Emory Economics vs Goizueta

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
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Hello, I currently a freshman in the ECAS, and I have a question. Emory’s economics department has often been criticized quite a bit since I started Emory back in August, typically over concerns about the “easiness” of the department’s difficulty in classes. However, I do intend on majoring in Economics, alongside another major within the college. My concern, however, is over the perceived reputation of the degree, since employers may question why I didn’t pursue a degree in Goizueta instead.

Are economics majors perceived the same in the outside world as Goizueta’s BBA students (granted, of course, that the econ students network, do internships, and develop technical and soft skills), or should I consider joining the business school for the increased resources (such as career fairs, and relative ease of networking)?

I am aware that this question has been posted before in CC, but I just want to pose the same thread again, just in case the answers of the previous posts have changed with the times.

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I think you should meet with a dean in the business school to discuss your situation and ask about career advisement.

Economics and Finance often go hand in hand and that would be a great double major if you can pull it off, but you have to really get going with that at the beginning of your sophomore year.

Edit - I see you already are planning a double major in the College. So much for that idea. If nothing in the business school interests you, you would be wasting your time. You should still seek advisement from the Economics department.

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Broadly speaking, level headed economics majors go on to graduate school to get an MBA when they realize that in order to get a job, one needs some practical business knowledge.

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@CivilTyranny :“Ease” is irrelevant. Many bschool classes may actually be easier than economics courses. The business school is a well oiled machine with strong career services and networking. If you are beaten in that arena, relative difficulty is not relevant. You can also choose to.supplement economics education with math courses (beyond calc. 2), QTM, CS courses, and of course internships. Business and economics degrees usually don’t stand oit with just coursework. Many business schools are quite weak actually. Good business schools are separated by how well they activate their students to get those internships. The strongest economics programs are usually known for mathematical rigor. If you add mathematical rigor to your coursework, get some experience (which is probably easier if you get rec. letters from the strongest instructors, who of course tend to be rigorous), you likely have a shot at good placement in whatever you want to do. Most econ. majors at Emory seem to fail to realize that doing courses and making grades is not enough. Econ. major has to be powered up in some way to yield good employment prospects. likewise, a GBS graduate that did very little beyond coursework will look bad versus other candidates, even those within the same cohort, who did (most). I think it is more than prestige differences leading to different “perceptions”…it is cultural.

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@CivilTyranny : I also have the question to you: Do you feel as if the courses you have taken/you will take are easier than what they are supposed to be for a school at Emory’s level? Do you think they will compare with schools in its tier or higher? Do you feel any “burn” or challenge from the academics in that department? If it is a consistent “no”, then that may explain things. However, note that a consistent “no” is only valid if you take professors (yeah, I am not dumb, I know many intend to skate through a major by picking only easy very deliberatly and then hope it pays in the end simply because it is supposedly a marketable degree in general. However, that is actually how the degree gets devalued/a reputation deteriorates. When folks who skate are then hired and do not perform anywhere near as well as others from elsewhere who were hired with similar grades) who supposedly challenge more than others or at least pitch their courses at a respectable level for a school as selective as Emory. If you aren’t doing that, you should (no one should major in anything where they can only handle low levels of instruction. That doesn’t make sense). If you are, and it still seems underwhelming, then that is a big problem, and you should find ways to rectify it or find a way to “use” economics/build your own skills in that area (again, can come from learning skills through math, QTM, CS, and then interning or doing your own project) that is marketable to employers, showing that you don’t just settle for a mediocre level of skills and knowledge even if that is what the instructors/curriculum provides you. GBS at least partly benefits from having a level of intensity that matches up nicely with business schools in its league and above.

With economics, you need to tailor it so that it does. Again, to match up well against those coming from noteworthy programs, more quantitative skills to show is better as that is what makes most economics majors “useful” so a person taking classes in forcasting, several econometrics courses, and mathematical economics will look far better than economics majors who essentially stopped at the 420 requirement and then took more “fluffy” and less quantitative economics courses. In the case of the latter, no doubt that a student doing the new public policy major between QTM and Polsci will look far more marketable than a barebones/weak economics major, even one who has a somewhat lower GPA, because nearly all jobs care primarily about tangible/useful skills after an applicant hits a certain GPA cutoff which may not be that high to begin with. They are more likely to say: “Wow look at all this experience and these quantitative or computational skills” than “Wow, look at the 3.8+ GPA…basic curriculum, but 3.8+ GPA”…having both with would be nice, but most jobs, if you had to pick, would rather you pick the skill development and maintainance of a merely decent GPA). A business school integrates “usefulness” into actual course work and requirements. Economics on the other hand may emphasize theory which is not that beneficial if done at a lower level than what the cohort can handle. Should be done well enough so that econ. majors can go make themselves useful in something using their training. Just some food for thought as you go forward.

Really focus on how to tailor your coursework and how you use it to make yourself employable and do not worry so much about its “intrinsic”(perception) employability. If you have a weak record, curriculum, or did very little in the area to develop marketable skills then it will be YOU who is perceived as weak. They aren’t going to think “eh, Emory Econ…don’t bother”. My time at Emory tells me that it was almost always the applicant and not the department. Just because your degree is from Emory and says “econ” does not automatically mean “paid”! I know of no such school where that is the case. The schools with the most respect have rigorous curricula and students that don’t (and perhaps cannot) run away from it. They develop skillsets and seek internships. Of course they end up marketable and the department gets to look strong in comparison to places with relatively lax course requirements (believe it or not, there are some “elites” that actually do not require econometrics. I will give you hint: 1 is ranked higher than Emory) and students that dodge the more useful and intensive courses or who don’t even bother to intern because “An econ. major with a high GPA should be enough”. Too many Emory econ. majors (especially single majors) fell into this trap.

I honestly recommend that freshman who know or strongly feel they will major in economics accelerate if they have AP credits. You can go straight to the intermediate instructors, some who train well (Banerjee and Francis), and then it leaves room in the schedule to develop skills/take courses in supplemental areas that

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Bernie, as we have discussed, students may own their own career, but the school (GBS or other) should provide advisement and provide it early. By early, I am referring to before junior year when they begin classes at GBS. It would be nice if GBS faculty could start advising kids on a business track as early as their freshman year. These kids like @CivilTyranny should be getting advisement from some source at Emory now.

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@CivilTyranny : You should also note that the College has several career fairs (I just noticed that line). GBS is just well-connected with and good at prepping for interviews at certain types of jobs. Work on getting a good education and everything else. If an economics major. Just do the best you can to ensure that your academic and other training is up to par with what it should be. If it feels too easy, it probably is. Find ways of challenging yourself so you develop good skills.

@ljberkow :GBS advising seems irrelevant here. They shouldn’t be there to choose an academic path for someone deciding between two pathways. What this person needs is to have some good faculty member in ECAS economics or elsewhere in the college to perhaps describe what they need to compete well as an economics major and to help them figure out if they are truly interested in economics versus learning it in the context of business. Either of these paths can clearly work, they just need to have both pathways described to them and how to optimize both.

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I noted in my first post that advisement from Econ faculty was the way to go.

I only mentioned GBS should do it for freshman and sophomores who plan to attend GBS and that starting the in junior year is almost too late.

I don’t believe @CivilTyranny should look into GBS because it’s clearly not an interest and there are already plans for a double major in Emory College.

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@bernie12 The Economics courses that I have taken so far have been manageable (granted, I have only taken the introductory sequence), and this is probably just because the professors I have chosen are quite lenient on assigning work and grades (I picked them not because of ease, but because those were the only sections that still had spots open for the class). But I understand what you are saying, regarding the importance of choosing professors that challenge you versus choosing those who give out easy A’s.

Perhaps the major flaw in my reasoning and in the question was that I equated the individual undergraduate’s worth to what they majored in. I only learned just recently that people are valued not by the coursework that they took on during their undergrad career, but the skills that they acquired during their time here at Emory, or general, in college. It’s going to take a while for me to condition myself to fight the “type of degree = job” mindset due to what people say around me, but overall, I see what you mean. The applicant and what they bring to their table is much more important than the name of the major on their diploma.

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@CivilTyranny : It is hard to reprogram because folks were told a lot of mess in high school(as in not the whole story)…and you would be surprised. I’ll give you a hint. If you have any pre-med friends with a bio major and they are choosing easy courses and still don’t have a super high GPA (3.8+), I would honestly advise them to start selecting courses and opportunities that perhaps let them combine the bio interest with other areas, because if they get shut out of medical school or are not competitive, they will want a job or will want to do research in science. The fact is, a dull biology or NBB major with just courses literally gets you nowhere even though it falls under STEM. A chemistry major can maybe pull something off with no research or internships because the core curriculum is far more stringent, has more labwork (where you can claim you got skills from), opportunities to TA (beyond biology 141/142, it seems that undergraduate TAs are rarely used in biology so you don’t really get to claim teaching experience beyond the introductory level), and even more writing on average. It is one of those majors where a BS with an okay GPA in the end can be trusted. But the point is, like econ., “STEM” is not always a magic ticket. Some skills are far more valued than others and one must find the balance of keeping a decent GPA while not dodging the courses and opportunities that develop and test the key skills employers want.

Also, if you are only 100 levels…they won’t get but so rigorous because they are huge courses. You’ll have plenty of choice once you hit 200 and beyond. And again, do not be afraid to supplement with math, CS, or/ and QTM courses (you can also participate in datafest, hack-a-thons, etc…develop skills and test them in non-classroom settings like those can really help and it also helps substantially with the networking aspect as you never know who you will meet at hackatl or hackEmory). They won’t hurt you even if you don’t make an A. If you can do some math and programming, you will end up more marketable to a more diverse array of career paths and entry level positions.

As an extra note…there is a reason that even engineering programs (take Georgia Tech for example) excel much more when they essentially require a co-op. So even an engineering degree alone may be limited if it wasn’t used as much as it could be pre-graduation.

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I think your career goals are important–if you want a job in business after graduation, you should probably be in the business school. If you are strong in math, find economic theory interesting, and see yourself possibly in academics or perhaps in a niche area within the world of business and economics, then pursing an undergrad economics degree is probably better because you will likely pursue graduate study or niche training. Either way, the advice above about the importance of internships is valuable.

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@BooBooBear I think the issue here is access. @CivilTyranny , ideally, would like to have access to career fairs, networking, and other recruitment resources at the business school, but does not want to attend GBS.

Just went to Economics Department website and this event next Monday is perfect for him.My guess is that CivilTryany already knows about this event. My only problem with this event is that there doesn’t seem to be anyone from the faculty or admin who can discuss this topic (just other students)

    Feb. 12 3:30 pm LYM WEEK: Economics Open House-learn more about the major, meet with current students, and discover different professional and educational paths Economics majors are able to pursue.
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@ljberkow I actually was not aware of the Love Your Major event. Thank you for bringing it up in your post.

Also, for further clarification, I would not mind attending GBS, for I certainly do not hold any antagonistic views towards the school and I recognize the weight of a Goizueta BBA. I am considering entering the business field after graduation, and if it is the most practical choice, then I will start the business school application as soon as it is available. However, the reason why I prefer Economics as the degree is simply content matter, while also having the chance of maintaining my other major. Of course, I can’t have my cake and eat it too, so I recognize the trade off of choosing one over the other.

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I hope I’m not hijacking this thread but I have a very similar concern to the OP. I’m planning on majoring in Economics and Mathematics (the dual major) partly because I truly love studying these fields and also because I found that people wanting to go into IB (or high finance in general) with a strong quantitative background seem to be very desirable. I also want to get an MBA a few years after graduation and a BBA from Goizueta would seem somewhat repetitive to me. However, I saw that most of the recruiting goes to Goizueta while the Econ major seems to be in its shadow. Is it possible to break into high finance with my current major from Emory or should I consider transferring to a school like Duke where Econ majors get the same (or better) recruiting opportunities that Goizueta kids have access to?

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GBS is only practical to you if you are interested in a career track and opportunities available to GBS students. It’s the reason you should look at this from both sides. I’ve always looked at Finance as the practical side of the bigger picture Economics. You can definitely have 2/3 of your cake and major in two of the three you like. This semester is a good time to explore what career tracks and opportunities look at both at GBS and the Econ major.

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@TheTennisNinja : It is ridiculous to transfer (and difficult to a place like Duke…they don’t take many) for these reasons. You can make IB (does it really have to be IB? Seriously. Plenty of business related and tech jobs pay well and a math and economics background plus some programming can get you either). Simply go talk to some advisor in the economics department about how to get access to that recruiting (it is fairly apparent that econ. majors get access to IBs and other opps, so you need to go talk to somebody about how to approach it), discuss how you are preparing yourself to be competitive, take 4-5 b-school courses that could be useful. These places aren’t going to turn down a qualified economics major. It would make sense that those places would recruit at GBS because the entry level interests are less diverse among them, so if they go there, they will get plenty of interest/applicants. With economics at a place with a major business school, you have to put yourself out there, because econ. is generally reserved for those with a wider array of interest and many people using it as secondary majors (like science majors and pre-healths). This is typical at schools with a big business school enrollment. Just because certain recruiters are not coming directly to you does not mean that the recruiter and their company is ultra difficult to access.

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@TheTennisNinja
How is a BBA to MBA redundant. most BBA’s get there MBA. Aren’t you still at Oxford, you can transfer to any college after your two years there, I’m sure it wouldn’t be as difficult from there as opposed to Emory College.

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@VANDEMORY1342 : Do they? A lot don’t, and those who do often find redundancy.

It would be different to transfer to DUKE regardless of where they come from. However, other places , maybe not. They can just choose a place with at least decent econ. programs(maybe they can go to Vanderbilt or something which seems to be about the same level as Emory’s at the UG level and is also a semi-target for the IBs) without UG business, but again, I doubt it really makes much of a difference (I honestly think this person is just desperate to be at an actual target school). And then here we go with people thinking that they get instant access to stuff just for being at a target school or majoring in something. If they somehow get into one of these more competitive programs with a very rigorous econ. program and math courses (like Duke), then it will become more competitive for them to stand out among those students, and then their is the acclimation of transferring anywhere, especially larger or more competitive schools/those saturated with those pursuing the same thing. It is kind of like when people transfer from schools with a relatively low amount of pre-healths (% wise) to one with a lot more and then that school being technically more rigorous or competitive in the area the student wants to major. Transferring for these seemingly pragmatic reasons may be self-defeating if one isn’t careful.

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@CivilTyranny Some suggest that if you are seriously thinking about a Masters degree down the road, possibly or probably an MBA, some employers might actually prefer the UG major in Econ, Applied Math, Comp Sci… in the long run. Combining those UG degrees later with an MBA seems like it could be more versatile and marketable than having two degrees in Business. Plus, the employer might even pay for your MBA! Some MBA programs won’t accept an applicant who does not have a couple years work experience. If you can pick up some marketable skills and experience while majoring in Econ, through internships and summer jobs along the way… it should not be too difficult finding a decent job upon graduating. Whether that will be as high paying as one with a business degree may not be as important if the goal is to return for your MBA within a couple years anyway.

Question for those in the know: Does Emory offer a Business minor or certificate? I believe WashU, Tulane, and USC (West Coast), for example, offer a minor in Business.

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@bernie12
Yes they do, the curriculum might be a bit redundant in first semester-first year classes, but if you don’t want salary potential to plateu and stagnate; an MBA after the BBA is necessary.