Finance Minor vs. Economic Major

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I am a Political Science major, but as college graduation creeps closer I am becoming increasingly worried about finding a job and earning a decent starting salary. So I am considering adding either a Finance minor or an additional major in Economics. As I mentioned, I basically want to make myself more marketable to prospective employers, but I am also somewhat interested in careers as a financial planner or a market research analyst. I’ve also thought about being a political staffer, college administrator, teacher, political journalist, or something related to international relations.</p>

<p>So what do you guys think? Would it be better to do a finance minor or an economics major?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>If you at a Top 10-15 school it does not matter much. After that econ would require fewer credits than a complete business major. Business is basically a 2 year program full-time.</p>

3

<p>I don't know that you are going to learn enough economics or finance in college to make yourself really valuable to an employer in either area. So you're just trying to send a signal that you care about business and commerce, not just politics, etc., and you're thinking (or should be) of grad school or professional school.</p>

<p>To send the signal, choose whichever of the two is easier and/or interests you more. To lay groundwork for further study, for my money economics is broader and deeper than finance (and has a lot more overlap with poli sci, too). Finance is really economics lite, or a corner of it. Why not learn some of the real thing? (Full disclosure -- I took only a couple economics courses in college, and twice as many finance/accounting courses. In my career, the finance and accounting courses have served me extremely well. They were easier and more relevant to my work than the econ courses. But. If I were doing it over, I would take more econ.)</p>

4

<p>The problem with econ is it all based on an often dubious premise--assume all buyers and sellers are rational, etc. Garbage in garbage out. Finance applies the tools of econ and proves where they will work.</p>