I'd say the hardest thing being an econ major looking for Finance roles, is convincing hiring managers you know what you are doing. They're very different fields and the finance major will better prepare you for your end goals. Which one is better for me to study or say more practical to get a well paying job? I started as a Finance major but took intro Econ and really enjoyed it so I decided to switch. My dream job is to be an in-house council, so eventually, corportate law. Less work, similar benefits if you choose not to go the law school route. Or if you can do it, computer science looks good on a resume and it lacking in the industry. Do a lot of research on this before deciding major. But this depends, if you want to go into finance then econ major is good if you focus on Finance classes. Accounting 2. Business gave me all of my finance and accounting courses along with my global management, marketing, and MIS pieces. I was lucky enough to have programming skills that overlooked some of my lack of accounting/ finance knowledge, but it wasn't always easy. As someone in the Rutgers Business School surrounded by a lot of Finance majors, do Econ. With an accounting degree you can land finance jobs, but it doesn't work the other way around. And from what I’ve heard, the course are pretty easy and people typical double major in it anyways. The cost of obtaining an advanced degree in economics or finance varies depending on the educational institution. Average … Source: economics and business undergrad, soon to be MBA. More is expected out of you quantitatively going this route. What if I’m not so keen on math? Econ requires loads of math. However, with the main majors like Finance, Economics, Accounting, and Business, choosing a major has become difficult. This is pretty true. I wanted to pursue an academic career and so did many of my friends, thus we went to grad school. Why would you choose it over finance? I am going to a state school: Finance or Econ is both available but Econ comes with a pre-law boost. Econ seems to be more industry jobs and big picture economic stuff as finance is now zerod in on personal or banking. The Fed banks will take a few undergrad econ majors for 2 years before they send you back to get a masters, but from what I hear its mostly just them teaching you how to apply the theory you learned. Agreed. This isnt true at least in the UK; a degree from a good university is seen as a generic badge of smartness and no large corporation cares about what the subject area was unless it's something vocational like engineering or law. In order to pursue the double major, both programs need to be offered as part of the same degree type; some schools offer economics and computer science as … Econ is harder, will lower your GPA, has fewer people in the program that are actively recruiting for jobs, and is much less relevant to what you want to do. An economics and finance double major is possibly the best degree combination in the commercial field. The subreddit for discussion related to college. Financial manager. I think the consensus seems to be that the econ undergrad is generally very theoretical and broad, whereas a degree like finance is much more applicable and specialized. You can easily connect it with these subjects (and maybe more): business, finance, mathematics, political science, sociology, psychology, history, and philosophy. ), and maybe even a little SQL and vba, as that will help save you a lot of time when it comes to the duties in FP&A. Question: how much speaking in front of people do FP&A's do? If finding a well-paying job is important to you, I think ultimately, the decision between which major won't be a life-changing one. The majority of work in the finance industry is low paying, menial stuff like glorified admin or data entry. The business college Econ was pretty similar to the finance major except for a few classes. On the other hand, the same university offers a BA economics degree, which is much easier to transfer into. Good point. They wanted jobs that could be achieved with any degree and thought the chances of a 2:1+ were better doing a different degree. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (), business and finance jobs are expected to … To me, most upper level class seemed like a specialized repeat of advanced micro and macro Econ classes. I'd suggest checking out r/FinancialCareers they are likely more informed than most here and can help you better. People for some reason think that economics students learn about businesses, so its a easier sell. Also, the curriculum has spaces for upper level electives https://catalog.ufl.edu/UGRD/colleges-schools/UGLAS/ECO_BA/#modelsemesterplantext. That isn't to say that econ is a bad degree or that you couldn't work in finance with an econ degree, but I think people typically use an econ degree as a stepping stone for further schooling (master's, law school, etc). And have worked in all these professions, plus having taught all three. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the FinancialCareers community. It’s not! Both finance and Econ are hard but that is irrelevant. I work in corporate finance, similar the FP&A. On the other hand, the same university offers a BA economics degree, which is much easier to transfer into. It’s a respectable degree and landed me a great job right out of school. UF doesn’t allow a minor in finance; I’m not sure if that changes your recommendation. Employers didn’t really care that I was an economics double major but did care that I had the business school (finance) on my resume. Do you think I would have a better advantage if I participate in this program? Since finance is a business degree, they both cover a multitude of related subjects which have been coined under the term FAME. If you want to learn more things other than finance, or you have yet to decide your area of study, studying economics gives you a good exposure to many more areas. Finance refers to the study of credit, investments, banking, money, assets and liabilities that make up financial systems. I'd suggest minoring in Finance, if your school allows it. This is because economics is all about choices and decision-making. Studying finance is a specialty study within a business degree and focuses on the inner-workings, structures, and handling of money. But I feel like finance is a more respect degree than finance, is that true? I talked to some department heads and various professionals and they all told me an econ degree really wouldn't do much for me unless I had a master's in it. I was an Econ major as well and was disappointed at the lack of finance related courses that were offered. I was also able to take Public Finance, Monetary Economics, Forecasting, and Accounting. Depends. Hence, finance is considered to be an offshoot of economics. Currently I work in financial systems more than anything else, but that more so is because of the company I work for. But Finance can be the same way if you aren't careful. Economics degree vs. Business degree. First be careful which economics major you are considering, when I was there you could major in Econ through the business school or through the liberal arts college. You’ll also need to be a strategic thinker with a strong understanding of statistics and good presentation skills. The liberal arts college one was way easier, especially the classes for the last two years. For example, Public Finance, Monetary/Fiscal Policy-related courses are great, and normally taught in economics departments. One of the most puzzling parts about deciding between earning a Finance degree versus an Accounting degree is the similarity in potential job titles. I know people who have changed from economics for that reason. (Finance, Accounting, Management, and economics.) New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The thing is, the university only has a limited amount of space to accept transfer students and will only accept those with really high GPA. You can bridge the gap by illustrating how well you can sort data, be an excel wizard (pivot tables, index match etc. Of course, they are inter-related and no matter what you choose, you would occasionally need to refer back to some parts of both of these subjects once in a while. I regret deeply that I didn’t do any internships in college, or any Econ related volunteer work to get my foot in the door somewhere. Difference Between Finance vs Economics “Finance” is a subject which broadly deals with concepts like time value of money, interest rates, risk and return, optimum use of money, different exchange rates and how to make the best use of their differences, etc. Plus, I love learning about economics. You will most likely not have to worry about business school prereqs and general requirements on top of your actual major requirements. Not all schools require it, but I would make sure to take Econometrics and other statistics related courses. As long as you’re going through the business school your networking opps will be the same. Which one is better for me to study or say more practical to get a well paying job? Lots of case study reading and lots of report writing. Cookies help us deliver our Services. 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