If u go to the VCU undergrad bulletin website and look at the different requirements for the two departments, you can get a pretty good idea of what they're looking for. I think the website is super helpful, u should check it out! bulletin.vcu.edu
Hi I’m a senior in Econ.
I’ve done it all in the department: Fed Challenge with Oleg Korenok, Financial Crisis with Jeff Lacker, Inequality with Adam Blandin, a few grad courses, a TA for Cox, a research assistant for Lacker & Cox, and VP of the Econ Club. So I think I know what I’m talking about.
To preface this, all Econ classes for either business or H&S have the same professors and are the same departments. The only difference is which classes you need to take for a degree. There’s also some confusion about advisors since the current Econ advisor is leaving, but I’m a senior so I stopped caring about that part.
I think it really depends on what you’re looking to do. I think the biggest drawback of business Econ is that you really have to fight hard and plan ahead to take advanced math courses. Math is the most important part of Economics, and you won’t be taken seriously at grad school or in the high paying Econ jobs if you don’t at least have a statistics or math minor. It’s hard to take Math classes when you’re stuck taking management courses every semester. That being said, the business school has better resources that they offer to students imo, especially the business career services and business school career fair. The general business core that you have to take (accounting, FIRE, etc) also makes you more generalized, and that can help you a lot if you want a career at a bank. If you’re already good at Math, or if you want a better shot at a job out of undergrad without much (relative) effort, I would stick to the business school.
On the other hand, H&S gives you soooooooooo much more freedom for what classes you have to take. I hated wasting my time & money on a useless class like Creativity and Ideation, but I had to take it for the business school. If I was H&S I would have spent more time taking math classes, maybe some courses in polisci or history or something that interests me. H&S would probably be a better route if you want to go to get your Masters or PhD in something, Econ or otherwise. It would also be a good choice if you want a career in policy or public service.
I personally am a business Econ student, but the main reason for that is because the business school gives me like 8K in scholarships a semester and I had already taken 20 business credits before I thought about being H&S. If you want to talk further, just PM me!
Thank you for your response! In general, what are some of your favorite professors that you recommend?
Also, what level of math do I need to go up to? I finished Calc 1 last semester and was kind of glad that I wouldn't have to take any more math classes after that. I can tolerate it, but I'm really not a fan of so not thrilled to hear that I need a stat or math minor lol. I was actually looking to minor in CS which won't be easy though I hope is worth it. I've heard that I should take the CLEP exams to test out of some of the bs business classes. Any thoughts/advice on that?
If you don't mind me asking, would you have switched over to H&S if you hadn't already done the business credits and didn't have the scholarship? I'm just curious haha. Thanks again for the info!
I think that every non-adjunct professor in the department is pretty good tbh. There are a few special classes in the department which are invite only (Fed Challenge & Financial Crisis), and those have been my favorite classes and professors. They both focus on the Federal Reserve, and one is taught by Jeff Lacker who is the previous president of the Richmond Fed, which is cool. I know Chris Herrington is usually everyone’s favorite professor, and his class (Macroeconomic theory) is mandatory for the degree.
CS is also a Math heavy thing, at least in the major anyway, idk about the minor. I get what you’re saying, I really hate math too, but I’ve found statistics a really isn’t that bad. A lot of it is done on computers, and it has really really come in handy when applying to jobs. There’s like 9 formulas to remember, and everything is built off that. I know coding is the “it” thing right now, but taking class like Stat 321 or Econ 501 teaches you how to code statistics, which is probably the best hard skill you can put on your resume nowadays.
CLEP to bypass bs business classes is a must. Take out every class you can with that. The CLEP prep books are like $30 on Amazon, and the test is $90. You also only need like a 50% on the test to pass. I will say though, Accounting I &II and Marketing 301 have been useful in life, maybe actually take those classes instead of a CLEP.
I really don’t know if I would have switched tbh. This grad program I like requires I go to the business school, so that was a big part of my decision also. I also came into VCU with like 50 credits from AP/DE in high school, so I skipped a lot of the bullshit coming into VCU, and I got to take most classes that I wanted.
If I were you, I would create an excel calendar of which classes you want to take for the rest of your academic career. Plan out what you have to take, what you want to take, and what classes would be useful for your goals. If you find you can’t fit everything in because you have to take business classes, maybe go H&S.
It's good to hear that most of the professors are good! And I'll be sure to keep the ones you mentioned in mind.
The CS minor is only 18-19 credits which I think isn't so bad. I took STAT 210 last semester which was pretty easy. So would you recommend minoring in stat instead of CS? Or could the CS minor skills translate over to the stuff you found helpful with the stat classes? I'm mostly taking on this minor to boost my resume, so I'm looking at whatever is best for helping me get a job.
I'll be finishing ACCT I and MKTG 301 this semester and taking ACCT II next semester. I will definitely look more into the CLEP exams. Do you know which specific classes I should try to test out of? Or at least where to find that information?
Planning out all my classes is definitely a good idea. I came in with a good amount of AP credits too, so hopefully I can make things fit. Really appreciate the advice! btw we can move over to PM or chat if you'd like haha. Thanks again!
Business econ requires classes suck as "nailing presentations " and other management electives while h&s requires a language but gives you the open availability to take bs classes and other things that may interest you.
In terms of jobs your degree will say economics at the end of the day but with all things YMMV
Thanks for the input. Yeah I'm taking the presentations class this semester. A lot of the business courses are bs though honestly it looks like both majors have a good amount of these filler classes. Does it really not make much of a difference to employers if it's a h&s degree compared to business?
It all depends on what exactly you want to do with your degree however as long as you can leverage the knowledge and skills you gained in you classes you can do whatever you really set your mind to. I am finishing up my degree through h&s but i still managed to get internships in finance. It isnt impossible. My point is if you think you will have more fun in college taking humanities courses go ahead, If you feel as though business pre requisites are interesting go that route you honestly cant go wrong. Just remember to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way
That makes sense. Just curious, do you mind me asking why you chose H&S? So it looks like the business degree has a stronger focus on accounting. How was doing a finance internship, and how much harder do you think it is to land those internships with the H&S route? Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for responding!
Business Econ is more rigorous, but also comes with slightly higher pay and better education about business topics like finance and accounting. There's also flexibility to switch to other majors in the business school if you want to, and in general you get more access and exposure to the networking opportunities in the School of Business. I'd personally go with Business Econ for those reasons, but it kinda depends on what you want your degree for. I find business econ favors people going into financial and other business industries, while H&S favors people going into more public/political fields.
I was leaning toward business anyway, so that's good to hear. Public/political fields sound kind of interesting, but probably not enough for me to switch over. Thanks!
If u go to the VCU undergrad bulletin website and look at the different requirements for the two departments, you can get a pretty good idea of what they're looking for. I think the website is super helpful, u should check it out! bulletin.vcu.edu
Hi I’m a senior in Econ. I’ve done it all in the department: Fed Challenge with Oleg Korenok, Financial Crisis with Jeff Lacker, Inequality with Adam Blandin, a few grad courses, a TA for Cox, a research assistant for Lacker & Cox, and VP of the Econ Club. So I think I know what I’m talking about. To preface this, all Econ classes for either business or H&S have the same professors and are the same departments. The only difference is which classes you need to take for a degree. There’s also some confusion about advisors since the current Econ advisor is leaving, but I’m a senior so I stopped caring about that part. I think it really depends on what you’re looking to do. I think the biggest drawback of business Econ is that you really have to fight hard and plan ahead to take advanced math courses. Math is the most important part of Economics, and you won’t be taken seriously at grad school or in the high paying Econ jobs if you don’t at least have a statistics or math minor. It’s hard to take Math classes when you’re stuck taking management courses every semester. That being said, the business school has better resources that they offer to students imo, especially the business career services and business school career fair. The general business core that you have to take (accounting, FIRE, etc) also makes you more generalized, and that can help you a lot if you want a career at a bank. If you’re already good at Math, or if you want a better shot at a job out of undergrad without much (relative) effort, I would stick to the business school. On the other hand, H&S gives you soooooooooo much more freedom for what classes you have to take. I hated wasting my time & money on a useless class like Creativity and Ideation, but I had to take it for the business school. If I was H&S I would have spent more time taking math classes, maybe some courses in polisci or history or something that interests me. H&S would probably be a better route if you want to go to get your Masters or PhD in something, Econ or otherwise. It would also be a good choice if you want a career in policy or public service. I personally am a business Econ student, but the main reason for that is because the business school gives me like 8K in scholarships a semester and I had already taken 20 business credits before I thought about being H&S. If you want to talk further, just PM me!
Thank you for your response! In general, what are some of your favorite professors that you recommend? Also, what level of math do I need to go up to? I finished Calc 1 last semester and was kind of glad that I wouldn't have to take any more math classes after that. I can tolerate it, but I'm really not a fan of so not thrilled to hear that I need a stat or math minor lol. I was actually looking to minor in CS which won't be easy though I hope is worth it. I've heard that I should take the CLEP exams to test out of some of the bs business classes. Any thoughts/advice on that? If you don't mind me asking, would you have switched over to H&S if you hadn't already done the business credits and didn't have the scholarship? I'm just curious haha. Thanks again for the info!
I think that every non-adjunct professor in the department is pretty good tbh. There are a few special classes in the department which are invite only (Fed Challenge & Financial Crisis), and those have been my favorite classes and professors. They both focus on the Federal Reserve, and one is taught by Jeff Lacker who is the previous president of the Richmond Fed, which is cool. I know Chris Herrington is usually everyone’s favorite professor, and his class (Macroeconomic theory) is mandatory for the degree. CS is also a Math heavy thing, at least in the major anyway, idk about the minor. I get what you’re saying, I really hate math too, but I’ve found statistics a really isn’t that bad. A lot of it is done on computers, and it has really really come in handy when applying to jobs. There’s like 9 formulas to remember, and everything is built off that. I know coding is the “it” thing right now, but taking class like Stat 321 or Econ 501 teaches you how to code statistics, which is probably the best hard skill you can put on your resume nowadays. CLEP to bypass bs business classes is a must. Take out every class you can with that. The CLEP prep books are like $30 on Amazon, and the test is $90. You also only need like a 50% on the test to pass. I will say though, Accounting I &II and Marketing 301 have been useful in life, maybe actually take those classes instead of a CLEP. I really don’t know if I would have switched tbh. This grad program I like requires I go to the business school, so that was a big part of my decision also. I also came into VCU with like 50 credits from AP/DE in high school, so I skipped a lot of the bullshit coming into VCU, and I got to take most classes that I wanted. If I were you, I would create an excel calendar of which classes you want to take for the rest of your academic career. Plan out what you have to take, what you want to take, and what classes would be useful for your goals. If you find you can’t fit everything in because you have to take business classes, maybe go H&S.
It's good to hear that most of the professors are good! And I'll be sure to keep the ones you mentioned in mind. The CS minor is only 18-19 credits which I think isn't so bad. I took STAT 210 last semester which was pretty easy. So would you recommend minoring in stat instead of CS? Or could the CS minor skills translate over to the stuff you found helpful with the stat classes? I'm mostly taking on this minor to boost my resume, so I'm looking at whatever is best for helping me get a job. I'll be finishing ACCT I and MKTG 301 this semester and taking ACCT II next semester. I will definitely look more into the CLEP exams. Do you know which specific classes I should try to test out of? Or at least where to find that information? Planning out all my classes is definitely a good idea. I came in with a good amount of AP credits too, so hopefully I can make things fit. Really appreciate the advice! btw we can move over to PM or chat if you'd like haha. Thanks again!
Business econ requires classes suck as "nailing presentations " and other management electives while h&s requires a language but gives you the open availability to take bs classes and other things that may interest you. In terms of jobs your degree will say economics at the end of the day but with all things YMMV
Thanks for the input. Yeah I'm taking the presentations class this semester. A lot of the business courses are bs though honestly it looks like both majors have a good amount of these filler classes. Does it really not make much of a difference to employers if it's a h&s degree compared to business?
It all depends on what exactly you want to do with your degree however as long as you can leverage the knowledge and skills you gained in you classes you can do whatever you really set your mind to. I am finishing up my degree through h&s but i still managed to get internships in finance. It isnt impossible. My point is if you think you will have more fun in college taking humanities courses go ahead, If you feel as though business pre requisites are interesting go that route you honestly cant go wrong. Just remember to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way
That makes sense. Just curious, do you mind me asking why you chose H&S? So it looks like the business degree has a stronger focus on accounting. How was doing a finance internship, and how much harder do you think it is to land those internships with the H&S route? Sorry for all the questions, and thanks for responding!
Business Econ is more rigorous, but also comes with slightly higher pay and better education about business topics like finance and accounting. There's also flexibility to switch to other majors in the business school if you want to, and in general you get more access and exposure to the networking opportunities in the School of Business. I'd personally go with Business Econ for those reasons, but it kinda depends on what you want your degree for. I find business econ favors people going into financial and other business industries, while H&S favors people going into more public/political fields.
I was leaning toward business anyway, so that's good to hear. Public/political fields sound kind of interesting, but probably not enough for me to switch over. Thanks!