<p>Im an undergraduate majoring in economics at a local community college. Ive been going there for almost three years now. Im coming the end of my last semester there but im starting to think i wana major in something more advanced like engineering, though i do have an interest in economics, i feel a degree in something more advanced will better me. The dilemma is if i decide to major in engineering i hafta stay at the community college for probly 2 more years whereas i can transfer to san jose state and major in economics next fall. I could probly get a high degree faster in econ compared to getting on in engineering. So i need help deciding what i should do. I know a degree in economics is more general than a degree in engineering also. I like math, both subjects involve a good amount of math, engineering more than the other though, and i know engineering involves a ton of science to.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by saying that engineering is more “advanced” than economics, can you elaborate?</p>
<p>There is usually a major difference in what one can do with an undergraduate degree in engineering vs. economics. Engineering is more of an applied degree and most engineers work with only a BS degree. Economics tends to be more academic and many people go on for graduate degrees. </p>
<p>It sounds like you need to talk to some engineers and some people who have majored in economics and get a better feel for the kind of work each does. We have a subforum on engineering, that could be a good place to start.</p>
<p>Never looked at it like that. The whole applied degree and academic degree. Found your input very insightful, thank you! ill definitely check out that forum. By advanced i ment like the only prereq for economics undergrad is micro econ, macro econ, finite math, pre cal, and the rest of the csu general requirements. Whereas for engineering u need few physics classes, chemistry classes, and math up to calculus 3, and engineering classes related to the branch of engineering ur majoring in.</p>
<p>OK, I understand. The thing is that engineering is really a different type of major. The curriculum is pretty standard across schools because you need to get some sort of licensing to practice. There are a few other fields similar to this, architecture is one that comes to mind. So other than whatever sub-field you choose, the classes that people take when majoring in engineering are just about all the same.</p>
<p>Economics is what I think of as a more ‘standard’ major, you take the same general requirements as you would for any other humanities, social science and to some degree science major, and then take the classes required for economics itself. For majors such as economics, there are usually a few required courses in the discipline, but then you have a fair amount of choice the rest, so you might want to concentrate in micro, macro, or International, etc.</p>