Why you should major in Economics

<p>That’s funny. How many economics majors work as economists?</p>

<p>@primetimekin My degree is a BSc in Economics. A BSc is a Bachelor of Science in Commerce which is a business degree thus a business route. I went a business route but with Economics. </p>

<p>@fortify From personal experience trying to get a job as an economist is tuff. The FED only recruits the best and those who will pursue Ph.Ds eventually. Companies like Nera only recruit grad students/Ph.Ds. Occasionally they will recruit undergrads but only those who are exceptional and will pursue a Ph.D.</p>

<p>Would a double major in Math/Economics be a suitable thing to go for assuming one wants to eventually be making 6 or 7 figures in Wall Street in the financial sector (it could be iBanking, quant, hedge fund, private equity, etc).</p>

<p>Math/Economics is a great pairing especially if you want to pursue a Ph.D. That is a good way to make 6-7 figures on Wall Street. I know a few who are wealthy, retired, and Economics Ph.Ds who made their fortune on wall street.</p>

<p>Kala, to make that kind of money on wall street you will likely need a phd or at least a master’s in a quantitative field like math/physics/economics/CS/Stats from a top 20 school. A double major in economics/math would be a very good start, but it won’t be a golden ticket. There are some jobs like that available to bachelors degree holders starting at like 50 or 60k, but they are competitive because of where they might lead.</p>

<p>At Tamu, the econ dept. isn’t in the b-school. But it just seems more like a course work that is more of a practical application of econ because it doesn’t require cal 1 or cal 2, but simply business math and business calc. Also, it requires Acct 1 and Acct 2 for a B.S. Though there is still an option for cal 1 and cal 2 and more quantitative classes, my hopes are to get a m.p.a. or a m.b.a later. I know it’s limiting, but I don’t plan on going that route. I’m hoping that if I graduate with high enough grades I can still get a job.</p>

<p>For an iBanker, should I go Finance or Economics?</p>

<p>For ibanking, major doesn’t matter- the school you go to does. There are quite a few english/history/psychology/sociology majors doing ibanking because they went to top 20 schools.</p>

<p>bump. This thread rules.</p>

<p>Everyone wants to be the next Gordon Gekko. haha…</p>

<p>SDTash23: do finance, preferably accounting. Economics is alright, but you’ll have to do a lot of extra work on the job/for interviews because you’ll lag behind finance and accounting majors that have spent the last four years analyzing financials, modeling DCFs, etc. However, school prestige also factors a lot into the equation. Here’s what I’d say:</p>

<p>Finance @ Wharton/Sloan/Stern vs Econ @ HYPS (top tier finance vs top tier econ) = Finance, except maybe Stern</p>

<p>Finance @ Haas/Ross/McIntire/etc vs Econ @ HYPS & other top ivies/t10 privates (mid tier finance vs top tier econ) = econ at HYPS no questions asked</p>

<p>Finance @ Haas/Ross/McIntire/etc vs Econ @ other ivies/non-T10 privates (mid tier finance vs mid tier econ) = Probably finance @ Haas/etc although fit could sway the vote one way or another without too much consequence</p>

<p>Finance @ non-targets vs Econ @ other ivies/non-T10 privates (non-target finance vs mid tier econ) = Econ no questions asked</p>

<p>Finance @ non-targets vs Econ @ non-targets (non-target finance vs non-target econ) = Finance @ non-targets no questions asked, although you probably won’t work on wall street</p>

<p>In a nutshell, when deciding, school prestige > major, but a finance major at a target school will trump an econ major at peer institutions in most cases, and Wharton Finance + Harvard Econ are the ultimate trump cards.</p>

<p>Economics is really a science, and quite honestly undergrad economics is BS compared to graduate stuff, and employers understand this too.</p>

<p>If you want to do something related to economics, you pretty much need a doctorate and your two basic job options will be policy analyst or academic economist.</p>

<p>If you want to make six figures on Wall Street, don’t major in econ. Even Harvard’s undergrad handbook recommends its student NOT to major in econ. Real economics looks more like applied math, and lot of academic papers do get published in math journals. Undergrads simply cannot understand econ at this sort of level, so a lot of it is really just watered down BS.</p>

<p>I think the most efficient way to earn a six figure salary on Wall Street is to major in math, go onto a reputable masters in quantitative/computational finance program, and land a job as a quant.</p>

<p>L,X, cross,check and face. Thats all you need to know for econ.</p>

<p>i kno this is kind of a dead post, but i dont care.
Thanks Amazing. i took ap econ in highschool and found it just absolutely facinating. i got into ucsd, (known more for their bio/chem programs) i considered swithching to science major even though i hate physical science, because of all the “econ major is worthless” talk from my peers…</p>

<p>well… to all the econ bashing haters… SCREW U ALLL, im gonna study what i love; this thread gave me the confidence to do so without having to worry about the exagerated financial difficulties that econ majors “supposedly” face.</p>

<p>^^^To make it more challenging, take a lot of math courses and graduate econ courses if possible.</p>

<p>my school offers a plan for joint majoring in mathmatics so im probably gonna do that.</p>

<p>Undergrad economics is not the best major out there as far as jobs available and money, but biology and chemistry majors, a.k.a., future 11 bucks-an-hour research and lab assistants to be talking smack about economics is extremely laughable.</p>

<p>A major is whatever you make out of it. I majored in Economics and I am doing very well. If you do not have the drive or passion you will not make money nor excel in your field.</p>

<p>This thread has possibly some of the dumbest posts I’ve ever seen. Do some of you even think about what you’re saying? Or do you just say it? You can’t define yourself and your skills just by your major. There is no absolute truth that says “All Business majors get better jobs than Econ majors, and Econ is worthless.” At the end of the day, what matters is:
A. How well you did in school (Gpa)
B. What kind of experience you have</p>

<p>Your major alone doesn’t determine whether or not you get a job. Hell, I know a Poli Sci major who is making 60k a year straight out of college. She had lots of experience with internships/clubs and whatnot, and she makes more than some business majors I know. </p>

<p>The arrogance of some of you is absolutely absurd. Stop trying to convince yourself that you are ‘above’ others because you majored in Quantitative Finance and someone else has a B.A. in Economics. The truth is that some Economics majors will get better jobs than some Business majors, and some Business majors will get better jobs than Economics majors. That doesn’t mean one is better than the other, and the other is worthless. </p>

<p>And many of you don’t even seem to know what Economics is. Programs differ from college to college, but it is actually a very technical subject. I majored in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at Berkeley, and I had to take Economics as a requirement. I thought it was interesting and useful. </p>

<p>I really wish some of you would either A. Think about what you’re saying before you say it, or B. Check some facts before you talk. We are all intelligent college students here right? From a lot of the posts here, it doesn’t seem like it.</p>

<p>Don’t do economics if you don’t like math.</p>