<p>Looking to double major in engineering and business at Columbia next year. I'm currently in the Fu Foundation for electrical engineering, but want to also get a degree in a business field (economics perhaps?). Any advice on how to do so, what type of business field would be most beneficial (strongest at Columbia?), and how difficult/long the process would be? Also, are AP credits worth anything at Columbia? Thanks for the input.</p>
<p>the only thing that you can look into is the combined plan program 4-1 with columbia college, where in first 4 years you’ll complete your EE major and then in the next year you will complete your economics major at the college. But I personally feel that is redundant to pursue. You can learn as much economics as you want by taking courses in college while being an EE major, perhaps complete the Econ minor which is almost as comprehensive as the major itself.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m looking for some versatility with career plans. I’m not exactly sure whether I want to head into the engineering or business field yet, so I think having two degrees would be useful. Would a minor in economics be enough to secure a job in business?</p>
<p>brian many students in engineering are able to get jobs in business, but business is a broad term. do you mean finance? do you mean marketing? do you mean start-ups?</p>
<p>the first thing to know is that economics is not necessary to work in finance or any of the above.</p>
<p>the most important thing to work in finance is to intern in finance your junior summer. beyond that, achieve a high gpa, learn how to network, impress in interviews.</p>
<p>majoring really only matters for two reasons: 1) skill set, 2) if you want to pursue further academic study in the subject. by skill set i mean, a set of tools to think about the world. if you are an engineer your tools will include- math, physics, computer science, and from an EE perspective you will have an even even stronger toolkit around specific engineering skills. this latter EE perspective means that let’s say you want to work for a consulting firm that does tech consulting, you’d be one of the first people considered because you actually know what goes into the hardware. </p>
<p>on the converse, economics by itself gives you some math, some particular understanding of economic modeling (most of which you wont do in most business things, and enough of which you could learn just by taking select courses in let’s say econometrics - which you take for the minor in seas - and then more b-school classes like accounting and finance), and a social scientific way to think about the world that is often reductionist. but since you can get most of the modeling work through the minor, EE + a minor in economics is more than sufficient from the skillset angle to be prepared for a career in business.</p>
<p>truth be told, especially coming from columbia, your options are already very flexible. sure you have to enjoy your engineering courses and want to study them - at times without any real future need, as an english student who becomes a banker must think about shakespeare. this means you have to want to study engineering, but at columbia you don’t have to need to want to be an engineer. and many students present and past have gone to wall street from engineering. it means you need to clearly see some classes as improving your skills, and others as just things that you will take for pleasure. it is for this reason the core at columbia is great - often there is no reason for the courses outside of your own personal edification. it helps you relax and not take school TOO seriously.</p>
<p>as an academic frame, the only advantage to major in economics is if you realize that you just don’t think of economics for the skills, but you actually want to become an economist. becoming an economist means you need to do research as an undergraduate, form close relationships with professors, etc. in this case, supposing, you go to columbia, transferring schools is pretty easy. so long as you mention in your transfer request that you want an academic future in the subject and have the application and experience to prove that.</p>
<p>i should return to one thought: once you complete the things you want from a skill or academic frame, use your time wherever you go to explore different disciplines and different ways of doing things. it will only make you smarter, nimbler and more able to talk to folks from different perspectives.</p>