<p>What do you guys think are colleges good in economics? I'm looking to double major in math and econ, or at least major in econ with emphasis on math. I know MIT's up there, but what other schools are good?</p>
<p>MIT,UChicago,Harvard,Yale.......</p>
<p>Northwestern University</p>
<p>What do you want to do with the degree? Most "big name" colleges are good in econ. However, I will of course second Northwestern. :)</p>
<p>Use a general guide rather than an actual ranking; it's out of date but still useful. </p>
<p>Be careful when evaluating econ programs. Chicago and Duke both have excellent and popular econ programs, for example- but how tough is it to get into popular classes? Are the classes extremely large? Do professors do all the teaching, or do grad students do some teaching?</p>
<p>Brown, Wesleyan and Colgate all have a major in Mathematical Economics that, to varying degrees, is a combination of a theoretical, quantitative major in economics with the equivalent of a minor in math. Lots of other schools have similar programs with different names to them that you may want to check out too.</p>
<p>UChicago has one of-- if not the-- best economic departments in the world.</p>
<p>Chicago, Northwestern, Harvard, and Yale are all very strong</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. To answer kk19131's question, I'm looking at further study in economics (either master's or even a doctrate) after I get my undergrad degree...but who knows what will happen by then.</p>
<p>I've been looking around at schools, and UChicago sounds pretty nice. For those of you who suggest Northwestern, was their anything specific that made Northwestern's program special?</p>
<p>If you want to mix math with economics, I suggest you look into the Mathematical methods in the social sciences (MMSS) program at Northwestern. As for what makes Northwestern special….. It all depends on what you want from a school. Like I said, many of the “big name” schools are strong in econ; it depends heavily on the kind of place you want to be. You ask almost as if you're shocked that Northwestern appears on people's lists. :)</p>
<p>I'm surprised Northwestern is getting so many mentions over Stanford, Columbia or Penn...all of which have stronger econ programs (particularly the first two, which also have great math programs).</p>
<p>Nodnard, Columbia's Econ program is not quite as good as Northwestern's. Cal, Penn, NU and Yale are generally considered in the same bracket when it comes to Econ. Columbia is a tiny notch below.</p>
<p>no I had just not looked at Northwestern before in terms of economics, and was just wondering...lol many of my friends have gone to Northwestern and I know it's a good school, but I had just not heard of Northwestern and economics together before.</p>
<p>With Penn...if you go to Wharton you can get a B.S. in economics...what's the difference between this and the B.A. from the college of arts and sciences? is it simply that Wharton's degree is more business-oriented? which degree would be better suited for someone who wanted to also study for an advanced degree in econ?</p>
<p>"Nodnard, Columbia's Econ program is not quite as good as Northwestern's. "</p>
<p>I'm surprised. It seems like quite a few Nobel Prize winners teach at Columbia.</p>
<p>"With Penn...if you go to Wharton you can get a B.S. in economics...what's the difference between this and the B.A. from the college of arts and sciences? "</p>
<p>The B.S. in Econ is the name of the degree, whether you concentrate in Real Estate or Finance or Managment, etc....but you actually take very few economics courses. It's not close to a real econ degree in terms of breadth or depth in economics itself.</p>
<p>to back up nodnard...this year's Nobel Prize in Economics went to Edmund Phelps of Columbia...he got it for his "expectations-augmented Phillips Curve"</p>
<p>Wesleyan and Wellesley are among the best, if not the best, for Economics at an LAC. Wes also has Economics-Mathematics, which is great for someone like me that wants to study the two disciplines equally.</p>
<p>Chicago and MIT have powerful graduate Economics programs that make their undergrad programs excellent as well.</p>
<p>There are two ways to answer the question. One is to list colleges that maximize employability and/or the chances of admission to grad school, and the other is to list colleges that best teach their students to understand the economy.</p>
<p>Other posters have already supplied the first answer. As for the second, I doubt that anyone really knows... </p>
<p>"Economics courses at the undergraduate level typically place little-to-no emphasis on learning the tools of economic science, instead focusing on teaching algebraic simplifications of actual economic work, and then assigning problem sets in which students plug in values for the different variables. It is good practice, perhaps, for a few specific mathematical techniques, namely constrained maximization, but it is hardly a training in how to think creatively about dealing with the economy. The bedrock of economics as it is taught is not the subject matter the economy or even the approach the neoclassical school of thought but ideology, as Stiglitz said. The repetition of simplified and vulgarized economic conclusions is the main task of introductory, intermediate, and even some advanced economics courses, and little else sticks with the students." -Ben Solarz and Stanley Alcorn of Yale</p>
<p>Wow...NO ONE mentioned Princeton? I'd say in Econ, it's probably a three way tie between Harvard, Princeton, and UChicago.</p>
<p>Nobel prizes have little if anything to do with the quality of the education one can receive at a school.</p>
<p>
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Wow...NO ONE mentioned Princeton? I'd say in Econ, it's probably a three way tie between Harvard, Princeton, and UChicago.
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Perhaps not a direct mention, but it's included in my link in post #5. :rolleyes:</p>