Hypothetical

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>So I've recently hit on a mid-youth crisis of sorts, in that I seriously have little to no idea what I'm going to pursue career-wise in the future--even at Chicago, where it seems theory overrides practice (whoohoo!). Anyway, the parentals have been [strongly] suggesting Econ as a major, which I suppose I wouldn't mind and have nothing against, especially considering Chicago's clout in the field. </p>

<p>On the other hand, I'd also really love to continue studying (theoretical) physics here. So here's the question: How "do-able" would a double major (or a major/minor, respectively) in Economics and Physics be at Chicago, with respect to the Core, courseload, etc? Is it relatively uncommon, given that the more popular pairing seems to be econ/math?</p>

2

<p>You are not yet at U of C, right? If you are sure to attend, I think you will find that this will sort itself out naturally. Double majoring is tough to do and limits you to getting through the core and courses you need for the majors. Not much time to explore courses within each major. But, remember that your undergrad major will not necessarily determine or limit postgrad academic or employment opportunities. I have a good and much younger friend who is a high flying international financier and she graduated with a degree in French. No joke. She loves to hire U of C grads no matter the major because they are "so quantitative".
I hope your experience with your adviser is a stellar as my son's. His adviser has come up with brilliant course ideas that let him do what he feels he needs.</p>

3

<p>As far as scheduling goes, you just need to realize that with a econ/physics major and the core, you won't have much time for electives. But is it do-able? Absolutely.</p>

4

<p>But why would you limit yourself that way?</p>

<p>A young-ish relative of mine was a physics major at Chicago, got a graduate degree in math, and is raking in bucks at an investment bank. "Economics" is not any more marketable a skill than many other courses of study provide. (I love economics as a discipline, by the way -- nothing against it here. But you don't need to major in it to have a productive life.)</p>

5

<p>Thanks all.</p>

<p>You're right, I certainly don't want to be limited so that I couldn't truly absorb everything else Chicago has to offer. To be honest I'd be more than happy to just fulfill the Core and take on as many other classes I'm interested in without worrying about majors or grad school or The Future. Right now I'm thinking I might major in econ (in theory, ha) but still take physics courses as "electives" (would they be counted as so, assuming I take more than is required by the Core?)</p>

6

<p>From Andrew Abbott:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Within the narrow range of occupation and achievement that we have at the University, there is no strong relation between what you study and your occupation. Here is some data on a 10 percent random sample of Chicago alumni from the last 20 years. Take the mathematics concentrators: 20 percent software development and support, 14 percent college professors, 10 percent in banking and finance, 7 percent secondary or elementary teachers, and 7 percent in nonacademic research; the rest are scattered. All the science concentrations lead to professorships and nonacademic research. And biology and chemistry often lead to medicine. But there are many diversions from those pathways. A biology concentrator is now a writer, another is now a musician. Two mathematicians are lawyers, and a physics concentrator is a psychotherapist.</p>

<p>Take the social sciences. Economics concentrators—this is today identified as the most careerist major—are 24 percent in banking and finance, 15 percent in business consulting, 14 percent lawyers, 10 percent in business administration or sales, 7 percent in computers, and the other 30 percent scattered. Historians are often lawyers (24 percent) and secondary teachers (15 percent), but the other 60 percent are all over the map. Psychologists, surprisingly, are also about 20 percent in the various business occupations, 11 percent lawyers, and 10 percent professors; the rest are scattered. And there are the usual unusuals: the sociology major who is an actuary, the two psychologists in government administration, the political science concentrator now in computers.</p>

<p>As for the humanities, the English majors have scattered to the four winds: 11 percent to elementary and secondary teaching, 10 percent to business occupations, 9 percent to communications, 9 percent to lawyering, 5 percent to advertising. Of the philosophers, 30 percent are lawyers and 18 percent software people. Two English majors are artists and one is an architect. A philosophy major is a farmer and two are doctors.</p>

<p>With the exception of those planning to become professors in the natural sciences, there is no career that is ruled out for any undergraduate major. You are free to make whatever worldly or otherworldly occupational choice you want once you leave, and you do not sacrifice any possibilities because you majored in something that seems irrelevant to that choice. There is no national evidence that level of performance in college has more than a minor effect on later things like income. And in my alumni data, there is no correlation between GPA at Chicago and current income.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The</a> University of Chicago Magazine: October 2003</p>

7

<p><em>high-fives idad for quoting The Speech</em></p>

8

<p>Ah I love that speech :O)</p>

9

<p>It's my second favorite U of C speech. Here is my first:
<a href="http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://iotu.uchicago.edu/levine.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>DS loved The Speech, too. I think he has it on his Facebook (or at least did at one point).</p>