I need some advice from my fellow college bronies

[Champion RD92 8,658]

I'm a sophomore in college right now, and I'm transferring to a university this fall, and I need to decide on a major ASAP. I've been trying to decide for the past 2 years, but I just can't make up my mind, and I keep changing majors, and it's stressing me out ._.

 

So, right now, I'm considering Economics, Business, or Applied Mathematics.

 

I'm not too sure about business because I have pretty poor communication skills, but I think there would be good job opportunities. I'm considering economics because I took a couple classes, and they were pretty interesting, and I think I could maybe be good at it. I'm considering math because I have always been fond of math, unlike most people lol...however, there doesn't seem to be many jobs for math majors other than teaching math...I also don't know if I could handle the higher level math (I have only taken up to Calculus I right now).

 

So, if there is anyone majoring in these things, maybe you could let me know how it is?

 

Anyway, I could use any advice I can get...If anyone has a suggestion for a major, I could look into it.

[Swordfishtrombone 384]

From what you say you should do business. By the sound of it you have not the background knowledge to do economics and you don't sound cut out enough for math either.

[Champion RD92 8,658]

From what you say you should do business. By the sound of it you have not the background knowledge to do economics and you don't sound cut out enough for math either.

 

Well considering I already have the lower division economics classes done, I've already completed the classes I needed to complete to move to the upper division classes...

 

And I've always been good at math, so there is no reason why I wouldn't be cut out for it...unless it's like a million times more difficult than calculus...

[Aureity 3,055]

What level of calculus are you taking this year? Depending on your level, you may or may not want to do the math major.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

Applied Mathematics

[Champion RD92 8,658]

What level of calculus are you taking this year? Depending on your level, you may or may not want to do the math major.

 

Well I took Calculus in high school senior year, and then I took it again last year in college. The highest I have taken so far is the first level of Calculus (Calc I).

[Key Gear 6,663]

You sound almost exactly like me when I was at the same point in college. The only difference is that I was trying to decide between economics, business, or computer science. The first step is to not get stressed out. College is hard enough already without any additional stress.

 

The next step is to think about what you actually could see yourself doing for the next decade or so. You will probably end up doing something totally different, but it is important to remember that your degree is a long-term investment.

 

The next step is to think about your choices.

 

Applied mathematics is a very general field of study. You will probably study everything from number theory to probability. If you are not sure what you want to do, then it will not help you very much. When you graduate, you will be in the same position of needing to figure out what to do.

 

With an applied mathematics degree, you could go into computer science, finance, economics, management, or accounting with ease. In other words, it would allow you to do all of the above. If you want to have maximum flexibility with your career, then I would definitely choose applied mathematics. If you would like to have an easier time specializing in a field, then you should stay away from it.

 

A business degree would be the total opposite. Because you have some math experience, you could choose a math-focused business specialization and you could literally walk straight into a good-paying career. Your communication skills may give you some problems though, since even math-focused business majors typically have a lot of communication related course material.

 

Management science, finance, and accounting would all be things to look into. When you graduate, you could almost immediately start making good money. You would not need to worry about trying to find a field because you would be able to enter a field based almost directly on what you learned in college.

 

The downside of a business degree is that you lose some flexibility. It would be a bit harder to move over into a computer science from management science for example. However, the safety in knowing that you could probably easily get a job and star your career may be worth the tradeoff in flexibility.

 

Economics is basically in the middle. Economics combines both applied mathematics and business sense. The math focus is more narrow. Economics is basically differential equations and a metric ton of probability courses. The business focus is broader. You will take a bird's eye view of the entire business world, and you will get the tools that you need to participate in any business related career.

 

My personal recommendation is that you should give economics a try. For math, you would only need Calculus II or Calculus III in addition to what you have now. You would not need to worry about your communication skills because most of your communication would be done with spreadsheets and calculators.

 

The only downside of economics is that it is still a generalist degree. You will not be able to get a job as an economist with a bachelors degree in economics. You have to have at least a master's degree to work as a professional economist. This means that when you graduate, you will not quite be able to walk straight into a career unless you take some extra steps.

 

While you will have the knowledge to participate in the business world, there will be some assembly required. The best way around this is to look for internships while you are working on your degree. This work experience will give employers confidence to hire you into a business-related position despite you not having majored in that specific business area.

 

As a matter of fact, you resume is your most important asset when you major in economics. Unless you want to get a graduate degree, you should make sure to take classes like econometrics and anything that is microeconomics related. These classes will let you build your skills in things that are business related so that you can do well in the work force.

 

Unless you want to go into academia, you should try to take as few macroeconomics classes as possible. Macroeconomics is a mostly academic field, and undergraduate macroeconomics will not be very useful in getting you a job.

 

Yes, I am a bit biased towards economics. I finished an applied master's in economics last year, and my younger brother is majoring in business right now. I don't regret my decision to study economics as an undergraduate one bit. Let me know if you have any questions that you want me to answer.

 

I hope that I have been able to help you with this post. I know that it is a bit long, but I wanted to give you the best advice that I could because I know how important of a decision this is for you to make. I once had to make it myself.

 

I apologize for taking so long to type this post, but it is 1:35 am over here and I am really struggling to stay awake.

Edited March 17, 2012 by HAL 9000

[Champion RD92 8,658]

You sound almost exactly like me when I was at the same point in college. The only difference is that I was trying to decide between economics, business, or computer science. The first step is to not get stressed out. College is hard enough already without any additional stress.

 

The next step is to think about what you actually could see yourself doing for the next decade or so. You will probably end up doing something totally different, but it is important to remember that your degree is a long-term investment.

 

The next step is to think about your choices.

 

Applied mathematics is a very general field of study. You will probably study everything from number theory to probability. If you are not sure what you want to do, then it will not help you very much. When you graduate, you will be in the same position of needing to figure out what to do.

 

With an applied mathematics degree, you could go into computer science, finance, economics, management, or accounting with ease. In other words, it would allow you to do all of the above. If you want to have maximum flexibility with your career, then I would definitely choose applied mathematics. If you would like to have an easier time specializing in a field, then you should stay away from it.

 

A business degree would be the total opposite. Because you have some math experience, you could choose a math-focused business specialization and you could literally walk straight into a good-paying career. Your communication skills may give you some problems though, since even math-focused business majors typically have a lot of communication related course material.

 

Management science, finance, and accounting would all be things to look into. When you graduate, you could almost immediately start making good money. You would not need to worry about trying to find a field because you would be able to enter a field based almost directly on what you learned in college.

 

The downside of a business degree is that you lose some flexibility. It would be a bit harder to move over into a computer science from management science for example. However, the safety in knowing that you could probably easily get a job and star your career may be worth the tradeoff in flexibility.

 

Economics is basically in the middle. Economics combines both applied mathematics and business sense. The math focus is more narrow. Economics is basically differential equations and a metric ton of probability courses. The business focus is broader. You will take a bird's eye view of the entire business world, and you will get the tools that you need to participate in any business related career.

 

My personal recommendation is that you should give economics a try. For math, you would only need Calculus II or Calculus III in addition to what you have now. You would not need to worry about your communication skills because most of your communication would be done with spreadsheets and calculators.

 

The only downside of economics is that it is still a generalist degree. You will not be able to get a job as an economist with a bachelors degree in economics. You have to have at least a master's degree to work as a professional economist. This means that when you graduate, you will not quite be able to walk straight into a career unless you take some extra steps.

 

While you will have the knowledge to participate in the business world, there will be some assembly required. The best way around this is to look for internships while you are working on your degree. This work experience will give employers confidence to hire you into a business-related position despite you not having majored in that specific business area.

 

As a matter of fact, you resume is your most important asset when you major in economics. Unless you want to get a graduate degree, you should make sure to take classes like econometrics and anything that is microeconomics related. These classes will let you build your skills in things that are business related so that you can do well in the work force.

 

Unless you want to go into academia, you should try to take as few macroeconomics classes as possible. Macroeconomics is a mostly academic field, and undergraduate macroeconomics will not be very useful in getting you a job.

 

Yes, I am a bit biased towards economics. I finished an applied master's in economics last year, and my younger brother is majoring in business right now. I don't regret my decision to study economics as an undergraduate one bit. Let me know if you have any questions that you want me to answer.

 

I hope that I have been able to help you with this post. I know that it is a bit long, but I wanted to give you the best advice that I could because I know how important of a decision this is for you to make. I once had to make it myself.

 

I apologize for taking so long to type this post, but it is 1:35 am over here and I am really struggling to stay awake.

 

Wow thanks for the post lol

 

Give me a minute to quote all the different points you made and reply to them.

 

The next step is to think about what you actually could see yourself doing for the next decade or so. You will probably end up doing something totally different, but it is important to remember that your degree is a long-term investment.

 

This is why I'm so stressed out about this. I want to make absolutely sure I make the right decision and choose something I will be interested in, but will also get me a good job.

 

Applied mathematics is a very general field of study. You will probably study everything from number theory to probability. If you are not sure what you want to do, then it will not help you very much. When you graduate, you will be in the same position of needing to figure out what to do.

 

With an applied mathematics degree, you could go into computer science, finance, economics, management, or accounting with ease. In other words, it would allow you to do all of the above. If you want to have maximum flexibility with your career, then I would definitely choose applied mathematics. If you would like to have an easier time specializing in a field, then you should stay away from it.

 

How easily would I get a good job out of college with an Applied Mathematics degree? I'm concerned that the degree would not be really practical, but idk. Also, I hear that math in college gets extremely difficult in the higher levels, and I don't know if I could handle it :/

 

However, if it wouldn't be too difficult, and if I was guaranteed a good job, I would probably go for this major.

 

A business degree would be the total opposite. Because you have some math experience, you could choose a math-focused business specialization and you could literally walk straight into a good-paying career. Your communication skills may give you some problems though, since even math-focused business majors typically have a lot of communication related course material.

 

Management science, finance, and accounting would all be things to look into. When you graduate, you could almost immediately start making good money. You would not need to worry about trying to find a field because you would be able to enter a field based almost directly on what you learned in college.

 

The downside of a business degree is that you lose some flexibility. It would be a bit harder to move over into a computer science from management science for example. However, the safety in knowing that you could probably easily get a job and star your career may be worth the tradeoff in flexibility.

 

My main concern is that I would have to take multiple communications classes, and I don't know if I really want to do that cause I hate public speaking...

 

I am taking accounting classes right now because I was considering majoring in it, but I realized that I'm not really that interested in it.

 

However, like you said, the job prospects are very good.

 

Economics is basically in the middle. Economics combines both applied mathematics and business sense. The math focus is more narrow. Economics is basically differential equations and a metric ton of probability courses. The business focus is broader. You will take a bird's eye view of the entire business world, and you will get the tools that you need to participate in any business related career.

 

My personal recommendation is that you should give economics a try. For math, you would only need Calculus II or Calculus III in addition to what you have now. You would not need to worry about your communication skills because most of your communication would be done with spreadsheets and calculators.

 

The only downside of economics is that it is still a generalist degree. You will not be able to get a job as an economist with a bachelors degree in economics. You have to have at least a master's degree to work as a professional economist. This means that when you graduate, you will not quite be able to walk straight into a career unless you take some extra steps.

 

While you will have the knowledge to participate in the business world, there will be some assembly required. The best way around this is to look for internships while you are working on your degree. This work experience will give employers confidence to hire you into a business-related position despite you not having majored in that specific business area.

 

As a matter of fact, you resume is your most important asset when you major in economics. Unless you want to get a graduate degree, you should make sure to take classes like econometrics and anything that is microeconomics related. These classes will let you build your skills in things that are business related so that you can do well in the work force.

 

Unless you want to go into academia, you should try to take as few macroeconomics classes as possible. Macroeconomics is a mostly academic field, and undergraduate macroeconomics will not be very useful in getting you a job.

 

So if I only get a bachelor's degree, it would be difficult for me to get a job? I'm not quite sure if I would want to be a professional economist. However, I am definitely considering going for a masters degree if it would really benefit me. So far I have only taken intro micro and macro econ classes, so I'm not sure how much different the more advanced classes are.

 

I think right now I am leaning towards economics, so I will probably end up giving that a try. I suppose the worst case scenario is that I don't enjoy it, and I switch majors :/

Edited March 17, 2012 by RainbowDash92

[Key Gear 6,663]

How easily would I get a good job out of college with an Applied Mathematics degree? I'm concerned that the degree would not be really practical

 

Well, it depends on the math department, but the applied math degree from my college was good for getting a job. Like economics, you would want to try to get some internship experience before you graduate with an applied mathematics degree. Having a bit of work experience always goes a long way towards getting hired.

 

I think right now I am leaning towards economics, so I will probably end up giving that a try. I suppose the worst case scenario is that I don't enjoy it, and I switch majors :/

 

Well, there is one thing. If you take a few upper division courses and decide to switch majors, then you could easily just change your economics major into an economics minor - you would probably already meet the requirements.

 

You should probably talk to the advisors in each department, they will be able to help you to make a good decision.

Edited March 17, 2012 by HAL 9000

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

Maybe your university offers a logistics/efficiency management/industrial and operations engineering (that's what it was called at my school) major because those majors combine math and business together. It could lead to a great desk job since you said your communications skills aren't all there.

[Aureity 3,055]

Alright so...you might be cut out for math. But, I wouldn't recommend it. TO be quite honest, there isn't any future in mathematics, unless you're willing, like XFizzle above me has said, to combine it with another major that uses math.

As for poor communication skills, business covers all sorts of things. You could be an analyst or something (which would require math).