Econ vs. Finance as a major

NiceUnparticularMan
Sun, 09 Mar 2025 03:10:09 +0000

So taking a quick step back, as a HS sophomore you don’t really have to be trying to decide this now, indeed you should be open to the possibility that years from now when actually choosing a major, your interests and abilities may have evolved in very unanticipated directions.

In terms of your question, Economics is a very broad social science that can be taken in many different directions. Finance itself then can be separated broadly into Financial Economics, which is definitely a subfield within Economics (and in turn has its own subbranches), and what you might call Financial Analysis (also sometimes known as “traditional Finance”), which is more about some specific applications. Financial Analysis then can be focused on different types of entities–corporations, individuals (including investors), institutions (including banks), and so on. It is Financial Analysis applied to corporations, aka Corporate Finance, which is most obviously “business related”, but Financial Analysts of some sort are working all over the place. Then layered on top of all of this is the degree to which your job involves certain mathenatical/quantitative/computational techniques.

My point again is which, if any, of this you actually like the most and have the most aptitude for is basically impossible to determine as a HS sophomore. And that’s OK. For now, you can focus on building your mathematical, communication, and critical thinking skills.

Then eventually, you can make sure to apply to colleges that have all of the sorts of programs you might want to consider (although of course many people continue their education in one way or another after undergrad, so you don’t necessarily need everything to be available as an undergrad option). As another poster mentioned, sometimes it will make sense to apply for one sort of program for first-year entry just because it is easier to transfer out than in.

Again, bottom line is I would urge you not to think of this as a decision at a point in time, but as a process that will be unfolding over many years, indeed likely well after you have completed your education and are making career decisions. And you can’t know what that will all look like now, but you can keep focused on basic, foundational things, while keeping open your options.