<p>Before anybody gets riled up, I mean in terms of the mismatch between the BA and the MA or PhD.</p>
<p>If you get a 5 on AP Calc you've pretty much done away with 1/2 of BA requirements for the math part, at most schools. </p>
<p>If you want a PhD, however, you need to take up to real analysis. The profession entails much more mathematical exposure than the BA provides. Many more successful economics grads double major in math.</p>
<p>And then everybody dives into econ BA thinking it's some sort of goldmine, when in fact, without the math component, it's less rigorous than sociology.</p>
<p>Some of this depends on the program. The better schools will have more methodologically rigorous training for their undergrads. </p>
<p>However, most schools don’t see the need to have graduate-preparation as their number one concern when designing undergraduate programs for the simple reason that most undergrads won’t be moving on to get higher degrees. If Bobby is hitting a C average with the current level of math requirements, schools have little incentive to teach him methods that he will not need in his future cubicle career yet might bring him precipitously close to failure in his current program (and hence, putting a dent in the school’s revenue stream.)</p>
<p>They’re naive, I guess. What’s a psychology major or sociology major worth without an MA or PhD? Nothing much. </p>
<p>More often than not you’ll see a math/econ major, math major alone but not really any sole econ majors. I don’t know why anyone would only major in economics. To me that’s the equivalent of getting into job market with only a bachelor’s in English. </p>
<p>I was contemplating on double majoring in Economics before they said we couldn’t double major anymore at my school (love California’s budget crisis, btw) and I would’ve definitely taken the math track. They offered two or three different tracks to tailor it to what I would’ve wanted to take.</p>