<p>Well there’s nothing WRONG with it, and people should do what they’re passionate about, that much I’ve always supported. However, I really do think someone going to MIT and doing economics should at least be open to, for instance, trying out some quality advanced math that could be very useful in reading about economics. I have friends who just cringe when I suggest they try to learn a little measure theory to get into some stuff that they could find cool in the economics realm – plainly just not math people; they don’t even give it a chance. Now I cringe at the mention of measure theory as well, because it’s not within my favored realm of mathematical study (having actually had experience), so that’s different – what I mean is that I’d hope people would be more open to examining how some more traditionally scientific/mathematical material might complement their courses of study. </p>
<p>Likely, however, these courses of study like architecture, economics, etc are actually done in a more mathematically/scientifically rigorous fashion than at other schools, so that in and of itself satisfies me to a large extent.</p>