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I interviewed with a lot of corporate banks my senior year and I confessed to one HR person that I didn't feel like an economist or a banker. Were they really interested in me when I'd had one Money & Banking course and was a generalist? She said they didn't expect me to know banking; that's what the first year of training was about, so they could teach me what they wanted me to know. She said the key thing was that they knew I was smart, analytic, and knew how to learn.
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The latter skills are important for almost any job you may seek. If you're interested in economic consulting or the like, a variety of additional skills can also be important: research, writing, teamwork, international experience, math and statistics, and advanced skills with spreadsheets.</p>
<p>I was accepted into CAS with plans of majoring in economics. I was told by a student there (though they could be wrong), that I only need to take three more classes, to recieve a dual major in economics and finance. And thus I was thinking ok, well that seems to be the way to go. But then I notice people here are saying that it's the skills you learn as an undergraduate, that make you a good canidate for a job. Now I've always had an interest in history, and I'm wondering if perhaps a major in Economics and a minor in History would be the way to go. What would I be better off with?</p>
<p>By all means get as broad an education as you can as an undergrad -- and history is a great minor. If you decide later on to make a career with a finance or some other economic focus, you can get an MBA after you have some work experience. </p>
<p>I would also emphasize that you should make sure that you get some "world" experience, such as through study abroad (my son spent his junior year abroad); and you shouldn't let trying to satisfy all the formal "requirements" of what might be two majors get in the way of this or your broader education.</p>
<p>(I think for my son, actually majoring in economics has been more directly beneficial to his current work doing economic and statistical analysis of baseball than to his job in economic consulting (which he did for a few years after graduation), for which the general skills I mentioned above were very relevant. Actually, those general skills are extremely relevant to his current work as well.)</p>
<p>mackinaw, speaking for my Son, if economics can lead to a job where he can actually make money analyzing baseball then the decision's been made. :)</p>
<p>I'm an economics major, partway through my second year. I didn't anticipate it (went to school thinking political science) and some days I have my doubts. The one thing I have found is that at my school, the economics department prides itself on grade deflation, which is going to be difficult when I go to apply to law school. However, the courses seem to be filled with the most driven students, and its always fun and challenging. I would suggest, try an economics course, see how you feel about the course and the professor and the department, and put off making a decision about major until you've taken enough courses to really make a decision (usually beginning or middle of sophomore year)</p>
<p>iderochi, don't tell him that a lot of people can make a lot of money analyzing and writing about baseball. But some do make a career out of it, some have "part time" jobs doing this, and a whole lot just do it for fun. In that second category, you'll find the writers/analysts for Baseball Prospectus, which is where my son does his baseball stuff (<a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.baseballprospectus.com</a> ).</p>
<p>Would a dual major in economics and entrepreneurship be the way to go? I'm just worried that my GPA would be rather low if I plan on going to say law school, or even a masters program. I excel in entrepreneurship, in fact I currently have my own company, and I'm currently organizing a charity 5k run/walk, with over 800 people already signed up to run. Entrepreneurship is a major I find that I could get a high GPA in, and be a major that I enjoy. It's just that I've always had second thoughts about majoring in business as an undergraduate student.</p>
<p>"mackinaw, speaking for my Son, if economics can lead to a job where he can actually make money analyzing baseball then the decision's been made."</p>
<p>I can't help but second that opinion! Thanks Mackinaw for sharing! My S is also thinking about majoring in Econ. I keep telling him (and hoping) that all his skill in choosing and managing fantasy sports teams should translate somehow to the business world!</p>
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I keep telling him (and hoping) that all his skill in choosing and managing fantasy sports teams should translate somehow to the business world!
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Let me tell you a bit more. My son started with fantasy baseball (Scoresheet) when he was about 10. He had always been interested in numbers, and in baseball. Becoming a "manager" of his own team required him to teach himself to download information from the Internet, to use spreadsheets, to do analyses of various kinds. He came to me when he was about 11 to ask whether the size of the stadium mattered to annual attendance, and so we did a little multiple regression analysis to get the answer: No.</p>
<p>Where I'm going with this is that the fantasy baseball helped him in systematic and strategic thinking, research, spreadsheets (notice these are some of the skills I listed above). And when he took his first job after college this all came into play. Of course he did learn something in his classes (including heavy duty math for UChicago econ majors). And during college he earned some cash as a Scoresheet expert analyst for BaseballHQ (~$50 per article). And so he kept up his interest in baseball analysis, while also improving his writing (another of those skills I mentioned). He continued to do some of this when he started his first post-college job. And when he decided ultimately not to continue in the employment direction he had taken with his first job, he had already been working on a forecasting system for hitters and pitchers, which he took to Baseball Prospectus, who adopted the system and brought him on as a writer/analyst. As I implied earlier, this does not pay a substantial salary, but he has supplemented it quite well by drawing on his skills in strategy and probability in another way: poker (don't tell your son about that, though I imagine he will try his hand at it at some point -- but I read that some 93% of all players are net losers!). But I see his writing/analysis, mainly but not necessarily only about baseball, as likely to define his future career.</p>
<p>Mackinaw--I didn't want to hijack this thread...but thanks for giving me those details. My son spends way too much time analyzing stats etc., for baseball, football, basketball (whatever is in season). I told him that I imagined those skills would transfer well to investment banking, analyzing trends etc. I'm going to pass your note onto him just so he can see the possibilities!</p>
<p>"He came to me when he was about 11 to ask whether the size of the stadium mattered to annual attendance, and so we did a little multiple regression analysis to get the answer: No."</p>
<p>Multiple regression at 11 and four years at Chicago ... I'd say that he must be a very well prepared baseball statistician/writer. </p>
<p>And who said that kids' dreams do not come true!</p>
<p>How does Yale's undergrad economics compare to Stanford's.</p>
<p>Can anyone who has experience with both provide information about each one? Which one will i get smaller classes taught by actualy professors, not TA's.</p>