To all economists and economics majors -- a question:

[Gwen in VA]

Ds is planning on majoring in economics, with a possible double major in political science. He is interested in going on to grad school, with a goal of getting a Ph.D. and working in the public policy arena.

 

My big question -- how important is it for him to get a degree from a "name' school?

 

Also, any thoughts on balancing the quality of the econ dept with the prestige of the school? What if he finds a program at a "lesser" school where many profs are all doing research in his area of interest? Should he look more at the school's reputation, and leave choosing a school based on profs' research interests until grad school?

 

And what about a "name" LAC that doesn't have a strong econ program?

 

I have heard that for investment banking attending a "name' school is almost a prerequisite. Is the name school that important for grad school admissions in economics?

 

Thank you so much for thinking about this -- Dh and I are engineers, so we are absolutely clueless as to how important the name of the school will be for him. We do know that the presige of the degree can be extremely important in certain fields, such as investment banking. We don't want him to choose the "lesser" school because he likes the research if it will cripple his chances later on

[Samuel]

Not an economist, but social science phd candidate, so I do know a bit about this world. A name helps, but it isn't everything. I got into a very good school for my area without it. However, top schools do tend have advantages, and better preparation. I went to a big national scholarship interview, and I was the only person there from a small unknown LAC. Econ is not I banking, which is all about prestige.

Prof's reserach interests are probably not going to make too much a difference as an undergrad--interests change as one learns about one's field. However, having a solid econ department is important. If he doesn't get a good foundation it will really hold him back. Also, for econ a very strong math background is absolutely essential. He should take calculus in high school, and take something akin to a math minor at least. I would double major in math rather than poli sci. I think that econ has become too quantitative, but that's the way things are going to be for the next few years.

I'm not sure what is meant by public policy. Econ Phds are pretty specialized. Many practitioners get MPPs or MPAs--what does he want to do?

[Gwen in VA]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

Yup -- he is finishing up calculus 2 right now and he is planning on taking at least six math classes in college. He was planning on double-majoring in math but then realized that majoring in math went way beyond the classes recommended for grad school, so he decided that he didn't want to go that route. He likes math, but there is a limit! :-)

 

His planned career path at this point is rather murky, which is okay. He absolutely loves public policy (from doing all kinds of debating) and loves economics and sees that there is a HUGE crossover between the two. He has considered an MPP.

 

Now back to contemplating -- U Chicago with LOTS of loans, UVA with no loans but also no scholarships, or UPitt or UDallas with full-tuition scholarships, or Washington & Lee with unknown scholarship (we're waiting.....)

 

I do wish I knew more about the economics field!

[Gwen in VA]

Thank you Eliana --

 

I really appreciate your perspective. I agree with everything you wrote.

 

Seeing the words in print verbalized by someone else really is helpful to me! Somehow it's so easy to just start spinning around and around on this college issue! I think that my family is so wrapped up in this decision process that we are forgetting common sense!

 

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!

[Begonia]

My older dd, now a second-year student at UVA, was convinced all through her high school years that she wanted a Classics degree in Latin. She took all the Latin courses and APs. She spent time in Italy and took box-loads of photos of Roman ruins. She KNEW she wanted to become a Latin teacher in a New England boarding school. Well, yesterday she filled the paperwork for her major-- Computer Science and Linguistics double major, with a minor in Greek (she's also studying Arabic). Now she dreams about working for a security agency in DC. She still enjoys languages (ancient, modern, and programming), but her goals have changed.

 

Kids often change while they're at school. The best schools open their minds and their hearts and expose them to new academic experiences. We looked at lots of small LACs with dd and are thrilled that she finally wound up at a relatively large school where there is depth in many different departments. It's risky, I think, to specialize too early. If I were you I would look for schools that have fabulous Econ departments, but that are also large enough and vibrant enough to let him grow in another direction should he find a new passion.

[Gwen in VA]

Great point, Begonia!

 

Hey, ds just heard from UVA today -- he was accepted as an Echols Scholar! :001_smile::001_smile: :D

 

So your dd is enjoying UVA? I must say that the sheer size of it intimidates me. Are the profs accessible? Is there too much partying? How is she finding the other students -- motivated?

[Begonia]

Great point, Begonia!

 

Hey, ds just heard from UVA today -- he was accepted as an Echols Scholar! :001_smile::001_smile: :D

 

So your dd is enjoying UVA? I must say that the sheer size of it intimidates me. Are the profs accessible? Is there too much partying? How is she finding the other students -- motivated?

 

Whoot! Yippee! And Hooray! An Echols Scholar, I am MOST impressed! Congrats to you and to super-ds!

 

Let's see... Yes, it's big, but he'll be in the Echols dorm, and that's a very good thing. I've heard from dd that the Echols Scholars really bond with each other and that the partying in that dorm is minimal. I'll ask dd the latest word when I next speak with her and I'll send you a report via private message. Dd hadn't heard about the Echols program when she applied to UVA-- she went to a New England high school and the college counselor didn't know much about southern colleges. We asked dd to apply to UVa because it's in-state for us.

 

Yes, there is a lot of partying in general. Last year dd had to do such unsavory things as babysit drunk roommates, and clean up after messy late night parties that she didn't attend, and she resented every single minute (as would I in that situation). She also complained that on weekends she was shouted down every time she tried to initiate a conversation about what they'd been learning in class during the week. Everyone wanted to "veg." But don't fret, I'm sure that the atmosphere in the ES dorm is much different.

 

This year things are much better for dd. She's with four girls in an apartment and everyone is serious about studying and getting on with their academics.

 

Labs and study sessions are held by grad students of varying abilities, but the professors have been truly wonderful. One of her profs left his home and cell numbers with his students in case they ever needed him. Two others recommended her for scholarships within the computing department. One invited the kids to his home for dinner. As I mentioned, she's taking Computer Science (UVa started a B.A. program in CompSci last year and it's been a fabulous opportunity for dd, who didn't enter through the Engineering School). Mostly she hangs out with the geeky E-School kids and they help each other with homework, watch movies, or play Wii during their down time. It took her a while to find her niche and she thought about transferring to W&M last year, but the CompSci B.A. changed her mind. She's happy now, so I think she made the right decision.

 

Good luck to your ds. I hope that he takes the time to savour his acceptances before he gets down to the difficult work of making a final choice.

[Anne in S'pore]

I studied pol sci and economics in the UK, but was also considering several US colleges and have a few friends who ended up doing economics at US colleges.

 

As far as grad school is concerned, I understand that the name school for undergrad helps not just in the name, but also if there are highly regarded profs in the field there, because they could very well end up writing recommendations on grad sch applications. I agree with the previous poster that research interests may very well change through undergrad study. Also, this field is similar to the sciences in that the undergrad degree is really about establishing a foundation (and lots of maths) and then the real research is done at the postgrad level.

 

U Chicago is very well regarded indeed for economics, although it has a reputation for being hard-nosed and 'monetarist'. I do know several people who graduated from U Chicago in economics, so if you have specific questions about that I might be able to get you some answers.

 

Hope this is helpful in some way

 

Anne

[Cindyg]

My DH runs public policy think tank.

 

He said degree from a "name" school is no more or less important in public policy than in any other profession. If you have the option of going to a "name" school, sure, it will help you. (My DH did not. And he didn't major in economics, and he doesn't have a Ph.d., though he does have 2 master's degrees.)

 

I asked DH if he's aware of where his collegues went to school, and he said, "Yeah, sometimes." He says he's particularly aware of his collegues' schools' economic philosophy.

 

He said your son might also consider majoring in Public Policy.

 

He said it also depends on what your son hopes to do. Some people use the term "public policy" when they mean "public administration."

 

Let me know if you have other questions.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

My son is wanting a degree in finance/economics as well. We are down to choosing between 3 schools.

 

Some advice we have been given:

 

Does he know where he wants to go to grad school? If he is very ambitious the big name grad schools are the way to go in this field. If he doesn't care wether he becomes a multimillionaire ;-) then the choices are different.

 

If he wants to get into one of the top grad schools in his field, then he needs to find out how many kids from the undergraduate schools he is looking at have actually been accepted to those schools after graduation.

In fact it would be good to look at the info on *where* students from those schools have gone on to further education or employment.

 

My son used to say he wanted to be a millionaire. Now he says he just wants to be able to make enough to comfortably support himself and any family he might have. Lol.

[Gwen in VA]

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate all the different issues that folks have raised. Some of them we would not have thought of -- so we really appreciate the additional brainpower!

 

We're still scratching our heads! :glare:

 

I guess that when ds1 gets back from Pittsburgh (UPitt accepted students day) he needs to make a list of questions and start calling econ professors. I guess a lot of the issues need to be answered by people in the individual depts.

 

We're counting our blessings that he has so many options -- but it is confusing! Ds2 wants to go into engineering -- and at least we know something about that!

 

Each time ds1 goes to visit a college we are just praying that God shows ds1 exactly what He wants him to see and hear at that college in order that ds1 will make a wise decision!