What is the difference between Economics and Business Administration?

• Economics is a social science that studies the factors that determine the production, distribution, and consumption of products and services and the functioning of markets at macro and micro levels. In this context, it analyzes the production structures of companies in terms of cost, profit, employment, and efficiency. It analyzes fiscal, monetary policies, and market movements at the macro level at national and international levels. It focuses on developing forward-looking policy proposals by examining the effects of national and international financial and monetary policies and market movements on households, firms, and macroeconomics at the theoretical and empirical levels.
• Business Administration is a social science that deals with the effective, efficient and sustainable management of companies, public or non-profit organizations. The branch of business administration produces its own theories and practical methods, based on the theories and approaches of different fields such as sociology, psychology, economics, and engineering for the above-mentioned purpose. Business cannot be considered as a sub-field of any of these.

I don't like mathematics very much, will I have a hard time studying the Department of Economics?

• No. It's a common misconception that those who don't like math will fail while studying economics. The courses taken in the department of economics are not similar to high school mathematics, so the state of "not liking mathematics" that occurs in high school or before does not continue during the university years.
• For us economists, mathematics is just a tool. We are teaching these tools, which we need while carrying out our academic studies, to our students with the introductory level courses in the first year. These tools are new topics, and when they are studied regularly, our students do not have any problems. Many experiences have shown that even the students who pass the mathematics courses at the university with difficulty are successful in the department courses. In other words, your success or love in math classes is not related to your success in economics and should not affect your choice. Moreover, considering the success of our candidate students who are eligible to enter the Department of Economics at METU, it is not a common situation that we encounter failure during their undergraduate education.

My English is not very good, will I have a hard time studying METU Economics Department?

• No. Our students who are admitted to the METU Department of Economics take the English Proficiency Exam prepared by the METU and are placed in a preparatory class appropriate for their level. During this one-year preparation period, our students improve their English speaking, writing, reading, and comprehension skills and earn the right to enter the end-of-year exam by collecting sufficient points from the midterm exams. Students who pass the end-of-year exam start their education in the Department of Economics. Although the success rate in the end-of-year exam varies according to the level from which our students start and their work performance during the year, mostly at the end of a year's education, our students start the department ready for education in English.

In which departments can I do a double major and a minor while studying at METU Department of Economics?

• As the Department of Economics, we offer our students the opportunity to do double majors and minors in 19 different departments within the scope of basic sciences, humanities and engineering faculties. According to our statistics, the most demanded double major and minor programs among our students are mathematics, industrial engineering, and sociology departments. For double major and minor program application conditions and detailed information, you can check the link below.
• http://oidb.metu.edu.tr/en/double-major-minor-program-applications

Is it possible for me to take elective courses from other departments while studying at METU Department of Economics?

• There are a total of 18 courses to be taken in the elective course category within the Department of Economics Undergraduate Program. At least 11 of these courses can be ECON (311) coded in-department courses, and a maximum of seven can be non-departmental courses. A maximum of four of these seven courses can be taken from non-Faculty departments. In this case, for example, three of these 7 courses can be taken from departments within the Faculty (Business Administration, Political Science and International Relations), and the remaining four can be taken from any department within the university. Although there are no restrictions in this regard, our students mostly show interest in the courses of the Department of Modern Languages, which provide a second foreign language education as a free elective course. Every year, courses such as German, Arabic, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Chinese or Greek are offered at different rates for students of different levels by the Modern Languages department.
• Our students also show great interest in the courses such as Classical Turkish Music Chorus, University Choir, Singing, Theatre, Painting, Cinema and TV, Sculpture, Ceramics, Piano, Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, Classical Guitar, History of Music, History of Theater, History of Cinema and TV. 

In which public institutions and in which positions can I work after graduation?

• İktisat bölümü mezunlarının kamu kurumlarında çalışma olanakları oldukça geniştir. Mezunlarımız, Sermaye Piyasası Kurumu, Rekabet Kurumu, Dış Ticaret Müsteşarlığı, Dışişleri Bakanlığı, EPDK, BDDK, Hazine Müsteşarlığı, Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı ve diğer çeşitli bakanlıklarda uzman yardımcılığı kadrolarında; Merkez Bankasında araştırmacı ve uzman yardımcılığı kadrolarında; Ekonomi Bakanlığında çeşitli pozisyonlarda, Maliye Bakanlığında vergi denetmen yardımcılığı, maliye müfettiş yardımcılığı ve uzman yardımcılığı pozisyonlarında, Sayıştayda ve İçişleri Bakanlığında çalışabilmektedirler. Mezunlarımız Türkiye genelinde burada sayılmamış olan daha pek çok kamu kurumunda çalışabilmekte ve kurumlarında parlak bir performans sergilmektedir. Bölümümüzde verilen eğitim sayesinde, mezunlarımız hem kamu kurumlarında çalışmak için gerekli olan Kamu Personel Seçme Sınavında, hem de çeşitli kurum ve bilim sınavlarında yüksek başarı göstermektedirler. Bunu yanı sıra mezunlarımızın İngilizce seviyesi diğer İktisat Bölümü mezunları ile karşılaştırılamayacak düzeyde farklılaştığından, mezunlarımız İngilizce sınavlarında gösterdikleri üstün başarılar ile de dikkat çekmektedirler.
• Opportunities to work in public institutions for graduates of the department of economics are quite wide. Our graduates work as assistant specialists in the Capital Markets Authority, Competition Authority, Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EMRA, BRSA, Undersecretariat of Treasury, Ministry of Labor and Social Security and various other ministries; in the positions of researchers and experts at the Central Bank; in various positions in the Ministry of Economy, in the Ministry of Finance as assistant tax inspector, as a assistant financial inspector and assistant specialist in the Court of Accounts and the Ministry of Interior. Our graduates can work in many public institutions that are not listed here and show brilliant performance in their institutions. Thanks to the education given in our department, our graduates show high success both in the Public Personnel Selection Examination required to work in public institutions and in various institution and science exams. In addition, our graduates draw attention with their outstanding achievements in English exams, as the English level of our graduates is incomparably precedes from those of other Economics graduates.

Can I do a master's/doctorate abroad after graduation?

• The graduates of the METU Department of Economics are mostly accepted to the master's and doctoral programs they prefer abroad, thanks to the international level of education they receive in the department and the quality of their English language education. Faculty members in our department support and guide our students who want to continue their education abroad.

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