<p>I just applied to Lafayette by RD and I plan on going into business, most likely management or consulting, and have a few questions about the economics program at Lafayette.</p>
<p>How prestigious and/or challenging are Lafayette's programs in economics compared to their other prestigious programs (e.g. engineering)?</p>
<p>Is the economics major more geared toward academic economics or business economics? (asking because I know the major used to be called Economics and Business)</p>
<p>How strong is Lafayette for job placement in business?</p>
<p>How readily available are internships?</p>
<p>Check out [Lafayette</a> Named National Champion in the College Fed Challenge](<a href=“http://www.lafayette.edu/news.php/view/14358]Lafayette”>http://www.lafayette.edu/news.php/view/14358)
“December 2, 2009 — Lafayette defeated last year’s champion Harvard University, as well as Northwestern and Rutgers universities, to earn the national title in the College Fed Challenge at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. The College’s team received a $25,000 prize and was congratulated by Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke.”</p>
<p>My son is a junior majoring in Econ at Lafayette. Per him:</p>
<p>The econ program is much more geared toward academic economics. There’s not a lot in the way of business.</p>
<p>He thinks Lafayette is decent for job placement, and yes, there are internships available.</p>
<p>How about the finance courses? Are they more geared for business?</p>
<p>So based on a ballpark estimate, would Lafayette give job placement that is comparable to a decent business school? In particular, do you know if the amount of recruitment opportunities is more than the amount of graduates per year?</p>
<p>The best info to answer these questions is on Lafayette’s website:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.lafayette.edu/admissions/majors/economics.html]Economics[/url”>http://www.lafayette.edu/admissions/majors/economics.html]Economics[/url</a>]</p>
<p>It has info on the concentrations within the Economics major, and what recent Econ grads are doing (job placement, grad school, etc).</p>
<p>S is concentrating in Political Economy-Public Policy, and International Econ. He’s minoring in Gov/Law with a focus on International. The only finance course he has taken was Public Finance, so I can’t really answer your question.</p>
<p>Don’t kid yourself - Lafayette is NOT a business school. It is a Liberal Arts College where you can concentrate in Economics, including finance. Read thru all the pages of the Economics Dept website and decide if it has enough of a business focus to satisfy you. </p>
<p>(Although as jyber’s link in post#2 points out, Laf’s kids seem to be holding their own against B-school kids 
)</p>
<p>Thanks for the link! It gave most of what I was looking for.</p>
<p>The link in post 5 also has a link to the College Catalog, with a description of all the courses offered. Economics is pages 93 - 99.</p>
<p>i’m a current sophomore business major, and i actually transferred here in the fall. when i applied it was an economics and business major as you said so i was expecting a little more of the business side. recently, they changed it to only an economics major and eliminated some of the courses. personally, i dont think there are that many courses to choose from and if you really really really feel as if you want a specific aspect of business i would look at all your options first, because i wish i had. i’m probably going to go for the finance certificate which is the closest we have to any specific field. besides that, you take the core courses (micro, macro, financial accounting, stat, econometrics) and then choose 5 electives, which can include finance, sports economics, women and the economy, and classes like that.</p>