<p>Terp, if it’s any consolation, I’m wary of students who are too locked in too early into what they think they want to do. Take as much quant stuff as you can in college and take a variety of non-Econ/Gov/Math stuff along the way. If you’re still completely at sea toward the end of your junior year in college, then you can maybe <em>start</em> to panic. Be aggressive in applying for internships while you’re in college…even negative information is useful and you may discover some unexpected joy in doing a job you hadn’t considered.</p>
<p>The most damning thing I’ve heard someone say about undergrad biz degrees is “they know nothing of lasting significance.”</p>
<p>===
SA: my D is a research assistant for federal tax and budget policy for a major think tank. It was the only job she applied for. She was invited to apply. She loves it. And she is so exceedingly lucky…something I know and she knows. Otoh, she put herself into some positions where luck could find her.</p>
<p>When in college, one should try to pursue studies that not only fulfill his/her interests, but also pursue studies that actually help him/her gain employment upon graduation. </p>
<p>For an average economics major, they found that they enjoyed the subject, but have little interest in a PhD. For them, a business degree would probably have been better. While it varies from school to school, usually business schools have better recruiting and better connections. All of that helps when applying for jobs. If both majors are viewed as equal, might as well go with the better name and better recruiting. You can take some upper level econ courses if you really want to gain that background and take the liberal arts courses you want to gain that background. </p>
<p>If you have other goals (med school, PhD, etc.) an econ degree might be better. Those paths require more preparation in sciences and math, which a business major might not allow enough room for. However, most econ majors out there are not interested in med school or getting a PhD.</p>
<p>This is coming from a person who chose to study economics. If I seriously wanted to puruse business at undergrad I could have taken the necessary courses to transfer into my business school. I acknowledge that the business degree would have been better for me getting jobs right out of undergrad. However, I want to pursue graduate school in economics and the extra math, research, and other stuff would be too tough with a business major.
I’d say this is true of business school students at my college, but they are in great posiitons to get some of the highest paying jobs right out of undergrad in the country (75k+, up to 100k in a good economy).</p>
<p>For UMD, I am from the state and almost went to UMCP. If you are deciding between econ and business and don’t think you’ll want to puruse a PhD, go with business and if you really want to get a double major in economics. The business school will make you more competitive for jobs upon graduation. You have an idea for what you want to do which is great. A business degree will allow you to do those things too, but gives you a few more opportunities if you change your mind.<br>
If you want the best opportunities upon graduation, major in engineering There are just more opportunities. If you have the quntitative abilities to do economics you should be fine doing engineering. With a degree in engineering and some economics courses you’re probably just as competitive as an average economics major for the jobs an average econ major goes for. However, you are also able to apply to jobs only open to engineers. In the DC area there are lots of defense contractors who hire engineers from CP.</p>
<p>Many top schools and Ivies don’t have business degrees for undergrads, and at these places, an Econ degree is often indeed the best route for students who want to pursue banking/finance/consulting after graduation.</p>
<p>^that is the case for ~20-50 schools out there max. However, for the average student the college has econ and business. It is generally better to major in business in those situations. At schools without business, it’s also usually better to major in engineering or math with minors in econ than majors in econ.</p>
<p>^ What about the people who don’t have the skin of an Engineer or the skills for math? What about those who are more interested in the social aspect of economics?</p>
<p>^Doesn’t intermediate micro and macro require a decent amount of calc III and metrics, game theory and other upper level courses require linear algebra? Thats just one PDE course away from being the same math as an engineering major. Maybe thats just the case because I go to a top 10 econ school.</p>
<p>People interested in econ who do engineering would probably major in Industrial Engineering or OR instead of something like EE or MechE. Thats only if you want the best employment opportunities. A BA in econ can give you some decent opportunities out of school, but what I thought this thread was going for was the job opportunities of business vs econ.</p>
<p>Ouch, kmzizzle…then again, isn’t that every other entry level job? I’m not dead set on Management Consulting…I read about it on the Collegeboard site and it seemed pretty cool and it sounds like something I’d enjoy and be good at.</p>
<p>Venkat, ya I think it depends on the college. I know UMD only recommends you take the advanced Math classes…Bucknell doesn’t even require you take econometrics…do you think I’d be fine with UMD?</p>
<p>Venkat int.Econ does have calc but you have to understand that some people are more into teh political/social side of economics than in the quantitative aspect of it. They take interm. because they have too. Some of them are more into the social aspect of economics, some of them want to work in fields like , economic welfare, economic/human development. Although you can use whatever degree you have to contribute to the development of society but I can hardly imagine someone who wanted to study economics because they want to (sarcastic) save the world and the poor having fun in a class where a+b=c.</p>
<p>Doing something does not mean that you like it or that you are good at it. Some kids, just can’t wait to pass intermediate econ with a C, then they can move on to international economics and all the upper level classes that focus on the social aspect of econ.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the OP was challenging a ba in Econ VS a BA in Biz. I think that this thread is about opportunities that other majors can offer ( minus econ). The OP says says “don’t get a BA in econ” to me it means , get a BA in anything that can feed you and open opportunities for job ( It doe snot matter what it is , as long as it is not econ.) It does not necessary have to be a degree in Business . I guess that the people who started posting about Business did so because it is one of the closest major to econ</p>
<p>yelena, I guess I’m in a different group because I can’t understand econ without all the math. I’ve only gone through intermediate econ and can’t understand how people can stomach econ without heavy math. Most people I know who hated the math in intermediate switched to poly sci, international relations, history (with an economics history concentration) and other social science/humanity majors.</p>
<p>The OP’s only posts were saying not to major in econ. Nothing more. The only thing to infer from that is the OP couldn’t get a job. Either that or average schools suck at teaching econ and its just not worth it. I guess people ran with the former rather than the latter.</p>
<p>You pretty much hit the nail on the head lol. I had to decide on a major my sophomore year, and if I wanted to graduate on time I was either going to have to transfer to a satellite campus and take business courses there for Finance/Accounting, or after talking to an advisor, stay there and major in Econ. The advisor told me how good employment perspectives were for Econ majors there, so I went for it. If I were to apply to the business school there it would have been another year in school and I was already a year behind. Needless to say, recruiting was horrible for me, and the econ department did little to nothing to help. Last year when I was searching, I was told my resume was strong, but maybe I should pursue my MBA after I graduate.</p>
<p>I think it does boil down to, if your school has a Business school, you’re better off majoring in something there if you’re an average student looking for a job in the business world.</p>
<p>Yep Venkat, I get what you mean. Well in my case, I could stomach all the math but I was more interested in the social aspect of econ. I love physics but for some reason, I can’t stand math. So I took the intermediate classes because I had to but I did not like it. </p>
<p>Although I switched to accounting and computer sciences, I still hope that I can do econ in grad school.</p>
<p>By the way, I hate poli sci. </p>
<p>It seems that my brain does not the math but my heart is just interested in the human part of econ.</p>