what to major in if no quantitative economics major?

[Anonymous]

Seeking advice from anyone with knowledge in the field. My DS is a first year at a small liberal arts college and is really enjoying his intro econ class. His small LAC does not have a quantitative econ major, just economics, nor a computer science major. Could he back-end into this by majoring in econ and minoring in math? He’s always been strong at math but never considered it as a field of study in college, and what he enjoys about the econ math is the real world applications (vs in his HS math classes, it was just dry formulas, etc.) I want him to be able to explore but also want him to be employable

[Anonymous]

Do they have statistics? If not, math would be the next best thing

[Anonymous]

I am confused: most econ majors are highly quantitative in general. He should go talk to thr economics department and ask about the level of math and stats. Also he should look at the classes/syllabi to see if they cover topics he is interested in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am confused: most econ majors are highly quantitative in general. He should go talk to thr economics department and ask about the level of math and stats. Also he should look at the classes/syllabi to see if they cover topics he is interested in.

If it’s a small department, it could be all theorists. Econometrics is a specialized area.

He should load up on math, statistics, and analytic programming packages like STATA and SAS. Then he will probably need some summer classes or internships - if you are here in the DMV, lots of policy-based opportunities!

[Anonymous]

This is a conversation for your child, the actual student, to have with a professor. Your role is to encourage that conversation, not to plan his schedule and course of study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am confused: most econ majors are highly quantitative in general. He should go talk to thr economics department and ask about the level of math and stats. Also he should look at the classes/syllabi to see if they cover topics he is interested in.

This

Just pile-up on econ courses with heavy math content. There should be plenty

[Anonymous]

I went to a SLAC and knew multiple people who double majored in math and economics or computer science (no minors). I knew only two people who majored in all 3...one is now a brain surgeon, I fell out of touch with the other.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. The LAC does not have computer science classes at all. Nor any statistics major/minor, it looks to me just intro statistics classes. There is a Math major and minor, but most of the offerred classes are pure math not applied math. There is one econometrics class offered in the econ department. There doesn’t appear to be a math or data science focused option within economics at this college. DC wasn’t sure what he wanted to major in before he went to college - and if I had had to guess, I would have guessed history or psychology - so these “gaps” in the fields of study didn’t jump out at him or me.

PP, you are right that DC can talk to a professor and that is a good idea. But professors tend to have an academia focused view. I want to understand a practical, employment focused view. So hoping someone can advise if there are ways to patch together a major at a traditional liberal arts college that could open doors for careers in econometrics type work. Oddly my sister suggested he look into an econ major and physics minor - her older child at a much bigger college has said that the hedge funds and investment banks want physics majors nowadays.

I want him to major in whatever is his choice. My hope is that he adds a minor or double major in something making him employable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am confused: most econ majors are highly quantitative in general. He should go talk to thr economics department and ask about the level of math and stats. Also he should look at the classes/syllabi to see if they cover topics he is interested in.

This

Just pile-up on econ courses with heavy math content. There should be plenty

Agreed. If the concern is having the word “quantitative” on the resume, do a senior thesis with an obviously quantitative title, and put that on the resume.

[Anonymous]

Stat/Math
Should have checked the curriculum before applying

[Anonymous]

In terms of IB and finance industry
School name is important

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. The LAC does not have computer science classes at all. Nor any statistics major/minor, it looks to me just intro statistics classes. There is a Math major and minor, but most of the offerred classes are pure math not applied math. There is one econometrics class offered in the econ department. There doesn’t appear to be a math or data science focused option within economics at this college. DC wasn’t sure what he wanted to major in before he went to college - and if I had had to guess, I would have guessed history or psychology - so these “gaps” in the fields of study didn’t jump out at him or me.

PP, you are right that DC can talk to a professor and that is a good idea. But professors tend to have an academia focused view. I want to understand a practical, employment focused view. So hoping someone can advise if there are ways to patch together a major at a traditional liberal arts college that could open doors for careers in econometrics type work. Oddly my sister suggested he look into an econ major and physics minor - her older child at a much bigger college has said that the hedge funds and investment banks want physics majors nowadays.

I want him to major in whatever is his choice. My hope is that he adds a minor or double major in something making him employable

What I don’t understand is, you were fine with a history or psych major, but now you’re not ok with economics?

[Anonymous]

If the LAC doesn't have the academic program he wants, he should consider transferring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a conversation for your child, the actual student, to have with a professor. Your role is to encourage that conversation, not to plan his schedule and course of study.

And the student is still a first-year just taking Intro to Econ. Give them time to take more courses and decide what they would like to major/minor in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a conversation for your child, the actual student, to have with a professor. Your role is to encourage that conversation, not to plan his schedule and course of study.

And the student is still a first-year just taking Intro to Econ. Give them time to take more courses and decide what they would like to major/minor in.

We’re in the same boat but for a different major which DC’s SLAC has very few classes. I think DC will have to change majors or transfer.