward.