Double major - does this concentration help or hurt?

Question

Double majoring in quantitative economics and mathematics. For math, my school offers a concentration in mathematics for economics. I have heard that grad schools like when you major in two completely different subjects, so I worry that this concentration would hurt the separation between my two majors. In the end, do you think this concentration would hurt or help my chances of getting into a good grad school?

Thanks

Answer 1

It all depends on the grad school to be honest. Some schools are just glad to have one major, some are glad to have two, and some look bad to see that you doubled and didn't concentrate on one major... I'd say look at it as a plus in most cases, as if nothing else, you know more information that some other people will not have. Even if it isn't not in different areas, now... you may want to look at a minor, just 4-6 clases normally takes care of an easy minor that you can have to add a little flavor in your major situation.

Answer 2

Concentrations are minors, which don't carry as much weight as your major.  Some places don't give concentrations much weight, since some concentrations only need you to take 2 to 4 classes to get that designation.

The concentration doesn't change your major to economics...your majors will still be seen as math and economics.

Answer 3

What kind of grad school program are you interested in?  Econ?  If so, you definitely DO want to major in mathematics. If it's something else, like business or law, then really doesn't matter.

Answer 4

No, no, no.  Trust me.  If you're smart enough to get a double major in those subjects, you won't have to work hard to get into grad school.

Be prepared to answer questions about your interests in things completely out of those fields.  In other words, what else are you passionate about?  Sports?  Art?  Music?  etc.

Sometimes they look for how well-rounded you are.