The Economist

Today's post is going to be about The Economist. Reason: I've been made the Student Brand Ambassador for The Economist on campus at the University of Birmingham. Therefore, my role is to promote the brand to students on campus - however it can also be relevant to anybody with an interest in current news, whether it be economic, financial or political.

In general terms, The Economist is a fantastically well informed weekly newspaper that can be delivered to your door. Each issue gives a brief run-down of the political and business news of the week, then further goes on to give in depth articles on matters affecting Britain, the US, Europe, Asia, The Americas, business and finance.

The main audience I'm targeting, however, is students. The Economist acts as excellent supplementary reading for those studying degree courses in economics, finance, politics and many more. For students, this is invaluable. I found in my first year at university that having knowledge on current affairs was essential for my exams, with questions asking for real life exams to back up concepts being discussed. The fact I regularly read The Economist meant I was in a position to answer these questions. Second big selling point (similar to the first, I know) relates to the job market. Through personal experience, I've found out that interviews for spring weeks/internships/graduate jobs(I assume) all require you to know how your chosen industry is being affected by current affairs. A degree alone is no longer good enough, you need a lot of further knowledge about your chosen sector - and The Economist is a good way of getting this. The final selling point is for referencing terms. The deal gives you full access to The Economist online which gives you a fully searchable archive dating back to 1997. Perfect for pulling up past news as a reliable source for referencing in coursework and essay tasks.

The student deal currently being offered is a staggering 90% off of the standard price. It is now possible for students to get themselves 12 issues for £12, which will cover you for a term at university. After that period has expired you'll be paying £38 per 13 issues, however the offer is on a completely no contractual basis. The deal can be cancelled at any time, meaning as soon as the offer period has expired you can walk away from the subscription if you so wished. In addition, the subscription can paused for up to a period of 4 weeks. This is extremely useful during exam periods when there isn't the time to read and when on holiday or away from the home. The subscription can be restarted again with the click of a few buttons.

What's more if you sign up now you get a free mini speaker!

So, here's a brief summary of what The Economist is offering to students:

- 12 print issues for £12

- No contract, cancel the subscription at any time.

- Full access to The Economist online - giving an archive of news dating back to 1997.

- The ability to pause your subscription for up to 4 weeks.

- All of this available on your smart-phone and tablets. (iPhone, iPad, Android devices, Blackberry)

- Free mini speaker.

Follow this link to subscribe now: The Economist Subscription

If there's any other questions about The Economist feel free to comment and I'll be very happy to help you out as soon as I can.

Cheers guys.

Economics at the University of Birmingham

Such a hectic week, so I've rushed a few things so I could squeeze in a blog post today. I'm going to focus this one of Economics at the University of Birmingham, which is where I am currently studying. I arrived on Sunday the 16th of September and as of today, the 24th, i started my 3 year Bsc course in Economics properly. I will be blogging about what I've learned, as well as going into depth more during my debates as my economic knowledge improves.

The timetable I've created myself for the coming semester (24th September - 7th December) is as follows:

A bit confusing I know, but basically every 'code' in the timetable corresponds to either a room or a subject in the keys at the bottom. From this you can see that I'll be studying modules in the following disciplines: Principles of Economics, Mathematical Modelling for Economists, Advanced Quantitative Methods, Economic History of Britain and European Economic Issues. Excited is an understatement, I just want to dive in and start. I'll be blogging about all of these subjects within the next few months so stay tuned for them. Follow the blog as well to keep in touch.

Anyway, I'd like to talk about my application process to study at the University of Birmingham as well. I knew from early on in my AS level studies that economics is what i wanted to take further. It always helps to have an idea of what you actually want to do when it comes to the visiting stage of universities or else you could be in for some very long days trawling from talk-to-talk on different subjects. Not fun! I looked at umpteen different universities: University of Bristol, University of Bath, University of Southampton and the University of Warwick to name but a few. I had no issues with any of the universities I visited, it's just I found Birmingham to be more 'me', so to speak (So far it's proving to be!). So i went through the application stage and was given an offer from Birmingham of AAB or AABB because I studied four subjects through to A2 level. I met this target with a grade A in economics, A in computing and a B in both maths and history. So, it all went to plan and here I am. But, that was only the grades. Of course universities expect a lot more; expressed through your personal statement. Speaking from experience, I found this to be the hardest part of the application process, as I'm sure many other people did too. However, displaying your interest in the subject is all that really needs to be done. For me, I talked about the fact that I blogged about the subject (fully recommend it, great revision and fun too!)  which displayed an interest in the subject outside of college hours. Also mention any books you've read. 'Freakonomics' is a good one, seems to be quite a commonly read economic related book, but still, they all count and plus it's quite an entertaining read. Subscribe to the Economist too! Being a student you can get some great deals on it, 12 issues for £12 is a great example, you can't turn that down! Basically, i padded out the personal statement with a variety of economic related things to show my interest, rather than just monotonously listing a bunch of books i'd read. It seemed to work, so take note!

...and here I am at Birmingham! Loving it so far, the course looks great, exactly what I want to learn about - so I can't wait to start. Seems like I'll be starting properly next week as I've previous economic experience so just a week more of waiting around! I plan to do some reading around the subject. Also, I'm starting to put myself out there in terms of networking. I've joined a number of societies and plan on getting involved as much as I can to get my name in with potential graduate employers. I'd love to chat with anyone with experience in the banking and finance industry, so drop me a comment if you don't mind and we can talk! Once again, thanks for reading, enjoy your day, stay tuned & follow the blog!

Sam.