<p>My D needs to take one Econ class for her major requirement. She is not strong in Math. Which class would be easier?</p>
<p>Econ is more concepts about demand and supply and social trends than it is about math.</p>
<p>Macro, being the big picture, tends to be more conceptual and less math intensive than Micro. </p>
<p>Macro Econ is supposedly easier, and many more schools tend to offer it over micro.
Also, macro has less “math” than micro, but both classes do not contain arduous mathematical calculations.
The math has to be done without a calculator, so the problems do not involve very complex parts.
So, I would say Macro would probably be easier.</p>
<p>At the introductory level, neither requires much math.</p>
<p>At the intermediate level, the amount of math needed varies by economics department, ranging from a semester of calculus to multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and/or differential equations. Usually, intermediate micro uses more math than intermediate macro.</p>
<p>What’s her major? A business major might do better to have taken micro-economics – an international relations major might be better off with macro. </p>
<p>I’m not focusing on which is easier – I’m looking at what is more useful to the student in the context of the major.</p>
<p>Her major is community and regional development. The class is going to be huge and she doesn’t do well in huge classes with multiple choice tests. She just wants to get through it and pass. She does best in smaller classes with discussion and papers. So she is looking for the easiest knowing that either choice will be difficult for her.</p>
<p>Is she able to get info about the reputation of the profs teaching the courses? It could be that the prof teaching the “easier” alternative is a tougher grader, or less adept at explaining or answering questions that students have.</p>
<p>Are both alternatives equally large classes?</p>
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<p>Is she planning on going to graduate school for her field? </p>
<p>I am wondering as some grad programs in related fields like IR would require anyone who hasn’t had Economics to take Macro & Micro before starting the program. Knew some incoming Columbia SIPA students who had to take both before starting their program. </p>
<p>Calmom- she is at a UC so both classes are huge. The professor choices aren’t great.
No plans at this point for Grad school. If any post grad thoughts it is not beyond a multiple teaching credential and that is only a distant thought.</p>
<p>Could your daughter take the course at a community college and get credit for it at the UC?</p>
<p>My son did that with statistics – he was at a CSU and trying to fill his distribution requirements, and needed a quantitative course, but couldn’t fit it into his schedule. He found a California community college with online courses and took the required Stats course as well as a 2nd course for some other requirement-- that CC was in a remote location and pretty much in the business of offering online courses to help students fill general ed requirements at UC’s and CSU’s…</p>
<p>What are your d’s plans for the summer? If she could take the course either online or at your local community college, she might find it easier than dealing with the large lecture environment. Assuming it’s a lower division intro course (Econ 1A or 1B?) - then I’m pretty sure that community college credit in an appropriate course would transfer. </p>
<p>Is she at Davis? (I’m thinking she is in the same department that I graduated from 40 years ago … but the major had a different name and different requirements in those days.)</p>
<p>Can she look at a sample syllabus before signing up for the class? In general, though, introductory econ (either micro or macro) is going to be more basic social science than quantitative analysis. She should be okay even if math isn’t her thing. </p>
<p>Take both. If she really insists on one, Micro has more relevance to the average ordinary person. The math for the intro classes (which obviously is the case as otherwise she would have to take both) is minimal. Macro may be a bit more useful for her major, but everyone should take Micro, IMHO.</p>
<p>Professor makes a big difference. To me, Macro was tedious and boring. Micro was interesting. Looking back it was most likely a direct correlation to the profs. Macro guy was and old-school Keynesian and lectured non-stop. Micro guy was a Cato fellow and spent more time with open discussion.</p>
<p>I agree if she only is going to take one to take micro. </p>
<p>My S is a politics major and though not required for his major he took both micro and macro. He also took stats for econ majors. He is considering going to grad school for public policy, but wants to work a few years before doing that. </p>
<p>Torveaux- to be clear she doesn’t have a desire to take either one of them. So there is no way she will take both. Her major requires you take one intro Econ class.
Calmom- the CC is a good idea. She is already planning on summer school at her UC but she could look at doing it in the future. I will PM you the UC. Stats is the other lower division course she dreading. </p>
<p>The amount of math varies too widely between different schools, and the type of intro (at Michigan there’s a non-math version of Econ for non-Econ majors, and there’s a math version of Econ for Econ majors) class that you can’t say much about anything unless you know the specific classes being offered.</p>
<p>That said, an Intro Macro does tend to have less math than an Intro Micro from what I know.</p>
<p>Your D shouldn’t dread stats. If she takes an intro stats class appropriate for a social science major, it will be heavy on concepts, and the actual calculations will be very arithmetic oriented (i.e. easy, round numbers; emphasis on understanding how stats are used but not heavy duty regressions and programming). I was a weak math student in HS and loved stats in grad school- the issues are very topical and once you get the concepts down, it’s a lot of fun.</p>
<p>re: Econ- I think your D should figure out which course will have the better professor and the most accessible office hours in case she runs into trouble. Either Micro or Macro can become a quantitative slog depending on the curriculum, the professor, the textbooks, and the preparation required for the course. If she’s in a class with other non-econ majors just taking it because it’s a requirement she should be fine- it will be heavy on concepts and light on analysis.</p>
<p>But remind her to show up at each and every class; do all the homework, attend every review session. If she falls behind, just listening to the lectures will make her head spin.</p>
<p>If it’s a non-math focused econ class, she will probably find the content very interesting and certainly applicable to every day life whether micro or macro.</p>
<p>Mom60 – is there a range of options for Stats? My daughter took stats at Columbia (she was at Barnard, but there were more options across the street) – and Columbia offered a whole range of stats options, including a stats course geared to people with no math background whatsoever, to one that required knowledge of basic high school algebra, to courses requiring calculus. I jokingly referred to the least-mathy options as “Stats for Dummies” - for scheduling reason my d. actually chose a course that was 1 level up from the most minimalist option.</p>
<p>Whatever it was --the course was apparently strong enough to allow her to waive out of stats in grad school-- something my son couldn’t do with his community college course. But that may be a difference in attitude - my son was going to take an exam at his grad school to try to waive out of the stats course, but walked out of the exam – as soon as he saw the questions, he decided that he would be better off to take the course – but I think he was more focused on getting the education he was paying for, as opposed to getting away with less work. (Probably a much better attitude in the long run). </p>
<p>There are a couple of options for the Stats including one in the Sociology department. She passed Calculus so I don’t know why she is afraid of Statistics. She has decided to take the computer class first in order to brush up on her Excel skills.
She registered for Macro for the fall quarter. The professor reviews are not great. If she gets some of the other classes she wants during Pass 2 she will drop the Econ and put it off till a later time.
One problem is she went to an alternative HS program and she did not take Statistics or a traditional Econ class in HS. </p>
<p>There will be no calculus in a statistics course aimed at social science majors, I promise you.</p>
<p>As long as she’s not messing up her course sequence, no harm in putting off Econ until she can get a really good professor.</p>