Economics Major and What Minor to Enhance Marketability?

[Anonymous]

Math or statistics

Better yet, do a double major in econ/math with a minor in statistics or computer science

This advice comes from my husband who is a quantitative analyst and manages a portfolio of quant funds. He says what he does is all math driven and it's a big asset to know some coding languages. Makes high six figures.

He was an econ/polic scie double major with statistics as his minor. Eventually got a master's degree in statistics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Analytics/stats or finance (opens more doors for working in business/finance/wall street).

Not sure those are options at a SLAC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math or statistics

Better yet, do a double major in econ/math with a minor in statistics or computer science

This advice comes from my husband who is a quantitative analyst and manages a portfolio of quant funds. He says what he does is all math driven and it's a big asset to know some coding languages. Makes high six figures.

He was an econ/polic scie double major with statistics as his minor. Eventually got a master's degree in statistics.

Me again. I know he also advises kids to join their finance clubs at college or start one if none currently exist. When he interviews new hires, he's looking for people who can speak knowledgeably about the market in a way that demonstrates an actual, genuine interest in picking stocks. He can tell if you just read headlines vs. knowing what you're talking about and being interested in it.

[Anonymous]

A lot of good advice here (Math, Stats, CS, Finance) if marketability is the only concern. What about just minoring in an area of academic interest? An undergraduate degree in Economics is likely to require a graduate degree eventually anyway. So, why not just take a deep dive into something that sparks your intellectual curiosity.

[Anonymous]

^ Demonstrating a genuine interest in picking stocks matters more to him than prestige of the degree actually. This comes from experience. He sometimes turns down Ivy grads in favor of state school grads who have been picking stocks since high school. He's really good at finding these diamonds in the ruff. His interns and new hires have all stayed with it and keep in touch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math or statistics

Better yet, do a double major in econ/math with a minor in statistics or computer science

This advice comes from my husband who is a quantitative analyst and manages a portfolio of quant funds. He says what he does is all math driven and it's a big asset to know some coding languages. Makes high six figures.

He was an econ/polic scie double major with statistics as his minor. Eventually got a master's degree in statistics.

+ 1

This is your best bet, if he/she can hack the math.

[Anonymous]

I take it that he is entering his freshman year. He should start thinking he will minor in MATH. Econ majors should take new MATH every year, maybe even every semester.

The more quantitative he can be the better and it is really hard to finish the econ required math, not take any math for a year or two and then get back up to speed again for a minor OR to be quantitative in grad school.

Even if he ends up not being the most quantitative type of economist, having that background is part of learning how to think and that separates the first from the second ranks.

As others have said, CS is also useful but CS is more about learning how to do and picking that up if you are thinking right is a smaller issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I take it that he is entering his freshman year. He should start thinking he will minor in MATH. Econ majors should take new MATH every year, maybe even every semester.

The more quantitative he can be the better and it is really hard to finish the econ required math, not take any math for a year or two and then get back up to speed again for a minor OR to be quantitative in grad school.

Even if he ends up not being the most quantitative type of economist, having that background is part of learning how to think and that separates the first from the second ranks.

As others have said, CS is also useful but CS is more about learning how to do and picking that up if you are thinking right is a smaller issue.

This. I actually would skip the CS minor unless the student is genuinely interested in it (then go for it). To make it as a quant analyst, you need to know specific coding languages but you can pick those up pretty easy on your own, by taking a course or two at a local college, or even doing one of those boot camp things. I'd do the double econ/math major with a statistics minor with the idea that you will probably do a master's degree in statistics eventually.

[Anonymous]

Math or statistics.

[Anonymous]

What about something related to environmental studies?

[Anonymous]

First reply nailed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell him to focus his Econ electives in Econometrics so he gets more stats/quantitative focus. If he's interested in an engineering field, that would make a good minor...as would literally anything else that allows him to develop an interest outside of the econ major. At a SLAC, it seems like a liberal arts minor would be the best bet.

It really depends on what his long term interests are, though. Econ major in and of itself isn't a strong indication of what he wants to do in the future.

What's a liberal arts minor? Wouldn't that be covered in the distribution requirements? I think a more specific minor would be more useful. Math or a language are good bets. CS if it's available.

I should have been clearer. A minor in a liberal arts subject. Ideally one in which is college is strong.

I think a properly constructed Econ major can be very quantitative if you are strategic in electives. Econ itself doesn't tell you a lot about a person, so developing another set of interests that would help an employer understand him better would be helpful (as well as help him understand what he wants to do better).

I have a physics PhD and now work as a data scientist...so I'm not dissing math in the least. I also work in a sector that gives me a lot of visibility to trends in SW and applied stats/math across a lot of sectors. A lot of math/modeling is becoming commoditized through SW, so raw math skills are becoming less important, and I predict there will be Excel-like tools for machine learning/AI in less than 10 years making it even less important to have the ability to do math yourself unless you are in a very technical role (which an Econ major will not be able to go in to).

What will matter is a broader understanding of where math/stats are important and how to effectively apply it. Econometrics type courses should give him the latter, and exposure to a field very different to his own will give him a good perspective of what's possible. Then again, I work in Silicon Valley where career trajectories are a bit more random.

[Anonymous]

Get a phD.