<p>I am a rising sophomore majoring in Economics, and I'm thinking about what I want to do after I graduate (undergrad)</p>
<p>I'll be honest, I don't know much about Economics graduate school. How much would a Masters or PhD in Econ enhance my future job and salary opportunities over a bachelor's degree? What exactly does grad school entail? These are basic questions, I know, I would like to talk to my academic advisors and some professors but I haven't gotten around to that yet.</p>
<p>I have some idea of what I should be doing in undergrad to prepare for grad school admission. I am planning on taking a lot of higher level math classes and will probably double major in math (although this does, unfortunately, require me to take a lot of useless classes like physics, chemistry, and computer sci). I have not struggled at all in Calc 1 & 2, and I think I will survive at higher levels. And I would like to get an internship of some kind.</p>
<p>I have not thought much about where I would apply. My current university has a decent Econ grad program.</p>
<p>I would just like some advice, if anyone has any thoughts. Thanks.</p>
<p>Well, it depends on what you want to do for a career. Graduate school is intended to be a means to an end; you get a specific graduate degree because you want to do a career that requires it. There are several careers that require or recommend an MA in economics as long as you get the strong quant background; economists with an MA or PhD average $91,000 (<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/economists.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/economists.htm</a>).</p>
<p>You’re still a freshman, so it’ll become a bit more clear to you what economists do as you take more higher-level classes in economics. Basically, they use mathematical and statistical modeling to study economic and financial trends. But their statistical skills are in high demand these days, and economists who specialize in certain markets (like tech or finance) can be very well-compensated.</p>
<p>So worry less about preparing for graduate school, and worry more about trying to identify what career you want to do. After that, you can figure out whether you want to get a graduate degree. And lots of economics majors get jobs right after undergrad, so you can work for a while while you figure out what you want do.</p>
<p>Also, the computer science classes in a math major are not useless at all. They’re going to teach you programming and database management, which are very valuables kills for an economics/statistical analyst to have.</p>