<p>I go to a large state university that is far from the being the best academic institution in the nation. I was thinking about majoring in applied economics (B.S.), but I was warned against doing so. I was told that majoring in something like economics at a school that is not "prestigious" is probably a mistake. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>It depends on what you want to do with your economics degree. It is true that most of the major thinktanks (Rand, Forbes, Miffler) tend to draw their recruits from major universities such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Chicago. However – here is the rub – most of the people recruited for these top economists job got their not on the strength of their undergrad degree but by obtaining a Masters and/or a Doctorate in Economics from these schools. If this is your career goal, it won’t really matter where you went for undergrad; you can go to a big state school like UCSB for your undergrad (for example) and then apply** to Harvard (for example again!!!) to do your graduate/Masters**/Doctoral work. The prestige in fields like law, economics, etc. is MOST IMPORTANT with your LAST school attended for your highest degree, NOT the first! </p>
<p>I hope that helps!</p>
<p>What can you do with a PhD in economics?</p>
<p>“The prestige in fields like law, economics, etc. is MOST IMPORTANT with your LAST school attended for your highest degree, NOT the first!”</p>
<p>It is true that you can get into a top economics grad program (Harvard, Stanford, etc.) at a top school if you are near the top at your state school, since top econ undergrads at Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, Columbia, etc. seek elite buy-side, investment banking, and management consulting jobs as well as medical and law schools. Not a single econ major (there were quite a few of them) in Phi Beta Kappa when I was in college chose to pursue PhD in economics. Pursue what you want to do, and there is always a way to make it work. Though, the road may not be a smooth one.</p>
<p>Oh, I agree. I was merely talking about those of us who wanted to go work for an economic thinktank. There are al ot of routes open with just a BS/BA/BBA (depending on the school) in Economics, although major thinktanks won’t really hire right out of undergrad since they have their pick of PhDS AND mASTERS.</p>
<p>In general, perceptions of prestige at the undergrad level apply to an institution as a whole, not to specific disciplines. Economics is a core discipline at most universities and strong departments are found at a great many universities. Many state university economics departments rank higher at the graduate level than the economics departments at many so-called “more prestigious” universities. It is very doubtful that you could not get an education in economics at a state university that is as good or better than that at many so-called “more prestigious” universities. </p>
<p>Economics is a good preparation for any number of graduate academic and professional fields, including but not limited to business, public policy, economics, law, etc. If you are not going on to graduate or professional school, it is a good preparation for business, government, etc. A lot depends on what you plan to do with it. If you do plan to go to graduate school in economics, in addition to your GRE scores and GPA, math training is a key factor; for other fields, math training is less of a factor.</p>
<p>You mentioned that you are considering a major in applied economics. I think that could be a very good choice. My understanding of that is that it may focus either on agricultural economics or business economics. (At some schools, there is also a program in consumer economics and financial planning.) I think many students who major in economics would be better off in an applied econ program. Economics departments tends to be rather large in terms of the number of students who major in it. Sometimes, an applied program will be a smaller program, which has certain advantages. At many “more prestigious” universities, an applied program is not offered, though many students who major in economics basically are closet business administration majors.</p>
<p>Thanks guys.My tentative plan as of late is double major in Applied Economics (which at my school is essentially a BA econ degree with more math) and International Studies and then go to grad school for more economics or IR or whatever I feel like in 4-5 years. Do you guys think this is a good double major combo? To me, it seems like it opens up quite a few possibilities as far as grad school/future job-prospects go, but what do I know? I guess I will just have to work super hard so I can go to a better university for my graduate studies. Thanks again, this wonderful forum never ceases to amaze me with its helpfulness.</p>
<p>^That’s a good combination, with the econ part of it being the most important IMO.</p>
<p>Agreed with the above. Econ is a major “on the make” so to speak.</p>
<p>Drakemom, what do you mean by econ being a major “on the make”?</p>
<p>To make yourself competitive in the workforce, I suggest you take as much math as you possibly can.</p>
<p>If you want to get into top econ grad programs, you’ll probably need more math than a normal math major requires.</p>
<p>Here’s a general list of math courses you should take:
Multivariable Calc
Linear Algebra
All the analysis courses you can take - very useful for econ
Statistics
Diff Equations</p>
<p>If you want to show off to grad school adcoms, possibly topology and/or measure theory.</p>
<p>By far the most important factor in admissions, will be recs, so try to get to know your professors well. It’ll help if your rec writers are known in their field.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>If you compare the top economics Phd programs in the nation to the top business schools in terms of competition for entry the economics programs are far more difficult to get into usually. There is more competition from foreign students who are likely going to be more qualified than you will be from a lower ranked school. The economics/IR degree can be good to get into a top program, but you have to essentially have perfect grades. </p>
<p>It is tough to rate masters degrees in economics because a lot of the top programs do not offer a terminal masters degree, and many look down on going to a top program and leaving after you get your masters degree. The assumption is that you were washed out of the program or quit, even if your plan was to get a masters the whole time. You also have to have a ton of advanced math courses with near perfect grades to get accepted to a Harvard, MIT, or Chicago. A better degree for getting into these programs would probably be a math degree with a minor in economics, or an econ w/ a minor in math. </p>
<p>The main reasons it is hard (although definitely not impossible) to get into one of these programs from a lower ranked school is because of the experience and letters of recommendation you need to get in. Most of these schools will leave you competing with people who have extensive research experience. If you go to a non-research school there aren’t as many opportunities for this research experience. For example, my school is one of these schools and there is a page of research opportunities, but because there are not as many professors engaged in research the list of professors needing assistance is pretty much blank. Luckily economics is a major program at my school so there are opportunities, but in my major of political science, or almost any other field that isn’t health related there are no opportunities to get the experience needed to be competitive. You also need very good letters of reference to get into these programs. You are almost required to have letters from professors who have attended top 20 programs, and are known in the field. This is usually very difficult at many schools, but it can be overcome. </p>
<p>If you are just looking for a job after graduation a masters in econ is better than a Phd because the institution doesn’t matter as much. It sounds like this is your plan so that is a major plus for you. I would look at the site:</p>
<p>[PhD</a> in Economics](<a href=“http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/]PhD”>http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/)</p>
<p>It is mostly about Phd programs, but there is a lot of info about the masters programs too. It will also give you an idea about your competition if you go for a top program, although it is skewed a little to the upper end of applicants. </p>
<p>Depending on your goal for employment you might look into a masters degree in statistics. You do pretty much the same thing, but skip the economics theory, and you will probably get paid more. Of course the theory is one of the rewarding things about econ.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful post. I found it a little worrying, but overall informative. I guess I will just have to try to work even harder than I already am. As far as my goals for employment after college I would like to either teach, work in business, or work as an economic foreign service officer. Am I chasing the right degree? How important REALLY is it to go to Chicago, Harvard, MIT, etc. for your PhD? Will a PhD from a good, well-known, but not “elite” school allow me to have an exciting career?</p>
<p>Some useful info on econ grad school:
[Econ</a> Grad School](<a href=“http://www.davidson.edu/academic/economics/foley/gradschool.htm]Econ”>http://www.davidson.edu/academic/economics/foley/gradschool.htm)</p>