Mathematics + Economics

Yes, Northwestern offers merit scholarships. However, it is important to understand that of the 955 freshmen that had no need, 85 received merit awards with an average award size of $6,659. Econ is usually an non capped major at most universities. It is also one of the larger majors at most places. You will find the full spectrum of students within the major. The econ/math vs econ is usually a self selection. Always check at each school, but most of them should just require admission to the university.

Ouch, $6k would be a very small dent in NU’s COA. His parents have agreed to take parent plus loans but not keen on it.

You raised a good point, peer level would be very different in combined programs compared to basic economics major.

@CupCakeMuffins If you are looking for merit awards, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the common data sets. They can be found by searching for common data set. The items of interest are H2A, H2C, H2AN, and H2AO. Here is the link to the Northwestern one where I got the number from my post above. http://enrollment.northwestern.edu/pdf/common-data/2017-18.pdf

Here is the list. (courtesy of cut and paste). Tufts does not offer merit. BC offers a few big merit scholarships. Others may recognize some merit schools on the list.

Econometrics and Quantitative Economics Colleges

A program that focuses on the systematic study of mathematical and statistical analysis of economic phenomena and problems. Includes instruction in economic statistics, optimization theory, cost/benefit analysis, price theory, economic modeling, and economic forecasting and evaluation.

55 Schools with Econometrics and Quantitative Economics Major

Air Force Institute of Technology-Graduate School of Engineering & Management WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, OH Connect with School
American University WASHINGTON, DC Connect with School
Baldwin Wallace University BEREA, OH Connect with School
Boston College CHESTNUT HILL, MA Connect with School
Bowdoin College BRUNSWICK, ME Connect with School
Brown University PROVIDENCE, RI Connect with School
Carnegie Mellon University PITTSBURGH, PA Connect with School
Colgate University HAMILTON, NY Connect with School
Colorado College COLORADO SPRINGS, CO Connect with School
Colorado School of Mines GOLDEN, CO Connect with School
Columbia University in the City of New York NEW YORK, NY Connect with School
Drake University DES MOINES, IA Connect with School
Drexel University PHILADELPHIA, PA Connect with School
Duke University DURHAM, NC Connect with School
East Carolina University GREENVILLE, NC

Gettysburg College GETTYSBURG, PA Connect with School
Hampden-Sydney College HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA Connect with School
High Point University HIGH POINT, NC Connect with School
Hofstra University HEMPSTEAD, NY Connect with School
Ithaca College ITHACA, NY Connect with School
Lafayette College EASTON, PA Connect with School
Lycoming College WILLIAMSPORT, PA Connect with School
Marquette University MILWAUKEE, WI Connect with School
Portland State University PORTLAND, OR Connect with School
Providence College PROVIDENCE, RI Connect with School
Rice University HOUSTON, TX Connect with School
Rutgers University-New Brunswick PISCATAWAY, NJ Connect with School
Saint Vincent College LATROBE, PA Connect with School
Scripps College CLAREMONT, CA Connect with School
Simmons College BOSTON, MA

Southern Methodist University DALLAS, TX Connect with School
St. Cloud State University SAINT CLOUD, MN Connect with School
Texas A & M University-College Station COLLEGE STATION, TX Connect with School
Tufts University MEDFORD, MA Connect with School
United States Naval Academy ANNAPOLIS, MD Connect with School
University of Akron Main Campus AKRON, OH Connect with School
University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) IRVINE, CA Connect with School
University of California-Santa Barbara SANTA BARBARA, CA Connect with School
University of California-Santa Cruz SANTA CRUZ, CA Connect with School
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus CINCINNATI, OH Connect with School
University of Dayton DAYTON, OH Connect with School
University of Minnesota Twin Cities MINNEAPOLIS, MN Connect with School
University of North Dakota GRAND FORKS, ND Connect with School
University of Northern Iowa CEDAR FALLS, IA Connect with School
University of Pennsylvania PHILADELPHIA, PA

University of Rhode Island KINGSTON, RI Connect with School
University of Richmond UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, VA Connect with School
University of St. Thomas SAINT PAUL, MN Connect with School
University of Utah SALT LAKE CITY, UT Connect with School
Wake Forest University WINSTON-SALEM, NC Connect with School
Weber State University OGDEN, UT Connect with School
Western Kentucky University BOWLING GREEN, KY Connect with School
Westminster College - Pennsylvania NEW WILMINGTON, PA Connect with School
Yale University NEW HAVEN, CT Connect with School
Yeshiva University NEW YORK, NY

I think if he double majors in math and economics he might be an a more theory based / academic track. These quant economics and finance paths are more applied and lead more to you know, actual JOBS! Banks are scooping up all these folks from what i understand. . . .But just depends what he wants, of course.

Does your nephew have a career goal?

@rosered55 He is a 16 year old rising junior so his goals are very fluid but wants to become an executive and live large while implementing consumer friendly policies.

So possibly an MBA eventually?

As far as I know, all of these so-called “quantitative economics” programs are nothing more than directing you to take courses separately from economics and mathematics departments with almost no integration. In other words, you can do that on your own at any university. You don’t need a program with such title to tell you that.

The best (or maybe the only) program that truly integrates economics and math is the Mathematical Methods in Social Sciences (MMSS) program at Northwestern. Nobel laureate, Dale T. Mortensen (1939-2014), was one of the program founders and served as the director of the program 1982-1984 and 1992-2000.

https://www.mmss.northwestern.edu/

Crazy thought: 16 year old nephew might change his mind later. Go someplace with lots of options and don’t focus in prematurely on quantitative economics major. Let the choice of college list be more broad based. You can double major in economics and math at a huge range of places.

Would he be open to studying in the UK? London School of Economics has some great programs in Math w/Economics. And if he’s full pay for US schools, the UK schools are a bargain in comparison. For example, the LSE bachelor’s degree only takes 3 years instead of 4 and the cost per year (even at international student rates) is lower than the cost per year at US private colleges.

MIT, Chicago, Berkley, Columbia, Michigan, Brown, BC et al have a long histories of quantitatively grounded economics departments through the PhD levels. Paul Samuelson (MIT) was trained as a physicist and pushed the entire field strongly toward quantitative analysis back in the 60’s. The modeling has not stopped. Lord Keynes had been read to death and Samuelson and Milton Friedman (Chicago, also trained as a physicist) launched the era of mathematical modeling which became the system we have today. Math is a primary language for many economists.

Pick a University with a strong PhD program in economics and you should find a serious mathematical grounding in the undergraduate program. STEM schools with economics majors are also a point of focus. For example, CM has a big push going on now where psychology is becoming the new interdisciplinary platform for studies in economics. Big data is the new tool for behavioral analysis. Remember, economics is “the queen” of the social sciences. I would look for schools which favor interdisciplinary thinking. Math is an important the tool whether in application or theory.

As far as rigor of those majors, it is econ<econ& math(as one major)<econ, math (double major). D1 was interested in IB. She asked a good friend of mine, who was in the business for a long time, he told her to major in math (not applied math) instead of econ. He also recommended for her to take few psych classes. She ended up doing double major because it was relatively easy to get another degree in economics after math. She did very well on her interviews, especially when she was given some brain teaser questions, and she did end up with multiple offers. Everything D1 needed to know about finance she learned on the job. It really depends on what OP’s nephew wants to do after he graduates. Pure math is probably more difficult for most people than applied math, just because someone is good in math in high school doesn’t mean he/she could do well majoring in math. I know my kid got whipped in college.

It probably depends on how the school’s math department structures the majors, specifically whether the usual “hard” core upper division pure math major courses (e.g. real analysis, abstract algebra) are also required for applied math majors, or if applied math majors can take less difficult versions.

Check out Union (ny).

As a math professor who has been part of committees overseeing hybrid programs, I would very much suggest that ,at an undergrad level, an econ major with strong math/stat minor, or double major econ, math or stat is preferable. Major universities have strong departments in these areas and if the kid changes his mind, changing majors to something else is not a problem.

It would be wise to dig deeper into the actual course requirements for the more specialized programs, and see if they really offer anything unique.

If the kid is really keen on econ, he should start a spreadsheet model and input his family financial data, explore data from npc, cds, and calculate his probabilities of merit aid and approximate financial outlay.

Carnegie Mellon has a number of different degrees related to math and Econ including a quantitative finance degree. However it is almost all need based aid (there is a very small amount of merit aid but even that is mostly for students with need).

Emory (yes its in the South but has a variety of students) also has strong B school with undergrad degrees if that’s something he wants. They have competitive merit.

Texas has one and it has depth and breadth but unlikely for my uber liberal nephew to settle for Houston.

https://ga.rice.edu/programs-study/departments-programs/social-sciences/economics/mathematical-economic-analysis-ba/#requirementstext

Yale has a major called Mathematics and Economics, jointly offered by the Math dept. and econ dept.

@CupCakeMuffins

As mentioned in post #28, there’s nothing special about all of these so-called “mathematical economics” programs. That “mathematical economic analysis” major at Rice is no exception. Calculus 1, calculus 2, multivariable calculus are very basic for anyone that considers him/herself mathematically inclined. Game theory and econometrics are also pretty much expected for anyone who is semi-serious about the more quantitative aspect of economics. Those same courses are available in just about any decent economics department.

You can replicate the same curriculum in just about any decent school. Don’t get too hung up with the fancy name. Anyone double-majoring in math and economics is going to cover more. Since many good schools have decent econ and math programs, the better approach is just to find the best schools and either major in econ with the quant-heavy electives or double-major in econ and math.

As mentioned in post #28, only MMSS at Northwestern provides meaningful integration of math and econ. Otherwise, don’t waste time looking into “mathematical econ” programs.