What to study?

<p>I have always dreamed of going to graduate school but I'm confused now over what to study. I am still in undergrad. I'm a math and econ double major. Math and econ are obvious options, but are there any other fields that I could apply to? Or is making any kind of leap from these two fields to something other than maybe operations research out of the question?</p>

<p>@ euler321</p>

<p>I am in the same predicament. If you have no absolute idea what to study in graduate school, it is best to postpone your plans. Get a job, travel the country, and figure out what are your strengths and assets. Grad school is too expensive to make a mistake.</p>

<p>do you really want to go because of a particular subject, or you just don't want to leave school? many people have asked me if i plan on going to grad school (i guess mainly b/c my major isn't very practical), and i have thought of going, but what would i go for? and these people who ask want to go to grad school themselves, but also don't really know what to go for either. they just don't know what else to do with themselves, or don't want to face the daunting world of work. if you're like that, you should know that you don't have to plan out everything about your life. sometimes it's just easier to go with the flow and see where life takes you. just go when you're ready and when you know what to study for.</p>

<p>I'm not worried about working, I actually can't wait to get my life started. I know that if I left after getting my degrees I could get a decent job in the financial sector. Get married and all that ****. I want to get at least a masters in something because I don't want to be an office drone, I want to run the show. The money that comes with it would be nice too.</p>

<p>What I was wondering was, what kinds of fields could a math/econ major make the jump to if I wanted to?</p>

<p>IBanking - look into that.</p>

<p>simple. MBA.</p>

<p>Math/Econ majors can jump into most business fields. Try interning somewhere this summer to get a better picture of what you want to do. Also, you can still "run the show" without getting a masters in something, but you will have to "pay your dues" in your field before they will let you run anything.</p>

<p>Right MBA :)</p>

<p>But honestly, grad school isn't free so you better know why you're going so you can remind yourself every day when you're bogged down with work that the money's worth it. If you can't imagine yourself doing that, then don't go to grad school until it's worth the effort and MAJOR sacrifice.</p>

<p>grad school IS free if you're doing an econ phD at an elite school with tuition waiver, health insurance and 25K+ support! </p>

<p>i wish i had been an econ major.</p>

<p>^ It's far from free if you factor in the opportunity cost, actually.</p>

<p>@ xnormajeanx</p>

<p>You have to be very dedicated to forego years of salary and opportunity costs to pursue an Econ PhD. Most econ majors make more money in business and industry than they do in academia. Graduate school is a risk. It is nothing to take lightly. If you know what you're doing, however, pursue it!</p>

<p>Yep. You'll be trudging along on $15-20K stipend for 5 years for Econ PhD while your friends are making $75K+ in a year. You'll be asking yourself everyday "Why the hell am I doing this again?"</p>

<p>Euler -- Operations Research is not out of the question. Take more math than you're required to, and definitely take some computer science classes. If you're at a university where they have operations research, try to take a class or two in that as well. If not, look into probability and statistics. My son is graduating as an econ-math major, but discovered he was more interested in mathematical modeling than in econ. He's going on in applied (computational) math.</p>