Econ/Math Major at Cal-State

I'm on track to graduating with an Economics and Applied Mathematics degree from Cal-State Fullerton (CSUF) in May 2015.

I have a 3.00 cumulative GPA and I get decent grades in Economics classes but I work extra hard in Math to get average grades. I plan to take the most mathematical econ electives as possible like econometrics, mathematical economics, etc.

I have been thinking recently that I might have my head in the clouds with my Economics major. I have no idea what the value of an Economics degree from CSUF is and I can't seem to find any rankings for the Business School (probably not a good sign?).

Given my mediocre GPA and the school ranking would it be wise to switch to Finance instead of Economics? I'm pretty sure that I could pull off the same GPA in Finance classes, albeit I would like to raise my GPA. Also, I would not want to do Accounting as a major since I have worked as a low level accounting clerk for nine months and did not enjoy it.

I don't have any "Wolf of Wall Street" dreams, I just want to have undergraduate degrees that allow me to get a decent job right out of college. I would love to have the opportunity to go to graduate school in Business or an applied field of Math when I get some more work experience.

 
Best Response

It's nice to see someone else on here from CSUF. I'm a finance student there as well.

Just from my cursory observations, it seems like accounting and finance have the best opportunities straight out of our school. After planning out my remaining units, I realized I would be ahead of a four year graduation by twelve units so I decided to declare an economics minor (mainly because I love the subject and it would certainly boost my GPA). From looking at the course catalog, I can't help but imagine that the economics department would fit better under humanities than business. In any case, I'm looking forward to econometrics next semester.

It definitely depends on what you're looking to get into post-graduation but applied math and finance would be desirable for the insurance industry. From my own experience, finance tends to require much more quantitatively in comparison with our school's economics program.

 

That's great, CSUF has an excellent business program judging by the upkeep of Mihaylo Hall. I think it's a wise to choose the minor, there are really only around three heavy quant classes for economics to my knowledge: Economics Research Methods, Econometrics and Mathematical Economics. I think I will try to get into the introductory Finance class before Spring semester starts.

What turned me away from the business program were the management classes--they seemed to just be filtering classes. I might just have to stick it out and try to raise my GPA in the business department.

 

Yeah, I'm planning on taking Econometrics next semester, it's a like a melding of ISDS and Econ.

Good luck! If you're wondering about Finance professors, PM me. I have a few I'd recommend.

 

Just want to give a shout out to my fellow Titans! I'm glad someone on here goes to my school as well. I am currently a Junior Finance student but I'm pretty sure I am going to switch to the Accounting/Finance major.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Always good to network!

 

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