Rising senior thinking about the following majors for college:
Political Science
Economics
Accounting
Finance
I want to study Political Science along with another major or as a minor. What difference is there between an accounting and a finance major? If I did an economics major along with an accounting major would there be overlapping courses?
I’d say accounting is the most employable option on this list. Pairing it with economics major would probably be a waste of time.
Accounting and Economics are very different things. Accounting majors study accounting, finance, and a lot of complicated accounting principles. Economists study markets, economic systems, etc. Ecnomics is a liberal arts degree and accounting is a professional degree.
Thank you!
what colleges are you interested in and what type of career path do you think you want to follow?
Those responses can help with your questions. Are you interested in trying to work in New York? If so, then you need high GPA and test scores to get into a target school. Econ or Finance would do the trick. If not, then an accounting major would be a good way to go since job opportunities are plentiful. More info from you would be helpful.
Accounting, finance, and econ are all different.
Yes, there is finance in accounting, but think of accountants as lawyers who use numbers instead of words. I think that, even though finance is considered vocational and econ a liberal art (social science), there is more overlap between those 2 (especially at higher levels, when both use many of the same statistical tools). Likewise, poli sci may get close to econ at higher levels.
At this point, I’m still unsure what I want to do with my degree. I guess I want to know what degree will give me access to an area that will continue to grow, so I will have a job when I graduate from university.
Accounting will take you straight to job. But do you like accounting? Will you like that job? My advice is to take Economics, Accounting and Finance during your first semester and see which one you like best. It will become clear to you, I promise. Don’t worry about it right now.
And to specifically answer your question:
Economics and Political Science will have overlapping courses (they are in the same department in most schools)
Accounting and Finance will have overlapping courses
Mixing from each of the two groups would result in less overlapping courses, but they are still pretty close and many schools have ways to get you dual majors or combined majors and make it work.
To add, if you LOVE LOVE math, calculus and statistics, lean towards Economics, maybe finance.
If that is not your thing, but you are very organized, and like to learn rules, accounting.
If you liked social studies/history classes, Poly Sci.
Think of the skills you excel and enjoy, as there are very different ones required for each of these majors.