Which is easier to major in economics or poli sci?

<p>As the question above stated, which of these two majors have you guys on CC found most easy? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>It depends on the person. I'm an Econ major and before I was thinking of a Pol Sci minor. Pol Sci classes are like humanities classes - lots of reading and writing papers, no real math involved. A lot of people can't handle all that reading/writing. As for the material itself, the freshman course I took was easy, but like any major, advanced classes will be hard.</p>

<p>Econ is a lot more mathematical, you need several calc/stats classes, and it's not reading/writing heavy at all. But I know a lot of people who struggle with the math and concepts in econ and have difficulty. Like most majors, basic classes will be easy and advanced courses can get pretty hard, and theoretical. </p>

<p>I reccommend you take both an Econ and Pol Sci course and see what you prefer, it varies from person to person. What do you want to do after graduation? What field do you want to go into? Did you enjoy Government class in HS?</p>

<p>well molly, my situation is sorta tricky. i want to go to law school and become a corporate lawyer. i find both poli sci and economics very interesting. the thing is i'm not really a math person and i figure my grades would suffer and as a result i wouldn't be able to get into a top law school. if i take poli sci i think i'd enjoy it more and receive a higher GPA outta of it compared to economics. the thing is, if my plans dont work out, i can't do much with a poi sci degree, while with a econ degree i could find a job in business. so it's sorta a catch 22 situation.
i also know law school is a numbers game, and i know i could get a really high GPA with a poli sci degree, it's just that i'm nervous if my law school ambitions disappear, i won't be able to do a thing with my degree.
and ftw i love government and politics. i consider it one of my passions. i love discussing it. and my teachers have even joked of me becoming governor lol</p>

<p>i think poli sci is easier, simply because econ can get very math intensive. But then again this depends on the person...</p>

<p>at my school poli sci is the easiest major by number of classes needed..not sure about difficulty</p>

<p>and also keep in mind, i figure since i want to get into corporate law, economics would build a good foundation for me. but idk! it's crazy, tho....this is a hard decision.</p>

<p>Fendey - I'm also pre-Law so I'm in your shoes too! Not corp law though (as i'm sure you know, the hours are CRAZY and i personally don't feel the salary makes up for the lifestyle but that's just me) Econ is a good foundation for Corp law - the Math needed for an Undergrad Econ degree is not hard at all though - only 3 calc classes and 3 stats classes, plus econometics (econ+stats) - but i can see how if you're not a math person it would be hard. Most Economists (masters/phd) have math degrees or strong backgrounds in math, but for just a Bachelor's it's not math-intense at all like Engineering/Physics is. </p>

<p>My advice is, if you ultimately choose Pol Sci, take many Econ classes, that way you'll have a strong foundation for corp law. If you have a strong passion for Econ and are decent at math, it shouldn't be too hard to get a good gpa - I'm aiming for top 10 Law schools as well so I understand the game :)</p>

<p>One of my majors is poli sci. I've taken a few econ courses and have good friends who are econ majors.</p>

<p>Econ certainly seems more difficult, make no mistake about that. I think both majors are useful for future lawyers, but outside of the legal realm, I think economics is a lot more of a 'marketable' major. But take what interests you.</p>

<p>old adage "depends on the person" although i personally believe Poli Sci is easier</p>

<p>is double majoring in econ/poli sci a good combination? (I am thinking about both law school or getting a PhD and teaching, or maybe Business School and try and get an MBA)</p>

<p>That's not a Catch-22...</p>

<p>"That's not a Catch-22... "</p>

<p>I wonder how many people who throw that phrase around in everyday use have actually read the book.</p>

<p>Econ is more critical-thinking based. If you udnerstand the concepts, it probably takes less work (ie time) than Poli Sci. To me, it seems that for Poli Sci, you need to take a lot of time to read and write papers, but it's just a bunch of work; it's very doable.</p>

<p>Im a poli sci major with an econ minor. I hate math but econ isn't that bad because the math isn't too complex, just mostly memorization of a lot of formulas. Econ is very useful in today's world and having a few classes lays a good foundation.</p>

<p>I think both are about the most boring classes I've ever taken in college.</p>

<p>^ but coming from an Engineer, that's kind of funny :D </p>

<p>Myrmidon, you hit the nail on the head. As an Econ major, I find it more interesting/easier to do well in. The pol sci classes I took were easy, but very reading/writing intense, whereas Econ's more about understanding concepts than reading 500 pages and analyzing it <em>shudders</em>...but politics majors probably love that.</p>

<p>Econ for the win!</p>

<p>^ you're the first one to say econ is easier than pol sci lol - which just goes to show that it really depends on the person over the major. </p>

<p>we pre-law students have the luxury of majoring in whatever we like without worrying over job prospects right out of undergrad, so pick what you like, enjoy it, and do well.</p>

<p>econ can be a hard major. Depends on the school's program. I have a feeling that econ at MIT is really hard even in undergrad...I've taken grad. level game theory at my school and it was very difficult. </p>

<p>At your average state school, econ is a joke major. There's hardly any math beyond pre-calc and it's a summary of econ, not econ itself.</p>

<p>^ I woudn't say it's a joke at state schools...I doubt the econ i'm learning in my private college which has a strong econ dept is any harder/different than the econ at my local state school. the textbooks used are probably the same and the prof's all have ph.d's. like any other major, basic classes are easy and advanced ones are not.j</p>

<p>Econ can be easy if you take just the minimum basic classes, but you can also challenge yourself with lots of difficult ones which are more mathematical/theoretical. The OP could probably get a 3.8+ if he took just the easier classes (same with pol sci i'm guessing)</p>

<p>yeah molly. if i do end up majoring in econ i'm more than likely going to take the humanities root, and take the min. amount of math classes needed.</p>