Anonymous
Post 03/05/2026 09:17     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
For a student like this to get into Yale, what is necessary?

Interdisciplinary spike?
Community impact?
Demonstrated intellectual curiosity outside classroom?
Best of LOR?
Anonymous
Post 03/05/2026 08:31     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Curious what types of econ or business activities your kids needed to be successful for T10/20? Non-DMV if it matters.....

Male, ORM
3.93 uw private/1550 (1x; taking again)
StuCo officer
Theater (several productions)
Music (a capella + selective choir) - awards
Capt. of JV/V sport -
Finance Internship (11)
Comm service (co-founder of a local non-profit w/10 events/yr)
Peer mentor
camp counselor (sport)
School based indep. research project (x2) - 1 related to econ history

Worried not enough pure "econ" activities? Thoughts on a summer program?
Is the EFL thing legit (https://fte.org/students/)?

Interested in reaches like Yale, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Michigan (OOS), Georgetown, UVA (OOS).


My DC studies economics at one of these schools. Besides top stats, I think what helped was that he was president of DECA, had great internships including at a private equity firm, and was generally a good kid, which showed up in really strong letters of recommendation.


A high school intern at a private equity firm. Barf.
Anonymous
Post 03/05/2026 08:15     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
Anonymous wrote:Curious what types of econ or business activities your kids needed to be successful for T10/20? Non-DMV if it matters.....

Male, ORM
3.93 uw private/1550 (1x; taking again)
StuCo officer
Theater (several productions)
Music (a capella + selective choir) - awards
Capt. of JV/V sport -
Finance Internship (11)
Comm service (co-founder of a local non-profit w/10 events/yr)
Peer mentor
camp counselor (sport)
School based indep. research project (x2) - 1 related to econ history

Worried not enough pure "econ" activities? Thoughts on a summer program?
Is the EFL thing legit (https://fte.org/students/)?

Interested in reaches like Yale, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Michigan (OOS), Georgetown, UVA (OOS).


My DC studies economics at one of these schools. Besides top stats, I think what helped was that he was president of DECA, had great internships including at a private equity firm, and was generally a good kid, which showed up in really strong letters of recommendation.
Anonymous
Post 03/05/2026 07:56     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
Anonymous wrote:Play up the musical theatre! If he has a track record it's perfect.
Econ is a dime a dozen and getting more popular every year from top privates and to top colleges.


This! Most ivies and NU have a lot of students involved in theater. The AOslike students with strong academic interests, top rigor, and arts interest and experience. Make sure he has top rigor in all areas not just math.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 14:47     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
If op kid is at a private school, they usually have lists of programs past kids have participated in. Ask them about econ and what they recommend.... Our non-dmv private hs had a wealth of helpful info and resources - summer academic programs, competitions, arts, internships, stem/humanities research, etc.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 14:30     Subject: Re:Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
UChicago makes sense here.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 14:23     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:where is he in his class? Does your school send kids to these schools? Are other kids applying?
I think these things matter more than a econ resume if he's coming from private.

Also, you probably know this but approx 99.999% of kids seem to want to study econ these days. It's insanity. If the school allows him to switch major after admission and he at all has the narrative to support a different major i'd go with that.


Not true in my experience.


Definitely true from both private high schools my kids attended and now both private top20 schools they attend.
Clearly it's not 99.9999 but it's a whole lot and doesn't help with admissions if you have an alternate narrative to use and the school allows a kid to switch their major after matriculating.


Agree - I have been following few private schools my younger kid has applied to (for high school) and their college decisions are very often econ (if not business) or pre-med track.


Because no one wants to spend $400K on a college degree in a major like gender studies or the art of origami or some other useless degree that won’t get them a return on their investment.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 09:25     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
Anonymous wrote:As others have said, his best bet is not applying as Econ major. Another young man wanting to be a finance/business/econ major is not what top schools are looking for. If he takes Latin, what about a Classics major? Or even history or political science. But econ just makes him look like just about every other male applying...


This. If he has another dimension to him and it sounds like he does (music, theatre, latin, etc) then I would try to play up that angle. Most of the one million econ-bro guys do not have those interests and are fare more cookie-cutter.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 08:24     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
Anonymous wrote:As others have said, his best bet is not applying as Econ major. Another young man wanting to be a finance/business/econ major is not what top schools are looking for. If he takes Latin, what about a Classics major? Or even history or political science. But econ just makes him look like just about every other male applying...


The kid would probably need to supplement history or poli sci electives in to make that believable, which is doable for senior year, I’d think.

Our IEC told us electives should match selected academic interests/ majors/ minors.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 08:04     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
I would think Brown would be a good fit and possibility, ED.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 07:57     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
As others have said, his best bet is not applying as Econ major. Another young man wanting to be a finance/business/econ major is not what top schools are looking for. If he takes Latin, what about a Classics major? Or even history or political science. But econ just makes him look like just about every other male applying...
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 07:49     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This student could enhance his prospects of studying in a top-level economics program with careful selection of colleges to which to apply:

Economics rankings: US Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges | IDEAS/RePEc https://share.google/5aObkCEnrt3RTqx2h

Economics rankings: US Economics Departments | IDEAS/RePEc https://share.google/S0KanswrMKWYNVQc2

We see a lot of dumb rankings on DCUM, but this takes the cake. Publications? Come on. It’s all about teaching quality, class size and outcomes, including grad school placement and avg starting salary.


DP but RePEc isn’t dumb, it actually tracks closely with how econ departments are viewed by economists (I am one). Now, if OP’s kid only wants to study econ to go work in finance then they should look at other things. But if the kid truly wants econ for econ then this is a reasonable guide to the best places.
Anonymous
Post 02/24/2026 02:26     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
Anonymous wrote:This student could enhance his prospects of studying in a top-level economics program with careful selection of colleges to which to apply:

Economics rankings: US Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges | IDEAS/RePEc https://share.google/5aObkCEnrt3RTqx2h

Economics rankings: US Economics Departments | IDEAS/RePEc https://share.google/S0KanswrMKWYNVQc2

We see a lot of dumb rankings on DCUM, but this takes the cake. Publications? Come on. It’s all about teaching quality, class size and outcomes, including grad school placement and avg starting salary.
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 23:34     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
This student could enhance his prospects of studying in a top-level economics program with careful selection of colleges to which to apply:

Economics rankings: US Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges | IDEAS/RePEc https://share.google/5aObkCEnrt3RTqx2h

Economics rankings: US Economics Departments | IDEAS/RePEc https://share.google/S0KanswrMKWYNVQc2
Anonymous
Post 02/23/2026 23:16     Subject: Econ major - T10/20: Ideas?
DS went to Duke, majored in Econ and won thesis prize. Never did anything w Econ before college. Jeez. You don’t need to already be an expert before college. Chill