ARE PREFERENCES MADE ACCURATELY IN ECONOMICS DEGREE IN TURKEY?

Undergraduate Economics degree in Turkey is preferred based on the points from both quantitative and non-quantitative courses in the university entrance exam. Yet, economics is a department that employs mathematics and statistics as a means and contains quite a few quantitative courses. Nevertheless, there are a large number of students continuing their education in this department, who enrolled with so low or even no quantitative points in the university entrance exam. Based on the experiences gathered as an instructor in this department, it is evident that students with a solid background in mathematics complete their degree with more success. Student Selection and Placement Centre (OSYM), which administers university entrance exam, is required to utilize the points of quantitative courses instead of the ones from both quantitative and non-quantitative courses in the preference of economics degree, and make new arrangements in terms of increasing the coefficient of mathematics course. This study attempts to reveal the factors which influence the success of economics students with a solid background in quantitative courses and their preferences of the department by means of surveys. The results have revealed that while a solid background in mathematics positively affects the success in economics classes, only half of the students preferred the department voluntarily