I’m considering majoring in economics. Would it be recommended for me to join math-related activities such as Math Team, AMC 10/12, ect?
Is there anything else I can do to prepare myself? Thanks
AP Economics
@katiekitkat - Those are all great ideas! A background in mathematics is important for economists to have. And awesomepolyglot’s suggestion that you take the AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics courses is a good one too. It gives you some experience in a class styled around an intro class that you might have as an undergraduate. And if you don’t like the material, it can get you out of an expensive mistake later.
One last thing that I might suggest to do is look into research opportunities. If you have a university near you, you may want to look into doing research. Admittedly, I’m not sure if you can do this with Social Studies, and there are people more informed about this than me on here.
@observeraffect @awesomepolyglot Thank you!
@katiekitkat - May I ask why you’re interested in economics? It’s not exactly the major I’ve heard most mentioned.
@observeraffect I’m not completely sure which career field I want to go into (maybe public policy/law/business) so it might provide a major that can be applicable to any field. also i thought econ was a super popular major? my neighbor (harvard '15) said that it was the most popular major for undergrads haha
@katiekitkat - Interesting! Googling it (I kinda took it for a fact that people don’t really like econ from a teacher of mine), it appears to be 25th most popular major overall. Interesting!
In regards to your motivations, it can be used for a lot of stuff. There’s even some interdisciplinary pushback (look up Economics Imperialism, with an s for more). If you’re interested in some of the neater applications, I’d read Freakonomics or listen to the Econtalk podcast (they have a really great one on the placement of milk in stores, which challenges some traditional wisdom in a way that makes it interesting) and the Freakonomics podcast with Al Roth (had an engineering background, and is now doing market design stuff).
Economics often is a very popular major (along with Biology and English) at very selective colleges.
Best prep for an economics major aiming for Wharton/Stern and similar (which I guess from your AMC mention):
- Math, especially if you can take the AoPS version. For top schools, calculus will often be expected unless you have a very VERY good reason. Do not rush through math though: a thorough understanding of calculus and calculus-based stats/probability will be life-saving once you hit Intermediate Economics.
- NO need to take AP stats (do plan to take a couple calculus-based stats/probability classes in college, or start now with one through DE).
- AP Economics
- AP Gov (try to think in terms of direction, policy, etc)
- AP European History and/or AP World History (any context will be key)
- Foreign language: focus on one language AND its culture (AP level+), or try to learn two different languages (one European, one Asian, for instance) through intermediate level or level 3-4
- For a fun class: current events; journalism; sociology; Multicultural studies = anything that allows you to grasp the reality of the world today
Read the newspaper - not just one, but two. My suggestions would be to read Paul Krugman+1 NYT article, 1Wall Street Journal article, and 1 Financial Times articles to start with. That’s about 1 article/day. If you can handle the added reading level/intensity, pick up The Economist, National Review (or click to the NRO), Mother Jones, and Harper’s: one issue per weekend, read WHATEVER you find interesting therein - no need to force yourself to read stuff you have no interest in, at this point you should pick this or that because it caught your interest and it’ll all come together ultimately if you don’t make it a chore. So, read what looks interesting, not what you feel you should and certainly not “everything cover to cover” (unless you are so into it you want to). Note that all of these papers and magazines are very reputable but have widely different viewpoints and perspectives. This variety will greatly enrich your thinking and your ability to see problems through different lenses, not to mention it’ll give you great intellectual versatility and references as you get through the college process and then the beginning of college proper.
@MYOS1634 Wow! Thanks for all of your advice! My school offers only one semester of AP Econ and then it switches over to AP Gov, so should I take classes at a community college on these topics?
Take AP Econ and AP Gov; Take AP Calc AB and BC; Take AP Stats;
If you have time in summer, take Principles of Micro and Principles of Macro
If you have extra time in summer (or a second summer), find a technical writing class and a programming class and a GIS class
@MYOS1634 Paul Krugman lol
@Economo Our school doesn’t offer Calc BC (only AB and Stats)… should i self study this?
Is there a community college nearby? You could take Calc AB junior year if you can, then senior year take Calc2 in the Fall and discrete math or linear algebra in the Spring (or just Calc 2, because it’ll be senior year and you’ll already have covered most of the math you need.) This is assuming you are good at math and like it. 
If you’re talking AMC, you shouldn’t need to “preview” stats, and you’ll be glad you have college stats one semester in order to balance your schedule. (Balancing one’s schedule is a key skill in college.)
Take what you can in HS (and summers if you have time and energy and can afford it)…
So Calc AB and AP stat in HS is fine and then pick up from there in College.
If you really want to pursue Econ as career (and possibly grad degree), then my personal recommendation
is take calc through Calc III, then Diff Eq then Linear Algebra; Take some basic stats and then all the Econometrics you can find. A programming class and a GIS (geographic info systems) class are great complementary skills.
Most basically, keep taking the math and stats/metrics while you are young and pushing them as far as needed/able.
It is much harder when you stop and then have to go back and pick up some years down the line, if you really want to pursue Econ.