How Can A High-Schooler Display Their Proficiency In Economics for College Applications?

Applying to College
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1

I intend to major in Economics and am currently a sophomore in high school.

I have a few questions regarding the overall improvement of my Economics-specific resume:

  1. Are there any summer programs I should do? I understand that pay-to-play programs aren’t highly weighted by colleges.
  2. What kinds of internships should I look for?
  3. Anything else I should do? Should I target getting articles/papers published?

Thank you :slight_smile:

PS. I apologize if this is the section to post in, please tell me which one would be more appropriate.

2

If your school offers AP Economics, take it. Take AP Calculus. Beyond that, as a high school student, there’s no more "proficiency " expected.

Because economics is applied to real world issues, most jobs or internships could be relevant, whether working in the local supermarket or farmstead to interning with government. You just need to be thoughtful and observant while doing them.

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Get a job at the Gap folding sweaters; talk to your co-workers. Get a job as a lifeguard at the YMCA pool- talk to your co-workers and the members. Get a job as a cashier at a supermarket.

There is no better way to understand economics than life experience. Economists deal with questions like “does raising the minimum wage help or hurt low income families” or “does increasing certification requirements in certain professions cause labor shortages, or does it increase the quality of job candidates”. Big question- Does increasing taxes on cigarettes mean that fewer people smoke, or does it just mean that smokers buy less nutritious food items so they can continue to pay for cigarettes.

You will have a more erudite point of view-- before being able to do the large scale regressions of giant datasets that economists deal with- by having some real world experience.

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4

Look into this summer program Students - Foundation For Teaching Economics . My Son did the program Economics for Leaders. He even earned a college credit.

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Agree with posts 2 and 3: get a job and observe economic behavior, and take economics and calculus (and statistics) if available to you.

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In about 14 months, which would represent a good point in time for you to begin to research colleges seriously, these analyses may be of help:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html

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These appear to be rankings by publications (from research). However, as is commonly pointed out by LAC advocates around these forums, research and publications do not tell the full story about the quality of undergraduate education in the subject. For economics, a prospective undergraduate student may want to consider curriculum differences in the following areas:

  • Math intensity: the most math intensive economics programs use math beyond single variable calculus (e.g. multivariable calculus and/or linear algebra) in intermediate economics and econometrics courses. Moderately math intensive economics programs use single variable calculus, while less math intensive economics programs use no calculus. Pre-PhD students should favor more math-intensive programs.
  • Upper level electives: there are various subareas which a student may be interested in. Some departments emphasize more “business pre-professional” subjects, while others focus on other subjects.
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Even if you could (doubtful), it isn’t necessary. The most important thing that you can do is make sure that your math is solid.

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