Econ Major from UMD

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>I'm currently a sophomore at UMD college park. I just declared Econ as my major.</p>

<p>My question is really about what kind of job opportunities I can expect with this degree and my resume. Unfortunately I was unaware of the need (until now), and the advising here is so bad, that I took elementary calculus I instead of regular calculus I (both fulfill the econ math requirement), and therefore cannot continue the Calc/math sequence. While my econ major does require some econ classes that focus on specific major related aspects of calculus, statistics and the like - they are not "math" classes and I cannot declare a math minor as I now realize would be the ideal move in order to set me apart from other job applicants, allow me graduate school opportunities, and even set me up for taking actuarial exams if I chose to.</p>

<p>I expect to graduate from UMD with a GPA somewhere around a 3.5. This summer I completed an internship as a Manufacturing Engineer at Pratt & Whitney. The summer of 2012 I will be studying abroad in New Zealand at University of Otago (their Fall semester starts in July and ends in November), and then the summer of 2013 I will be applying for a business related internship.</p>

<p>So if all goes well I will have graduated from UMD with a BA in Economics, a GPA of 3.5, and a resume that includes two internships and study abroad experience in New Zealand. What kind of job opportunities can I expect with this resume? I know I should have taken the full math sequence, but will having just taken Calc I along with several economics courses that include aspects of higher level math (including a two course econometrics sequence) suffice ? I'm really open to any job in the business world. Pay is important, but obviously I'd like to do something I enjoy. This includes anything dealing with microeconomics, finance, consulting, etc.</p>

2

<p>Math is rarely needed for jobs in finance or consulting. When it is, it requires much more than just 3 semesters of calculus. Think Stochastic calculus, time series analysis, partial differential equations, …
You should be fine in either of those two areas.</p>

<p>If you go to grad school in economics, you generally need a lot more math (top phd programs generally recommend 3 semesters of calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, 2 semesters of real analysis and 2 semesters of statistics/probability).
This would be more math than a typical minor requires.</p>

3

<p>I should have been more specific. By math sequence I meant more than just three semesters of Calc. Ideally I would have minored in Actuarial Mathematics which at UMD includes Calc I-III, prob & stats I-II, and linear algebra. Either way it’s too late for this anyway, so it’s beside the point.</p>

<p>You say math is rarely needed for jobs in finance or consulting? In that case, what caliber of job can I expect to get? I know UMD isn’t a top tier school so I can’t expect to be at Boston Consulting or anything, but I’m still trying to compete for the best position I possibly can.</p>