<p>Hey everybody, I am in need of help. I am a sophomore at UCSD majoring in economics. I am debating whether I should switch my major to Management Science. I have already completed Math 10 series for my Economics major so switching to Management Science will require me to take Math 20 series. I was thinking about taking Math 20 series anyways even with an Economics major just so it will look good on my resume. I need advice, should I switch my major? Management Science seems a lot harder to study for than an Economics major but it seems like there are better job offers for those who have a B.S. in Management Science. Please give any advice that you can.</p>
<p>Bump this up.</p>
<p>bumping… useful information please!!!</p>
<p>I am a prospective freshman. I just changed my major from economics to management science too. A BS requires more specific classes relating to the major while a BA include more general liberal arts classes too. Therefore, a BS would be “harder” to acquire. I also read somewhere that it will become harder for econ majors to find work in the future (that’s why I switched my major). If you plan on going to grad school though I doubt whether you take econ or ms will matter THAT much. If you were already planning on the Math 20 series, I would say go ahead and switch it (you may even have enough to close to enough to minor in econ right now so that’s a win win).</p>
<p>Management Science is NOT a business/applied/practical degree</p>
<p>Management Science = Operations Research.</p>
<p>If you’re looking to find a non-research oriented job with a single degree, this will be placed in the same plane as Economics. Management Science is very much an academic degree that has a grounding in applied maths, especially differential analysis, stochastic analysis, optimization, and actuarial problem-solving. This is the same degree that many other institutions call “Industrial Engineering”, as seen here [Industrial</a> Engineer](<a href=“Career Search | Career Choices for Me | The Princeton Review”>Career Search | Career Choices for Me | The Princeton Review)</p>
<p>And a degree being harder just because it is a B.S. instead of a B.A. is ridiculous. For degree programs that have this dichotomous distinction, sure (Psychology at UCSD for example), but when only one baccalaureate is offered for any given major, there is no weight placed on the importance of ‘Science’ vs. ‘Art’. All but two of the Math degrees in UCSD (including Joint Math and Econ) are B.A.'s, but I don’t see anyone asserting that they are easier than a Management Science degree (in fact, it’s the Math/Econ majors that suck at Math that drop down TO Management Science because they can’t take it).</p>
<p>If you want the most leverage in securing a job straight out of undergrad, go after Math/Econ. Math (especially applied statistics, which you can get in the MATH18X courses) are in high demand for just about any entry-level and mid-placement job.</p>
<p>Management Science Major (EN26), B.S.</p>
<p>FOCUS OF THE MAJOR</p>
<p>Quantitative major in applied economics with a management focus.
Builds on a set of related quantitative methods for optimal allocation of scarce resources in private and public enterprises.
Covers some of the functional fields of business management; however, the degree is more focused on quantitative methods than a traditional business administration major.
Helps to prepare students for a MBA program.</p>
<p>Straight off UCSD’s website. Apparently the degree includes APPLIED economics and helps prepare students for an MBA. So your first statement is wrong. I’m looking here on the UCSD econ department’s website with required courses. Seems that MS requires more classes. It would seem that a BS in MS is more extensive and therefore harder than a BA in economics so you’re wrong there too. Oh ya, and the econ major only requires that students take the Math 10 series which is EASIER than the Math 20 series MS majors are required to take. </p>
<p>Do some research first before you sound the trumpets. MS and econ would both do fine in securing a job.</p>
<p>Hi, I’ve been reading through this thread and I had a few questions.</p>
<p>Basically, I have an interest in Economics but I was wary of doing it because I was afraid of the job market after I graduated(i.e. what exactly can a Econ major do?)</p>
<p>So from what I’ve gathered Managerial Science is very different than Econ. I’d like to go into finance or marketing(especially the former) - would Managerial Science be a good segway into that career field? Basically how is the job market for graduates with a Managerial Science degree?</p>
<p>If you want a job having to do with finance or marketing, you probably don’t want to major in management science. I’m majoring in MS with future plans to go onto grad school before starting a career. If you haven’t set your mind on UCSD yet, you might want to look into a school that actually offers a finance or marketing degree.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to take the MBA path and want to continue with MS into a career, here is a link I found:
[Operations</a> Research Analysts](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos044.htm]Operations”>http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos044.htm)</p>
<p>I am in the same boat as you, except I’m a freshman right now.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure what I want to specifically do with my life, but I know that I want to study economics and math, and go into a field with that.</p>
<p>Also to JocularMango, I’m looking at the required courses for each major, and the econ major at UCSD is not very different from the MS major. The difference is that MS majors are required to take the Econ 173 series (finance) and the Econ 172 series (Operations Research) instead of the Econ 110 series (macroeconomics) that econ majors are required to take. MS majors are also required to take Econ 4 (financial accounting) but not Econ 2. Econ majors are required to take Econ 1, 2, and 3 but not 4. Econ majors are also not required to take the Math 20 series (only the Math 10 series). Of course the name of the degree implies differences and hiring companies might interpret the majors differently, but if you plan on going to grad school it doesn’t make a difference.</p>
<p>@ itsrichardd</p>
<p>correction - econ majors do not need econ 2.</p>
<p>Econ majors have 5 lower division courses and 13 upper division courses (8 of which are in the core). If you want to graduate with honors, you have to take two more electives, making a total of 15 upper division courses.</p>
<p>MS majors have 7 lower division courses and 15 upper division courses (11 of which are in the core).</p>
<p>So yes, the MS major is a bit more intense in the sense that you have to take more classes, and it is more structured because more courses that are part of the core.</p>
<p>Question: in terms of job opportunities (straight out of undergrad), what is better? Econ, MS, or Math-Econ?</p>
<p>I used to be a Math-Econ major, now I’m a management science major with a math minor (might double major in MS and math, still thinking), and now I’m seriously considering changing back to Math-Econ joint or Econ major with math minor.</p>
<p>People usually drop out of joint math-econ because the math portion of it is really difficult.</p>
<p>So in actuality (and to sum it up bluntly), people drop out of joint math-econ because they suck at math. </p>
<p>FIFY</p>
<p>Correct if I’m wrong, but it looks like the major Managerial Science doesn’t give you much in the job market unless you’re looking to go to grad school right after?</p>
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<p>I can structure an Economics degree to be as or more rigorous than a Management Science degree depending on what I choose as my electives. The mere fact that those two are distinct majors housed within the same department is what my post was concerned over. There is no Econ BA vs Econ BS. Economics is Economics and Management Science is Management Science. If you’re trying to compare them directly, then that’s your fallacy. They both offer flexibility as to what you want to do with a degree, but they were designed as two discrete majors for a reason. One is based more on theoretics and the other is based more on Bayesian models and forecasting. The fact of the matter is you won’t gain any “practical” knowledge like you would at a trade or state school. You learn how to derive and solve mathematical models with both degrees. One is more structured for a more rigorous quantitative approach, but in the end, employers will only care about what knowledge you still retained.</p>
<p>You don’t need any pre-ordained major to look like a strong candidate to many programs. You learn the material you need in B-school IN B-school, and being an Economics or Management Science major will only be of marginal help when it comes to cost/benefit models in firm strategy. Don’t you think there’s a REASON the economics department wants to include “prepared for MBA” in their site? Why wouldn’t they want to recruit starry-eyed sheep into their program? Many students (many of whom were in sections I TA’ed) that were MS majors were in it only because they thought it was equivalent to BA at other schools; those other schools get actual accounting, finance, strategy, marketing, risk management, and HR courses and not just math and econ. When they see that UCSD is endorsing the major as a great preparation for an MBA, people just eat that up. Remember that work experience and professional letters of rec are ultimate in MBA admission. You’re honestly better off being a Bio/Chem or Engineer major if an MBA is your ultimate goal since they’re in high demand for IP development/strategy firms.</p>
<p>Or just do what I did and do Math/Econ and get involved in research and the Honors Program. If you can understand all the math behind the framework you’re working in, you’ll better comprehend real-life situations when you can reduce them to sentential problems. Not only that, you make excellent professional and academic references and learn how economists work and see whether that’s a fit for you. Also, job prospects are hardly ever scarce for people in highly-quantitative fields.</p>
<p>I don’t care how you can “structure” your major, I’m talking about the standard classes required for the major. That being said, MS is more extensive and therefore harder. Second of all, look back in the post; I never said anything about an Economics BS or MS BA major. I said that IN GENERAL, a BS is usually “harder” because it will require more major oriented/specific courses than a BA, which requires that the student take a number of liberal arts classes instead. The MS major includes courses in accounting, finance, and risk management among others. Sure it’s not a traditional management major, but it definitely includes more courses than JUST econ and math (let’s not try to over exaggerate, OK?). And lastly, no one is better off being a Bio/Chem or Engineer major when the goal is BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.</p>
<p>Are you even a student here yet? Names of courses and the actual material you learn are VERY different. The “practicality” of those courses you mentioned are VERY cursory and you’ll be drowning in financial accounting THEORY–NOT PRACTICE.</p>
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<p>You do know job experience is the most important factor into MBA admissions, right? Why should anyone listen to a high school freshman who is asking very basic questions that are common knowledge once you’re in college? Go to any academic counselor at the Career Services Center or in your college advising office if you want to know “how to make 100k+ a year.”</p>
<p>I’m seriously getting annoyed by someone who doesn’t even have a UCSD transcript under their name. If you want to be that easily impressionable by school descriptions of courses without even taking them or hearing firsthand from current and alumni majors, that’s fine. But why the hell are you spewing this crap on a public forum? I have a good 12 Economics courses under my belt (not counting the Math courses needed for the Math/Econ degree), finished the honors programs, and TAed a few courses and know quite a few people who are graduating or have graduated with degrees in Economics, Management Science, and Math/Econ. Until you can even remotely say the same, you just sound like UCSD Econ Department’s parrot.</p>
<p>hey oyama how hard is econ 191ab for the math-econ honors program? i’m thinking about doing the management science “with highest distinction” and i just wanna know how hard it is, so i can see whether i need to take the honors for econ 100 and 120 series.</p>
<p>itsrichardd, calm down dude. Your comments have displayed ignorance about the economics majors at UCSD. And frankly, it’s a little annoying when you offer advice and make authoritative claims when it’s based on misconceptions (regardless of your source). Oyama has tried to answer your questions and correct your misconceptions. And his answers are right.</p>
<p>Also, your comments are quite offensive to gays and others. Please try to communicate with words that will help get your points across without alienating your audience.</p>
<p>I will echo that a BS is not necessarily harder than a BA, econ-math majors who have trouble with the math often switch to management science, management science teaches you how to work with mathematical models (which are not always used in the workplace or in management), work experience is important for MBA programs, and work experience is not important for economics graduate school.</p>
<p>Ya not necessarily but in general, yes a BS is harder than a BA. The thread is about the econ major, not in the econ/math. I don’t care about what’s actually taught, both degrees will do fine for finding work. The rest of what you said is just restating what I said… and btw no one said anything about econ grad school</p>