<p>I came accross a thread where people were arguing whether a regular BA in econ would make sense for getting a decent job after college. They were saying that a normal econ degree doesn't have enough math classes and therefore it's better to get a B.S. with a heavy calculus load.
I wanna get into one of the econ programs at UCLA or Berkeley. UCSD's management science is also on my list. It is the only program that offers a B.S. since it is more quantitative.
What are other people's opinions on that?</p>
<p>well, i did read some place that job prospects aren't good really for an econ major w/ any type of bach. degree. Most who actually do desire a career as "economist," or the such basically require at least a master's in econ.</p>
<p>Really, it depends on whether you have a specific career goal.</p>
<p>where did you guys get your information. Just curious.</p>
<p>i've also heard the same from around campus. It's a great set up for professional school, but that seems about it.</p>
<p>but what about UCLA and Berkeley, those are top schools, shouldn't that help a lot in getting a job with a BA in econ?</p>
<p>I think a quatitative BA in economics can land you a good job. I would say that a degree that encompases calculus 1-3, linear algebra, and differential equations would be pretty worthwhile. But, I do not know about the job market. I am going to get a degree like this becasue I want to work for a few years to try to pay off some loans before going back to get a masters degree in public policy. Still, an econ degree that involves math seems like it would provide the solid analytical skills needed for a good, well paying job.</p>
<p>you'll have to look into that 'well paying job.'</p>
<p>Until then, try becomming a TA for a masters, it's what i'm looking into here at Cornell. You get paid, free tuition, and healthcare, plus an academic allowance of cash for research. Heck yes!</p>
<p>I would be all for that but the problem is that most places dont have terminal masters programs. I dont want a PhD, but most good schools only have PhD programs. The only terminal masters programs wont offer aid becasue they give it all out to their PhD students. Are you (gomestar) having a hard time getting a job as an economics major from Cornell. It doesnt seem like you should but I dont really know.</p>
<p>well i'm not an econ major, i'm a slight variation in the industrial and labor relations school. I can take loads of economics classes w/o changing my major if i want to. I'll be in one next semester, and possibly a few more after that. And, no, i'm not worried about finding a job. From the BSILR, job placement is around 98% with an average starting salary of $46,000 (plus a sign on bonus average of $2500). Plus, ILR boasts the highest acceptance rate for all schools in the US into law school, something i might consider. Its business school placement rates are also among the top few. So, i'm not worried about jobs/grad schools.</p>
<p>I'm an econ major going for Berkeley and all the NACE reports I've read seem to indicate that an Econ degree is pretty stable.</p>
<p>Berkeley's survey of 04 Econ grads say that 86% of them are employed/grad school/other (63% employed) and their average salary is $46,000. Most of their econ majors are financial analysts or something similar.</p>
<p>same should go for the UCLA biz econ program. It seems though that both econ majors, UCLA and Berkeley only require 2 semesters of calculus to graduate. So I guess it's a good idea to take a few more calc classes to be more competitve.</p>
<p>hey gomestar, how are the econ majors doing at cornell. I applied their for the spring. My biggest (and I mean bigest) problem is that I cant afford anything. My parents have an EFC of 17000 that I have to take out in loans on top of my federal loans because they refuse to pay for college. Currently, I attend a public school and live at home so I dont incur too much debt. But if I went to Cornell for my final two years I will have amassed almost $50,000 in debt. So job prospects are very, very important to me. I want to persue an MPP/JD eventually at a very good school. So any information you have on job prospects for econ majors would be very helpful, espescially if they were junior transfer students (yeah, like anyone would have that detailed of information).</p>
<p>considering that the majority of the top-10 4-year-universities dont even offer pre-professional programs, i would think an econ degree would be something of the equivalent to a business degree.</p>
<p>that's what I heard too. I just really concerned when I heard people saying a BA in econ is worthless. An econ degree from Berkeley can't be that bad :)</p>
<p>um, none of what was first posted has reflected anything I've read as an econ major. Economics often requires more calculus than Business (for example, haas at berkeley requires only one semester of calc while econ at berkeley requires two), so the whole notion of it not being profitable because it is not more quantitative is silly. I'm sure nobody would call a business degree unprofitable because it doesn't require tons of calculus, and anyone who has taken econometrics or any upper division economics would agree that economics requires plenty of math and analytical skills that are essential to the workplace. I think you can do whatever you want with econ. If you want business skills, take econ classes that are centric to business. Most UC's have classes that work for both majors, and you definitely won't have any trouble finding a job after graduating from a top UC.</p>
<p>lookin4aschool - typically, they do very very well. Unfortunately, I don't have any stats in front of me. I'm assuming most go onto either MBA or JD programs. I'd email an administrator or something for exact info. I had a hard time justifying the price tag here ... before I came here. Now, i see it's sooo worth it.</p>
<p>nkased: that's what I was thinking. I was just curious what other people think about it. That guy posting that a BA in econ is worthless was "allangreenspan" I think (not the real greenspan :))
It's not gonna change my plans or anything, but it made me think if an econ degree is really a good idea if you wanna get a job instead of going for a graduate degree. Especially UCLA and Berkeley should have strong econ programs with good job perspectives afterwards.</p>
<p>I don't know about you guys, but all my friends just graduated UCSB with a B.A in Business Economics.... one got a 75k a year, the other 3 got 52-60k a year... I dont know if thats good or bad... but it seems pretty good to me. Im only in a cc, and I have already been offered 60k a year after a transfer and graduate from ucsb from a marketing company in San Francisco (thanks to my dad).... So to all you people majoring in econ do it. Also.. Its who you know, not what you know.... NETWORK</p>
<p>That seems a little high, but if so that's good for me since I've been planning on only 45k to live on :) </p>
<p>Networking definately works, but it's given too much credit in American culture IMO. That's how people like Bush and that FEMA director get through :p</p>