Hi all,
I’m a HS senior who has an interest in economics. Our school has a dual-enrollment program with the state flagship university, so I am able to take intermediate microeconomics at the university next spring. However, I’ve heard the course is quite hard, but I’ve also heard that the difficulty really depends on your math skill. Considering that I’ve taken AP Macro and Micro (5’s on both), and that I’ve taken multivariable calc, linear algebra, multivariate statistics, numerical analysis, and ordinary differential equations at the university, should I be concerned about the math in intermediate economics?
Thanks.
If you have taken multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and statistics, your math knowledge should fulfill the math prerequisite of intermediate economics courses offered in the US.
Since you did not name the college or course, no one can give you any specifics, but intermediate economics courses can have the following math prerequisites:
- Least math, does not require calculus. E.g. Penn State (non-honors), Florida State.
- Moderate math, requires single variable calculus. E.g. Penn State (honors), Minnesota, Washington, Berkeley (100-series), Harvard (1010-series).
- High math, requires multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and/or differential equations. E.g. Berkeley (101-series), Harvard (1011-series), MIT, Stanford.
If you intend to go on to PhD study in economics, you may want to choose the most math-intensive intermediate economics option available to you, and take additional advanced math and statistics courses like real analysis and calculus-based probability theory while in college.