Econ major through the business school vs through CAS

Colleges and Universities A-Z Villanova University
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I have noticed that Villanova offers two economics majors: One through the college of arts/sciences, and if the school has it, there is often another economics major through the business school.</p>

<p>I do not want to major in something technical/pre-professional (finance, marketing, etc), however, I would like to major in economics. What would the core differences be between the two programs (through CAS and through VSB)? I appreciate the broader education that would come from majoring in CAS economics, but I think having a degree from the business school would be more marketable to employers.</p>

<p>Please give me advice as to which major you think would suit my wants/needs, and your personal opinion on the pros/cons of each.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Hi gtho, </p>

<p>I am a new graduate of VSB, so I have plenty of friends who have taken either of those options. As far as the programs go, the Economics degrees are the same – they have the same required Economics courses, the same faculty, and access to similar resources. </p>

<p>The main differences between the program lie in the non-Economics required courses. If you are in the business school, you will be taking more “practical” courses, such as introductory finance and operations, whereas in CLAS there would obviously be more bias towards the liberal arts (philosophy, political science, etc.). </p>

<p>As far as pros and cons go for you, here are some things I would consider if I were in your shoes:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Those non-Economics classes–if you don’t want to study the technical areas, then the business school may not be for you. Keep in mind that there are plenty of opportunities to go beyond your core classes however (for example, I was a finance and accounting major, but took many unnecessary classes in philosophy, economics, etc. out of pure interest).</p></li>
<li><p>As far as careers go, I don’t think that the marketability between the two degrees differs too much (it really depends on what you hope to do). I have had some friends from the VSB economics program say that they were grateful to have some background business knowledge which have helped them in their internships and careers, but I don’t think lacking it would hurt too much. On the other hand, if you’re more interest in going into real economics, or have an interest in politics, CLAS may be better because you can dual major much more easily within CLAS than between CLAS and VSB. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>The one main difference in careers might be the Clay Center (VSB’s own career center). Although the campus wide resources and career center are good, the business school has its own which is ranked top in the country for getting grads where they want to go. All the staff there are terrific and so willing to help, and it’s really nice to have the career center right in the business school (the general career center is a bit further away). Though CLAS econ majors still do great, some people may think having the Clay Center is worth going VSB.</p>

<ol>
<li>VSB has a really strong “pride” associated with it. This one is much more subjective, and some people view it as a turn off, but there really is a ton of pride among VSB members. Though it’s not tribal by any means, and I have tons of friends from all the schools, for me it was nice having that more tightknit community of VSB-ers who loved being in the business school.</li>
</ol>

<p>Hopefully that helps you in your decision a bit. If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out!</p>

3

<p>Basically what moranges said. The required econ courses are the same, CLAS and VSB econ majors are even in the same econ classes together. The core requirements outside of the actual major requirements are what differs. If you prefer diversifying your areas of study and taking a variety of liberal arts courses, it’ll be better to major in Econ through CLAS. The VSB core requirements are all business oriented courses with only a few required liberal arts course- many students prefer this as the VSB core is perceived to be “easier” than the CLAS core (The “easiness” of either path depends greatly on the professors you get, it’s really a crapshoot for both, but in this regard, VSB econ may be only slightly easier because a lot of the liberal arts and humanities profs have sticks up their ass, while VSB profs are a lot less tense).</p>

<p>The main advantage of CLAS Econ is the ease at which you can double major, a double major with degrees in Econ and Math or Computer Science will probably get a job anywhere they want, it’s impossible to do this with VSB Econ- you can only double major with another VSB discipline, which doesn’t really help tremendously</p>

<p>The main advantage of VSB Econ is the prestige and networking opportunities associated with VSB. </p>