As an economics major, you can take a broad range of courses in such fields as economic theory, econometrics, money and banking, international economics, economic history, growth and development and industrial organization. You can also study the new field of behavioral economics, which attempts to improve economic analyses by incorporating insights from psychology, and take a new seminar that facilitates collaboration among economists and psychologists and draws students into faculty research.
Requirements
Want to start right away? Here are some basic requirements for students wanting to major in Economics. Keep in mind this isn’t the complete list of formal requirement — that list can be found on the Courses of Study page.
Before applying for admission to the Economics Major, you need to complete ECON 1110, ECON 1120, and MATH 1110 (or equivalents).For the major, you need to take 12 courses listed by the Department of Economics, or approved by the student’s major advisor, that satisfy these requirements:
- Except for ECON 1110 and ECON 1120, all courses must be at the 3000-level or higher.
- All students must take four core economics courses, one each in:
- Microeconomics: ECON 3030
- Macroeconomics: ECON 3040
- Statistics: ECON 3110 or ECON 3130.
- Econometrics: ECON 3120 or ECON 3140.
- All students must take at least three courses at the 4000-level or higher.
- See additional requirements on the department website.
Sample classes
- Financial Economics
- Economics and the Law
- Behavioral Economics
- Economics of Collective Bargaining
Outcomes
All information below is based on the 2018 First-Destination Survey. Lists are not exhaustive; rather, they are a sampling of the data. If you would like to more information, please email as_careers@cornell.edu
79% Employed
18% Attending Grad School
2% Seeking Employment
1% Other
Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch were the top employers of 2018 Economics Graduates.
Top Employment Sectors
- Financial Services (54%)
- Consulting/Prof. Practice (20%)
- Technology (7%)
- Retail (4%)
- Communications/Media (2%), Real Estate (2%), Government (2%), Law (2%), Education (2%), Nonprofit Organization (2%)
Where 2018 Economics Graduates Work
| Employer | Job Titles |
|---|---|
| Abercrombie & Fitch | Business Analyst |
| Abt Associates | Research Assistant |
| ADP | Account Executive |
| Albright Stonebridge Group | Associate |
| Aligne Wealth Preservation & Insurance Services | Portfolio Management Associate |
| Applied Underwriters | Premium Auditor |
| Bank of America Merrill Lynch | Investment Banking Analyst M&A Investment Banking Analyst Quantitative Management Analyst Risk Analyst |
| Barclays | Emerging Markets Credit Trading Analyst Investment Banking Analyst |
| Barron International Group | Investment Banking Analyst |
| Bates White | Economics Consultant |
| Bellwether Asset Management | Real Estate Asset Management Analyst |
| Belvedere Trading LLC | Derivatives Trader |
| BlackRock | Equity Investment Analyst |
| Blackstone | Software Engineer |
| Bloomberg | Sales and Analytics |
| BTIG | Investment Banking Analyst |
| Bytedance | Data Analyst |
| Capital Group Companies | Equity Research Associate |
| Capital One | Business Analyst Commercial Banking Analyst |
| Central Bank of Malaysia | Associate Analyst |
| Citi | Investment Banking Analyst |
| Compass Lexecon | Analyst |
| Deloitte Consulting | Associate Consultant Financial Risk and Advisory Associate Strategy Consulting Analyst |
| Deutsche Bank | Analyst |
| EAB | Business Development Associate |
| Eastdil Secured, LLC | Real Estate Analyst |
| Evercore Partners | Restructuring Analyst |
| EY | Analyst Business Advisor Program Business Advisory Consultant Staff Consultant |
| Gap, Inc. | Inventory Management Analyst |
| Goldman Sachs | Financial Analyst Fixed Income Analyst Investment Banking Analyst Technology Analyst |
| Guggenheim Partners | Equity Research Associate |
| Hamilton Lane | Private Equity Fund Investment Analyst |
| IBM | Business Transformation Consultant Digital Seller |
| ICF International | Energy Analyst |
| ITG | Product Manager |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Commercial Real Estate Analyst Corporate Client Banking Analyst Credit Risk Analyst |
| Komodo Health | Data Engineer |
| Korn Ferry | Organizational Strategy Analyst |
| KPMG | M&A Deal Advisory Analyst |
| London Stock Exchange | Rotational Program |
| Macy's | EDP - Investor Relations |
| Morgan Stanley | Credit Risk Analyst Investment Banking Analyst |
| NYC Economics Development Corporation | Initiatives Project Support Coordinator |
| Nomura | Investment Banking Analyst |
| Optiver | Trader |
| Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP | Litigation Paralegal |
| PIMCO | Product Analyst |
| PNC Financial Services | Capital Market Analyst |
| PwC | Advisory Associate Consultant |
| Roark Capital | Private Equity Analyst |
| Samsung | Experiential Marketing Coordinator |
| Societe Generale | Investment Banking Analyst |
| Square, Inc | Software Engineer |
| The Brattle Group | Research Analyst |
| UBS | Investment Banking Analyst |
| University of Chicago | Research Professional |
| Vanguard | Investment Management Development Program |
| Vidmob | Project Coordinator |
| Wells Fargo | Financial Analyst |
| ZS Associates | Strategy Insights and Planning Associate |
Top Graduate Fields Pursued
- Law (19%)
- Computer Science (15%)
- Economics (11%)
- Finance (11%)
- Medicine (11%)
- Asian Studies (4%), Environmental Engineering Mgmt. (4%), International Relations (4%), Management (4%), Public Policy (4%), Quantitative Methods - Social Sciences (4%), Environmental Geology (4%), Microbiology (4%)
Graduate Degrees Pursued
- PhD (18%)
- JD (14%)
- MA (14%)
- MS (11%)
- MEng (11%)
- MS (7%)
- MD (7%)
Some of the Places 2018 Economics Graduates Study
- Stanford University
- London Business School
- University of Oxford
- University of Cambridge
- The University of Texas at Austin
