Economics vs. Political Science?

College Majors
1

<p>Right now I'm entering my junior year of college and trying to decide between a B.S. in Economics vs a B.A. in Political Science with an Islamic Studies or Economics minor.</p>

<p>I guess the reason I'm worried about this is because I've met several people that majored in subjects like Poli Sci and International Affairs with a minor in Economics, who say they wished they majored in Economics instead. </p>

<p>I know the Economics major will be more marketable, especially since my college is known for its business school. What I'd like to know is how would this affect my options for grad school? </p>

<p>For grad school I'm looking at International Relations, Political Science, Area Studies, and History programs. Most IR and Poli Sci programs I've looked at want IR and Poli Sci majors, but also stress that applicants should have basic Micro and Macroeconomics courses (both of which I've taken).</p>

<p>Would I benefit at all from doing a minor in Econ instead?</p>

2

<p>Some grad schools qualify their requirements with statements like “related majors will be considered.” However, I’m not sure I see any reason to take econ over poli sci if your goal is a graduate program in the latter. </p>

<p>While econ is the most methodologically rigorous discipline in the social sciences, most undergraduate programs have fairly low math requirements. Furthermore, most poli sci departments in the US still assume their grads enter with little-to-no background in methods. Some like UMich have a math “boot camp” right before the sem starts. </p>

<p>A better question would be “would I benefit at all from doing a major in econ instead of poli sci?” Given your stated goal, my guess would be “no.”</p>