Glut of Econ majors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is econ major with minor in data science.

Read: utterly boring and passionless

Ah, yes, because so many other majors are filled with the deeply passionate and interesting 20 year olds.

Also please let us know what you majored in. I want to make sure my kid avoids any subjects that produce someone so stupid that they generalize an entire personality based on their field of study.

Sure. Math and History-important subjects with actual worth for society.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surprising how little people here think of others. Across the board of IQs people have been able to learn intro to stats and calculus. You don't need to be Einstein to know how to compute a derivative.

You've never tried to teach "average" or dumb kids anything, let alone calculus, or you wouldn't be talking such twaddle, Einstein.

Well the person with an IQ not suitable for college couldn’t learn calculus, but honestly taking derivatives is pretty simple as a concept. They can get mechanically complicated with the imbedded algebra and trig at times but the power rule and the chain rule are very easy to learn and apply. Integration can get tricky with u-substitution and integration by parts but with practice and pattern recognition I think most any college student should be able to grasp it. They might not ace it, but it’s not some unattainable subject. A lot of universities make it unreasonably difficult because it’s a weed out class.

My high school required everyone take up to AP Calc BC. It was not a STEM school, just knew that calculus isn't that difficult if you can teach. I still send my notes to college friends because of how many gaps they had learning calculus. It's not hard, but the professors cannot teach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is econ major with minor in data science.

Read: utterly boring and passionless

Ah, yes, because so many other majors are filled with the deeply passionate and interesting 20 year olds.

Also please let us know what you majored in. I want to make sure my kid avoids any subjects that produce someone so stupid that they generalize an entire personality based on their field of study.

Sure. Math and History-important subjects with actual worth for society.

Lol you are definitely one of the college students that has been posting on this subforum lately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is econ major with minor in data science.

Read: utterly boring and passionless

Ah, yes, because so many other majors are filled with the deeply passionate and interesting 20 year olds.

Also please let us know what you majored in. I want to make sure my kid avoids any subjects that produce someone so stupid that they generalize an entire personality based on their field of study.

Sure. Math and History-important subjects with actual worth for society.

Lol you are definitely one of the college students that has been posting on this subforum lately.

Or just a parent who sees the idiocy in our econ grads

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference in a BA and a BS in Economics. A BS is much harder and regarded more highly. So, they aren't all going for the BS, I assure you!

Also, there are comparatively fewer kids who major in econ (or finance, or accounting, or anything specific), as opposed to just "business." Those (business administration type) are the degrees I would be concerned about. They mean little in the competitive marketplace.

This, and the combination of BS Economics with some higher math classes during college yields the kind of student which Quants seek.

Quants seek math major and math/physics PhDs at MIT. At least at the HFs I have 20+ years experience in. Econ can get a financial analyst or IB position, but we don't let them touch quant research or trade

Newbie who has never taken a physics class in my life - why is physics so desired for quant jobs/hedge funds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Econ is a fluffy major that sounds "hard" because it implies some math content.

Just go for it and do finance!

Agree with finance and better yet accounting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is econ major with minor in data science.

Afraid to be a Finance major.

Sort of yes and no.

Liked NYU very much but not particular obsessed with Stern or Wall Street IB stuff.
So no need to reduce admission chance by applying to Stern
Kid was more interested in a holistic view of how the world works especially in term of economy.
Added data science minor to be as competitive as Stern kids.

NYU is also very highly ranked for economy if you didn't know.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/economics
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-humanities-schools/economics-rankings
NYU is around top 10 for economics.
everyone knows about Stern but don't know about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference in a BA and a BS in Economics. A BS is much harder and regarded more highly. So, they aren't all going for the BS, I assure you!

Also, there are comparatively fewer kids who major in econ (or finance, or accounting, or anything specific), as opposed to just "business." Those (business administration type) are the degrees I would be concerned about. They mean little in the competitive marketplace.

This, and the combination of BS Economics with some higher math classes during college yields the kind of student which Quants seek.

Quants seek math major and math/physics PhDs at MIT. At least at the HFs I have 20+ years experience in. Econ can get a financial analyst or IB position, but we don't let them touch quant research or trade

Math isn't just about numbers, it shows student's ability to analyze, apply and solve. However, while most can do economics, only a small percentage can do math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference in a BA and a BS in Economics. A BS is much harder and regarded more highly. So, they aren't all going for the BS, I assure you!

Also, there are comparatively fewer kids who major in econ (or finance, or accounting, or anything specific), as opposed to just "business." Those (business administration type) are the degrees I would be concerned about. They mean little in the competitive marketplace.

This, and the combination of BS Economics with some higher math classes during college yields the kind of student which Quants seek.

Quants seek math major and math/physics PhDs at MIT. At least at the HFs I have 20+ years experience in. Econ can get a financial analyst or IB position, but we don't let them touch quant research or trade

Newbie who has never taken a physics class in my life - why is physics so desired for quant jobs/hedge funds?

Physics at the graduate level usually involves great skill at advanced math and hypothesizing what equations apply in particular situations. In turn, this math can be used to identify profitable buying and selling (trading) opportunities. If you haven't researched these industries, there is a lot of work being done to capitalize on profit opportunities that only last for fractions of a second.

You won't acquire these math skills from taking high school and college intro physics. Having a Physics Ph.D or being ABD is proof that you have enough math to be worth interviewing. I am not familiar with Physics M.A.s to know about that level. I think those degrees are mainly only gotten as part of a Ph.D.

I know of two SUNY Buffalo Physics Ph.D's who do this. Oldest child now at Stanford. Good way to move up the prestige ladder if you have the math skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference in a BA and a BS in Economics. A BS is much harder and regarded more highly. So, they aren't all going for the BS, I assure you!

Also, there are comparatively fewer kids who major in econ (or finance, or accounting, or anything specific), as opposed to just "business." Those (business administration type) are the degrees I would be concerned about. They mean little in the competitive marketplace.

This, and the combination of BS Economics with some higher math classes during college yields the kind of student which Quants seek.

Quants seek math major and math/physics PhDs at MIT. At least at the HFs I have 20+ years experience in. Econ can get a financial analyst or IB position, but we don't let them touch quant research or trade

Newbie who has never taken a physics class in my life - why is physics so desired for quant jobs/hedge funds?

Most serious physics majors are math and physics double majors. Physics is an applied math degree in many ways, but it has it's own theoretical, problem-solving skills accompanied. It's very similar to a CS degree in that way, but more algebraic geometry. Most quant jobs have an intensive onboarding process where they teach you all the finance. They just need you to be able to understand the mathematical models well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is econ major with minor in data science.

Read: utterly boring and passionless

Ah, yes, because so many other majors are filled with the deeply passionate and interesting 20 year olds.

Also please let us know what you majored in. I want to make sure my kid avoids any subjects that produce someone so stupid that they generalize an entire personality based on their field of study.

Sure. Math and History-important subjects with actual worth for society.

Lol you are definitely one of the college students that has been posting on this subforum lately.

Or just a parent who sees the idiocy in our econ grads

~35k econ grads a year. Pretty sure generalizing across such a large number doesn’t make you smart. Maybe if you had taken some econ classes you could have learned about analyzing numbers.

[Anonymous]

Econ is one of the majors that has higher demand by the employers and econ grads get higher salary on the average. There are reasons for that.

There are tons of other majors to pick on LOL.
Econ is one of the last ones to worry about.
What am I missing here LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Econ is one of the majors that has higher demand by the employers and econ grads get higher salary on the average. There are reasons for that.

There are tons of other majors to pick on LOL.
Econ is one of the last ones to worry about.
What am I missing here LOL

Nothing, some of the people here are just nuts.

[Anonymous]

For example for Harvard grads, https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?166027-Harvard-University

Econ grads and Applied Math grads make about the same, 160K-170K

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a difference in a BA and a BS in Economics. A BS is much harder and regarded more highly. So, they aren't all going for the BS, I assure you!

Also, there are comparatively fewer kids who major in econ (or finance, or accounting, or anything specific), as opposed to just "business." Those (business administration type) are the degrees I would be concerned about. They mean little in the competitive marketplace.

This, and the combination of BS Economics with some higher math classes during college yields the kind of student which Quants seek.

Quants seek math major and math/physics PhDs at MIT. At least at the HFs I have 20+ years experience in. Econ can get a financial analyst or IB position, but we don't let them touch quant research or trade

Newbie who has never taken a physics class in my life - why is physics so desired for quant jobs/hedge funds?

The idea is that physics is a lot of math, including a lot of applied math modeling, and people find themselves with a PhD and no job prospects. But this is all partly mythology. When it does happen, pedigree is key, and still more tap on the shoulder than degree X opens the door.