Transfer Anxiety

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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Hi all,

I’ll be transferring as a junior to Brown in the fall, and I since I was stressing out about a few things, I thought I’d try to get some advice from people here.

Firstly, I’m having a hard time deciding between getting a BA in math, applied math, and economics. I won’t be transferring in with more than maybe a credit in each subject, so I’ll need to do the 8 - 10 courses here. I want to either go to grad school in economics or work in some sort of business - type organization. It’s all very tentative. Which of these majors would prepare me the best, and which would be the least time consuming (It seems that I have some research lined up for the fall, and generally, I’m interested in experiencing more than just classroom academics)?

I’m currently leaning towards math, but I don’t know what sort of courseload would be advisable. It looks like I should take Math 180 and Math 520 my first semester, along with intro econ and another course. Does this seem reasonable? How manageable is five courses? How hard is it to “do well” in math and econ courses at Brown?

Thanks for the help!

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@WuLiMaster please share!

I don’t really know the answer to your questions but Applied math is super strong at Brown. They also have applied math/econ hybrid. It has 2 tracks
http://bulletin.brown.edu/the-college/concentrations/apme/

I think 5 classes is challenging but if you have a mix it is possible many do it. I think it is hard for anyone to gague the change from whatever level you are to Brown. But goo luck, be happy you will figure it out and you will have help when you get there.

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Sounds like Applied Math or Applied Math/Econ is where you want to go. Pure math is definitely the wrong direction if you want to work in business.

I would strongly suggest against taking 5 classes in your first semester. You’ll have a lot of other adjustments to deal with, and you don’t want to overtax yourself, especially if you’re also doing some research. You could sign up for 5, then drop one once you decide which 4 are going to be the best and most worth your time.