<p>Although I had good academic standing, for a number of reasons I had to stay local and attend a nearby community college. </p>
<p>For the longest time I was considering doing a Stats/Econ degree (most likely at Urbana-Champaign), but the Stat degree seems a little...bare. At UIUC, at least. Would it perhaps be a bit more advisable for me to do the math degree with a concentration in Operations Research and the Stats degree instead? The downside to this is that Econ majors at UIUC have access to the same job fairs as students in business do. Since I am transferring, engineering is almost out of the question because that would require me to stay an additional semester or even a year.</p>
<p>I'm not too sure what I want to do in the future. Grad school for econ or poli sci is definitely on the table for me (I would also likely be able to do the intermediate econ theory classes in addition to math/stats), but so is maybe getting into consulting/business and maybe being able to get a JD or an MBA on behalf of my work. It's a bit too early to know definitively.</p>
<p>I would really appreciate some advice.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Here’s a quote from an Econ PhD admissions guide [econphd.net</a> Admission Guide](<a href=“http://econphd.econwiki.com/guide.htm]econphd.net”>econphd.net Admission Guide)</p>
<p>“You will need a number of math-related credits from your undergraduate studies. Graduate study in economics follows a theorem-proof approach and uses rigorous notation, so the adcoms pay a lot of attention to how comfortable you look to be with pure mathematics. Two or three terms of calculus, and often linear algebra, are deemed minimum preparation; similarly a semester of mathematical statistics. First-year graduate courses draw heavily on real analysis. Background in real analysis is highly valued and indeed almost expected of a strong applicant.”</p>
<p>“Economics up to intermediate micro- and macroeconomics is also preferred, but perhaps not as essential. In all these, you should have earned good grades. Having taken too few math courses in college, or having performed poorly in them, rules you out of a top school. Apart from such coursework requirements, a formal major in economics is not necessary.”</p>
<p>This is generally also true for poli sci, which has in recent years gone in a very quantitative direction. Generally speaking, if you think you can handle a math major, then math/stats would be better than stats/econ in almost all situations. The intro econ courses are very useful though, as well as some higher level courses. I would recommend taking them regardless.</p>