Student Testimonials

Patrick Kerr 

Class of 2012, BAH Economics 

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During my first year of university at Acadia I switched majors twice: initially I was accepted at Acadia as a business student; before my first day of classes I switched into a French and English double major program and by the end of first year I had switched into an Economics and French double major program.  All of which is to say, if you are not already an Economics major at the beginning of first year switching into the program is still doable in four years without overloading.

After first year, I decided to become an Economics major for two reasons: firstly, because I thought it was easier and more clear-cut than an English major would be and secondly, because I had amazing professors for my two Principles of Economics courses.  That was just the beginning however, being an Economics major ended up being so much more than what I expected it would be: the subject matter was often interesting and stimulating (mainly stats, microeconomic theory, game theory and international trade theory), I gained enough economic intuition to be able to apply my knowledge to the real world (in my fourth year I wrote an essay on how the production of fair trade coffee might actually decrease the quality of life of some labourers in the coffee industry  which is contrary to the advertised increase in quality of life of laborers in the coffee industry), in my fourth year I also became part of the Acadia Economics Society and on top of all that I met and became friends with good people both students and professors. 

What sets Acadia apart from other universities is the quality of the student professor interaction. The Economics Department at Acadia is no different. In my four years at Acadia I have seen the professors in the Economics Department go the extra mile in order to help their students understand the material. For example, the professors have long office hours; they are extremely approachable and some have even offered extra class time dedicated to solving practice problems. The professors also go out of their way to make the student’s experience at Acadia more enjoyable. For instance, for the second year in a row the professors of the Acadia Economics Department have invited students in the department to the University Club for a potluck!

Overall, my experience at Acadia and in the Economics department has been first class. The Acadia Economics faculty played an integral role in helping me succeed at the undergraduate level and they also played an important role, in the form of reference letters, in my successful application to law school.  If becoming an Economics major does not immediately appeal to you, I still strongly recommend that you take some Economics courses for two reasons: firstly, being familiar with the basic concepts behind inflation, interest rates and supply and demand would be beneficial for many of the important decisions you will have to make in life such as purchasing big ticket items. Secondly, for some people, like it was for me at first, Economics can seem daunting, however, you never know until you try. I did and I enjoyed it immensely!