SAM AND IRENE BLACK SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Advice for Majors in Economics (ECNS)
Program Chair: Dr. James Kurre
814-898-6266; k12@psu.edu
To help you with your current and future scheduling, TENTATIVE ECON course offerings through the Spring of 2010 are provided below. If you have any questions, feel free to call, e-mail, or stop by my office. I will be happy to answer your questions.
| SPRING 2008 |
|
FALL 2008 |
| ECON 497 (Public Economics) |
|
ECON 450 (Managerial) |
| ECON 302 (Intermediate Micro) |
|
ECON 430 (Regional) |
| ECON 470 (International) | ECON 470 (International) | |
| ECNS 481** (Forecasting) | ECON 351 (Money and Banking) | |
| ECON 485 (Econometrics) | ||
| SPRING 2009 |
|
FALL 2009 |
| ECON 497 (Public Economics) |
|
ECON 450 (Managerial) |
| ECON 302 (Intermediate Micro) |
|
ECON 430 (Regional) |
| ECON 470 (International) | ECON 470 (International) | |
| ECNS 304** (Intermediate Macro) | ECON 351 (Money and Banking) | |
| ECON 485 (Econometrics) | ||
|
|
||
| SPRING 2010 |
|
|
| ECON 497 (Public Economics) |
|
|
| ECON 302 (Intermediate Micro) | ||
| ECON 470 (International) | ||
| ECNS 481** (Forecasting) |
NOTE: Courses marked with asterisks (**) are currently scheduled to be offered every other year. If you need one of these courses to satisfy your program requirements, make sure you take it when it is offered.
Additional upper-level course offerings may be available, on an ad-hoc basis. We will do our best to ensure that the above courses are available as scheduled. However, administrative re-assignments, sabbatical leaves, extended illnesses, etc., may occasionally force deviations from the above schedule. Arrangements will be made (independent study, course substitutions, etc.) to ensure that appropriate course work will be available to allow you to complete your program of study.
Additional Advising Notes
ECON 304 (Intermediate Macroeconomics) is required for all ECNS majors. This course is only offered every other year, so you MUST be sure to schedule it when it is offered. You will probably have only one shot at it!
Unlike the other business majors which all lead to a B.S. degree and require the business core, the ECNS major:
-results in a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) degree.
-requires at least one lab course among the Gen Ed Natural Sciences courses.
-requires 12th credit proficiency in a foreign language.
-requires an upper level W (writing across the curriculum) course. We currently do not have an Economics W course, so it is necessary to take one from Math, Political Science, History, or some other field. (Unless you have taken the whole set of business core courses as electives, which is unlikely, you do not qualify to take MANGT 470WMGMT 471W.) BUT we may be able to use ECON 485 as a W course in the future. See Dr. Kurre if you're interested in this.
Dr. Kurre has a file of one-page course descriptions for upper-level ECNS courses that give info on what each course is really all about, how it is graded, whether there's a paper/project, etc. Stop by his office (284 REDC) to get your copy, or email him at k12@psu.edu .
I recommend that you consider joining our campus Econ club: the Society of Undergrad Economists (SUE) . You can find more info about SUE at: http://www.clubs.psu.edu/bd/sue/ Meetings are usually every other Tuesday, and include free pizza. Contact Secretary Jon Curtis (juc181@psu.edu) to get on the mailing list for info about club activities. We do a spring road trip that's always educational and fun. Get on board! (Looks like it may be New York City this year.)
You should be creating a portfolio of your work that you can use in your job search. This should include copies of major papers you do in your Econ classes. If you can demonstrate that you know how to find, download, and clean up data, use Excel, do statistical analysis (e.g., correlation, regression, hypothesis testing), write clearly and correctly, and create graphs, you greatly improve your chances of getting hired. Our grads have often told us that showing a prospective employer a research paper has helped get them interviews and jobs. Make a point of doing this!
You may also want to consider doing a summer undergraduate research project and applying for a grant from the college to do it. You can find info here: http://pserie.psu.edu/research/undergradresearch.htm . ECON 485 (Econometrics) is especially good preparation for this.
So what do you do with an Econ degree after graduation?
I strongly recommend that you contact the Career Development Center to discuss what you should be doing NOW to help ensure a job or admission to grad school after graduation.
We have nearly 200 grads from our ECNS and BECON programs over the years, and I keep in touch with many of them. If you would like to connect with some of them to find out about job or internship prospects or just to get some advice, please come see me. They live in Erie and in many other cities throughout the country, and work for a broad variety of employers in both the government and private sector.
Want to spend some time living and learning in D.C.?
We have lots of alumni working in the DC area who would be willing to talk with you and give advice. Come see me if you'd like some names.
Summer: Check out the Joint Program in Survey Methodology : http://www.jpsm.umd.edu/jpsm/index.htm One of our students did it a couple of years ago and loved it.
A semester at American University in DC: http://www.american.edu/washingtonsemester/ This is a great program that exposes you to lots of government agencies.
Here are some useful resources to check out:
-Careers in Economics: http://www.mhhe.com/economics/sharp/student/careers.mhtml
-National Association for Business Economics:
http://www.nabe.com/careers.htm
Check out their “Careers in Business Economics” book: http://www.nabe.com/careers.htm#book
-the Bureau of Labor Statistics's page about Econ as a profession, with forecasts and salaries: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos055.htm
Info about jobs for economists:
-Jobs with the Bureau of Economic Analysis: http://www.bea.gov/bea/beajobs.htm
We have a 1989 grad who has been with BEA's Regional Econ unit since graduating, and they love him. They are well aware of Behrend's Econ program and like our “applied, data analysis” focus.
-Jobs with the Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/bls/jobshome.htm
We have placed several of our grads with the BLS over the years. They typically pay for grad school.
-Jobs with the Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/hrd/www/index.html
-Jobs with the U.S. Department of Commerce: http://www.commerce.gov/jobs.html
-Jobs with the Federal Reserve System: http://www.federalreserve.gov/careers/default.cfm
We have or have had grads with the Philly, Cleveland, and St. Louis Feds.
-“All” U.S. government jobs: http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/
-Jobs with Moody's/Economy.com: http://www.economy.com/home/about/working.asp
Job Search
During their Junior year, students are STRONGLY ADVISED to take the job search course offered by the Career Development Center.
If you have any questions regarding scheduling, feel free to e-mail Dr. Kurre at k12@psu.edu or call him at (home: 725-6888 or office: 898-6266), or drop by his office in Room 284, REDC.