Economics

Applying to College
1

<p><em>Sorry this is the wrong section</em>
I am a senior in high school and I live in Florida. I am from a low-middle class family so going out of state would require large grants and scholarships or going into debt. In order to avoid both of those, I am staying in state for undergrad. That way I have a lot more room for debt when I go to grad school.</p>

<p>Anyways, I love economics. It is definitely a passion of mine and it is, without a doubt, going to be major. I am deciding between UF, FSU, and Stetson (if they offer any money) for my school of choice. I believe all three are top Florida schools and are a good choice for an economics major.</p>

<p>I have also acquired a new interest in politics. Up until a week ago I never cared one bit about politics. But recently, I guess mostly thanks to NPR, I have found myself really interested in politics. So I am now considering double majoring in economics and politics.</p>

<p>My question is: is that a good major to partner with economics? Or should I minor in something such as math*? I have no idea as to what career I would like but if it helps, the best part of economics, to me, is the flow of money, how money works, what people do with their money if x or y happens. So I could see myself in banking or finance? Or I could see myself in D.C. talking politics and economics (this option seems much more interesting and my preference of the two). I have heard a lot of people say math is vital to an economics major. So I need help to clear things up and make a clear decisions since neither of my parents went to college and they think I am making a poor decisions in majoring in economics.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>*The only concern about minoring in math is the difficulty of it. I would hate to take the class and do poorly. I have heard college math is hard and I do not know how good I am in math. I finished calculus I (with about a 98-99%) as a junior and now I am in a class that goes through algebra 2 and calculus I because there is now higher math. So I guess that makes me at least decent? It is hard to judge because I am in the IB program (a rigorous program) at my school and I am comparing myself to some kids who are math geniuses (no exaggeration).</p>

2

<p>Depending on what you want to pursue in Grad school math may be important. Economics undergrad requires some math (how much depends on your particular college - typically calc & stats). If you want to pursue graduate school in Economics (PHD) you will need much more math to enter Grad Econ program than the typical undergrad in Econ will provide.</p>

<p>Politics is a definitely a complimentary major to Econ (many Uni’s have degrees that combine Politics and Econ). First figure out how much math you would need to take to get to Grad school before you determine if you have room for a Politics major.</p>

<p>[CSUEB</a>, CBE | Mathematics Preparation for a Ph.D. in Economics](<a href=“http://www.cbe.csueastbay.edu/econ/MathinEconPhD.htm]CSUEB”>http://www.cbe.csueastbay.edu/econ/MathinEconPhD.htm)</p>

3

<p>Math is vital to an econ major but the math you will learn if you major in it is far beyond the scope required for banking. It might be a little more useful if you want to go into financial engineering to be a quant but for banking, you don’t need a math major. Most math in finance is relatively simple.</p>

4

<p>I’m not certain what I want to do for graduate school.
I surfed the web a little and read that getting a phD in Economics is something you would do if you wanted to teach and research at a university. I couldn’t see myself being a professor though.</p>

<p>I definitely think I want to work in a more Wall Street-esque area. So I am guessing I would be more inclined to go to business (MBA) for grad school. So, if I were to go for an MBA, would it work perfectly fine to double major in Econ and Political Science or should I replace Political Science with say Finance or Administration?</p>

<p>If I wanted to get into politics while keeping economics;maybe work in D.C.or something. Where should I go for grad if I wanted that?</p>

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<p>For going on to a PhD program in economics, it is expected that you will take advanced math courses like real analysis, proof-oriented linear algebra, and junior/senior level probability and statistics courses.</p>