deletedxyzy123

Maths in IB is fairly simple. If you want to keep your options open to Sales & Trading, a maths intensive degree will be more helpful. A high GPA in a quant-lite Econ degree will look better than a poor GPA in a quant-heavy degree.

More math gets you considered for more jobs. Lower GPA gets you considered for fewer. If the courses will kill your GPA, don't take them.

If you can buckle down and maintain a decent GPA through challenging courses, that is the best outcome. Potential employers will take you more seriously and you'll be better equipped to think through difficult projects during your career.

If it was me, I wouldn't risk the low GPA getting me shut out of recruiting. No idea what the job market will be when you graduate but there will be a GPA floor that gets your resume ignored. Don't know if it will be 3.5 or 3.8 by then.

If you're good at math and enjoy it then go for it. Important to note that you should take a college math course before you decide if you're "good" at math or not... I was planning on double majoring in econ and math. I took calc 1 and got a B+ first semester. Granted my study skills and overall intelligence wasn't great first semester, I wasn't about to take calc 2 and beyond with my experience.

Just play it out. Yeah, employers like quants. But they like high GPAs better.

A high GPA will make you a more attractive candidate on paper, but once you start work, your GPA and all other on-paper considerations will matter much less. Although I've never heard of anyone using advanced math outside of school, I've also never heard anyone saying they regretted taking those classes. I don't remember much from any of my college courses, but I can say that I developed my critical thinking the most during the semesters in which I took difficult math courses.

You'll likely never have to take a triple integral while working in a finance role, but your ability to concentrate on a problem that difficult for that long might make it easier to stay sharp on the job.

Of course, that's just what I think. I can't speak for other people, and my experience is colored by the narratives I have built around my past. (And I'm sure I've constructed some of those narratives just to justify the pain the math courses caused me. =P) For whatever it's worth, I don't work in banking, but I did complete a "math-heavy" economics degree.

EDIT: As others have pointed out, your GPA obviously does matter quite a bit for recruiting. I say give it a shot, and if you think you might be putting yourself at risk, jump the tracks.

As a recent grad who majored in Economics, I'll advocate for the non-math intensive route. The math intensive is certainly for those who want to go on to grad school. I went to a non-target school and double majored in Economics and political science, two pretty liberal-arts-focused degrees. I did not take very intensive mathematics courses, but between the required courses and some electives which required a good amount calculus, I got plenty of exposure. As others above have said, a strong GPA will get you in front of interviewers.

I also minored in finance, which included two courses in accounting. If you have the opportunity to take any finance courses, and especially any accounting courses, that will help you out a lot; several people who seemed put off by the Econ major were reassured by the minor and accounting courses. I don't know if Amherst offers any accounting or finance courses - if not, I'd see if you can register for some through the 5 colleges or possibly take a class elsewhere over the summer to show extra initiative. You will need to be prepared to answer how your Econ coursework has prepared you for IB, so be thinking of how you can relate those.

I would also advocate for writing a thesis if that is an option without taking the math heavy route. I actually wrote one for both of my majors (luckily they were correlated!), and it was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had. I started researching my junior year and it was a great interview talking point. Demonstrating that you can comb through a lot of information, glean the important points, and condense these in a well-written manner is a great skill. I often used the line that part of the reason I majored in Econ was because while a finance major taught you largely about finance, Econ taught you about mathematics, research, and writing.

TL;DR: Take the not as intensive route, take a couple accounting courses, and write a thesis.

Keep in mind that the non-math intensive route would give you more time to enjoy the college life, participate in extracurriculars and network.

On the point of wasting your parents' money by not doing quant, I feel from my experiences that's a bit misguided. Instead of that mindset, I would take a very wide array of classes. If you only have one major you'll get to really take a good variation of classes. You go to a liberal arts college (like myself) so you'll already have that, but I would take it further. While I love my econ major, I've also really enjoyed some of the rando classes I've taken that I wouldn't have been able to if I majored in math. They're not useless at all if you really immerse yourself in them and learn and enjoy it. Undergrad is an experience you'll never have again. You can always go to grad school to take classes for your career if you feel like that's what you want.