<p>I’m considering double majoring in international relations/economics. I know the IR program is excellent, but how is economics?</p>
<p>I graduated from AU in 1995 with a double major in Economics and Political Science.
AU has two economics tracks: a BA and a BS. The BS is more in depth and math-related. Most people who double major will take the BA track. It will not be difficult to double major in IR and Economics but follow these rules:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Work closely with your academic advisors to make sure you’re taking the right classes.</p></li>
<li><p>Make sure that you choose general education courses (a series of 10 courses–with lots of options–generally taken during freshman and sophomore years) that also meet your IR and/or econ requirements.</p></li>
<li><p>Take IR courses that meet econ requirements and vice versa.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The economics program at AU tends to be very broad-based, with an emphasis on economic policy and the interaction of the markets and government. This makes sense given AU’s location and the orientation of the entire university. I imagine that some other economics programs are more quantitative than AU’s. However, there are quantitative course offerings–the econometrics class I took was the most difficult class I had in my 18 years of schooling.</p>
<p>As a current student, I’d like to +1 vote pswillia’s post. And to add that economics is a very popular program here. It is a great second major often adopted by the politics / international relations / business kids (which makes up a majority of the school) so it is given much attention.</p>