BBA or BA in Economics?

The problem is I do not know how I will like or do in the higher level courses. If I do well and really enjoy the econ/math/stat courses I may decide to apply for a PhD program. If I do not I will have to work in the private sector and eventually work towards a MBA. Yet it seems to me a BBA will appear weaker when applying to a PhD program and a BA will do the same for the private sector. In other words I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm going into my 2nd year and I can no longer push the decision back.

 
Old Grand-Dad:
What's your math background? You should be able to tell fairly early on if you'll be able to hack it in advanced math.

I'm not intimidated by the courses. Whichever degree I go for I plan to take the strongest courses I can. However, if I feel like I am breezing through them it may be a sign that I should go for the PhD. Really in the end it comes down to not knowing what lies ahead in the next two years. Anyone have a crystal ball to borrow? Truth be told I want to work in the private sector since that is where the money is but I have no qualms about working in academia, and anyway econ PhDs typically seep into other jobs.

My biggest concern is being unemployed with a BA degree if I decide to go to business school. The UE% of recent college grads with such a degree is marginally high from what I have seen.

 
Best Response
orbisvitae:
Old Grand-Dad:
What's your math background? You should be able to tell fairly early on if you'll be able to hack it in advanced math.
if I feel like I am breezing through them it may be a sign that I should go for the PhD.

If you breeze through your math classes that's a sign you should do the math major. Don't go for the PhD unless you know it's what you want to do. You'll be miserable if you're in a PhD program and don't really want to be there. After a couple more years of school what you want will be more clear.

As far as business vs something else, someone advised me that if you want to do business and your school has a ug business program, you should major in business. I think that unless you're truly passionate about something else there is no reason for you to not do business.

I enjoyed econ so I chose it over business. I was at a disadvantage compared to business majors but I still found internships and landed several ft jobs(nothing I was gung ho about so I deferred to grad school). *At some schools econ is part of the business school so the distinction doesn't matter, I don't know your schools setup.

 

I'd suggest BA with a double major in math. If you can't handle the math then you might want to reconsider a PhD anyway. If you can handle it, and decide to go to the private sector, honestly I don't think you'll have missed much by not taking the basic accounting and finance courses you have with a BBA. If it's still an issue, take those classes as electives or minor in finance or something.

I'm doing a BA Econ and BS Pure Math and yes, you do have to try a little harder to convince employers that you know and are interested in finance, but it's not that hard. And I can apply to phd programs too.

 
Khansian:
I'd suggest BA with a double major in math. If you can't handle the math then you might want to reconsider a PhD anyway. If you can handle it, and decide to go to the private sector, honestly I don't think you'll have missed much by not taking the basic accounting and finance courses you have with a BBA. If it's still an issue, take those classes as electives or minor in finance or something.

I'm doing a BA Econ and BS Pure Math and yes, you do have to try a little harder to convince employers that you know and are interested in finance, but it's not that hard. And I can apply to phd programs too.

Good idea.

 

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