economics major

[void]

i'm currently a pre-med freshman at nyu, and i'm very very undecided about my major. over the past couple of weeks i've been thinking about many ranging from psychology, to philosophy, to politics.

but i've (kind of) come to the conclusion that economics is the best choice for me. it's a great way to learn the most about the world and everything i've mentioned.

although i was never about gdp and graphs and all of that, i still feel a tremendous interest in economics and want to be cognizant of the rising global economies. i'll probably even take chinese as a language.

one problem:

it seems like it will be very ****ing hard.

considering i'm pre-med, and my major priority is to get into med school and to be a doctor, the most important things should be my GPA and my MCAT score. for many this means that the pre-med requirements should be the ones focused on, and everything else should be relatively easy enough to buoy your average.

i'm willing to take summer courses in order to finish all my pre-med reqs, major in econ, and minor in philosophy. that's if i manage to pass everything without having to retake anything. i know a couple of nyu grads who majored in hard subjects [neuroscience being one of them] and could not get into med school. this is new to me, i expected med schools to be like college where it's obvious you'd get in... just depends on how prestigious it is. now it feels like a miracle to just get into ONE.

unlike a lot of pre-med students i know, i take classes to learn something... not to get good grades. of course grades are very important to me, and of course i'll study my ass off to get them, but i'm just not sure if this is a wise choice to make.

can someone tell me more about the econ major and what i'll be taking, both intro, med, and adv. courses? basically everything about it.
and what should i do regarding it as a major, and in terms of priorities and such?
and med school... how hard is it?!

thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[sassykru]

I was econ pre-med in college and from my experience, if you work hard it'll be okay. If you're really are interested in econ, go for it. I was kinda like you because I started college being pre-med, but I was really un-decided about my major. So I went in as business. I took my first accounting class and I figured out quickly that there was no way in hell that I would enjoy studying stuff like accounting, management, marketing and all that hardcore business stuff. But then I took a macro-econ class and I loved it and decided to change my major to economics. Economics is interesting and contrary to popular belief, it's not all graphs and figures. Yeah, the core classes are going to be a lot of that stuff, and some of them will be challenging. Stuff like econometrics is not that interesting and its hard. But the core classes can also be interesting. A lot of it depends on your profs. because some profs will make your classes as boring as possible, but if you have good profs, you'll enjoy it. Also be creative in choosing your econ electives. Since I was interested in medicine I took classes like econ of healthcare. So just choose your electives well. Stuff like econ of government, international econ and econ of poverty is very interesting. Oh and if possible, take a game theory class, it's very interesting. But, any how, I say go for it. If you'll truly are interested in it, you'll love it. I never met an econ student at my school who regretted choosing that as a major...so you'll enjoy it. Study hard, work hard and you'll be fine.

 

[mshheaddoc]

I also was a chem major turned econ major in college. I really enjoyed the upper level classes like international econ. I know a few people who double majored in bio/econ so this might be something you'd be interested in (or maybe a minor in bio or chem or something like that).

I would definitely look at your econ major guide as every school offers different classes. Maybe you'd be better as a finance major or something if you enjoy more classes of the like. Part of being a soph and freshman is exploring different classes.

 

[drpatelplasticsurgery]

i'm currently a pre-med freshman at nyu, and i'm very very undecided about my major. over the past couple of weeks i've been thinking about many ranging from psychology, to philosophy, to politics.

but i've (kind of) come to the conclusion that economics is the best choice for me. it's a great way to learn the most about the world and everything i've mentioned.

although i was never about gdp and graphs and all of that, i still feel a tremendous interest in economics and want to be cognizant of the rising global economies. i'll probably even take chinese as a language.

one problem:

it seems like it will be very ****ing hard.

considering i'm pre-med, and my major priority is to get into med school and to be a doctor, the most important things should be my GPA and my MCAT score. for many this means that the pre-med requirements should be the ones focused on, and everything else should be relatively easy enough to buoy your average.

i'm willing to take summer courses in order to finish all my pre-med reqs, major in econ, and minor in philosophy. that's if i manage to pass everything without having to retake anything. i know a couple of nyu grads who majored in hard subjects [neuroscience being one of them] and could not get into med school. this is new to me, i expected med schools to be like college where it's obvious you'd get in... just depends on how prestigious it is. now it feels like a miracle to just get into ONE.

unlike a lot of pre-med students i know, i take classes to learn something... not to get good grades. of course grades are very important to me, and of course i'll study my ass off to get them, but i'm just not sure if this is a wise choice to make.

can someone tell me more about the econ major and what i'll be taking, both intro, med, and adv. courses? basically everything about it.
and what should i do regarding it as a major, and in terms of priorities and such?
and med school... how hard is it?!

thanks

i majored in Econ at Princeton and then attended GSAS in Bio at NYU (got an M.S.). while i didn't do Econ at NYU, i personally knew someone who did, and then ended up going to NYU Medical School after a lag year of research.

i'm not exactly sure how Econ is at NYU, but the kid i know wasn't the most brilliant student. he was shrewd, knew which classes to take w/ which professors, and generally led a lame lifestyle - he hardly drank, he didn't go out much, and he made the basement of Bobst his second home. he scored a 30 on the MCAT (10-10-10) and had a 3.8 or 3.9 undergrad GPA. beyond the basic premed curriculum, he took Biochemistry w/ me, but made sure to do it in the summer w/ Goldberg instead of Kallenbach. i've heard Goldberg's made his biochem sequence harder than it used to be (i took it in 2002), but if you find yourself a good fit w/ his teaching and testing style, you'll do fine.

i can give you my two cents based on my experience at Princeton. Econ's as hard as you make it. we had two tracks - "math" track and "non-math" track. those who did "math" track wanted the extra punishment and/or were looking for jobs at 'I-spanking' (investment banking) places like Goldman Sachs after graduation. most of us were "non-math" track; many of us were great at math and kicked butt in calculus in high school, but had other priorities (for me it was music and being premed).

i was not a stellar student at all. in fact, i blew off most classes as an upperclassman and just did enough to pass. but i know myself, and i know had i at least done everything in the syllabi, i would have been a 3.5+ GPA student pretty easily, and as a Princeton premed applying to med school, that's enough for admission to some great schools. NYU's a bit harder in that academically, you will have to stand out more i think. but i wouldn't avoid Econ just b/c you're afraid of how it'll impact your GPA. if you're pretty good w/ math and enjoy doing problem sets all the time, Econ can be rewarding. you will be encountering and manipulating graphs ALL The time - if you can't deal w/ that, or you feel you don't have the aptitude, bail on Econ NOW. if you can stomach that stuff in the hopes of learning about more interesting subtopics w/in Econ, i would say it's worth it. if you study hard, and study smart, i don't think Econ at NYU will be overwhelming, despite whatever grading curves may be in place.

if you have interest doing Econ research for an honors thesis, even better (at Princeton we were required to write a thesis to graduate). i dovetailed both my Econ research and law school work to healthcare (finance and law & policy, respectively), and i think that helped me sell myself as a candidate during med school interviews despite my bad grades. every discipline is connected in some way - if you can make those connections, you'll discover the components of your education don't have to be pigeonholed after all.

if NYU's at all like Princeton w/ the math track dichotomy, i would recommend NOT doing math track. if you're a math person like i was, and you're diligent (unlike how i was), you can really tear it up and kick butt among the non-math track set.

whatever you end up picking, don't be stupid like many NYU kids i've encountered and take 6 or 7 classes at once to try to graduate early and save some tuition. you'll only end up being a B student or worse running on no sleep, and you'll end up graduating in a full four years anyway. if you can afford it, do a manageable credit load (12-16) and EXCEL. if you're supremely confident you can tack on a fifth class and still maintain that performance, then you have my blessing. don't bite off more than you can chew just b/c you want to have a minor or double-major in another subject...your priorities would be Econ and premed, w/ little time for other things academic, since you will need to do things like shadow physicians, volunteer, and conduct basic science or biomedical research as extracurricular activities.

so (again, if NYU's Econ curriculum is similar to Princeton's), you should do the first two introductory Macro and Micro courses during your freshman and sophomore years while juggling premed coursework such as intro Gen Chem and Bio. [if you haven't done intro-level Calc yet, get that under your belt, and do well in it!] once you enter the Econ department as a junior, you'll take courses such as Stats, Econometrics, and department-level Macro and Micro. there was plenty of room for electives at Princeton, so i took stuff like 'Law and Economics' and 'Money and Banking', especially during my senior year. with premed work, Econ, music work (both academic and extracurricular), and distribution requirements (philosophy, writing, etc.), my plate was full, but not ridiculous. i sucked out b/c i stopped caring as much, not b/c things were over my head.

you're young, and you're in the Village. i've also found that many NYU kids are barely swimming above water b/c they go out so damn much. you'll usually find the ones who do really well are in Bobst even on most Saturday nights. if you can strike the right balance btw working hard academically and playing hard when you schedule it in at the proper moments, you'll have a blast being an Econ premed at NYU, and you'll end up somewhere pretty damn good (like my friend did by going to NYU Med - and maybe you'll have a bit more fun than he did!).

 

[seadizzle]

economics is not about money 😱

finance is about money!

 

[IceMan0824]

I graduated with a degree in Economics and a minor in Entrepreneurship and Business Management and I loved it. Sure, it was a little hard trying to schedule my pre-med classes and upper level science classes around my major but I enjoyed what I did. When senior year came around, and I was taking classes like Economics of Anti-trust, Investments and Portfolio Management...I wasn't too upset that I had to balance my pre-med requirements with a major that didn't require any of it. (beside all my pre-med requirements and science classes just counted towards my electives to earn the degree). It's definitely possible, but you may need to be a little pro-active in making sure you not only take the classes you need for medical school, but you also take a few upper level science classes to show medschool that science is still your #1 choice. Beside, many adcoms love non-science majors because it brings a totally new perspective into the mix. I enjoyed my undergrad degree so much that I'm applying to go for the MD-MBA dual degree.

So my advice for you is this; if you want to do it, it's possible. You may need to plan ahead, but it doesn't mean you'll live a life of suffering. Beside, it's nice to know a few things in accounting, finance, management and economics, even if it meant I had to sacrifice that upper-level neuroscience class(didn't mean I didn't take others).😀 😀 😀

 

[myKuduSlewaZulu]

I graduated with an Econ degree too. I had trouble picking a major and switched from philosophy at the last minute. I got a BA, because I wanted more flexibility and didn't want to take stuff like accounting, management, etc. Economics books are not exceptionally large, because econ isn't really that informationally intensive. It's a thinking man's major, and if you're not good with theory/abstract concepts/graphs, you might have some trouble with it. If its what you're really interested in, go for it.

I'm sure you've already done so, but check out the degree plan and course descriptions online. Intermediate Micro was the hardest course for me. Take Econ of Health of course. It'll be doubly interesting for you, and you might even dazzle an interviewer or two.

Remember that your science gpa is going to be based on fewer courses, so make sure you ace them.

 

[novawildcat]

econ is math intense. there is no other way to put it. once you get past all the intro courses a lot of them use a lot of math. be prepared for econometrics and courses like advanced macro/micro. those classes will be merciless when it comes to math and the prof. won't go back to explain an algebraic step or calc concept they used to solve a problem since they assume you already know how it was done. the math behind econ give economics the rigorous foundation it needs to be a legitimate field of study. knowing the math behind econ make econ easier to understand. A lot of econ taught in the lower level courses seems just like a bunch of vodoo, but it is until you have an explanation in terms of math that you can actually see a justification for the way economists think as they do.

 

[ratjo077]

BA in Economics here.
I finished my pre-medical requirements my first two years of college, and then focused on economics. I would not trade the opporunity that I have had to study economics during undergrad for anything.

 

[IceMan0824]

econ is math intense. there is no other way to put it. once you get past all the intro courses a lot of them use a lot of math. be prepared for econometrics and courses like advanced macro/micro. those classes will be merciless when it comes to math and the prof. won't go back to explain an algebraic step or calc concept they used to solve a problem since they assume you already know how it was done. the math behind econ give economics the rigorous foundation it needs to be a legitimate field of study. knowing the math behind econ make econ easier to understand. A lot of econ taught in the lower level courses seems just like a bunch of vodoo, but it is until you have an explanation in terms of math that you can actually see a justification for the way economists think as they do.

Hate it break it to you, but most places (at least my school requires me to take Calc I and II) to be considered as pre-med prereqs. When it came to Econ, the calc helped but it wasn't too necessary. I'm good at math, but I also know people who weren't the greatest and still did pretty well in economics. The math isn't too rigorous based (unless you do Econometrics) and most of it is repetitious. If you are afraid of math, and I mean really afraid, then maybe stay away from Econ, but noone is expecting you to solve first order differential equations so you can explain why a drop in interest rate will boost consume confidence.

 

[IceMan0824]

economics is not about money 😱

finance is about money!

Umm, econ is about understanding money
finance is about managing money

Oversimplication, I know.

 

[sunset823]

noone is expecting you to solve first order differential equations so you can explain why a drop in interest rate will boost consume confidence.

I disagree; heard of Lagrangians, my friend?

Econ is hard, but interesting (especially game theory, international econ, etc.) - and it's also really valuable knowledge in the health-care arena - e.g., PhD programs in health policy require you to have multivariate calculus and econ usually up to econometrics, even if you're not in the econ track.

I actually wish I had majored in econ too (I was poli-sci) - you get the best of both worlds; but I also did a dual concentration in bio, if you decide on econ, that'll be harder than with a less rigorous social-science major

I'd say, go for it, work hard, have no social life, but come out with a lot of good options when you're applying

 

[IceMan0824]

I disagree; heard of Lagrangians, my friend?

Econ is hard, but interesting (especially game theory, international econ, etc.) - and it's also really valuable knowledge in the health-care arena - e.g., PhD programs in health policy require you to have multivariate calculus and econ usually up to econometrics, even if you're not in the econ track.

I actually wish I had majored in econ too (I was poli-sci) - you get the best of both worlds; but I also did a dual concentration in bio, if you decide on econ, that'll be harder than with a less rigorous social-science major

I'd say, go for it, work hard, have no social life, but come out with a lot of good options when you're applying

Yea...wasn't that the system developed by Joseph Louis Lagrange. I could be wrong. Beside, you don't have to understand or know that formula, just need to know apply the theory. This is economics not physics my good man.
Also, I might be wrong, but I was under the impression that we were discussing college level undergraduate economics for a future med student. I really don't think he's too interested in multivariate calculus to get his Ph.D.

 

[novawildcat]

Hate it break it to you, but most places (at least my school requires me to take Calc I and II) to be considered as pre-med prereqs. When it came to Econ, the calc helped but it wasn't too necessary. I'm good at math, but I also know people who weren't the greatest and still did pretty well in economics. The math isn't too rigorous based (unless you do Econometrics) and most of it is repetitious. If you are afraid of math, and I mean really afraid, then maybe stay away from Econ, but noone is expecting you to solve first order differential equations so you can explain why a drop in interest rate will boost consume confidence.

At my school the only math required for econ majors was calc I and II and some stat. However, they used much more math than that. I didn't even study econ as a major (but only as a minor) yet I was ussing Hessian matrices, lagrangians, fourier series, and a bunch of other crap to solve problems for homework in macro econ. Once you take time into account in your economic models (which they teach in econ courses after your sophmore year) things become a lot more complex like when you learn about the competitive equilibrium model. Most places also require econometrics for their econ majors in order to graduate.

 

[drc243]

Hey OP. I am a senior psyc major at nyu that received his first acceptance to med school last week. My advice to you is simple, choose the major that makes you happy and allows you to devote time to your science pre-reqs. Personally, i dont think econ it that hard a major at nyu. I have had many friends who were econ majors and it is not terribly difficult. I myself took macro last spring and micro this semester for fun and they seemed to be very easy classes. I dont know though how hard upper level classes are.

If econ ends up not being for you then consider psyc. Its an easy major that boosts your gpa and has some applications to medicine. Its also easy to answer in an interview why you are a psyc major then why were you an econ major.

All the best,
Dave

 

[socal78]

---

 

[socal78]

I have a B.S. in economics, a lot of my upper level classes were full of calculus. The lower div classes are mostly qualitative and upper quantitative. You knew in those classes you were doing a problem wrong if you got anything other than -1, 0, or 1 for an answer.