Economics major?

Vrana

I know school questions come up in this forum regularly, and sorry for polluting it more with a question i'm sure you've heard many times, but I'm interested and looking for more feedback than I can get from school advisers.

My school is very big on promoting that you get on track for a major quickly, and I've been looking around to decide what I want to do with my life (holy shit this is a big decision.)

I really enjoy my economics and statistics classes thus far. It's something I understand easily and actually enjoy working with, so I'm seriously thinking about majoring in economics.

The thing is, I come from a very poor family. My entire life, I've never been able to get what I wanted for lack of funds. I don't want to keep on living like this, barely scraping by.

I know that I like the field so far, and from my research it seems like they are paid well, but I want to know if anyone has any actual experience with it. Is it hard to get a well paying job? Will I continue to enjoy it? What actual jobs are available for someone with this degree?

I know I won't get a huge salary straight out of college, but I want something that will make my life a lot more comfortable than it is now, with room for growth as I get older. To be honest, I'm not sold on economics, and it is very possible that i'll change my major many times, but I just want to know if this is something I should continue looking into.

Thanks

toxk_02

Here's a bit from the WSJ

U.S. colleges and universities awarded 16,141 degrees to economics majors in the 2003-2004 academic year, up nearly 40% from five years earlier, according to John J. Siegfried, an economics professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., who tracks 272 colleges and universities around the country for the Journal of Economic Education.

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, economics majors in their first job earn an average of nearly $43,000 a year -- not as much as for computer-science majors and engineering majors, who can earn in excess of $50,000 a year. But those computer and engineering jobs look increasingly threatened by competition from inexpensive, highly skilled workers in places like India and China.

In contrast, economics and business majors ranked among the five most-desirable majors in a 2004 survey of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, along with accounting, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. It wasn't just banks and insurance companies that expressed interest in economics majors -- companies in industries such as utilities and retailing did so, too.

I saw something else on the local news about Economics being in the "Top 5 Wanted Majors" so there definitely seems to be a desire for economists (unless they cited this article). However the problem that arises with an undergrad econ degree is you can get lumped in with the business majors, and that's a big pool. If you're more the research/statistics kinda guy that's a good way to separate yourself from the pack - most econ grads go BA while with more math-intensive study you can do a BS.

But you're right, you don't have to be sold on a major your freshman year. I waited 'til my junior year to declare. Keep taking classes if econ interests you and go from there.

ege02

I'm getting a BA in Economics at the end of this academic year. The only reason I didn't do a BS is that I already have a BS degree in IT.

Let me tell you this: a BA in Economics, by itself, is near worthless. If you want to get a high-paying job, you need a BS in Economics, because that is where the useful skills like econometrics come from. Companies don't want someone who has a theoretical understanding of economics. They want people who can work numbers, who can do finance and look at data and build growth and investment models.

The good news is that if you're good at econometrics and similar econ-related analytical skills, your future is practically paved. You can work for banks, multi-national corporations, international organizations like IMF/World Bank, you can do a lot of things.

So if you are not going to double-major, try to aim for a BS in Econ. Don't do a BA because that by itself is nearly as worthless as, say, a political science degree.

ViolentChemistry

My buddy's getting a BS in Economics. And then the Department of Energy is going to pay back a big chunk of his loans for him. So yeah, you can do some things with a BS in Economics. :^:

tracertong

After getting all the required credits for my poli sci major early junior year, i added a BA in econ as a second major.

Asked the advisor about the diff between BA and BS, he said that employers just care that you HAVE a degree...a BA or BS doesnt make you an expert on the subject, a master's does.

That being said, I think it would be very tough to work at someplace like the frickin IMF with just a BS in econ.

Grundlestiltskin

A BA in economics is generally no more valuable than a BA in English, history, philosophy, sociology....etc etc. Unless you're looking to get into academia, liberal arts degrees like this will generally leave you with no "concrete" marketable skills. Most financial services companies would prefer a business/finance major over a theoretical economics major any day.

For example, I'm an economics major from a top tier liberal arts college. I'm currently an IT project manager, after trying fruitlessly to get into consulting for two years (admittedly, I wasn't trying very hard).

The nice thing about liberal arts degrees, though, is that you tend to be extremely flexible for the jobs that will consider you.

ege02

Asked the advisor about the diff between BA and BS, he said that employers just care that you HAVE a degree...

Your advisor would be horribly wrong. High-paying employers at least are very picky about the difference between a BA and a BS. Some of them will even look at the specific classes you have taken to get your degree. Trust me, I'm in the process of job-hunting right now and the "oh, so it's not a BS, just a BA" line is something I hear very often when employers go over my resume...

Grundlestiltskin wrote: »

The nice thing about liberal arts degrees, though, is that you tend to be extremely flexible for the jobs that will consider you.

It depends on where in the US you are. I hear that on the East Coast, employers look at a liberal arts degree and see an employee who is well-rounded and trainable. On the West Coast, on the other hand, a liberal arts degree is mostly regarded as bullshit and useless.