Economics majors

21,031 Views | 35 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by Token
aglaes
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AG
My son just completed his first semester at A&M Corpus Christi in the PSA program - got a 4.0!. The PSA program is somewhat restrictive in what major you can select - he selected Economics. He was hoping once he got to A&M (next fall, or soon thereafter) that he would be able to switch majors to finance.

Finding out that it may not be possible to transfer from the PSA program into Mays, unless he transfers out of PSA program for at least one semester to another school, gets his Acct 229 and 230 (which he would not be able to take at A&M as an ECON major), then transfers back. Admissions say they only take 100 transfers - so even then it's tough.

I don't think the PSA program has been around very long, but does anyone else have any experience or success trying to switch majors from PSA program?

For current or recent A&M Econ majors - What are job prospects if he stays and gets his degree in Econ at A&M?

UPDATED POST
My son is now a Jr ECON major and has a 3.93 GPA at A&M (completed freshman yr at A&M Corpus - made all A's there).

He is still very interested in investment banking and is thinking of applying for the MS Finance Program which is an accelerated program designed for Econ and STEM students.

Anyone with experience with this program that can provide some feedback, especially what job prospects were like after completing
TAMUAdmissions
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AG
aglaes --

As you alluded to, we never recommend using the PSA to gain admission to TAMU with the hopes of moving into another major. TAMU will never prevent a student from trying, but we can't provide any guarantees. This is especially true with Mays Business School. They require current students to complete 30 TAMU hours to be eligible for a change of curriculum. If those 30 TAMU hours plus his incoming transfer hours add up to more than 60 total, Mays will not consider him. The other issue is that he'll be limited in the coursework he can take as an Economics student. He will not be allowed to take all the courses he needs to move into Mays.

If he really wants Mays Business School, his best bet is to NOT use the PSA. He should stay at TAMUCC or attend a community college for another year, knock out the courses he needs, maintain high grades, and apply directly to MBS for Fall 2016. There is a definite risk involved (you alluded to the 100 spots available), but the odds are in his favor to go that route as opposed to using the PSA.

Feel free to contact one of our counselors if you'd like to discuss this more in depth. Our number is 979.458.0950. I hope this helps!
Diyala Nick
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AG
Former economics major here.

I applied for and received offers for the same jobs as finance majors. My first gig was in energy trading, where I worked with a lot of economics, finance and math majors.

Beyond the initial step of getting a job after graduation, I really believe that learning to "think like an economist" will serve your son well as he progresses from entry level to mid career and beyond.

If I had it all to do over again, I would not change a thing. If you know how to market yourself, economics is a tremendous degree.
aglaes
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Thanks Diyala - that's the kind of feedback we were looking for. My son is interested in energy trading and/or getting started on Wall St. We are planning to set up a meeting with an advisor in the Economics Dept to discuss his career interests and how to tailor the curriculum to increase his job prospects in his areas of interest.

We've also talked to admissions a couple of more times and although they don't encourage changing majors, it does appear that it is possible to do it if we are careful about how many hours he takes and he has a good GPA. Must have 30 graded hours at A&M, but no more than 60 total hours. He will probably have 30 hrs when he enters A&M this fall. If he takes 30 hrs his soph year at A&M, he could apply for the MBS during Spring of Soph year for Fall 2016 - I think (not sure when the deadline to apply is and how they will look at classes he will be taking in Spring 2016 - which would be part of the 30 hrs needed at A&M).

I was wrong about the need to have the Acct classes to get into MBS - that's only if he is transferring from outside A&M. He will already have the required course work completed that he needs to transfer when he finishes this semester at Corpus. We are going to try structure his curriculum next year so that if he wants to try to change majors, he will have that option and will not be too far behind in getting the classes needed for either major.
tamufan
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You might want to read this article:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/09/29/lifetime_earnings_by_college_major_why_economics_grads_make_bank.html

And this one:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/upshot/how-economists-came-to-dominate-the-conversation.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone&_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1
alpepp
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AG
Your Aggie should check out the Trading, Risk & Investments Program (TRIP). It is housed in the Finance Department in Mays but is open to majors outside the business school . The program is right in line with his career interests and is a huge networking opportunity with two paid internships as well.

http://mays.tamu.edu/trip
not1cuckaroo
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I had no idea TRIP was open to non-business school majors. I didn't even know they took non-finance majors. Interesting. I was in the first Commercial Banking Program class, only allowed finance majors.
aglaes
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After looking at the web page, it does say that TRIP is open to non-business majors, but I think only for post-grad work.
chris1226
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Hi aglaes,

I'm a junior economics major at A&M and can attest that economics would be fantastic for what your son seems like he wants to do. I'll be interning for a certain investment bank on Wall St. this summer. Economics has been great for a lot of reasons, the faculty is young and BRIGHT. I know my mentor who works at A&M says the Liberal Arts school is pouring a majority of its money into the major, and it's one of the fastest growing here at A&M (they are looking to hire 3 or 4 academic advisors). The critical thinking and the theory that you learn to me has been extremely valuable. I have been to a few career fairs and didn't find a company that wouldn't take my major as an equivalent to business more or less. A minor in business is also a possibility depending on his hours. Good department with great potential.
aggiesquare
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Current Econ Major Here,
Economics is a fantastic degree to get right now. Not only does economics open the door to nearly every job you can get with a finance degree, but it also opens the doors to many jobs unattainable with a a finance degree such as jobs with the government. I've talked to many companies and they are always impressed with econ majors as many people shy away from the degree because of the theory you must learn. Economics prepares you to think critically in a way many people can't and companies really value that.
aggiesquare
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Economics also has one of the highest starting salaries than any other major.
jvh1977
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My son was offered PSA for Fall 2015. We were very interested in possibly going in as an Econ major since Mays does not participate in PSA. However, on the PSA website online, it doesn't show Economics as a choice under Liberal Arts. My question is if Economics is no longer an option?
not1cuckaroo
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quote:
If you know how to market yourself, economics is a tremendous degree.
This is key. It is so close to Finance, if you have good grades I bet there are few limitations.
Texker
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AG
I have a Finance degree but loved my ECON classes and did really well. I seriously considered switching to ECON on several occasions.
12thMan86
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AG
quote:
My son was offered PSA for Fall 2015. We were very interested in possibly going in as an Econ major since Mays does not participate in PSA. However, on the PSA website online, it doesn't show Economics as a choice under Liberal Arts. My question is if Economics is no longer an option?
Econ WAS available when they first offered my son PSA for 2015, but they have since removed it. Crappy planning on the admissions department. We were not happy. Now he will just have to be a standard transfer.
TAMUAdmissions
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AG
The individual colleges/departments decide if they want to be participants in the PSA program. Admissions does not make that decision for them.
12thMan86
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Thank you for the feedback Admissions. Your response is a little concerning, however, in that Roy Mitchell (Senior Adviser for Econ) was not even aware of this when we spoke last Wednesday. I was the one to break the news to him. He was going to make a few calls confirming, but I have not heard back. I would hope if his department decided to not participate in the PSA, he would know about it. Apparently not. I have since been contacted by my Admissions Counselor and had it confirmed....ECON was on the offering list, now its not.

Keep in mind that the fact they are not participating is not the issue here. The issue is that it WAS option when PSA offers came out (6 weeks ago?) and has since been removed. That decision needs to be made before offers go out. That's all I'm saying. I've spent a lot of time and visits to CS and Corpus, and knowing ECON was not an option from day one would have saved a lot of time + allowed my son to make decisions based on solid information.

Thanks Again - See you in 2016!
aTm2004
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I have a degree in econ and work in supply chain/logistics. Many of the roles I've been in have also had people with degrees in finance, accounting, supply chain, engineering, math, etc. It's a pretty versatile degree that allows you many options upon graduating. After that, it's more about what and who you know. If I had it to do all over again, I would have gone engineering due to many options within the O&G industry, however, I enjoyed my time studying economics, the professors, and those around me. Also, I had a pretty good time in college while many of my friends where were in engineering spent most of their free time in the library or buried in a book.
MAROON
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this is interesting to me - my son just got his acceptance today into the College of Liberal Arts to study Economics.

Honestly I know nothing about the career opportunities. I assume if we schedule an interview with the Econ department we can learn about careers, internships, etc.

BryanAggie2013
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If he is truly interested in Energy trading, an undergaduate degree in Agricultural Economics would not be a bad option. They have just hired a new Energy professor and are beefing up their coursework in that field, not to mention having a Nobel Prize winner on staff for his work in Energy, Dr. Bruce McCarl. They also have a very good course in Futures & Options Trading.

I would also definitely look into the TRIP program, they have targeted AGEC students in the past for this when trying to grow their applicant base.

For those weary of the "Agricultural" prefix, my brother is a May 2015 graduate of AGEC and is now one of the first students in the new Master's of Financial Management in the Commercial Banking Program at Mays. The opportunities are out there for good students.
GVCVAG
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Daughter 2 years out of TAMU BS ECON. She found what she considered "true" economics jobs somewhat scarce (not honors grad), but TAMU ECON is well respected and she had no problem finding good job on graduation. Currently O&G Logistics.
nipper
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2015 Economics BS graduate here. I am happily employed as a consultant with a great salary and good benefits.

There are a few things to keep in mind when considering an Economics degree and a Mays degree from TAMU:

Prestige Mays is more prestigious (to the business world) than the Econ department hands down. The Econ department has been making a tremendous effort level the playing field when it comes to how employers view Econ job candidates, but there is still work to be done.

Peers Although the grade distribution of students in Mays and in the Econ department is quite similar, the average quality of a Mays student is (probably) higher than the average quality of an Econ student, as admissions requirements for Mays are more demanding. This means that it should be easier for a student to land higher in the grade distribution in the Econ department, which is a good thing.

Job Prospects Mays gears its students for industry and provides great connections to very respectable companies, it also spends a good deal of time teaching its students how to sell themselves to companies. In the Econ department you do not receive these benefits, there is not an endless supply of Aggie Econ majors going to the Big 4 accounting firms every year and the department does not make the same efforts as Mays to prepare its student for the job hunt.

Further Education The Econ department wins out here as it provides better access to researchers, who control the world of education beyond a bachelors.

All this to say, the decision should be made based on what subject the student enjoys and where the student wants to end up (ie industry or back in academia). Both departments are fantastic departments and you will get out what you put in. I worked hard during college, ended with a high GPA, and received offers from quite a few companies while competing with Mays graduates.

Whichever path you choose GET AN INTERNSHIP. Having an internship during college is becoming a necessity, and having a good internship with a respectable, well known company goes a long way to instill some confidence in your potential as an employee for a hiring company.
MAROON
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AG
thanks for your insight. Wife and son visited last week and were very impressed by the department. Of course the department talked up the job attractiveness of their students a bit more than you vs. Mays students. everything I here on Econ so far I like.
nipper
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If your son wants to compete with finance majors for finance jobs, accounting majors for accounting jobs, and management majors for general business jobs your son will be at a disadvantage.

An econ degree provides a wider berth into multiple fields (or masters/phd/jd programs) at the expense of focused competitiveness. Simply put, why hire the econ grad who has little exposure to finance when I have a stack of resumes from finance majors that are just as good but with a more relevant field of study.

This is also why I emphasized the internship point. Having any experience in an industry is valuable, having focused experience in the industry you want to work in is invaluable. You can make up a lot of ground with experience that is a hiring company thinks is relevant.
MAROON
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agreed on Finance or accounting focused jobs for sure. I would probably disagree on hiring a mgmt major over an econ manor for general business. Just my bias but I've never understood a mgmt degree at all.

For sure I see the Internship angle.
nipper
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The management comment is just based on my experience and the experience of those I know. Management Consulting firms, particularly, will express a preference for Mays management graduates over econ graduates.
Diyala Nick
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I disagree with Ribs on this. Economics is an excellent gateway to trading, investment banking, or management consulting (post MBA). In addition, I would add the nascent field of Data Science as a great application of an economics education.

The exception would be accounting. If you want to be accountant or auditor, major in accounting.
Diyala Nick
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I would also add that econ may be one of only a few educations where what you learned in college becomes more relevant the further you advance in your career.
nipper
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quote:
I disagree with Ribs on this. Economics is an excellent gateway to trading, investment banking, or management consulting (post MBA). In addition, I would add the nascent field of Data Science as a great application of an economics education.
Nick, I think the key here is "(post MBA)". One of the reasons I am such a fan of an econ degree is because of its versatility; an econ degree provides a great path to an MBA (or other graduate program) due to the methods of thinking taught by economics. However we are speaking about immediate job prospects.

In order to move into trading, IB, or MC, most TAMU econ grads would need more education. That is not to say it cannot be done (I think MC is the most accessible out of the three for the average econ bachelors), but jumping into the pool of trading/IB job candidates without knowing what you are doing is inviting failure. Many of these firms (especially IB and trading firms) are incredibly concerned with prestige, they ask for your SAT scores, they care about the prestige of an applicants college, they even care about the prestige of your high school.

The degree at issue here is specifically a TAMU econ degree, more specifically what is the outlook for a middle of the distribution student. If you said there are econ degrees that open opportunities in those fields, I would agree. However, a stand alone TAMU econ degree, for the majority of students, is not one of those degrees. If you want to talk about what happens at the high end of the distribution that is a different story.

Here are some helpful links. Keep in mind this is self reported, so the two "Bank of Guatemala - Deputy Director" results are suspect. The best companies on here are Bain, Fidelity, EY, KPMG, and PWC. Note that the EY, KPMG and PWC jobs are all transfer pricing which is at the lower end of the firms pay-scale (they would all fall around the 75 percentile of the salary distribution). The indvidual with the Fidelity trader job likley has a salary of 60-65k. The individual with the Bain & Co. associate position will likely have the max salary of 75k.

Exit Salary Survey:
http://moses.tamu.edu/ccsurveyreports/SSResults.aspx

Exit Job Survey:
http://moses.tamu.edu/ccsurveyreports/SSResults.aspx
Diyala Nick
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AG
^
Excellent post!

You are correct, trading, IB and the like certainly would be most accessible only to the upper end of econ students.

If the concern is immediate post graduation job prospects, finance would certainly be a better degree than econ. However, over the long term, the manner of critical thinking you learn in economics will pay tremendous dividends.

The ability to think about ideas critically and in the abstract, and then communicate those ideas clearly is almost a guarantee of success. Econ will certainly arm you with the ability to do the former.
GVCVAG
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TAMU BS ECON. Overall great choice for my daughter.
Top 25% kid going in, slightly above 3.0 GPA graduate ( freshman year worst, upper level highest) , hard worker but enjoyed school, active in sorority, went to lots of athletic events, ( as mentioned by others not like an engineering major or even business) profs approachable.
Happy college experience, enjoyable good job. 90k
O&G logistics 2 years later.
I agree with statement about Econ developing strong analytic and reasoning skills. Aggie brand also valuable in Texas.
I'm not knocking Engineering or Business at A&M. I have a degree from each and they have also served me well.
aglaes
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AG
Bump.

My son is now a Jr ECON major and has a 3.93 GPA at A&M (completed freshman yr at A&M Corpus - made all A's there).

He is still very interested in investment banking and is thinking of applying for the MS Finance Program which is an accelerated program designed for Econ and STEM students.

Anyone with experience with this program that can provide some feedback, especially what job prospects were like after completing.
Prescient
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aglaes said:

My son just completed his first semester at A&M Corpus Christi in the PSA program - got a 4.0!. The PSA program is somewhat restrictive in what major you can select - he selected Economics. He was hoping once he got to A&M (next fall, or soon thereafter) that he would be able to switch majors to finance.

Finding out that it may not be possible to transfer from the PSA program into Mays, unless he transfers out of PSA program for at least one semester to another school, gets his Acct 229 and 230 (which he would not be able to take at A&M as an ECON major), then transfers back. Admissions say they only take 100 transfers - so even then it's tough.

I don't think the PSA program has been around very long, but does anyone else have any experience or success trying to switch majors from PSA program?

For current or recent A&M Econ majors - What are job prospects if he stays and gets his degree in Econ at A&M?

UPDATED POST
My son is now a Jr ECON major and has a 3.93 GPA at A&M (completed freshman yr at A&M Corpus - made all A's there).

He is still very interested in investment banking and is thinking of applying for the MS Finance Program which is an accelerated program designed for Econ and STEM students.

Anyone with experience with this program that can provide some feedback, especially what job prospects were like after completing
Contact Dr. Jonathan Meer, the Director of Undergraduate Education for the Economics Department. If your son can perform at that level in A&M's Economics Department, he won't have any problem getting job offers from investment banks. Goldman Sachs has made A&M a priority school, largely on the strength of its Economics Department grads.
StickTogetherAgs
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aggiewhoop1
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AG
Bump. Went into TAMU with an Econ Degree wanting to go into Finance, now currently in Mays. I took Micro, Inter. Micro, Macro, and Money and Banking etc., but while those very much interested me the latter available classes had much to do with labor markets (boring) and social issues of Economics. I completed 3/4s of an Econ degree at TAMU. The fact of the matter is that only the upper echelon of Economics students will compete with Mays grads. The networking, prestige, and outright knowledge accumulated at Mays is incomparable to that of an Economics degree at TAMU. You absolutely do not learn anything regarding trading as an Economics student. Those topics are slightly covered in Money and Banking however that is all "Finance-y" that degree gets. It's also an extremely easy degree. I finished up with a 3.83 GPR in Econ, and quite simply, got bored. Want to see which is better, go to Wehner, then go to Allen...you'll see...
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