<p>I want to major in either economics or finance or mathematics. Both only have 2 out of the three majors that I listed, so they are equal there. I know that Stern his harder to get into and is harder all around. Is it worth risking not getting admitted? I would rather get into CAS than not admitted at all.</p>
<p>Sounds like you just want to go to NYU. Just apply to CAS</p>
<p>I was surprised to find the gap between Stern and CAS is not that big in terms of admission selectivity. I think average student in Stern has around 3.8 ~ 3.9 GPA / 2100 ~ 2300 SAT and impressive ECs while average student in CAS has around 3.7 ~ 3.8 GPA / 2000 ~ 2200 SAT and pretty good ECs. If Stern is not your safety, and you really need to go to NYU, just aim for CAS since NYU CAS has some great economics programs too.</p>
<p>^Kaptiva’s right. The difference in “objective” student quality really is not that great, but CAS probably would be a safer bet to apply to than Stern. Stern Finance is by and far their most competitive/prestigious program, but outside of that the difference academic difficulty among your interests is: CAS Math > Stern Econ=CAS Econ. There isn’t much difference between Stern Econ and CAS Econ, except for what’s done as introductory/core courses. Most people in Stern treat Econ as a secondary major (e.g. someone might double major in Finance and Econ), whereas it’s the only major for many people in CAS, or maybe shared with a Politics major/minor.</p>
<p>In terms of job placement, go to Stern if you wanna work i-banking – it’s impossibly hard for CAS Econ students to crack into front-office banking positions. However, most of the big firms are still more than willing to hire hard-working CAS Econ major for other mid-office and back-office jobs that pay very well. </p>
<p>You’ll develop a much better peer network in Stern. You’ll work hard but probably will be a little bit more relaxed in CAS. Stern arguably provides more bang for your buck, but all in all it comes down to what kind of education you want.</p>