Economics at RPI

<p>Any current economics students in RPI...can you comment on your program? My son wants to major in EE but wants to do a minor in economics. Is that possible?</p>

<p>I am not EE major (I am computer systems engineering, but I still know the curriculum of EE). But I know for a fact you can major in EE and minor in Econ with or without AP Credits.</p>

<p>You see RPI has a humanities and social sciences (hass) requirement for engineers that you need to take 3 humanities courses of subject (like philiosophy, writing, comunication) and 2 social sciences(like econ or psychology). Or 3 social sciences of a subject and 2 humanities. In the hass requirement, one needs to do a “depth” requirement. The “depth” requirement is a person has to do a 1000(freshman), 2000(sophomore/junior), 4000(senior) level course. In your case, your son’s depth should be economics.
Then your son has 3 electives already embedded in his curriculum of EE. All engineering majors have 3 free electives in which the student can take whatever he wants. He can fill that with econ courses if he wants. Since he only needs 4 econ courses to minor. Doing a depth in econ and using a free elective in econ fufills that requirement</p>

<p>Hi CSMath, thanks for your reply. That was very helpful. One follow-on question - can he do a dual majorin EE and Econ? How would that work?</p>

<p>Oh boy… dual majoring with econ would be a lot harder… There will definitely be some semesters where he will be absurdly hard credit schedules (as opposed to 16 or 17).
But it is defintely possible. Is your son coming in with any AP credits? because that would help… Otherwise is schedule would be this:</p>

<p>First Year
Fall
First Year Studies Credit Hours: 4
CSCI 1100 - Computer Science I Credit Hours: 4 (If he has AP Computer Science Credit he can place out of this)
ENGR 1100 - Introduction to Engineering Analysis Credit Hours: 4
MATH 1010 - Calculus I Credit Hours: 4 (If he has AP Calc AB credit he can place out of this)</p>

<p>Spring
ECON 1200 - Introductory Economics Credit Hours: 4 (Can get out with AP Micro and Macro credit)
CHEM 1100 - Chemistry I Credit Hours: 4 (Can get out with AP Chem credit)
ENGR 1200 - Engineering Graphics and CAD Credit Hours: 1
MATH 1020 - Calculus II Credit Hours: 4 (Can get out with BC Calc credit)
PHYS 1100 - Physics I Credit Hours: 4 (Can get out with Physics B or Physics C: Mechanics credit)</p>

<p>Second Year
Fall
ECON 2010 - Managerial Economics Credit Hours: 4
Multidisciplinary Elective Credit Hours: 4
MATH 2400 - Introduction to Differential Equations Credit Hours: 4
PHYS 1200 - Physics II Credit Hours: 4 (Can get out with Physics C: E&M credit)
ECON 2010 - Managerial Economics Credit Hours: 4</p>

<p>Spring
ECSE 2010 - Electric Circuits Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2610 - Computer Components and Operations Credit Hours: 4
ENGR 2350 - Embedded Control Credit Hours: 4
MATH 2010 - Multivariable Calculus and Matrix Algebra Credit Hours: 4
Economics Elective Credit Hours: 4</p>

<p>Third Year
Fall
Professional Development II Credit Hours: 2
(See footnotes 1 and 3 below)
ECSE 2050 - Introduction to Electronics Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2410 - Signals and Systems Credit Hours: 3
ENGR 2050 - Introduction to Engineering Design Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2500 - Engineering Probability Credit Hours: 3
Humanities Elective Credit Hours: 4</p>

<p>Spring</p>

<p>ECON 2020 - Intermediate Macroeconomics Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2100 - Fields and Waves I Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2110 - Electrical Energy Systems Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2210 - Microelectronics Technology Credit Hours: 3</p>

<p>Fourth Year
Fall
Laboratory Elective Credit Hours: 3
Design Elective Credit Hours: 3
Restricted Elective Credit Hours: 3 or 4
Restricted Elective 2 Credit Hours: 3 or 4
ECON 4120 - Quantitative Analysis 4
Economics Elective Credit Hours: 4</p>

<p>Spring
Technical Elective Credit Hours: 3-4
ENGR 4010 - Professional Development III Credit Hours: 1
ECON 4570 - Econometrics Credit Hours: 1<br>
Economics Elective Credit Hours: 4
Economics Elective Credit Hours: 4
ECON 4900 - Seminar in Economics Credit Hours: 2 to 4</p>

<p>Thanks CSMath that is some great information. He is coming in with the following:

  • AP Calc BC
  • AP Physics C
  • AP Economics (Micro and Macro)
  • AP Chem
  • AP Stats
  • Multi- variable Calc - but don’t think this is counted as AP</p>

<p>So looks like he could place out of some classes. I am sure he will definetly minor in econ . The dual- major is something I think he will ruminate over.</p>

<p>Oh forgot to ask…how can we get some more info on the econ program? We have read everything the website offers. Will contacting the dept directly give us unbiased info?</p>

<p>Your son should use all his credit, then I can say the double major is definetely doable. (Despite what everyone says, USE YOUR CALCULUS AND PHYSICS CREDIT) Calculus is calculus, if he got a 4 or 5 in BC Calc skip Calc I and Calc II. I only had Calc I credit because I took Calc AB. But if I had credit for Calc II, I would have definetely used it cause Calc II is easy and useless. Your son should go straight to Diff Eq or Multivar.
And for Physics, tell your son to not retake Physics I, he’ll learn all the physics you will need for Intro to Engineering Analysis anyway, but if your son is bad or doesn’t get some physics II material (Electricity and Magnetism) then he can retake that class.</p>

<p>So if he uses all his credits, RPI will give him credit for AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Micro and Macro (Both macro and micro will give him the ability to place out of intro to econ), and AP Chem . Which is a total of 24 credits. The double major is definitely doable now. His schedule would look more like this:</p>

<p>First Year
Fall
First Year Studies Credit Hours: 4
MATH 2010 - Multivariable Calculus and Matrix Algebra Credit Hours: 4
ENGR 1100 - Introduction to Engineering Analysis Credit Hours: 4
ENGR 1200 - Engineering Graphics and CAD Credit Hours: 1
ECON 2010 - Managerial Economics Credit Hours: 4
(17 credits) </p>

<p>Spring
CSCI 1100 - Computer Science I Credit Hours: 4
Multidisciplinary Elective Credit Hours: 4
MATH 2400 - Introduction to Differential Equations Credit Hours: 4
ECON 2010 - Managerial Economics Credit Hours: 4
(16 credits)</p>

<p>Second Year
Fall
ECSE 2010 - Electric Circuits Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2610 - Computer Components and Operations Credit Hours: 4
ENGR 2350 - Embedded Control Credit Hours: 4
Economics Elective Credit Hours: 4
(16 credits)</p>

<p>Spring
Professional Development II Credit Hours: 2
ECSE 2050 - Introduction to Electronics Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2410 - Signals and Systems Credit Hours: 3
ENGR 2050 - Introduction to Engineering Design Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2500 - Engineering Probability Credit Hours: 3
(16 credits)</p>

<p>Third Year
Fall
ECON 2020 - Intermediate Macroeconomics Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2100 - Fields and Waves I Credit Hours: 4
ECSE 2110 - Electrical Energy Systems Credit Hours: 4
Humanities Elective Credit Hours: 4
(16 credits)</p>

<p>Spring
Laboratory Elective Credit Hours: 3
Design Elective Credit Hours: 3
Restricted Elective Credit Hours: 3 or 4
ECSE 2210 - Microelectronics Technology Credit Hours: 3
(12 or 13 credits)</p>

<p>Fourth Year
Fall</p>

<p>Restricted Elective 2 Credit Hours: 3 or 4
ECON 4120 - Quantitative Analysis 4
Economics Elective Credit Hours: 4
Technical Elective Credit Hours: 3-4
(14,15, or 16 credits)
Spring</p>

<p>ENGR 4010 - Professional Development III Credit Hours: 1
ECON 4570 - Econometrics Credit Hours: 1<br>
Economics Elective Credit Hours: 4
Economics Elective Credit Hours: 4
ECON 4900 - Seminar in Economics Credit Hours: 2 to 4
(12,13 or 14 credits)</p>

<p>The dual is definetely doable he never needs to overload with 20 credit semesters. He could have schedules as light as 12 and his highest would be 17. If he wanted, he could overload to 21 credits so he could graduate in 3 years if he wanted to because your son is basically coming in with sophomore standing.</p>

<p>And you can get more info on econ here:
[Department</a> of Economics - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)](<a href=“http://www.economics.rpi.edu/]Department”>http://www.economics.rpi.edu/)</p>

<p>Thanks CSMath. Which year are you in? My son has been accepted into Case and we are waiting for RPI’s decision. What is your view on RPI? Can we communicate offline with you?</p>

<p>I am a first year, but I am a semester ahead in AP Credits. So I am technically a second year, and ya Jerseyshor I’ll pm you and you can give me your son’s facebook so we can talk.</p>