Level of math usage in Economics majors and beyond?

<p>Most undergraduate Econ programs that I look into require Calculus (as do most ANY degree I see) and Statistics, but I'm curious: which mathematics subject is more used in Economics in an undergraduate academic setting and which is more used in a graduate level setting (like doctorate)?</p>

<p>Which might seem more difficult for Econ majors to grasp - Calc or Stats? Which is applied to Econometrics more?</p>

<p>Do the business equivalent maths do enough to help an Econ major? Example: Caluculus vs Calculus for Business Majors or Statistics vs Statistics for Business Majors. Is it more beneficial for an intended Econ major not to take the watered down business math versions?</p>

<p>Thanks for any clarification!</p>

<p>Stats is more important. You will definitely use it if you plan to go into academic research.</p>

<p>Stats is more applied to econometrics. You might use some calculus to derive equations though. However, professors usually don’t care if you know how to derive something or not. They just care that you know how to use the result.</p>

<p>Same applies for the intermediate economic series. You will use calculus to derive equations. The rest of the problems will be algebra and basic calculus. Again they don’t care about the math, they just care that you know the economic theory. They don’t want you to spend 30 minutes finding a derivative on the exam. That is what your math courses are for.</p>

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<p>Honestly, I will tell you it doesn’t matter. Most people take calculus and forget everything they learned. Yet they end up still doing well in their economic classes. </p>

<p>Because economics classes are not math classes. Your grade will depend your study habits and not how well you are at math.</p>

<p>As long as you know the algebra and the basics of calculus and stats. You should do fine in an economics program. </p>

<p>Even if you don’t remember what you need to remember, it only takes like 10-20 minutes to relearn what you need to know.</p>

<p>The only class people are scared of is econometrics. This is the subject that is hard for the average person to grasp. You need to know your statistics well in this class.</p>

<p>If you’re planning on going to grad school, these courses are essentially an absolute minimum:
Calculus
Linear Algebra
Multivariable Calculus
Real Analysis
Probability Theory
Mathematical Statistics
Game Theory
Differential Equations</p>

<p>[Greg</a> Mankiw’s Blog: Which math courses?](<a href=“http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2006/05/which-math-courses.html]Greg”>Greg Mankiw's Blog: Which math courses?)</p>

<p>What you need to get by in undergrad depends entirely on your program. Your best bet would be to look at prerequisites for the courses offered at your specific school.</p>

<p>At a bare minimum for undergrad level:
Micro will require partial derivatives.
Econometrics will require linear algebra and basic statistics.
Game theory may require linear algebra.</p>

<p>Great thorough answer, iTransfer. Thanks.</p>

<p>@angryelf, I found that link through Google, but it seems like most of those posts are over 6 years old (along with some similar posts on this forum being about 3), so I wanted some fresh answers. I know that sometimes requirements to complete academic programs can change over the years, especially considering requirements to get into those programs change periodically as well.</p>

<p>Sorry to hijack your thread, but this year I took ap calc ab and I taught myself ap calc bc. I’m just wondering if I should sign up to retake calc 1 at the college to repeat and reinforce what I learned this year when I go to orientation in a few weeks or just move on to calc 2. Basically how solid should my understanding of basic calculus be for me to do well in my future math classes and future career.
To give you and idea of my strengths I got a 3 in stats last year with pretty limited last minute studying and I took a practice full length ab exam last week while I was substantially drunk (never mind how I got into this unfortunate state) and I still got a mid 3. When I looked over the test after I was sober I noticed that I made countless stupid errors.
I took the tests today and I’m thinking I probably got a 4 maybe stretching to a 5 on ab calc and a 3 or maybe 4 on bc calc.</p>

<p>If anything, the emphasis on advanced quantitative skills for PhD programs is increasing. This indirectly increases the demand for such skills at the undegrad and masters level. The same people who have been selected for their mastery of these skills at the PhD level end up making choices about the content of the classes that they teach.</p>

<p>Business Calc/Stats are (generally) watered down and application oriented. The math stats taught by maths departments is oriented towards their own students as well as the other STEM disciplines. Anyone who has the option and the ability to sit these courses in the maths department rather than the business school would be well advised to do so. Statistics courses that do not have prerequisites of calculus and linear algebra don’t do much to prepare students for more advanced study. If the choice is between those sort of intro stats courses and more calculus and linear algebra, skip the “stats for dummies” and satisfy the prereqs for a real intro to math stats if advanced study is your objective.</p>