I’m a junior in high school and I’ve realized that I really want to pursue a degree in a business related field. I’ve been looking at economics because it seems the most interesting to me, but should I really major in it? I’ve been doing my research, but I’ve seen a lot of conflicting views online. Does economics have a good job outlook and if not, what other business fields should I look into?
I live in the Washington DC area which is the best area for economics majors and I also plan to attend university in this area. Also, if you think that I should major in economics, should I go for a BA or BS? I’m looking at a BA right now because history and government have always been my favorite subjects in school, plus I can speak 4 languages (learning my 5th right now), so a BA is more up my alley.
Don’t worry about the BA vs BS issue now. Many (maybe most) schools only offer one of those for the econ major. In those cases, it’s the strength of the program which will matter, not the BA vs BS degree. If you happen to choose a college which gives you a choice, then you can look at each specific program to decide which is better for you.
For now, focus on identifying a range of colleges that could work for you. As you search for colleges, you can read about the requirements for econ and business majors at individual schools and that could give you a better sense of which you might prefer.
If you can double major, then consider finance as a second major if available.
Cornell University offers an interesting mix of majors in finance & economics.
Economics isn’t really a business field. However, may of the skills that you learn can be used in a business environment. Econ tends to be the underlying theoretical foundation for business degrees. It also can matter what upper level econ electives you take. If the university has a business school, you might be able to take some classes. If they don’t have a B School, some classes may be taught in Econ that would normally be in the B School. If you like Poli Sci, you might like policy analysis. That is strongly in the wheelhouse of most Econ departments.
Get to college, try the classes, then decide.
If you think you might declare this on the college app, then keep researching, take an econ class, if your hs offers it, and find some related ECs.
Is econ worth it if I don’t go to an elite school? I plan on going to George Mason University, which is a pretty good school, but definitely not elite. I’m just worried about the job prospects after I graduate.
There is no reason to think that econ is better or worse than other majors at an elite vs non elite school. George Mason is pretty well known in econ, especially for their free-market views. Also a really great place to go if you are interested in regulatory policy.