Mathematical Econ Analysis vs. Economics

wakka · 10-24-2009, 11:42 AM

I want to get a job after graduating from, for example, Rice (IF i could get in of course

). and then i want to go to a good business school. so...

should i take math econ over economics? whats the difference? difficulty?

and i want to double major or take a minor. would managerial studies or business be a good match? or would it be too hard? i do not want to be overloaded and economics sounds really tough. i took it last yr and it was tough, but also b/c the teacher confused his students and himself, lol...

THANKS!

slik nik · 10-24-2009, 10:22 PM

Not to reduce your love for Rice or anything, but Rice is not really well known for sending graduates to top banking/financing/consulting jobs on Wall Street or on the East Coast. So if you are going that route, I would suggest looking at the Ivies, Duke, Stanford, or Georgetown. However, if you want to work in the South, especially Texas, a Rice degree is very highly respected, and you can work in one of the large corporations in Houston. However, if you want to go MBA route, I heard Rice prepares students really well for business grad school. A math econ degree will look more impressive than an econ degree.

Anyone else who has insights into this question should correct me... I'm only a freshman here

wakka · 10-24-2009, 10:37 PM

alright thanks slik nik!! it helped a lot. i dont mind working in the south. but whats the difference b/w working in the north and the south? besides the people and the weather? i lived in NJ before so i dont see a difference besides those two factors

and are the sat IIs important if i plan to major in mtec and psychology? its not like engineering or biology... i want to take level 1 math instead of 2 b/c im so busy these days and i cant find that much time to study

amdn · 10-26-2009, 02:47 PM

im trying to double major in math econ and mech engineering. I originally was going to go for just the econ major, but the math econ isnt rlly much more work espcially b/c the math part overlaps with my mech e courses. go for the math econ if it works into your schedule

wakka · 10-26-2009, 05:20 PM

but if i want to get an MBA, is mtec the better choice?

anxiousmom · 10-26-2009, 06:53 PM

MBA is years away - and you will get advising at Rice. This is not a decision you need to make now!

wakka · 10-26-2009, 06:59 PM

wise words!

westsidewolf1989 · 10-26-2009, 11:35 PM

People get consulting and banking jobs all the time from Rice, but like Slik Nik said it's not on Wall Street or the East Coast, it's in Houston, Dallas, or Austin. It's purely regional...if you're at Northwestern you stand a better chance of getting a banking job in Chicago than New York City.

jums89 · 10-29-2009, 05:11 PM

Hi, I'm a current student at Rice and am also looking to go through the Rice-->MBA route. I've spoken to several people who have done the X College-->MBA route and a lot of them have told me that doing business at undergrad may not be the best thing to do because you cover it in the first bit of your MBA anyway. Most of these people have advised me to go for the double major route instead because you are better poised to market yourself to graduate schools on several different levels. I've also been told that doing several internships while at college is a must. Often, many graduate schools also like students who have done a couple of years of work experience i.e. in a bank or something. I hope this helps.

Beef · 11-01-2009, 04:31 AM

Omg, the misinformation is KILLING me. Rice grads do NOT get regional jobs only. Rice graduates have a pretty big presence in the Venture Capital industry in Sillicon Valley, for example... people who work with the likes of Vinod Khosla and who graduated from Rice.

Also, if you work at it, you can get into a New York bank. Not that you would want to, because Texas has no income taxes and is cheaper than NY so Houston IBankers end up making a sh1t-ton more money than the New Yorkers anyway...

Anyway, regarding MBA and Math/Econ vs. Econ: It doesn't matter. Math/econ looks more impressive, but from an MBA standpoint they care more about your intelligence, work experience and leadership potential. You show this through GMAT scores, Resume, GPA, references, and the interview. I am Math/Econ myself, and doing the business minor. There are a few hard classes, but on the whole econ isn't too bad. If you want the "easy" route, you won't make it out of Rice in a position to get into any half-decent MBA program anyway.

So, if you enjoy math and want to impress people by having the word "math" and "analysis" in your major, go for it. Otherwise, you can just do regular econ and be cool.