Economics vs Computer science vs Math degree

I don't really have a career plan so I was wondering which degree will open up the most opportunities. I feel I have narrowed it down to the finance/tech sector.

I feel I would enjoy economics the most so I'm leaning towards that. I know employers care about other stuff aswell such as experience but would an Economics degree close down any opportunities that you would gain from studying Computer science or Maths?

In terms of tech jobs, I would probably be more interested in data roles rather than dev jobs so would an economics degree be ok if I learn python in my own time?

Also would an economics degree at a higher ranked university be better than a computer science degree at a lower ranked one? And do finance jobs have a preference between math and economics?

I know ive asked a lot of questions but any help would be appreciated.
Thank you

An economics degree will likely close the door to stuff like SWE and likely most of the harder core data science roles. Maths is probably the best degree out of the three in terms of flexibility, doesn't necessarily close off all SWE opps, can still do economics (with a MSc), you can still go into finance, can still go into data science, it also opens more opportunities in finance than an econ degree does as most trading and quantitative research roles require STEM degrees (and can also do the generalist roles in finance too). Whereas it's not like you can do something like a Maths MSc from an economics undergrad, whereas often you can do a MSc Economics or a computer science masters or a CS conversion course from a maths undergrad. So maths is probably the most flexible, but it really should depend on your interests.

Like with all things, I'm speaking in general terms. There will be some econ people that go into data science, there will be some CS people that end up in economic forecasting, etc. Maybe some can go from econ degree to CS career if they've got strong skills learnt from outside of their degree (although I rarely see people go from econ to CS/SWE without a conversion master's).

However, isn't there just an obvious solution, a joint honours degree? Lots of top unis offer stuff like Maths and CS, or Math & Economics or Economics and Statistics, or Economics + Maths and Stats. Wouldn't this be the best option, gives you good exposure to multiple pillars of econ/maths/CS. Another solution would be to do a degree like a BSc MORSE (Maths, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics) at somewhere like Wawrick - good blend of maths, programming, stats and econ. Seen places like St Andrews offer a joint econ and CS degree. Imperial offer a BSc Economics, Finance and Data Science degree. Manchester offer a BA Economics and Data Analytics. LSE offer a BSc Data Science. So there are whole bunch of different combinations to check out beyond simply doing a straight econ, maths or CS degree. The added benefit of a joint degree is that often they're far less competitive than courses like straight econ or straight CS, so can get into a better uni for them.

I'm of the opinion that econ at a top uni vs CS at a lower uni depends on whether you want to go into finance or tech. In finance they do actually care what uni you go to, there is certainly a prestige factor in recruitment (unfortunately). I've not worked in tech so I'm speaking from the outside, but it's always struck me as slightly more meritocratic in the sense that care a bit more about your skills, whereas in finance they provide all your training on the grad scheme so they don't care as much about your finance knowledge (hence why they accept applications from all subjects for most roles).

As should be clear, generally finance firms don't care too much between maths and econ in finance (unless it's for a quant role like trading or quant research naturally). So if you're going for generalist roles like the investment banking department, wealth management, sales, some research roles, etc, factors besides maths vs econ are more important, like how you do in their recruitment tests, interviews and assessment days.

Thanks for replying, the thing is I didnt do further maths at a-level and I feel i would struggle at university. I did get an a in maths but ive heard university maths is completely different in the sense that it is mainly proof based which is kind of putting me off. In terms of tech jobs, i wouldnt say i'm really that intrested in software engineering. More so of Data/ Business analytics so would an economics degree keep these doors open?

When I looked at prospects for roles such as business analytics, I found that that many had their preferred degree course in business managament/ economics which i found kind of surprising

Also if an economics degree has a large quantity of math modules, would it still close off most quant roles?

Ah okay, yes the lack of A-level Further Maths will certainly hold you back from applying to many single and joint honours maths degrees. Most of these courses state that having FM on top of maths is a minimum requirement so it's not even about whether you'd struggle or find it boring, you wouldn't even meet the minimum requirements so it's sorta a non-starter really. FWIW, at good unis, a fair amount of economics is also proof-based haha, worryingly little applied economics in econ degrees.

The Imperial BSc Economics, Finance and Data Science doesn't require FM but needs an A* in maths so that's an issue. Warwick's MORSE requires FM, so nope. UCL's Econ + Stats requires no FM but needs A* in maths so nope. The MORSE courses at Southampton and Lancaster both don't require FM and allow for an A in maths, so they're an option if you like their courses. LSE's BSc data science doesn't need FM and only needs an A in maths, would be a very good option imo, 3A's including maths feels like fairly lenient requirements considering how good LSE is. Exeter is AAA/AAB for data science (no FM), Nottingham has a BSc Data Science that's AAA incl maths. So there's still some options available outside of straight econ.

In terms of Business Analytics undergrad degrees, there's not many on offer, it's more of a MSc subject to specialise in after a more general undergrad degree. However, there are still some options like Exeter (AAA) and Bristol (AAA or A*AB with an A in maths).

For business analytics careers, yes it seems to me that business analytics roles tend to hire from business school subjects (i.e. business, finance, management and econ (shouldn't be business school but whatever)), whilst data science roles tend to hire more from STEM backgrounds so maths, CS, engineering, physics and statistics. So if you're gonna do an econ degree, I'd recommend probably going for business analytics careers than data science, even if they're not that different. Although I've even got friends who did a BSc Economics and are now working in data science so it is possible.

Does a maths heavy econ degree rule out quant roles, it depends on which quant roles you're talking about. But in general, the answer would be yes. It's simply because most quant roles (e.g. some trading, quant research, algo, data science roles) will just state that you need a STEM undergrad/postgrad degree as the minimum requirement, so you can't really say oh I've done a bit more maths than other econ people. Also, even the most mathsy econ courses (e.g. cambridge, LSE, warwick, UCL), they cover nowhere near the quantity and difficulty of maths content as STEM degrees do. Often a fair bit of the maths in an econ degree is just further maths a-level content but in an econ context. This is generally why it's good to do a joint econ and STEM degree if you're wanting to go into a quant field in the future, because you'll pass the basic requirement of having a STEM undergrad background, some quant roles will say that they require a STEM or Econ/Finance undergrad so you'd be fine with those but I would say that's a requirement for a minority of quant roles and it's simply not enough to claim that you can code/program as justification for a lack of a STEM background for entry-level quant roles.

One thing though, if you do an econ degree and then get a good business analytics/data science graduate role, then often they'll look past a non-stem educational background as you'll have the necessary experience, so that's good at least.

Ah okay, yes the lack of A-level Further Maths will certainly hold you back from applying to many single and joint honours maths degrees. Most of these courses state that having FM on top of maths is a minimum requirement so it's not even about whether you'd struggle or find it boring, you wouldn't even meet the minimum requirements so it's sorta a non-starter really. FWIW, at good unis, a fair amount of economics is also proof-based haha, worryingly little applied economics in econ degrees.

The Imperial BSc Economics, Finance and Data Science doesn't require FM but needs an A* in maths so that's an issue. Warwick's MORSE requires FM, so nope. UCL's Econ + Stats requires no FM but needs A* in maths so nope. The MORSE courses at Southampton and Lancaster both don't require FM and allow for an A in maths, so they're an option if you like their courses. LSE's BSc data science doesn't need FM and only needs an A in maths, would be a very good option imo, 3A's including maths feels like fairly lenient requirements considering how good LSE is. Exeter is AAA/AAB for data science (no FM), Nottingham has a BSc Data Science that's AAA incl maths. So there's still some options available outside of straight econ.

In terms of Business Analytics undergrad degrees, there's not many on offer, it's more of a MSc subject to specialise in after a more general undergrad degree. However, there are still some options like Exeter (AAA) and Bristol (AAA or A*AB with an A in maths).

For business analytics careers, yes it seems to me that business analytics roles tend to hire from business school subjects (i.e. business, finance, management and econ (shouldn't be business school but whatever)), whilst data science roles tend to hire more from STEM backgrounds so maths, CS, engineering, physics and statistics. So if you're gonna do an econ degree, I'd recommend probably going for business analytics careers than data science, even if they're not that different. Although I've even got friends who did a BSc Economics and are now working in data science so it is possible.

Does a maths heavy econ degree rule out quant roles, it depends on which quant roles you're talking about. But in general, the answer would be yes. It's simply because most quant roles (e.g. some trading, quant research, algo, data science roles) will just state that you need a STEM undergrad/postgrad degree as the minimum requirement, so you can't really say oh I've done a bit more maths than other econ people. Also, even the most mathsy econ courses (e.g. cambridge, LSE, warwick, UCL), they cover nowhere near the quantity and difficulty of maths content as STEM degrees do. Often a fair bit of the maths in an econ degree is just further maths a-level content but in an econ context. This is generally why it's good to do a joint econ and STEM degree if you're wanting to go into a quant field in the future, because you'll pass the basic requirement of having a STEM undergrad background, some quant roles will say that they require a STEM or Econ/Finance undergrad so you'd be fine with those but I would say that's a requirement for a minority of quant roles and it's simply not enough to claim that you can code/program as justification for a lack of a STEM background for entry-level quant roles.

One thing though, if you do an econ degree and then get a good business analytics/data science graduate role, then often they'll look past a non-stem educational background as you'll have the necessary experience, so that's good at least.

Clearly you know a lot about the finance industry, so wanted to pick your brain on a related subject to the above if I may. For a generalist role in the finance industry e.g. banking, or in management/strategic consulting, do you know if employers prefer a straight economics degree, or economics with/and management e.g. Economics and Management at Bristol, or Economics and Industrial Placement at Warwick? I know they are fussy about the uni you attended, with Oxbridge in the top tier, and Warwick/UCL/LSE in the next tier etc, but not sure if they have a preference regarding straight econ or combined degree?

First things first, I'm a bit confused when you said straight econ degree versus a joint econ&mgmt degree and listed economics and industrial placement at warwick as an example. Did you mean economics and industrial economics at Warwick? Because economics and industrial placement courses are straight econ degrees, just with a year out to work. Or are you saying the econ+management vs straight econ decision is like econ+mgmt at bristol vs econ with industrial placement at warwick?

Secondly, I know it's not your question but I would put LSE in the oxbridge tier rather in the UCL and Warwick tier, personally. Pretty sure LSE sends more poeple into investment banks and MBB consulting than any other UK uni, although there are multiple reasons for this (self-selction, the uni's focus, the location, etc).

Regarding the straight econ vs econ+MGMT main question, for generalist roles, banks and mgmt/strat consulting firms don't tend to care much whether you study english, music, chemistry, law, geography, maths, econ, history, etc, so why do you think they would care whether you do econ or econ+mgmt? Sure, maybe doing econ gives you a very slight advantage in the recruitment process as you know a tiny tiny bit about finance and you don't have to justify why you did X degree subject if you want to go into banking/consulting. But these orgs are really just trying to find the smartest people, hoover them all up, and then offer them the specific job training once they join as a graduate. So no, I doubt they'll have a noticable preference regarding econ vs econ+mgmt from the same unis.