<p>scenario 1: if i choose aem, i will minor in international relations.</p>
<p>scenario 2: if i choose econ, i will double with government. </p>
<p>my future career path will hopefully be either finance, int'l trade and development, or foreign service.</p>
<p>what's the better option, assuming both are the same amount of difficulty to get into?</p>
<p>I’d probably say that either are good choices, but if I was you, I’d pick #1.</p>
<p>why do you say that?</p>
<p>AEM has an emphasis on practicality, “easier major.” econ is more theoretical and quantitative. if you are genuinely interested in int’l development, AEM has some really good professors in that area (and the specialization).</p>
<p>I’ll put my vote for Econ + Govt with a minor in International Relations. I graduated from Cornell with a double major in Econ and Gov’t and minored in International Relations and German Studies. Econ is a more versatile degree and you seem to have broader interests than an AEM degree prepares you for. </p>
<p>In the AEM vs. Econ, it depends on your career goals. Do you want to go to grad school? If so, Econ is probably better. If you are more into finance/management, AEM may be better. AEM is certainly less rigorous than Econ. Ask yourself what type of work you see yourself doing and what you want to do with your degree. What do you want to do in finance, trade, development?</p>
<p>Keep in mind, you can take AEM courses if you are an Econ major and vice versa. Also keep in mind that if you do Econ and are in CAS, you have to buy into the liberal arts curriculum. I loved it and didn’t find the requirements to take a diverse selection of courses limiting at all. But that depends on the individual.</p>
<p>I believe Cornell is a terrific place to major in econ, given the number and breadth of course offerings. In addition to all the econ classes in CAS, you can also take business courses in AEM and Hotel, labor econ in ILR, public policy in Human Ecology, etc.</p>
<p>@Mikeyc765 isn’t it redundant to minor in IR if you are a Gov major because one of the four subfields in the Gov major is IR itself? </p>
<p>I am interested more in theoretical concepts at this point in my life than practical application, and global affairs grad school is an option. With that said, I think I’m gonna go Econ + Gov double major with maybe an AEM minor if it becomes university-wide next year.</p>
<p>While IR is one of the subfields for the gov’t major, you do not “specialize” in any subfield. Technically, the IR minor is affiliated with the Government department . If you are doing Econ + Gov’t, the IR minor is easier than if you had any other major(s), but it’s still up to 4 additional courses, depending on what you are able to negotiate with the coordinator to complete the requirements. At the very least, you’ll need an anthropology class and 1 extra language course in addition to the CAS requirement.</p>
<p>The IR minor requirements as they currently stand, are more complicated than either the Econ or Gov’t majors. I recently read that Cornell is considering making IR a full major at Cornell, so that could be a reality within the next few years.</p>