Finance Minor vs. Economic Major

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I am a Political Science major, but as college graduation creeps closer I am becoming increasingly worried about finding a job and earning a decent starting salary. So I am considering adding either a Finance minor or an additional major in Economics. As I mentioned, I basically want to make myself more marketable to prospective employers, but I am also somewhat interested in careers as a financial planner or a market research analyst. I’ve also thought about being a political staffer, college administrator, teacher, political journalist, or something related to international relations.</p>

<p>So what do you guys think? Would it be better to do a finance minor or an economics major?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>If you at a Top 10-15 school it does not matter much. After that econ would require fewer credits than a complete business major. Business is basically a 2 year program full-time.</p>

3

<p>I don’t know that you are going to learn enough economics or finance in college to make yourself really valuable to an employer in either area. So you’re just trying to send a signal that you care about business and commerce, not just politics, etc., and you’re thinking (or should be) of grad school or professional school.</p>

<p>To send the signal, choose whichever of the two is easier and/or interests you more. To lay groundwork for further study, for my money economics is broader and deeper than finance (and has a lot more overlap with poli sci, too). Finance is really economics lite, or a corner of it. Why not learn some of the real thing? (Full disclosure – I took only a couple economics courses in college, and twice as many finance/accounting courses. In my career, the finance and accounting courses have served me extremely well. They were easier and more relevant to my work than the econ courses. But. If I were doing it over, I would take more econ.)</p>

4

<p>The problem with econ is it all based on an often dubious premise–assume all buyers and sellers are rational, etc. Garbage in garbage out. Finance applies the tools of econ and proves where they will work.</p>