Harvard secured the top position on the US News list of top undergraduate economics programs. Consequently, it is closely profiled below to model the demands of a rigorous curriculum. Yet, one program does not categorically represent the diversity of offerings provided in such an extensive field as economics. That’s impossible. So, to gain a better sense of the scope of the major we’ll also look at how economics is offered at UC Berkeley, Northwestern, and the University of Minnesota: all top 20 programs.
Freshman year an aspiring Harvard economics major takes Economics 10ab, Intro for microeconomics and macroeconomics, which is a large lecture course. Weekly, there are smaller discussion groups of about 20 students headed by graduate students (TAs). Many students who have mastered AP Macro and Micro can move right into Intermediate levels, Econ 1010a and 1011a, and begin their efforts at fully engaging economic theories and concepts for the demands of the Sophomore Tutorial.
The ‘Sophomore Tutorial,’ Eco 970, is designed to help students: “become consumers and producers of economic research.” In preparation Stats 104 is a pre-requisite, with certain tutorials requiring econometrics as a prerequisite or taken concurrently. Then, there is a substantial amount of writing: short essays, empirical exercises (involving analyzing data using such statistical software packages as Stata), and the final research paper (15-18 pages).
The Junior Seminar, Eco 980, features a major research paper. This is an empirical or theoretical exploration of an idea posed in the seminar, extending material gleaned in the sophomore tutorial, while preparing for the Senior Honor’s Thesis.
The Senior Honor’s Thesis, Eco 985, is a full-year course in which students work closely with their instructor on research design, methodology, data analysis, and sources, to create a well-wrought thesis. Harvard does not expect students to engage these demands alone. There is an extensive network of resources outlined in Harvard’s Concentrator Guide, https://economics.harvard.edu/files/economics/files/undergradguide_18-19.pdf. It also contains plans of study by subfield (development, behavioral, organizational et. al.), advisories, preparing for graduate study, even taking accounting and business courses at MIT. Additionally, the major’s writing demands have a separate guide: http://economics.harvard.edu/files/economics/files/writingec_f2014_0.pdf.
UC Berkeley, ranked #5 in USN&WR, provides a website for its Academic Guide http://guide.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/degree-programs/economics/#abouttheprogramtext. There is substantial information on internships and faculty research, as well as a Plan of Study. Of interest, UCB has accelerated degrees for finishing in 3 or 3.5 years.
Northwestern University (NU) economics department is #7 on the list. https://www.economics.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/major/, NU offers dual majors in such unique fields as, Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences (MMSS). Additionally, NU offers a combined BA-MA 5-year program (as does Boston University, Chapman University, and Wharton. NU’s EconLab, https://www.economics.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/econ-lab/, is a hotbed of undergraduate research opportunities The department also suggests over a half a dozen ‘Complementary Programs’ including a certificate in financial engineering from Kellogg School of Business and a major in Learning and Organizational Change through the School of Education and Social Policy (SOESP) involving consulting with businesses that are trying to recreate themselves.
Number 18 is another Big Ten School, the University of Minnesota. Of note are the many degrees offered by the department. There is a BA, BA with Quantitative Emphasis, BS, a BIS (Bachelor of Independent Study) and a BA with or without thesis. If thesis, it needs to be a ‘contribution to the field of study). There is, of course, opportunities for UG Research, and a strong advisory system to assist in selecting among the variety of degrees available.
All the above programs deliver a range of approaches to economic study from the numerous degrees offered, BA-MA 5-year programs, dual degrees, complementary programs through allied business schools, accelerated degree programs to the endless opportunities to learn how to conduct research and possibly write a meaningful contribution to the field. The resources are there awaiting the high voltage intellectual and creative energy of someone just like you.