econ/math joint major at UCSD

Oyama
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 20:49:33 +0000

^ What JeSuis said

The minor, if I recall correctly, is just 9 math classes (up to 3 can be from the Math 20DEF series), and all classes MAY be taken P/NP. If you just care about passing, you can load up on 3-4 classes each quarter and finish the minor in less than a year.

Anyway, after having done the Honors program for Math/Econ (and taking 2 doctoral level Micro classes), I can say that you really need to have a fair amount of math (at the very least, math reasoning, real analysis, ODE/PDE, probability/stochastic theory, and advanced linear algebra) under your belt for an Econ Ph.D. (and even an M.A.?). There is little overlap between undergraduate material and graduate material covered in respective courses. The Micro classes assumed no knowledge of undergraduate economics courses and the course begins with proofs deriving the basic assumptions of microeconomic theory.

If you have no interest in academia or research, then Math won’t be so crucial to you getting into graduate school, policy think tanks, etc. It is a valuable toolset, though, to understand how all the equations you learn in undergraduate economics courses are structurally built upon each other. When you can look at the big picture (the whole SEM of modern economics), Economics becomes that much easier.