Economics teacher Samuel Lepler made changes in the application process for the National Economics Challenge (NEC) and the Harvard Pre-Collegiate Economics (HPEC) Challenge to allow all interested students the opportunity to participate this year.

Previously, select students taking Advanced Placement Microeconomics were invited to attend those economic competitions. Lepler limited participation by only inviting those who have excelled in the class, earning either an A or A+ average. Those students would take a placement exam and Lepler would form teams based on their scores.

This year, Lepler changed the policy. Interested students now have the option of signing up for either one or both of the challenges and for NEC, are able to form their own teams.

“If a student, no matter what the grade is, is excited about econ and wants to go deep into it, what kind of a teacher would limit that opportunity?” he said.

Despite losing the luxury of working one-on-one with students, Lepler believes opening up the competitions outweighs the consequence. Angela Ma (12), former participant in NEC, credits her team’s third-place finish in states to that one-on-one time Lepler referenced.

“Mr. Lepler’s class already gave me a solid foundation so that, during the two months of competition preparation, I was constantly learning something new,” she said.

Forty-three students, the highest number in school history, ranging from sophomores to seniors signed up for NEC.

The NEC, hosted by the Council for Economics Education, requires students to go beyond the basic AP material, testing students on four economics subfields microeconomics, macroeconomics, international economics, and current events. State winners advance to the National Semi-Finals, in which the top four winners of each division win a trip to New York City for the National Finals.

Hosted by the Harvard Undergraduate Economics Association, HPEC is similar in content and competition. It consists of a written section, a quiz-bowl round robin, and a quiz-bowl tournament that requires students to know economics trivia and history.

Last year, the school sent two teams of four students to HPEC. Due to a large number of registrations from all over the nation, the school is limited to sending only one team. Lepler organized a lottery to determine which four students will attend.

Current economics student Rahul Balakrishnan (11) mentions the lack of connecting present-day economic problems to the concepts studied in the academic curriculum as a main incentive to participate in both challenges.

“I hope to broaden my perspective on economics and perhaps, develop this understanding of modern society’s economic systems,” he said.

For Savi Joshi (11), a former economics student, taking part in both challenges allows her to continue to pursue her passion for the subject.

“It is one of my favorite subjects, and over the summer I found a passion for studying Behavioral Game Theory which combines understanding human nature with econ and math,” she said.

Preparing for the challenges is a time-consuming commitment, according to former participant Kevin Duraiswamy (12). His team created a study schedule, which helped his team efficiently use their time.

“First, it allows the team to learn faster because everyone is pooling information and working on topics together, and second, it forces each team member to study more than they might otherwise because they are accountable to the rest of the team, not just themselves,” he said.

Rahul Sridhar (12), a member of the team that placed third at NEC states last year, advises participants to study not only diligently but also broadly.

“The National Econ Challenge is all about how much you know. The winning team is almost always the one that knows the most material,” he said.

The NEC will announce State Champions in early April. The first round of competition is an online exam that will happen before April 2. HPEC will take place on April 5.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on Jan. 27, 2014