Degree of Difficulty: Economics vs. Finance vs Accounting

<p>Which of these majors provides the best job prospects? Also, keeping in mind that I plan to attend law school, which of these is the easiest major? I want to keep my GPA up. I am not much of a math person either. I am confident that I can pull out decent enough grades in math classes, but I would not enjoy it very much. Any input is greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>1) ‘Ease’ is to the individual. One isn’t universally considered ‘easy’ or ‘hard’.
2) Law schools don’t care what your major is
3) They all require a fairly healthy dose of math
4) Why are you limited your major to those choices?</p>

<p>Bump…</p>

<p>I second what blueapple says. You want the best of something, yet you are not willing to work for it…What’s the logic here?? What you are asking is the easiest major with best job prospects. Is there such thing as that?</p>

<p>Haha, that’s not what I meant. They were two separate questions: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Which degree offers best job prospects? </p></li>
<li><p>Which one is considered easiest? Which one is considered the most intellectually challenging? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>I am definitely willing to work hard (I just want to enjoy my major too). Just doing a little research one each of these majors and wanted some useful insight. Hopefully that clears up any confusion about the original question…</p>

<p>If your set on business undergrad then becoming a certified public accountant, coupled with a law degree to follow, is very strong…</p>

<p>It depends on who you are, and the school/teacher, but many undergrad business majors have the most difficulty with finance classes.</p>

<p>Yeah, the JD/CPA combo would be really nice, especially if I go into corporate law. Accounting math is apparently not too bad (simple algebra at worst). I really like economic theory, but some of higher level math doesn’t get me excited. Is it necessary (or strongly recommended) that I study business in my undergrad if I want to do corporate or tax law? Will it help substantially?</p>

<p>Difficulty level of major and its job outlook are very often inversely proportional. Think about it from the perspective of supply and demand. </p>

<p>Assuming equal candidates, I would argue that accounting has the best job prospects. Accountants are needed everywhere, its a difficult and dry academic discipline, and the field is relatively well insulated from macroeconomic events (recessions, etc).</p>

<p>This really depends on the individual. Mathematical majors like finance, or logical majors like economics, can be really difficult for some and cake for others. I know people that struggle to get Cs in economics courses I easily ace but they make much better grades than I do in Accounting. Luckily you will likely have to take lower level Accounting, Econ, and Fin courses as part of a business major so you can see which one you prefer.</p>

<p>In terms of best job prospects I would put them in the order of 1. Accounting 2. Finance 3. Economics. Accounting is usually considered the best business degree because of its versatility. With an accounting degree you can land finance jobs, but it doesn’t work the other way around. The accounting job market is also really strong right now where as finance has been hurting, yet now recovering, post - 2008. Economics is by far the worst of the 3 all things being equal. If you go to a school known for their econ program then of course this changes but you generally wont get a job in economics unless you attend graduate school and get a masters/phd</p>

<p>In terms of difficulty this also depends on the university. I noticed a KY in your username so I can shed some light if you are going to University of Kentucky this year. Accounting is the most difficult, but major accounting firms recruit heavily out of UK so with the right grades (3.5 gpa+) it is possible to get a good job. Economics is probably the 2nd most difficult followed by finance. A finance degree at UK is relatively easy to earn since you only need to take 4 upper level FIN courses and most of the pre-req’s are shared with Econ/Accounting. If you want to wow potential employers and are up to the task then finance works in as a great double major for only a semester of hard work</p>

<p>If law school is your goal then economics is probably best. Econ majors typically score really high on the LSAT only behind philosophy majors. And it is possible to obtain a great GPA in economics even though some of the courses are hard.</p>

<p>As stated above the difficulty really depends on the individual. With the right GPA, experience, and involvement a good job is possible for all 3</p>

It’s so hard to choose. I want to go to law school as well. I’ve taken out business administration, because I’m looking at the aspect of what if law school doesn’t work financially, etcetera, I have a career to fall back on, seems BA isn’t in high demand upon researching. I’m not that good at math and know nothing of calculus at all, so it ought about business economics but as we’ll taken that out of the equation. My two possible choices is ACCOUNTING AND OR PSYCHOLOGY. LSAT requires a lot of critical thinking, problem solving and writing skills. So if either or offers none or only some classes I the side could be applicable. I’m so confused!

@msjanetteresa This post is from 2012. I think the OP has figured it out his/her path by now. If you have a different question it would be best to start a new thread.