<p>I fear it's too math-intensive. Some of my college friends think it's not too math-intensive, while most of the time, I hear that you need to be good with numbers to do well in Economics. The course might not be entirely based on math, and if isn't, is it mostly reading graphs and analyzing? (i.e Stats) I'll be finishing my senior year with Pre-Calculus and majoring in IR. I had some difficulty understanding Pre-Calc, as the class was very fast-paced and the teacher wasn't the best at teaching the subject. Learning Econ in my Gov class this semester is what really interested me to possibly change my major to Econ. My friends have told me that IR is more theoretical than practical. For now, I might be interested in Econ because I've only done some readings in Gov, but when the math part hits, I'm afraid I'm going to dislike Econ. </p>
<p>So should I still consider changing my major to study Econ in college, despite the fact that Math is not my forte?</p>
<p>How far off are you from the econ degree? If you are a senior, making the switch would probably not be worth the added time investment. In regards to the math, you will need to be proficient in basic calculus and statistics. Some schools require calc I and II, but others offer an applied calculus or a math for economists’ class. Nevertheless, you will have to take some additional quantitative classes. At the undergraduate level, with the exception of intermediate micro/macro and econometrics, the majority of classes are not math intensive. From my own experience, precalculus was more difficult than applied calculus, but less difficult than calc I and II.</p>
<p>It sounds like kevster is a senior <em>in high school,</em> Rob. </p>
<p>kevster: I’m also a senior in high school who is trying to decide between Econ and IR, and I just looked at course descriptions to find out basically what kind of math would be involved. The following description is of BU’s EC 505, meaning the introduction to the math that would be involved in economics at the <em>graduate school</em> level. Doesn’t seem that intimidating to me.</p>
<p>"Stresses the formulation of economic problems in mathematical terms. Topics covered include partial derivation, total differentials, constrained maximization, matrix algebra, dynamic analysis, and discounting. Cannot be taken for credit by concentrators in Mathematics or Economics and Mathematics. "</p>
<p>With the exception of “constrained maximization,” “dynamic analysis,” and “discounting,” you’ll probably know how to do all that stuff by the end of your first college calculus class (because I basically know how to do that after taking AP Calc AB).</p>
<p>I would also take a look at what Math classes are required for the Econ major to get an idea of what they would require you to know.</p>
<p>Sorry for the confusion. I’m a HS senior.
I’ll be heading off to BU and was reading the red CAS majors catalogue for Economics.
If I havent taken Calc yet, will I need to take it during my first year?</p>
<p>When you are getting your general ed. classes out of the way, you probably will be able to take macro and micro economics to fulfill those requirements. You don’t have to declare a major until later on, don’t stress not. Have you taken a Sociology class? Perhaps you would have a interest in this subject also, as they are related (but less math intensive).</p>
<p>I just got out of college level econ at University of Tennessee. I don’t know about other schools, but the professor there said they don’t even get into calculus at the undergrad level. The class was really walk in the park, and interesting to boot. I actually think it’d be better if they integrated higher level mathematics, as one can easily see how many of the systems of interaction are based on calculus. But alas everything’s been simplified to the point that you barely even need to understand algebra to do the math.</p>
<p>Take econ I as an elective your first year and get a good teacher. If it doesn’t hook you it’s still some fun knowledge.</p>
<p>It depends on what you want to do with your econ degree, if your planning on graduate school, you are going to need to take calc I and II, linear algebra, multivariable/vector calculus, statistics, and possibly real analysis. While your at it, might as well take differential equations too. That is a lot of math. If you plan on going into the workforce, you probably will only need calc I, possibly calc II, and statistics. The rest of the math, like partial differentials and Langrange multiplier, they will teach you as you need them in your econ classes.</p>
<p>My S is a college senior Econ major. He started in IR but changed when he couldn’t master upper level French. He says there is quite a bit of math in upper level economics, and he doesn’t like that part of it (he isn’t a math person, either), but he can do it. The highest college math he has taken is Business Calculus.</p>
<p>If you don’t do well in math in pre-calc level, you are screwed. Hell, I’m going to take 400 level statistics despite the fact that I’m an anthropology and polic sci double major.
If you want to be an economic major, intermediate micro and macro classes all require calculus, while advance micro and macro requires at least calculus 2.
I used to think I can handle economics, but after my frustration with econometrics. I give it up. Try econometric, it rapes people’s brain.</p>