Frequently Asked Questions

You should contact the Economics undergraduate registrar.

No, courses taken Credit/D/Fail may not be counted toward the requirements of the major.

The only two exceptions are: (1) courses taken Credit/D/Fail or Pass/Fail in spring 2020; (2) courses taken in fall 2021 where the final exam was administered on or after December 19, 2021 and the student opted for a mark of Credit. 

No.

No, you can only use ECON 1117, 2123 or 2136.

No, there is no need to meet with the DUS. In fact your first line of advising should be your economics college advisors (see "Get Advice" in the main menu to find out the economics professors who are assigned to your college). It can also be very helpful to consult the Peer Mentors. And the Economics undergraduate registrar is also able to answer most questions about major requirements and courses. The DUS should be consulted only for exceptional or unusual questions (by email or during the DUS office hours).

Yes, but then you will have to take an additional elective. You can skip introductory courses if you feel confident about your background in economics, but we strongly recommend shopping both introductory and intermediate courses before making a decision.

Yes. In the past there was a time limit to apply for related course credit, but it has been removed.

No. There is no such thing as a joint senior essay between Economics and another major. If you write a senior essay in Economics, you will have a single advisor in the Economics department (or approved by the Economics department), and you can receive credit only for ECON 4491/4492.

If you get started late, it is imperative that you discuss your course plan with the DUS. Completing the major requirements in a shorter time may or may not be feasible, depending on the coursework you have already completed in other departments.

No. We provide each incoming first-year student with placement recommendations based on a survey and AP (or equivalent) exam scores.  Students receive a personal e-mail with their recommended placement. Students can also find the placement on canvas. See our first-year placement page for more information.

The Economics majors has the STEM designation.

The CIP code (for Classification of Instructional Programs) assigned by the National Center for Education Statistics at the Department of Education is 45.0603 (Econometrics and Quantitative Economics).

The STEM designation allows our international students to apply for a two year OPT extension in addition to the standard 12 months of F1 student visas for all other degrees.

The instructor owns the copyright to the course syllabus and therefore it must be requested from him/her.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions makes the decision on admissions to Yale College, not individual departments. Please refer to their website for more information. Once you are admitted to Yale College, you may choose to major in economics or economics & mathematics.

The Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) offers several tutoring options in quantitative reasoning and science. See the CTL’s tutoring page for all their offerings.

There are 10 course types that are approved automatically:
MGT, GLBL, PSYC, HIST, EP&E, PLSC, SOCY, ACCT, CPSC, S&DS

All other course types require DUS approval. Contact the Undergraduate Economics Registrar to apply the exception to your Degree Audit. 

Yes, but you cannot participate in preference selection. You will have to go through the regular registration process and ask for instructor permission.

Both Econ 2121 and 2125 cover microeconomics with a more mathematically sophisticated treatment than introductory micro. However, Econ 2125 covers other additional topics, and is recommended for students considering graduate study. The same holds for Econ 2122 versus 2126, which both cover macroeconomics.

ECON 2136 is a theoretical econometrics course, with ECON 2135 a prerequisite. This sequence is quite technical. It is recommended for example for students planning to pursue graduate studies (and is a requirement for the Econ-Math major).

ECON 1117 is a more applied and data-oriented econometrics course. ECON 2123 is the next level up in this applied econometrics sequence, and is highly recommended for students who plan to write a senior essay. 

Econ 1108/1110/1115 is a prerequisite for Econ 1117, Econ 1111/1116 is not.