Calc II needed for Undergrad Economics Major?

I asked a similar question earlier, but it was more directed towards grad school economics where I got hounded for being afraid of taking calc II b/c of the fail rate and the possible annihilation of my GPA.

My college doesn't require more than calc 1 for a BS in economics and after looking through several elite university websites it seems as if it is commonly possible to construct an economics major without calc II.

I wanted to get your thoughts on how an undergrad econ degree without math past calc I would look like to MBA programs and employers? I probably couldn't take game theory and econometrics, but I could take a lot of application type classes which might border closer to a sociology degree than a math lite economics degree.

 

Can you get a BS in econ without taking any econometrics classes? Wow! Unless you really have trouble with math, you should take Calc II and the game theory and 'metrics classes as well. This will give you some very applicable skills and a much stronger profile.

Lots of MBAs can't do simple math even if their life depended on it, so don't worry too much about getting into good programs. If you want to do some more advanced derivatives, fixed income, financial engineering (which can also be found at some MBA programs), you should have a solid understanding of basic math though.

The business of business is business.
 

Lol, at most ivies you're required to take multivariavle to get an Econ major. Even non quant majors like biology require calc 2. I would recommend taking calc 2 at least; multivariable if you can

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3176401:
Lol, at most ivies you're required to take multivariavle to get an Econ major. Even non quant majors like biology require calc 2. I would recommend taking calc 2 at least; multivariable if you can

Absolute bullshit YALE doesn't require math past calc I for an economics degree. Columbia allows you to skip Calc II into this special multivariable class intended for econ majors. Clearly, even top schools realize that calc II is a torturous class that isn't even necessary to succeed in econ - let alone business

 

You don't really need to anything they teach in calc 2, but you absolutely need to know multivariable calculus.

And it's varied for what you need to take at Ivies. Princeton requires calc 1, 2 , and a special multi class. That being said, about a third of the department does "math track econ," which requires as much math as engineering (multivariable, linear, and either a special math intensive empirical or theoretical econometrics class beyond the normal).

 

At the ivy I'm in we're required to take multivariable (math 114) as a pre req to register for the upper level Econ courses. Math 114 is officially called "calculus part 2" however most of the material covers what is usually taught as multivariable at a state school.

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The only portion of calc 2 that is particularly relevant to economics are the sections on infinite series and sequences. Having a firm understanding of this is vital.

The rest of calc 2 is incredibly useful for higher level math courses, but probably less so for econ.

Obviously, if you're even considering asking this question, grad level economics is completely out of the question.

Just take it though. It is not a particularly difficult course. The only people who don't get As in the course are those who don't put in the effort to learn the material.

 
Best Response
reformed:
The only portion of calc 2 that is particularly relevant to economics are the sections on infinite series and sequences. Having a firm understanding of this is vital.

The rest of calc 2 is incredibly useful for higher level math courses, but probably less so for econ.

Obviously, if you're even considering asking this question, grad level economics is completely out of the question.

Just take it though. It is not a particularly difficult course. The only people who don't get As in the course are those who don't put in the effort to learn the material.

Difficulty depends on what type of school you go to. Less than 5% of kids at my school get a straight A in calc II and 90% of kids get lower than an A -. The kids who've already taken BC calc retake calc II thus destroying any curve and Calc II is used as a weedout for physics/math/engineering majors. At my school each major has an "easier" weedout version of calc II - calc II for biologists/chemists, Business calc II, calculus for the social sciences, etc and so when you actually do take the "legit" version of calc II your competing with the most mathematically competent kids where over 50% class usually straight up fails b/c of profs that want 70 avgs (and the "class" is cut by like 20% of kids who drop). I honestly just don't think its worth it when I could just self learn with khan academy/take it at a community college and not have to deal with 20 hrs of work per week to get a B+

 

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