Glut of Econ majors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is a junior at Williams, and it is shocking to see how many peers are majoring in Economics. I understand the cost of college has soured, but how does economics, at all, give you any skills needed for jobs? And if anyone can enter business careers, what's the point of business majors? It just seems very confusing.

What is the purpose of college? There are many. Some think it is to get a job. Real purpose of college is to train and grow the mind. Job is less important. From Williams you could be almost any major and with solid grades be fine in almost any field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Williams has a business major?

No. It’s liberal arts. I posted earlier that I was an Econ major at Williams, too. No real surprise that yes, I went to Wall Street and did investment banking for years. You get involved in recruiting, particularly from your Alma mater. We did hire a ton of Econ majors. The bank I was at tracked analyst hires and, not surprisingly, liberal arts grads did very well. I remember an hr person saying they have learned how to learn. The business or accounting majors from other schools usually did worse and were more rigid in their thinking and had poorer people and presentation skills and didn’t work well with team members. Analysts all take the same crash course training all summer and learn what they need, so we wanted to hire the kids who would be great on their feet in front of clients, able to work long hours and be flexible. You can’t teach that. Often that translated into an athlete from a liberal arts school. HR had all the data as far as which hires earned which bonus (bonuses for analysts were given at 3 different amounts), which were offered 3rd year analyst jobs after the initial 2 year analyst position, which were offered associate roles after that, which burnt out and didn’t even finish the first 2 years, etc. All of this dictated which schools they recruited at, particularly for the coveted summer jobs. There’s a reason they hire so many Econ majors from Williams, Amherst, Pomona, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, the truth really is that being an Econ major is a social signal, just like going to Williams, or even going to any college at all.

Any major that feeds to the Street means a chance at some of the highest paid entry level jobs in America.

What else do you really want to know?

A chance at some of the most miserable soul-destroying jobs in America…

Any job can be. Unlikely to be the view for most at least from econ majors coming out of Williams.

At least they can make money! What job ISN'T soul sucking in this country??
I'm thrilled I spent decades in a soul sucking job - made BANK and now don't work at age 50. Doesn't feel too soul sucking as I type this from Europe, where I will be this month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was an Econ minor and gained so much skills. If someone majored in Econ especially doing the BS instead of BA it is instrumental in the job market. Then to be a math, statistics, or computer science minor would be even better. Actuary, Data Analyst, Research Analyst, Investment Banker, Quant, and so much more

So then what's the reasoning for a liberal arts BA in econ? The most they're doing is intro stats...

Slightly "easier" major for someone who doesn't think they can hack the BS? Or someone who wants to take a few less Econ courses and instead have a broader background (like a foreign language requirement or strong minor).

Same as BA vs BS in CS---the BA will have less "technical courses" and more Foreign language reqs and more general LA course options

SLACS have BAs in econ, not BSs. I'm willing to bet that any kid who can get into Williams can hack a BS in econ, the school just doesn't offer it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams has a business major?

No. It’s liberal arts. I posted earlier that I was an Econ major at Williams, too. No real surprise that yes, I went to Wall Street and did investment banking for years. You get involved in recruiting, particularly from your Alma mater. We did hire a ton of Econ majors. The bank I was at tracked analyst hires and, not surprisingly, liberal arts grads did very well. I remember an hr person saying they have learned how to learn. The business or accounting majors from other schools usually did worse and were more rigid in their thinking and had poorer people and presentation skills and didn’t work well with team members. Analysts all take the same crash course training all summer and learn what they need, so we wanted to hire the kids who would be great on their feet in front of clients, able to work long hours and be flexible. You can’t teach that. Often that translated into an athlete from a liberal arts school. HR had all the data as far as which hires earned which bonus (bonuses for analysts were given at 3 different amounts), which were offered 3rd year analyst jobs after the initial 2 year analyst position, which were offered associate roles after that, which burnt out and didn’t even finish the first 2 years, etc. All of this dictated which schools they recruited at, particularly for the coveted summer jobs. There’s a reason they hire so many Econ majors from Williams, Amherst, Pomona, etc.

I strongly concur with all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams has a business major?

No. It’s liberal arts. I posted earlier that I was an Econ major at Williams, too. No real surprise that yes, I went to Wall Street and did investment banking for years. You get involved in recruiting, particularly from your Alma mater. We did hire a ton of Econ majors. The bank I was at tracked analyst hires and, not surprisingly, liberal arts grads did very well. I remember an hr person saying they have learned how to learn. The business or accounting majors from other schools usually did worse and were more rigid in their thinking and had poorer people and presentation skills and didn’t work well with team members. Analysts all take the same crash course training all summer and learn what they need, so we wanted to hire the kids who would be great on their feet in front of clients, able to work long hours and be flexible. You can’t teach that. Often that translated into an athlete from a liberal arts school. HR had all the data as far as which hires earned which bonus (bonuses for analysts were given at 3 different amounts), which were offered 3rd year analyst jobs after the initial 2 year analyst position, which were offered associate roles after that, which burnt out and didn’t even finish the first 2 years, etc. All of this dictated which schools they recruited at, particularly for the coveted summer jobs. There’s a reason they hire so many Econ majors from Williams, Amherst, Pomona, etc.

And also from Dartmouth, Brown and Yale. This is spot on.
- Based on boutique merchant bank and IB hiring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These posts are hilarious. Someone needs to run and start the businesses for which computer science and engineers work. It's the econ and business majors who do that. Also a much larger human element involved in those majors, a.k.a., networking. That will never be replaced by AI and is still how the world operates. Sitting in a lab for years does nothing for building a career outside of being a widget maker/order taker.

Don't understand your post. So this is a contest between econ/business v. Cs/engineering?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was an Econ minor and gained so much skills. If someone majored in Econ especially doing the BS instead of BA it is instrumental in the job market. Then to be a math, statistics, or computer science minor would be even better. Actuary, Data Analyst, Research Analyst, Investment Banker, Quant, and so much more

So then what's the reasoning for a liberal arts BA in econ? The most they're doing is intro stats...

There is none, and I wouldn't pay for it, especially at an expensive school. My DC is at a $90K a year school and is slogging through a BS in economics for that reason. Grades will be lower but in the end, the degree means more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williams has a business major?

No. It’s liberal arts. I posted earlier that I was an Econ major at Williams, too. No real surprise that yes, I went to Wall Street and did investment banking for years. You get involved in recruiting, particularly from your Alma mater. We did hire a ton of Econ majors. The bank I was at tracked analyst hires and, not surprisingly, liberal arts grads did very well. I remember an hr person saying they have learned how to learn. The business or accounting majors from other schools usually did worse and were more rigid in their thinking and had poorer people and presentation skills and didn’t work well with team members. Analysts all take the same crash course training all summer and learn what they need, so we wanted to hire the kids who would be great on their feet in front of clients, able to work long hours and be flexible. You can’t teach that. Often that translated into an athlete from a liberal arts school. HR had all the data as far as which hires earned which bonus (bonuses for analysts were given at 3 different amounts), which were offered 3rd year analyst jobs after the initial 2 year analyst position, which were offered associate roles after that, which burnt out and didn’t even finish the first 2 years, etc. All of this dictated which schools they recruited at, particularly for the coveted summer jobs. There’s a reason they hire so many Econ majors from Williams, Amherst, Pomona, etc.

So are these the young adults I see portrayed in movies partying all night and spending all their money on c0caine and strippers?

[Anonymous]

Business undergrad is a networking and professional training program. Not a lot of deep thinking about why things are the way they are.

Economics encompasses sociology, psychology, math, history, etc. It is a well-rounded liberal arts degree.

[Anonymous]

All these hoity-toity econ majors. The reality is that econ is the easy degree for mediocre/students without any passions to find jobs. That's it. It could've been stats or cs, but those require the scary word-MATH-so, instead, people major in Econ. Any liberal arts college grad has the social skills to get through a finance position. These are all students smart enough to get through the wacky college admissions process and land on top; that's hard to do without persuasive qualities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All these hoity-toity econ majors. The reality is that econ is the easy degree for mediocre/students without any passions to find jobs. That's it. It could've been stats or cs, but those require the scary word-MATH-so, instead, people major in Econ. Any liberal arts college grad has the social skills to get through a finance position. These are all students smart enough to get through the wacky college admissions process and land on top; that's hard to do without persuasive qualities.

Tell me more about these mediocre students getting into Williams

[Anonymous]

Smartest kids and some of the best writers went to Williams from my kids’ private.
All unhooked super-smart.

Meanwhile all the hooked kids (athlete, URM, donor/legacy, 1G) went to Yale or Harvard or Penn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these hoity-toity econ majors. The reality is that econ is the easy degree for mediocre/students without any passions to find jobs. That's it. It could've been stats or cs, but those require the scary word-MATH-so, instead, people major in Econ. Any liberal arts college grad has the social skills to get through a finance position. These are all students smart enough to get through the wacky college admissions process and land on top; that's hard to do without persuasive qualities.

Tell me more about these mediocre students getting into Williams

Sure. They have no passions or real drive beyond the push from their parents. Some of them are recruited and got a massive boost to get into the college. They never actually had to think for themselves, so they need to make the cushy decision of a medium-difficulty major, so they don't need to work much at anything. It's a sellout major for a reason. It's lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is a junior at Williams, and it is shocking to see how many peers are majoring in Economics. I understand the cost of college has soured, but how does economics, at all, give you any skills needed for jobs? And if anyone can enter business careers, what's the point of business majors? It just seems very confusing.

Williams doesn’t have a business major. Surprised you don’t know this as a parent of a Williams student.