Econ grad school ...should i finish my major in CS?

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm currently a junior CS and economics major who is thinking about going to econ grad school. I've taken up to multivariable calculus and mathematical statistics for math with okish (B) grades. I've heard that econ grad schools really like to see math. Besides requirements for my double major, I'd only have 2 class slots left. </p>

<p>My goal is to get into top econ grad schools. Should I drop my CS major (3 classes away) in order to take more math classes or pick up a math major? Or is it ok if I just take a couple more math classes and focus on doing econ research next summer? Would my extended experience with CS count as much as math classes or would it not matter beyond knowing basic programming?</p>

<p>For my work experience, I've done tech internships for the past two summers at Google and Facebook, and I find that although I enjoy studying CS, software engineering isn't my cup of tea.</p>

2

<p>If you’ve taken up to multivariable calculus and mathematical statistics, then you’ve satisfied most of the math classes that economics departments like to see. The other other class that you probably should take is real analysis. Differential equations is also usually suggested, but I don’t think it’s as crucial as real analysis (not my field; I’m just going by what others have told me about econ). So if you have two more class slots, you can take real analysis in one, and perhaps diff EQ in the other.</p>

<p>I don’t think the extended CS experience would “count” as much as advanced math classes unless you had an interest in doing some kind of heavy computational work in your economics degree. However, a computer science major implies some level of advanced quantitative skill, so it’s not a bad thing.</p>