<p>Hi
I want to do a major in economics. I am really confused about these rankings. I talked with someone from macalester he told me that we have one of the best economics deparment in the USA(I have been told that it is ranked 7th) and also heard that six of the seniors who will graduate with a degree in economics have already received job offers +100,000$. But the question is usually carleton is ranked higher. What is employment levels in Carleton ? does its economics deparment better than Macalester ? What I should do ? My other options are Grinnell and brandeis. Does any of these two as good as Carleton? by the way I am an int. srudent.</p>
<p>macalester Econ major</p>
<p>Ok first off I am pretty sure singuy just looks around for people choosing between Carleton and somewhere else and tells them to go somewhere else. Maybe he is bitter from a rejection, maybe he is an Ole, we may never know. Anyway, when it comes to choosing between the two for econ you can't really go wrong. both have good econ departments, as far as I know. I am not sure about Macalester seeing as I never applied there. I can tell you that the econ department does publish research here at Carleton. Also from what I can tell the starting average salary for most is about 55k+bonuses. I am skeptical to the 100k statistic. My sister garduated from Swarthmore , which has a better econ department than both carleton and Mac, with a 4.0 and she is making far less than that as a starting salary. Anyway my advice is to go to the campus you liked best look for things outside of how good the departments are because in the end they are close enough (not to say that I believe that Macs econ department is better :) ) for it really to matter which college you choose. Make the choice on you feeling of where you will be happier, because there is no area of study (except for environmental science) where I feel that these two schools do not match up well.</p>
<p>Econ majors do very well at Carleton, whether they try to get jobs or go on to graduate school. I knew four econ majors; two are in law school (one at GW, one at Yale), one is in Yale's PhD program and another is working for an investment bank in San Francisco. The Chicago office of Goldman Sachs also hires at least one every year. So you really don't have to worry about that. </p>
<p>I think those rankings/figures are probably made up. I mean, who ranks undergraduate econ departments? Certainly nobody relevant has heard of whatever obscure ranking they might have been talking about.</p>
<p>The 100 K statistic is true. There was a press release about it on Mac's website a couple of weeks ago, but unfortunately the website seems to be getting worse by the day and I can't find it there now. Basically 6 econ seniors had secured jobs (as of a month ago) that would pay 100,000 dollars the first year, which is 10% of the graduating majors. Basically, Macalester's econ department is very very good.
I don't know anything about Carleton's economics department. It's not as highly ranked as Macalester's, but Carleton is ranked better overall, which means I'm sure you'd be able to do well with an econ degree from either place.
Oh, the rankings are here. Macalester is 7th in pages published per professor:
<a href="http://econ.claremontmckenna.edu/rankings.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://econ.claremontmckenna.edu/rankings.pdf</a></p>
<p>Realistically, that kind of ranking is meaningless. If you want to go to a school where the faculty are publishing a lot, don't go to a LAC.</p>
<p>it sounds like you want to be in minnesota, so why not just go to the U of M? If I were hiring someone to make financial decisions for my company, why would I take someone who paid three times what they needed to for college because a magazine told them to? These rankings have you all by the balls and it's a little sad. If you're really going to be an econ major, act like it and make the most rational decision.</p>
<p>ben.. it's really not that simple.
with the way that financial aid works at good liberal arts colleges, one could end up paying more for minnesota than, say, carleton (if they were from a lower class family). if they're well-to-do, it's up to the to make the (rational) decision of whether ot not to pay more for a more intimate, in-depth education. and you definitely get what you pay for at carleton.</p>
<p>the 100k statistic is true.. that's the kind of salary that you get as a 1st year investment bank analyst. the average of 55k is also around right.
the only way to get above 100k straight out of college from an econ degree is to go into mathematical finance or investment banking, or simply have some damn good connections (i.e, family)</p>
<p>the 4.0 from swarthmore simply chose a different route whatever floats her boat. the truth is, i-banking is not a fun job.. you work, literally, all the time.</p>
<p>I have enrolled to carleton. Simply it is more selective. Both of them looked quite similar so I looked at the selectivity. I hope I have made the right decision. I beleive that after graduating from a more selective college everywhere (grad school, phd or getting a job in IB etc..) will be more attainable.</p>