<p>I am transferring to my state school as a Computer Science major, which will take 5 semesters to complete starting from Fall 2012.</p>
<p>I took an economics class in the past and I loved it. The requirements for an economics major at my school are only about 21 credit hours for the major (I already took micro and macro, otherwise it would be 27).</p>
<p>My goal is to go into a masters program for Bioinformatics, but I would still like to double major in Econ because there aren't that many requirements.</p>
<p>The question:</p>
<p>Double major in Economics and Computer Science by staying for an extra semester or major in Computer Science and graduate a semester early?</p>
<p>Will getting the economics major help my job prospects in any way, shape, or form?</p>
<p>Out of all the double majors engineers come up with (I had a buddy that wanted to double in geology and EE), combining an undergrad degree with economics makes the most sense to me. 5 semesters leaves you graduating in the fall, would you be able to start your masters program the following spring? Are you in a hurry to start working? Running out of money?</p>
<p>If you enjoy economics and aren’t in a big hurry, one extra semester means relatively nothing in the grand scheme of your career. That said, I don’t think it will be of much help getting you a job. I’d imagine your prospective employer is going to be much more interested in your research… but maybe someone else can chime in on that.</p>
<p>The masters program that I am interested in only admits full time students for the fall semester, so even if I did graduate in 5 semesters, I would still have to wait out another semester before I go back to school.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say I’m running out of money… For the next two years my room and board are covered because some friends of mine said I am more than welcome to sleep over at their places and take showers if I’m trying to save cash. </p>
<p>I’ll be taking out loans (about 5k a semester), so it’s not that bad and I can always pay for some by getting a part time job as I go to school.</p>
<p>Just one thing. Do you actually enjoy computer science? Because you did mention how you liked econ.</p>
<p>Also, is it possible to minor in econ? For a software job, IMO that econ major is not going to help you or distinguish you from other applicants who only single-majored.</p>
<p>Yes, I am taking this course on udacity and I’m enjoying it. I specifically want to go into bioinformatics due to my biology background from my old school and I feel as if a comp sci major will better prepare me for it.</p>
<p>I’m also choosing the BA because the requirements are less strict and I won’t have to cram.</p>
<p>An Econ minor is possible, but I wasn’t too sure since the major is only around 21-27 credits and the minor is 15 credits</p>
<p>Econ will likely not help you with a bioinformatics job. Think about it. How would you use economics concepts as a bioinformatician (in a presumably non-business role)?</p>
<p>Honestly, your economics degree won’t help you at all in job prospects. But, you damn right want to know the basics of macro/micro economics, and microeconomic theory if you ever want to use your CS degree in a management-side way. Beyond that, it’s all useless stuff for today’s world, IMHO.</p>
<p>Don’t stay for an extra semester, use that time for an internship instead.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, if econ isn’t as useful as you guys say it is I might just stick to an econ minor or maybe just go for a biology minor since I only need 2 more classes for one.</p>
<p>A computer science major/biology minor would be more useful for bioinformatics right?</p>
<p>rks102 - you are way too stressed about picking the perfect combination of classes or majors/minors. If you’ve already taken macro and micro economics you’ve learned all that will be useful for a person that isn’t going to be employed as an economist. Focus your efforts on obtaining your CS degree since you’ve decided to switch from biology.</p>
<p>Once you are deeper into CS try to find a professor working in bioinformatics and ask him/her whether an additional two classes in biology would be of any additional benefit. It’s possible that your existing course background in biology is already more than sufficient. The bioinformatics professor may steer you in a different direction for electives, e.g., additional math classes. Good luck.</p>