You should focus your efforts as a FY student on taking a wide variety of classes, particularly classes that fulfill distribution requirements. If you think you may want to be an economics major you should take ECON 100, Introduction to Economics during the first year. (This course also meets a distribution requirement.) A 200-level economics elective is another option for second-semester FY students who have taken ECON 100 or the equivalent. If you are uncertain about your math skills, MATH 113: Applied Statistics also meets a distribution requirement and may help prepare you for ECON 200: Quantitative Methods in Economics.

There is no need to take more than one or two economics courses during the first year. In the long run, you will be better off with a broad base of courses from various departments. The first year is not the time to specialize.

As a sophomore you should plan to take three courses: ECON 200: Quantitative Methods in Economics, ECON 251: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory, and ECON 252: Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory. The intermediate theory courses probably should not be taken during the same semester of the sophomore year and they cannot be taken if you are a FY student. ECON 200 can be taken in the second semester of the first year if you feel confident in your quantitative skills. Generally, there is no reason to take more than one economic elective during your first two years of college.

We generally discourage the declaration of the major before official declaration week in the second semester of the sophomore year. During first semester of the sophomore year we can arrange to change your advisor to someone in economics if needed. However, for most students this is unnecessary. You can always get advice concerning economics courses from economics faculty without any of them being your official advisor.

You may take another economics elective in lieu of ECON 200 (1) if you have taken MATH 213 or 325 or 326; OR (2) if you have taken MATH 113 and either MATH 135 or MATH 136 with at least a grade of 3.0 in each. Minors in economics may substitute an additional economics elective for ECON 200 if they take MATH 113 or 213 or 325 or 326, or PSYC 205.

You can get credit for ECON 100 if you received a score of 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement examination in microeconomics or macroeconomics.

Generally you can receive transfer credit for an economics course as long as the course is similar to one already offered in the department or if the course could be offered in a liberal arts curriculum. However, as a rule we do not accept transfer credit for intermediate theory courses (ECON 251, 252). We also do not give transfer credit for business-type courses (i.e., management, marketing, advanced accounting, human resources course). An exception would be three courses offered at Clarkson University as part of our 4+1 MBA and pre-management programs.

Current SLU students must receive approval from the Chair of the Department of Economics before enrolling in any course at another college or university. You should never assume the courses will be transferred without this prior approval.

We understand the desire of students to take more practical, or specialized vocational-related courses. However, we strongly believe in the efficacy of a liberal arts education. It has been our experience, and the experience of others, that in the long run undergraduate students will be better off, and more productive, if they attend selective liberal arts universities like St. Lawrence. Such universities seem to do a better job of developing the analytical, writing, and speaking skills vitally important in the modern global economy. Scholarly research has also confirmed this. A recent article (Black, Sanders, and Taylor, "The Economic Reward for Studying Economics," Economic Inquiry v.41, no.3, July 2003: 365-377) shows that among college graduates, economics majors generally earn more than similar individuals with business-related majors. Among individuals who pursue MBA or law degrees, economics majors earn more than those with business-related undergraduate majors.

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