Hi guys,
I am a rising sophomore in college. I am thinking about either going to law school or become a management consultant. As of right now, I am thinking about double major in Econ and Math. However, the more I talk to seniors who are joining consulting firms, the more I realized that double majoring with math and econ is useless. Is it a good idea to major in Econ and double minor in math and Gov ( math because I already took too many courses to waste) and I really like government.
My problem is I am don’t really like Econ and I am worried about the ramification of majoring (and concentrating on a subject) that I have the least interest and the worst (compared to gov and math) grades in. HELP!
If economics is your least favorite of the three subjects, why not major in one of the other two (e.g. math, since you already have lots of courses) and take out-of-major electives in government and economics based on interest and applicability to your career goals?
^ Good idea.
I like the math/government combination, too, but I suggest talking to the people at your college’s career center to see whether this combination of subjects would put you at a disadvantage when applying for management consulting jobs.
Why do the seniors think double majoring in economics and math is useless? I ask because my daughter double majored in those subjects and had great employment prospects when she graduated (one year ago).
Math math and more math. Quantitative jobs are plentiful in all segments of the economy, including government.
Math alone with some “real world” electives (finance, accounting, public policy) and a decent allocation of applied math courses, or math plus goverment, would be super-fine for law school or consulting. No one hires undergraduates to “do economics,” and comparatively few people at any level are actual practicing economists. Majoring in economics is really just a way of communicating that you are interested in business and/or finance and you have decent math skills.
Major in Mathematics and pick electives and minors that grow specific skill sets. Math majors have some of the highest acceptance rates into grad school, including law school, due to the high level of logic, critical thinking, and problem solving skills acquired learning math. If your desire is to go the management consultant route, I would recommend majoring in math and picking electives or minors in business, management, accounting, finance, and other business related fields.
A double math/econ major is not useless but can get you many analytical type jobs. However, don’t major in something you don’t like and don’t do well in. Drop the econ and pair up Math with something you like instead.
Not necessarily regarding the last unless the Econ major is paired with a math major or the Econ major takes math courses beyond the minimum requirements for the BA/BS.
This is especially a serious issue if one is seriously considering Econ grad school(Masters as well as PhD) as the math requirements for admission are such that an Econ BA/BS without a second major in math or taking enough courses to come close to it would be rejected.
The Econ Profs, grad students, and undergrad econ majors serious about Econ grad school or standing out for management consulting/finance were advised to take as many math courses as they could fit in or else their major would be treated little differently than other social science/humanities majors such as poli-sci or English lit.
Granted, part of my view may be colored by seeing several dozen Ivy Econ majors panicking and complaining to the H summer dean because they felt our summer stats instructor was “too hard” and they were literally worried about failing his course.
While I’ll grant his use of a variant of the socratic method to teach Stats for Econ majors was annoying at times, his course wasn’t THAT hard. Especially if one has presumably taken calc or higher-level math courses as Econ majors would…unless I’m mistaken.
Probably depends on the college. Some colleges’ economics majors require substantial math like multivariable calculus. Some require single variable calculus. Some require no calculus at all. Some offer different economics major options with different levels of math required.
Yes, economics PhD programs prefer applicants to take substantially higher level math and statistics courses than those normally required by economics major degree programs. Examples include real analysis, calculus-based probability theory, proof-based linear algebra. See https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/current/preparing-for-grad-school .
Any combination with math in it is the answer. Math majors are in demand, and if a student enjoys math, well it’s a no-brainer.
If you enjoy Math, that’s your major. I agree with the suggestion, any combo with a math major but choose subjects you at least like.
As a more general comment, I think you are doing things backwards: gearing your academics to the work world. If you have strong interests and abilities academically (in this case government and math), then follow them and then the appropriate work will follow. It would seem that economics is neither a strong interest nor a strength.
Have you done / are you doing any summer internships, or internships during the year? That can help a lot with clarifying career goals (and achieving them).
I know two young men who did consulting right out of college. They were both English majors. Granted, from Ivies. They worked for a couple of years as consultants and then left, actually.
I think you should take this time to focus on what you really want to study and what you are good at. You do not have to be so specific on career goals or match them exactly to course work. If you do well, you will do fine with getting good work. Meanwhile strengthen your prospects with real world experience like internships or even volunteering.
That’s not at all unusual. I am certain, if you scratch the surface, you will see that they were English majors with proven math ability. And at least 95% of people hired right out of college by consulting firms will leave within 2-3 years, some to go to business school or other graduate school, others to take different jobs. I am not certain I have ever heard of someone hired out of college sticking with a major consulting firm as a career job.
@cobrat : Great reading comprehension. I tell a poster who has said that he dislikes economics that, in his case, the only value of an economics major is showing the world that he’s interested in business or finance and has “decent” math skills, and you “correct” me by pointing out that not all economics majors know high level math but that a lot of math will be required for someone who wants to get a PhD in economics. Which is all true, but utterly irrelevant to someone who has already made it clear that he has no real interest in economics as an academic discipline.
Which hardly makes the OP unusual. The vast, vast, vast majority of college economics majors have neither interest in nor hope of getting a PhD in economics. They are majoring in economics because they believe it shows their interest in business and finance, or maybe even policy analysis, and because it gives them marketable analytic tools, mainly consisting of math applications. Furthermore, even if they take a math-lite path through their econ majors, taking whatever the minimum is for their BA or BS (and, by the way, show me an economics BS program that does not involve substantial math), if they are successful at all they will have demonstrated well above-average math competence, i.e., decent math skills. Which is all anyone but a handful of people in the real world ever need.
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Definition of “substantial math”?
Florida State’s economics major does not require calculus (only “recommended”, and not listed as a prerequisite for required economics courses): http://coss.fsu.edu/economics/node/3 .
Penn State’s economics major (BA) also does not require calculus: http://www.econ.psu.edu/undergraduate/academic-plan-eclba . The BS version requires first semester single variable calculus: http://www.econ.psu.edu/undergraduate/academic-plan-eclbs .
OK, I am gobsmacked that you can apparently get a BS in economics from Florida State without ever taking calculus.
More examples:
University of Delaware has an economics major BA program that does not require calculus, although it also has a BS program that requires first semester single variable calculus: http://lerner.udel.edu/departments/economics/degree-requirements .
American University is similar (BA without calculus, BS with calculus): http://www.american.edu/cas/economics/BA-ECON.cfm
University of Maine has only an economics major BA program that does not require calculus: http://catalog.umaine.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=67&poid=8735&returnto=2170 .
In other words, a bachelor’s degree in economics is not an indication of a particular level of math achievement, unless one knows about the specific school’s economics major.
Well, as you probably know I am rather a fan of specific schools. The ones I particularly like require quite a bit of math for a regular economics BA, and basically tell people who want to pursue graduate work in economics to major in math and take some economics courses. It is not the case that all of their economics graduates are math geniuses, but an economics degree implies at the very least calculus-based statistics and exposure to analysis.
I think that one can understand basic principles of economics fine without being able to do the math. At least I think I can. But I can’t imagine what it is, exactly, the students at those colleges with no calculus requirement study in their upper-level economics courses.
Maine, by the way, does have a BS program that requires calculus. You didn’t read far enough down the page. I suspect that’s part of the answer: If you are going to UDelaware, UMaine, or places like that, and you want your economics degree to imply math competency, you need to do the BS program.
@ucbalumnus - I am surprised to see no calculus requirement for economics majors at any university. My son was an economics major at Case Western and his advisor encouraged him to take the harder Calculus/Statistics courses (for STEM majors) even though he could graduate with the lower level Calc/Stats. Case also offered several classes as calc based or not calc based. His advisor encouraged all the economics majors to take the calc based courses.
He also told my son that if he ever wanted to go to grad school and study economics he should study math as an undergrad. My son changed to a double major (math/econ). He is now working at a bank and says that the quantitative skills are more highly valued than the business/economic knowledge. He might be biased though because he is in a program geared towards developing quantitative analysts.