Economics

[Anonymous]

I was an econ major at a TT school and went straight into investment banking. I have since done a variety of different things, some of which applied it more than others. As others have noted, most schools don't have a "business" major, so econ can be a proxy for that.

Econ degree could also lead to FP&A type work, especially coming out of non-TT schools. It is borderline accounting. It is kind of mid-office so not super lucrative but you make a decent living. I did it for a while and found most of it boring. But it can lead to more strategic work if you do it in the right place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can those who know the field provide some descriptions of what a Bachelor's or a Master's graduate would be doing in a job immediately out of undergrad or grad school?

Immediately after my masters, I worked at Bureau of Economic Analysis. I had other options at other agencies & my goal was to be an economist in the government. Some of my colleges just had a BA/BS but I came in at higher pay scale & had more options

Afterwards, I worked in private sector data analytics

[Anonymous]

DC did econ policy research for a trade org.

[Anonymous]

What about an Econ major at Harvard? What are their job prospects?

[Anonymous]

They are on a better track to get an Internship or paid research assistantship at a think tank in DC.
DH has had many during his DC career, some from Harvard. They mostly went on to PhDs and professorships. A few went into government (think OMB, the Fed) and some into consulting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:International macro (sometimes called international finance). I help lend money to countries.

Here is a list of the different fields: https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/education/MxE_01_%20Fields%20of%20Study%207.22.13.pdf

Thanks for the list. My son is a freshman economics major. My son is torn about what to do. If he stays economics (his school has a choice BA or BS in Economics or a BS in "Economics and Statistics", kind of a mix of the two) he will likely add a global policy minor. If he transfers to the business school. Maybe finance and another major? The school really pushes the double or dual major if in the business school.

Does he know what he might want to do?

He hasn't figure that out yet. He joined the behavioral economics club and a business fraternity. Hasn't been to a lot of the economics meetings because they conflict with the business fraternity meetings. Getting into the business fraternity was a big deal. It gave him an instant set of friends and "mentors", so he had to prioritize that. He knows if he majors in Economics, he will have to minor in something. His school makes it very easy to pick up minors and double majors and most kids do it. Just thankful that he is finding things to do. Will see what clubs he joins next semester.

He’ll be fine either way. It seems he is leaning more towards the business/work side, so I would look at this through the lens of how good the business school is relative to the current school, particularly for career services which tend to be much better in business schools. Could always pick up an econ minor if that is allowed.

I would only caveat this if he really thought there might be a possibility of doing grad work in econ because he likes it so much. But I’m not picking up that vibe from you.