Should I give economics another try?

College Majors
1

<p>I took an introductory economics course last year and hated it because the professor seemed to try his best to avoid math. However, the other day in the library I happened to look at a graduate-level macroeconomics textbook and I thought that the material was fascinating: it was economics done rigorously! </p>

<p>The bad news: I doubt that my college even offers a course at that level (the most advanced macro economics class only has a calc 2 and statistics prerequisite on the math side) and I wouldn’t want to take any of the econ courses that are listed as prerequisites for that class. Let me add at this point that I am generally having issues with the rigor of my classes: I am a math major and I refuse to take any math class with a course number lower than real analysis because those classes are not taught rigorously.</p>

<p>Should I look at economics at all under these circumstances, and do you have any suggestions for what courses I might consider? I will try to talk to someone from the economics department after Thanksgiving but I thought I would consult CC first :)</p>

<p>P.S. The textbook I referred to is “Lectures in Macroeconomics” by Blanchard and Fischer. I can only comprehend it at a pace of ~ 2-4 pages per hour, but the material and its presentation are fascinating nonetheless.</p>

2

<p>definitely talk to someone and tell them your situation. perhaps they may allow you to do some self-study before you join the class. but from my understanding, they usually require a pre-req before the upper level classes, unless maybe you talk with someone. and the lower level classes usually aren’t that math-intensive. (i’m not a math major, but did complete the whole calc series. i took macroecon and was baffled at how little math they used. but that was of course an into course)</p>

3

<p>Well,unless you plan on working in academia it is best for you to do math as well as some area of application. I’m a math major like you and I have issues with some of the econ classes I have had to take for my econ major. At my school all you need is real analysis 1 and 2 to start taking graduate level econ, you might try that after you finish intermediate theory. Something to consider, I woudln’t give up on it yet necesssarily. You could also take science classes, taking some classes in genetics would set you up with a nice career.</p>