<p>Wow. What school/major did she put on her original app, though?></p>
<p>Undecided.
A&S</p>
<p>You cannot apply to CALS undecided.
If applying to CALS you must denote the major you are applying to.</p>
<p>You can apply to CAS undecided.</p>
<p>Even though Economics is one of CAS’s more popular majors, putting it as your intended major will neither hinder nor help you.</p>
<p>Because AEM is one of CALS’s most popular majors, putting it as your intended major will put you in competition with lots of students who are also applying for AEM and you will essentially be competing for spots against them.</p>
<p>But would Cornell let me submit the same essay for both?</p>
<p>as an AEM major, most of the classes i’m taking do NOT focus on management classes - granted, i have to take some mgmt classes - like intro to business mgmt, but that’s just a basic tool, and quite honestly, it’s not that bad. really boring, but also kind of easy. </p>
<p>AEM has a professor who focuses specifically on behavioral economics - vicki bogan. i know she was here last year, she might be off doing research or something like that this year idk. she gave a presentation in AEM 1101 and that was a really interesting topic. AEM also has a couple of behavioral econ classes that are crosslisted with ECON classes - in fact, you’ll notice that A LOT of econ classes are crosslisted as AEM classes (and vice versa). or each topic has its own counterpart in the other department. </p>
<p>
i’ve never heard of this happening. i don’t understand why people would look down on CALS programs compared to CAS majors… each college has its own respective unique and priceless resources. i don’t expect CAS (or any other college) to have professors who are experts in agriculture or oenology, whereas i DO expect that from professors in CALS. i don’t expect CALS professors to be experts in fields like CAPS or architecture (unless it’s landscape architecture ;)!). </p>
<p>
yeah but you can minor in them. you can take classes that interest you in them - classes that WILL show up on your transcript, and mean just as much - instead of only taking classes to fulfill a major. also, you can also look at it on the flip side. if you’re in CAS, you can’t double major in anything in CALS - i’m a double major in AEM and IARD - i LOVE IARD, and i’d be extremely upset if i couldn’t double major in that.</p>
<p>
…really? bc everyone i know who’s an econ major has AT LEAST 1 other major (math and gov seem to be the most popular) bc they think it’s such an “easy” major (if only bc of less required classes to achieve the major than others) whereas that’s not exactly true of all AEM majors.</p>
<p>can you do double major econ and comp sci in CAS?</p>
<p>YES. You know that you can google things, or find the answers on the web pages, correct?</p>
<p>Most of us have no problem answering people’s questions. Provided they have given at LEAST SOME EFFORT to find the answers on their own.</p>
<p>The main reason econ is considered an “easy” major isn’t the classes themselves, but the requirements for the degree. If you have APs for intro micro and macro, you are only required to take 8 classes. Economics is probably the hardest of the social sciences and I would say more challenging than some of the sciences because it is a major that emphasizes critical thinking instead of memorization of facts. The workload for econ is considered “easier” since it’s more like math/science classes in that it’s just a problem set a week versus other CAS majors that require a lot of reading and papers. Anyone who has a “problem set” major (math, sciences, engineering, etc.) knows though that those questions tend to require a lot more thinking and problem solving skill, even if overall you spend less time on schoolwork.</p>
<p>If you are doing just an economics major, you should definitely be taking 10-12 econ classes or something, but I really like the flexibility of CAS. I’m now double majoring in economics and government and double minoring in international relations and German studies.</p>
<p>does aem look for more of a business background or standardized scores (ie: my senior schedule is geared for running a virtual business with other students) will that have a large influence on my application. Also my recs are from business teacher and director of business Ed.</p>
<p>i would say more so the business background, but standardized scores definitely count and it helps if they are stellar.</p>
<p>To continue this debate I’ll provide a little more information to prospective students looking to make their decision. For full disclosure I’m an economics major in CAS but have taken a lot of AEM classes.</p>
<p>To begin with, Econ is part of Arts and Sciences so you are mostly competing against other Arts and Sciences kids in all disciplines which is obviously very competitive as the acceptance rate for A+S is under 14%. This along with the fact that overall A+S students have the highest overall SAT scores and top10% percentages of all the colleges at Cornell (along with engineering) makes it a very competitive applicant pool.</p>
<p>AEM is part of CALS so you apply directly to the major. Also you have to realize AEM is not a huge major and a lot of students apply so it is probably equally competitive to A+S despite CALS overall being a notch below in ‘student quality’ (based objectively off SAT and 10%). Also fair or not, A LOT of the spots are given to athletes who are generally not as well qualified as the general pool.</p>
<p>Next, the type of people in each major is also different. Econ generally has a lot more ‘reserved’ or ‘academic’ students. A much smaller percentage have a burning desire to work on wall street and are probably more apt to go into academia or economic advising. This is just something I’ve noticed and certainly doesn’t apply to everyone (I want to work in finance). AEM has a lot more type-A personalities (especially among athletes) and most people in the major are die-hard future bankers with again some exceptions.</p>
<p>In terms of what is taught in the classroom, Economics is only ‘8’ classes while AEM is more structured. However for Econ you do need to take a number of pre-reqs before you can even begin taking the 8 (of which you only need to pick 8 of like 30-40 different offerings, many take much more). From experience they are noticeably more difficult than similar upper-level AEM classes. Econ classes are almost exclusively curved to a B/B+ while AEM medians lie in the A-/A range. Thus AEM majors across the board almost always have higher GPAs unless the Econ student is consistently near the top of the class. </p>
<p>AEM tests also tend to be more ‘practical’. For example I’ve learned a lot of finance terminology and information about the industry in my classes. The AEM tests are also very straightforward for the most part with a lot of multiple choice and testing directly on stuff learned in class. Thus the means on tests are generally very high and thus AEM classes often aren’t curved at all since the mean is close to 90 or higher. </p>
<p>Econ tests are more I guess ‘applied’. You’ll find little to no multiple choice and many of the questions require you to take the skills learned in the class and apply them to a new problem. Thus prelim scores are generally lower (highest mean on a prelim out of 4 ive taken this semester was a 78). </p>
<p>In terms of job prospects it’s hard to say which is better. AEM majors do place very well in finance jobs and possibly even better than Econ (higher GPAs) since employers don’t really know the difference. In academia I’d guess that economics looks better as well as for government jobs and the like. Although these are generalizations and really varies based on the student.</p>
<p>Excellent post, nd09. That is basically consistent with my experiences, though as an Econ major, I actually didn’t take any AEM classes (I’m not all that interested in finance), but obviously knew a lot of people like you who did. </p>
<p>I’ll add that I think with Econ, you get a lot of double majors or people with at least 1 minor. I myself did 2 majors and 2 minors. There are English majors who pick up Econ because they have math talent and want to have a significantly higher shot at earning better money. I would say the most common double majors are CS and Government. So the flexibility is good in that regard. Like you, I’m not sure on which is better for job placement. I think AEM has more finance, but like you said, that’s probably more a function of their Type A personalities. Econ definitely has broader job prospects, especially if you double major (which many do). My guess is AEM might have on average higher starting salaries, but that’s probably because you get a lot of Econ majors working in government or for nonprofits, relatively speaking.</p>
<p>Since I’m an AEM student, I’ll enter this discussion. What nd09 said about the student body was mostly spot-on. I will add, though, that quite a bit of transfers get into AEM (mostly certain/uncertain A&S students and failed pre-meds internally). I will also say that finance isn’t the dominant interest for the students, although it’s a big one. There are a good amount of people that wind up in marketing as well. In fact, I believe finance and marketing tend to be the most popular specializations. If I could find the percentages, I’d show them here.</p>
<p>Some people see accounting, law, and even medicine as careers; although their numbers aren’t as many. Whatever the specialization, though, there is always a set of courses for each one. Some or many of these overlap depending on whichever two specializations a student chooses (only one is necessary, though).</p>
<p>As an AEM major, it is definitely more possible to get less of a business background. If one wanted to receive a more economics-based education, one could specialize in Applied Economics and basically take the intermediate econ courses in Arts, as well as AEM’s version of the most specialized econ courses (econometrics, resource economics, etc.). One is required to take 2200, 2210, 2400, and 3240, but those are the only courses in management, accounting, marketing, and finance one could ever take and still graduate as an AEM major. It might be a bit harder now, though, since Managerial Economics, a new yearlong course, is required for all AEM majors graduating 2015 or later.</p>
<p>AEM is definitely seen as one of the easier majors in Cornell because a good number of your competition are legacies and recruits. If you are neither, getting into it is a different story because your competition has hooks. In terms of the quality of the programs however, AEM and CAS Econ are comparable. The subjects in econ are definitely harder though.</p>
<p>It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to start your own business, I’d say go for aem. Otherwise, econ is better.</p>
<p>That’s too simple a criterion, though. In terms of getting a corporate job, one is largely unaffected by major choice compared to the type of person one is or the type of background one has. Not everyone wants to go into a corporate job, but the economics major isn’t simply a backdrop for non-entrepreneurs still interested in an area of business. In the same token, the AEM major isn’t simply a backdrop for anyone that wants to be involved in finance. It’s possible for one to go to different areas with both majors. I would hope an applicant chooses a major based on his or her specific interests.</p>
<p>im a current AEM student and i would agree with everything nd09 posted, except for the fact that “employers dont know the difference” between AEM GPAs and others, for example, econ GPAs. many of the recruiting teams for firms include cornell alums, so the GPA difference isnt really that important of a factor.</p>
<p>something that hasn’t been talked about is the networking / connections you get from being in AEM. econ is more geared toward academia, while AEM majors are constantly encouraged to network with each other and alums working in many different fields. i would argue that these factors help out a lot in the recruiting process, and its one of the reasons why AEM majors tend to do well in recruiting.</p>
<p>all in all, pick whichever you think is a better fit for you. i was not a recruited athlete or a legacy, and i did not have a hook. i liked the practical aspect of AEM and the chance to develop as a leader, so thats why i chose AEM over econ at cornell or another school.</p>
<p>This is some good discussion :)!</p>