Academic pre-course series
Master’s in
A comprehensive foundation for postgraduate study.
Business · Pre-Course Guide
Theory, maths and econometrics — rebuilt calmly before day one.
An Economics Master's assumes you remember the theory and are fluent in the maths. Most people aren't, at first. This guide rebuilds microeconomics and macroeconomics, then the algebra, calculus, statistics and econometrics behind them — plain language first, notation second — so nothing in your first month feels like a foreign language.
What an Economics Master's is actually for, the recurring shape of these programmes, and the subjects you will genuinely meet in the first term.
Individual choices, markets and the machinery of supply, demand, equilibrium and market failure, refreshed from the ground up.
How whole economies grow, employ, price and trade — plus monetary policy, fiscal policy and open-economy mechanics.
The algebra, calculus and linear algebra economists actually use, explained through economic intuition before notation.
Mean, variance, probability and distributions — the quantitative language behind every empirical claim in economics.
What econometrics really does: regression, identification, and the difference between correlation and causation.
Why modern economics runs on data, the shapes economic data comes in, and how time series and forecasting work.
Economics as a way of thinking about real decisions: inflation, housing, inequality, behavioural insights and modern debates.
How economic knowledge is actually produced, and how to read a paper like an economist instead of a student.
How to study economics at graduate level, plus a full dictionary of the terms your lecturers will use without explaining.
A realistic, week-by-week plan for the month before class begins — short daily sessions, no cramming.
Everything you need to feel prepared before your first lecture — explained from zero, designed for beginners, and built to give you a head start.
500+ pages designed to prepare you before day one.
Complex concepts explained in simple language.
Diagrams, models and visual explanations that make learning easier.
Understand how theory works in real businesses.
Quick recaps so revision takes minutes instead of hours.
Learn the vocabulary before your lecturers use it.
Every concept includes clear examples you can actually understand.
Read anytime. Keep every update forever.
Whenever the guide improves, your version improves too.
Created after analysing real university programmes so you're learning what actually matters.
One small investment.
Eighteen months of confidence.
Semester 0 isn't another textbook.
It's everything students wish they knew before walking into their first Master's lecture.
"The maths part alone was worth it — I stopped dreading the first problem set."
Inês C.
MSc Economics, Lisbon
"Econometrics finally made sense before anyone tried to teach it to me."
Daniel P.
Management graduate → MSc Economics
The complete 470-page preparation book with every module, case study and exercise.
€19.99
Buy Full GuideTransparency
Every Semester 0 guide is created using a combination of AI-assisted research, educational frameworks, and editorial review. We analyse recurring topics across leading Master's programmes and organise them into clear, beginner-friendly guides designed to help students prepare before their first lecture.
Our guides are independent educational resources. They are not official university materials and are not affiliated with any university.
Disclaimer: Semester 0 guides are independently created educational resources. They are designed to support students before their Master's begins and do not replace official course materials or university instruction.
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