<p>Hello,</p>
<p>BACKGROUND:
I am currently in my college's General Studies department taking mostly Core courses while I am attempting to make a final decision on a major. I have been extensively researching potential majors and career options over the past couple of years, literally spending at the least a thousand hours (seriously - I have been aggressively consuming as much information as I can, exploring both all my interests) on this. My main passions are politics, social justice (as in widespread economic and political justice, not criminal justice), public policy, etc...</p>
<p>Ultimately, I would like to pursue a career in these areas. Working as an analyst for a private Public Administration, Public Policy, or Political consulting firm, or even a Think Tank organization, would be ideal. I definitely understand that you don't go into a top-level and/or high-paying position instantly in those fields, but I am willing to work my way up (both through gaining experience and graduate education) as long as I can get an entry-level job that pays for a "humble" quality-of-life, providing necessities (safe apartment, food, utilities, health insurance, student loan payments, etc...).</p>
<p>It would seem that the best degrees for my goals and my interests would be Economics. Sure, Political Science may do fine as well, as long as I pursue graduate education in the future at some point, but Economics seems to be a more employable major with more job security and higher chance of a reasonable salary at the beginning. I believe it will also be more suitable for me since I want the skills to be able to figure out how to realistically implement a real-world policy (which obviously almost always involves significant monetary and economic issues), and I am not interested in an academic career at a college. I am interested in professional research and/or actual implementation. The only way I would see a Political Science degree being more valueble is for Political Consulting...but I am not interested in starting out as a low-paid fundraiser, so it would seem Economics would overall be the best choice. I am open to opinions/discussion on this.</p>
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<h2>PROBLEM?</h2>
<p>Here is where it gets more complicated. I am currently at a small-medium sized regionally-accreddited public university. The only academic college that it has a strong reputation with is Engineering. It also has a reasonable Business college (as it is a AACSB-accredited). It does have large departments and degrees with everything else, but none of them are in any way "known" or reputable (they don't have bad reputations, they just aren't known as better than any other 4-year university).</p>
<p>So the first concern is, that I am at an unranked university with no reputation, good or bad, in the fields that interest me. And these fields are not vocational or technical in nature (which would decrease the importance of college name, as you should get the standard skills at any college).</p>
<p>But then there is another complication. Although the Political Science department is adequate with a large variety of course offerings, the Economics department is under-developed due to it being located in the College of Business, with Economics course offerings that are meant to supplement a 50+ hour Business Core. A standalone degree in Economics without the Business Core IS offered, but the <em>requirements</em> consist of a full minor, several business courses, and several non-economic (unless you make them economic through a course explained below) electives because there isn't enough Economics courses to fulfill 120 hours after the General Core and your Minor. Another example of it being under-developed is the fact that it has a Junior Macro Economics course, but not a Junior/Senior Micro Economics course. It is also missing a Economics Statistics course, and probably a few others that I am not aware of as being important for Economics majors. There is however, a repeatable Senior course that allows you to choose your own Economics topics under the direction of a faculty member, so you could theoretically do that for some of your electives and/or investigate those missing topics. If I were to major in Economics, I would also plan on taking the math courses that would be beneficial preparation for graduate education and/or real-world problems. I will also be considering double-majoring in PoliSci and Econ.</p>
<p>However, here are the positives:
I am currently comfortable with my college, I am not LOOKING to transfer out. When taking into account both room/board and tuition/fees, it is also the least expensive four-year college in the state.</p>
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<h2>Conclusion?</h2>
<p>So considering the careers that interest me, and the natures of both my current university in-general and its economics department specifically, should I consider attempting to transfer to a more expensive, though more highly regarded university/economics department? </p>
<p>I have so far maintained a 4.0 GPA and I intend on doing my absolute best to maintain as high as possible GPA all the way through graduation (if a 4.0 is as high as I can make with my intellectual capacity, I intend to make it). So would a high-GPA graduate from an unranked university provide the kind of job opportunities I am looking for (as long as I apply for them and don't wait for them to come recruit at the campus) in the fields of interest to me? Or should I strongly consider the additional expense of transferring to a more prestigious university (rather state or national)?</p>
<p>Any information, opinions, advice, etc... would be appreciated. Feel free to ask me questions or for clarification on anything. Thanks.</p>