<p>I would like some more information on the Stanford econ program. I looked at the Stanford undergraduate economics program online and was seriously underwhelmed. They hadn't changed their site since 1999! I know you can't judge a school off of its website, but with only 25 to 30 students each year in the program, I wonder how good it really is. The website was so disheartening! Can anyone shed some light on this? I'm curious specifically about the undergrad econ program (I know the MBA is tops).</p>
<p>I know their Graduate program is top 10 if not top 5.</p>
<p>Yeah USNews ranks Stanford as the number 2 graduate business program . . . but I'm wondering if anyone has any specific information on the undergraduate business scene. Anyone know about it?</p>
<p>Here's the NRC ranking:</p>
<p>1 Harvard 4.95
2 Chicago 4.95
3 MIT 4.93
4 Stanford 4.92
5 Princeton 4.84
6 Yale 4.70
7 Cal Berkeley 4.55
8 Penn 4.43
9 Northwestern 4.39
10 Minnesota 4.22</p>
<p>NRC</a> Rankings in Each of 41 Areas</p>
<p>US News for grad econ:</p>
<p>Rank/School Average assessment
score (5.0 = highest)
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5.0
University of Chicago 5.0
3. Harvard University (MA) 4.9
Princeton University (NJ) 4.9
Stanford University (CA) 4.9
University of California–Berkeley 4.9 </p>
<p>Economics Specialties: Industrial Organization
Ranked in 2005* </p>
<ol>
<li> Stanford University (CA) </li>
<li> Harvard University (MA) </li>
<li> Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
Northwestern University (IL) </li>
</ol>
<p>Economics Specialties: Microeconomics
Ranked in 2005* </p>
<ol>
<li> Harvard University (MA) </li>
<li> Stanford University (CA) </li>
<li> Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Gourman undergrad economics ranking:</p>
<p>MIT
Chicago
Stanford
Princeton
Harvard
Yale
U Minnesota
U Penn
U Wisc Madison
UC Berkeley</p>
<p>are those undergrad rankings...cause that's all i care about.....and i think that's what the OP was talking about as well...</p>
<p>The Gourman rankings are for undergrad.</p>
<p>Besides, grad quality in a specific program is highly correlated with undergrad quality in that program. Think about it: it's largely the same professors, same libraries, same facilities, etc.</p>
<p>thanks so much for your reply, kyledavid. It was just a bit disconcerting looking at their website . . . I wonder if the size of the major is still in the 20s and 30s? That would be worth knowing . . .</p>
<p>stanford does a lot of "interdisciplinary" majors...so some people might be going into majors that aren't just traditional "Economics", but still with the aim of going into Econ...so that might be the reason for the low numbers in an otherwise perpetually and universally popular major at many colleges across the country. i am sure that one can't go wrong with the econ program at stanford at the undergraduate level though...choosing between stanford/mit or stanford/harvard is probably just splitting hairs.</p>
<p>I went to the Economics Department website for Stanford, and while it does not seem like the department puts much emphasis on their website, the department has updated its site in 2007. I know the copyright says 1999, but the events section has stuff from 2007. Several other sections from the site also include stuff from after 1999. Not that the website is an accurate portrayal of the department anyways...</p>
<p>I agree with kingmo1990. I know some people who are taking Management Science and Engineering, which can be seen as an alternative to Economics for people who want something more interdisplinary. Also, I think there are some departments here which are ranked pretty high but have very few undergraduates in their program. So if you go by the undergraduate rankings, the student count is not necessarily reflective of the quality of the undergraduate programs here.</p>
<p>anything stanford= top of the line.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. In many of the fields measured by the NRC ranking or Gourman report, for example, Stanford doesn't even make top 10 (sometimes not even top 15). Still those departments are very strong, but not exactly 'top of the line.'</p>
<p>I started a similar thread a while back and while a lot of people threw rankings around, no real argument was made for their econ department. Its a good program, at a very good school but I haven't been able to hear anything specific from them. One aspect or offering from the program that stands out.</p>
<p>anything in stanford is good. :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
In many of the fields measured by the NRC ranking or Gourman report, for example, Stanford doesn't even make top 10 (sometimes not even top 15). Still those departments are very strong, but not exactly 'top of the line.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This means that these rankings are doubtful. Stanford has the world's absolute best departments in computer science and in Statistics. There are plenty of reasons to claim Stanford is #1 in these 2 departments. But Gourman report doesn't even rank Stanford's computer science, and does not rank Stanford in top 10 for statistics. That makes Gourman ranking look stupid.</p>
<p>I'm an Economics major at Stanford.</p>
<p>The department definitely graduates more than 20 to 30 students each year. It's now more than a hundred per year. Economics is one of the most popular majors at Stanford.</p>
<p>The students in the department are pretty diverse. Some are purely interested in Economics and are looking to pursue PhDs. A big chunk are interested in finance (investment banking, sales and trading). Some are interested in consulting. Some are "techie" students who didn't want to do engineering problem sets 24/7. A good number of students do something in addition to Economics: a double major, a coterm (masters degree), a minor, etc.</p>
<p>The department is famous for its rigid and inflexible nature. There are rules you have to follow and they almost never make any exceptions. The curriculum is very sequential, meaning you have to take class A, B, C, and D before taking E. Exams are only offered once, no rescheduling allowed. This is very different than pretty much the rest of stanford, which is very laid back and loose in enforcing the rules and regulations.</p>
<p>Most classes are curved to a B. The class offerings are pretty wide, with about 20 classes offered each quarter. The focus is more MICRO than MACRO, and the department has become MUCH MORE MATHY than it used to be. It's still not as quantitative as MIT, but much more than your regular ivy league economics program.</p>
<p>The program is 80 units, which translates to 16 classes. The core (math heavy) is 7 classes. The rest is up to you. They are a good of number of non-quantitative classes (history economics, marketing economics, policy analysis, poverty, etc.) to boost up your major GPA if you didn't do well in the core.</p>
<p>Classes are big. Expect anywhere between 75-200 students in the core classes. Upper level elective get anywhere between 30-100 students.</p>
<p>I don't know much about the research opportunities for undergrads, as I am not looking to do an Econ PhD. But I do know a good bunch of people who have obtained summer research grants, access to faculty, etc.</p>
<p>Summary: if you like economics, don't mind following rules and having a well-thought out plan of your 4 years education, are good with math and don't care about big class sizes, then Stanford Econ is one of the best places for you!</p>
<p>
[quote]
This means that these rankings are doubtful. Stanford has the world's absolute best departments in computer science and in Statistics. There are plenty of reasons to claim Stanford is #1 in these 2 departments.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I didn't say which disciplines Stanford wasn't ranked in the top 10. It certainly is in the top 10 for those. However, the NRC ranking is very well-regarded, and even though it's for grad programs, it is good for comparing overall departments at different universities.</p>
<p>I agree, Gourman's lists can seem a little dubious at times (for example, he leaves out UC Santa Cruz from his linguistics ranking when it's clearly one of the best).</p>
<p>Regardless, there are disciplines, even in the NRC rankings, where Stanford does not place in the top 10 or even top 15.</p>
<p>You mentioned that econ students often pair it with something else. How hard in terms of number of classes would a econ/physics double major be.</p>
<p>I know people who have done the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Double major or major & minor Econ / CS, Econ/Math, Econ/Engineering, Econ/Polisci, Econ/IR, Econ/English, etc.</li>
<li>Econ BA / Management Science and Engineering Master</li>
</ul>
<p>Haven't heard of anyone doing Econ/Physics, but it's certainly doable. You just have to decide on it and plan for it early 1st year.</p>
<p>I would die from happiness if I got in and was able to do this</p>
<p>Econ/Engineering</p>
<p>how difficult would it be if i don't mind not really having any electives. Could i finish in 4 years?</p>
<p>^^ you could, I think. You'd probably declare a BAS degree and complete 180 units. If you wanted, you could declare a BA and a BS and complete 225 units.</p>