<p>I’m a freshman considering being an econ major, and I can tell you that a lot of people have bad experiences with econ because the first class you can take in the econ department (econ 211, it’s a pre-requisite for macro, micro, and all other econ courses) really is a bad class. It is notorious as a weed-out class, since all the professors that teach it pretty much suck. The head of the department is a horrible teacher, and he teaches the largest section of 211. The material itself is boring and almost unrelated to the actual economics you will learn later on in your econ major.</p>
<p>Since I’m still a freshman taking 211, all I can speak for is why so many people say the econ department is weak, which is partially true. Now, that being said, I have heard similar things about just every other school’s econ department, since so many people find that they dislike economics after taking introductory courses. It is also very difficult to find a good professor to teach introductory economics, at just about any school I know of (if anyone has a different experience, please share it). </p>
<p>The seniors I have spoken to in the economics program have told me that after taking 211 everything gets better, and the classes become interesting and fun. And Rice is an excellent school for job placement and graduate school placement anyway, so I think you can do great being an econ major at Rice.</p>