It varies across economics departments. You might see:
Low math: calculus not required.
Moderate math: single variable calculus required.
High math: multivariable calculus and/or linear algebra required.
Students who like math and are good at it will likely find higher math to be better.
Students intended PhD study in economics will want to take more math and statistics anyway, such as real analysis, proof-based linear algebra, and probability theory.
Note that UPenn calculus 1 and 2 are similar to calculus 2 and 3 at other schools, while UPenn offers an “introduction to calculus” that is like other schools’ calculus 1. The required math for the UPenn economics major does include multivariable calculus.
What it shows is that admitted MIT students have test scores clustered near or at the top of the SAT or ACT scale, particularly in Math. With such a narrow range of scores, there’s no reason to believe there’s a significant difference in test scores between the 5% of women who were admitted and the 3% of men who were admitted. The difference between ACT 35 and 36 is not going to be the reason someone is admitted or denied… and in fact it’s likely that a very large number of rejected students are in the same range, too.
This would ONLY be true if the female applicants at MIT have a lower bar to meet. Frankly, the female students applying and getting admitted are as strong as the men.
My wife has a graduate degree from a top-20 business school. Some investment banks like Goldman and Morgan Stanley didn’t even bother to interview on her campus at the time, said they are only recruiting from top-10 schools. Yes…the name alone opens doors that wouldn’t be open otherwise, not fair but reality.
Econ is not a good field for someone who doesn’t like math. The days of “here’s the supply curve, here’s the demand curve” are over. You can do econ with a highly theoretical bent; you can do econ with a more applied focus; you can do it in an interdisciplinary fashion with poli sci (for example… people who study the relationship between voting patterns and income) but ALL of them require math, math and then some more math.
That’s a fair question that I can’t answer. She clearly wasn’t a tippy top player because, as you indicate, those scores would be fine almost anywhere for a highly recruited athlete.
Again just by way of example, back in pre covid days, my D18 has 4.0UW, 8-10 APs all 4’s and 5’s a 35ACT varsity sport, school musical, at a large suburban high school usually ranked in the top 10 in PA.
Rejected Princeton, Brown, UNC, and UVA. Waitlisted at Vandy. Acccepted to Clemson and UDel with very good merit scholarships. Ended up at Clemson, graduated in 3 years with AP credits with a BS Economics degree.
Top stat kids get rejected (or as they say at Duke “not selected”) all the time from the top school. Take your shot at the lottery tickets sure but have solid back ups. Lots of great schools out there that aren’t ivies. Lots of great outcomes for kids that aren’t graduating from T20.
Another consideration of course is cost. Tops schools over 80K and climbing. So looking at 300-400K for four years of undergraduate. What does she want to do with economics degree? MBA? Masters? Law school? All also very expensive.
With your daughter’s stats she could get some great merit money at a lot of fine schools. Just another consideration in the process.
Our posts crossed paths. A great example of a good school where your daughter would get some very good merit is Miami of Ohio Farmer School of Business. They have a finance major. Farmer is a highly regarded and highly recruited business school.
What if your D doesn’t like economics? Lots of people don’t (including both my kids). I would encourage her to research and understand what types of careers there are in finance. You mentioned IB (where students can be many majors that are not econ), but there are many others. See this thread, and ask any questions you may have: Want a Career in Banking? Ask a Senior Banking Exec
Finance is not highly mathematical. Nothing beyond basic calculus and linear algebra. You are thinking of Quantitative Finance which is a different game.
Aren’t white women an over represented category in every schools’ application piles (even those with fewer women applying than men)? That’s been my understanding for at least the past couple decades.
Finance isn’t limited to investment banking. There are plenty of finance careers more open to those not at a T20 school-asset management, private wealth management, commercial banking, trade finance, treasury services, credit cards. Not all require top quant skills.