Tips and Caveats

The sequential character of the economics major makes it imperative that students

1. start early,
2. plan carefully, and
3. make continuous progress.

Typical causes of unsatisfactory experience include:

Double majors/combined majors. A double major must be undertaken with considerable advance planning and care as otherwise it can be difficult to fulfill the additional requirements to which they give rise. For many students, it is more appropriate to choose one discipline as a major and the other as a minor.

Premed. No rule prevents you from being both premed and majoring in economics. Indeed, to combine them may be exactly the right choice for you, although whether this is so will depend on your individual career goals and intellectual interests. However, it is important to embark on a joint program with care, and in particular to plan ahead, as it can be difficult to schedule all of the required courses. It can also be difficult to manage two very difficult workloads, and you should therefore be sure that you wish to try this.

Late start. No rule prevents you from starting your economics major late, but it can become very difficult to complete the major requirements before the senior thesis, and performance tends to suffer. Careful planning is essential.

Transfer students face the same challenge as late starters, only more so. If you are transferring in with junior standing and do not have significant economics major credit, you may have to settle for a minor.

Study abroad. Keep in mind that, depending on where you go, you may not be able to take courses that count toward the major. The most success in this respect is with programs in the UK or Australia; lesser success with programs in Spain or France; least success with programs in Latin America. Careful planning is essential.

Excessive internship/job commitment. Being a full-time student is already a full-time job so you should use care in taking on additional responsibilities. Internships can be very rewarding and many of our students benefit immensely from them, but bear in mind that they can consume more of your time and energy than you may have originally thought.

Shopping. No rule prevents you from signing up for more courses than you intend to complete, planning to drop one or more at a later date. The practice does however dilute the energy you can devote to each of your courses, and so also what you get out of them.

Typical strategies for overcoming these negative consequences have their own perils:

Summer school. It can be dangerous to take core courses in summer school since you may not get the preparation you will need for upper level courses. Also, keep in mind that most institutions do not offer upper level courses in their summer programs.

Ignore prerequisites. You may pass the course but you will not learn as much or do as well. There is a pedagogical reason for the sequential character of the major; it's not just bureaucracy.

Course overload. You may be able to handle four or even five economics courses at the same time, in the minimal sense that you do not fail any of them, but you will not learn as much or do as well. There is a pedagogical reason for the sequential character of the major; it's not just bureaucracy.