Can any current students or alumni shed some light on how well regarded Cornell’s department of Economics is? I read that it was lagging behind relative to rest of school but it seems they have been improving it a fair amount recently. Just this year they added seven new and impressive faculty members. Also I heard that Cornell’s economics Major used to be relatively easy because it had only 8 required courses so a double major or minor was very doable. However, in 2013 they changed the requirements from 8 -> 12, so I’m wondering if double majoring or doing a minor is still livery doable. I only wonder because I’m questioning if I should stay in econ or try an internal transfer to AEM
I applied for Econ at Cornell… was that a mistake 
I currently go to Cornell, and the economics department is not well regarded–it’s a hot mess. However, the university is well aware and is putting a lot of money into revitalizing it. In regards to minoring in economics, you can only minor in economics if you’re an ILR or CS major.
Also, I would not recommend solely majoring in econ at Cornell. I would recommend coupling it with something else in Arts, such as Gov.
econ alum here. it really doesn’t matter how ‘strong’ or ‘weak’ a department within a university is… all that matters is you make the most out of courses offered, learn marketable skill sets, get good grades, and score a good job after graduating.
i recommend taking a nice mixture of ‘hard’, ‘medium’, and ‘easy’ classes. your academics are important, but so are your social life and your grades.
It doesn’t matter how strong or weak a department is? What? Sure it does.
The Dyson school is well regarded. Bloomberg businessweek rates it at #3 ahead of big names such as Wharton, Stern, McDonough. I guess it is all a matter of opinion.
@lkgrg17, Dyson is not Cornells undergrad Economics department - Dyson is applied Economics
I learn something new everyday.
The ILR and Arts & Science Econ departments merged a few years back. Students are offered an Econ major in A&S or an Econ minor in ILR. This link provides info about the U/G Econ dept at Cornell.
http://economics.cornell.edu/undergraduate-program