Why do people say a degree in Econ is useless?

<p>Subject asks it all.</p>

<p>I don’t know— well there are many jobs you can get regardless of your major. Plus a B in economics will allow you to get a master’s.</p>

<p>It’s not useless, that’s an over statement. It’s just not particularly useful. I’m finishing up my BA in econ at NYU this year but loath the subject. Generally you learn some useful analytical tools and overlap a little bit with what a business major learns but not much else. I loved economics when I first started studying it but my interest has just plummeted senior year.</p>

<p>If you’re majoring in economics to get a job you should just be a business major, especially if you’re at a school which has a business program since recruiters will focus more heavily on the business school.</p>

<p>I hear that at a lot of schools, the degree is seriously watered down. </p>

<p>I know little about the subject, but I hear that it is best tackled with a knowledge of calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra. A lot of econ departments don’t expect their students to know these subjects, so they dumb down the material a lot.</p>

<p>Is it useful to know economics that well for most jobs? I’m not sure. But the degree is a lot easier than it could be and maybe employers notice that and don’t give a lot of credit to the degree.</p>

<p>Again, I’m just echoing what I have heard, so I may be talking out of my butt here.</p>

<p>Last time I checked people with a BA in economics make more money upon graduation than certain other college majors. My friend who graduated from penn state did anyway…</p>

<p>

why has your interest in econ plummet? Is it because of how/what the professors teach? </p>

<p>

Most of the top schools in the nation don’t offer business/finance, so those who want to go into the banking industry or other industries that make huge bank often major in economics, which skews the average income of economics grads.</p>