Newsletter

If you are a CC senior who intends to register for fewer than 12 credits, then the college requires you to show proof that you are on track to complete your program in the Spring semester. After you register for your courses, you should speak with econ-advising during their office hours. You will show them a completed checklist for your major, as well as a copy of your current transcript. If everything looks good, then they will email your college dean.

The graduate student advisors will hold additional office hours during the advising period. You can discuss with them your major requirements as well as course selection. Their office hours are posted on the Advisors page in the department website. You may also contact them by emailing them at econ-advising@columbia.edu.

Senior Seminar Lottery

If you plan to take a senior seminar in Spring 2025 then you should participate in the seminar lottery. To join the lottery, you must register by November 22 for GU4911 Section 000, ECONOMICS SEMINAR REGISTRATION. If you have a HOLD on your registration and are unable to register for GU4911 by November 22, then you must contact Laura Yan (ly38) by November 22 to let her know. You will be added manually to the Courseworks page for GU 4911 section 0 and will be able to participate in the lottery.

To be eligible to participate in the lottery, you must:

• be a senior
• be a declared major in economics, financial economics and economics-math,
• have completed all of the prerequisites (UN3211, UN3213 and UN3412)
• not currently be taking, or have previously taken an economics senior seminar.

Details about the senior seminar registration procedure can be found on the department Senior Seminar Registration page.  Students who plan to take a seminar this spring must read the posted information, and participate in accordance to the outlined procedures and deadlines.

Students Not Eligible for the Seminar Lottery

If you are not eligible for the lottery (see criteria above), you may still be able to take a senior seminar, provided that you have satisfied all of the seminar pre-requisites. Beginning the second week of classes, qualified students will be allowed to enroll in any open seminar. See the Senior Seminar Registration page for details.

Joint Majors with Political Science, Philosophy and Statistics

In the case of the seminars required of joint majors, the students in these majors (joint majors with political science, philosophy and statistics) have priority registration, and will be contacted directly by Laura Yan.  Students in the said joint majors will not be allowed to register for GU4911 sec 0. Spaces in the Econometrics Seminar remaining after the joint majors have registered may be made available for general registration.

All micro and macro seminars (GU 4911 and GU 4913) in the Spring will fulfill the seminar requirement for the financial economics major. Descriptions of seminars are posted at Senior Seminar Descriptions | Columbia | Economics . Financial economics majors may take any section of GU 4911 or GU 4913 to fulfill their seminar requirement.

Students in the joint majors with political science, philosophy or statistics who are considering graduating in the Fall of 2025 must take their senior seminar this spring. If you are planning on graduating in the Fall of 2025, contact Laura Yan to let her know that you will need to register for the political economy seminar, econ-philosophy or the econometrics seminar. You must have completed all of the seminar prerequisites before taking the seminar this Spring. The seminars for these joint majors will NOT be offered in Fall 2025.

GU4280 Corporate Finance

Students interested in taking Corporate Finance in the spring must sign up for the waitlist for the course. Students will be admitted to the class from the waitlist in December in accordance with the rules posted on the Registration Information page on the department website.

Accounting and Finance

Financial Economics majors may take ECON UN 2261 to fulfill the Accounting requirement of your major. This course does NOT fulfill any elective requirements for other economics programs and may not be taken for credit for any other economics program.

Students in the Financial Economics major also have the option to take either BUSI UN3013 or IEOR E2261 to fulfill the accounting requirement for their major. If you have questions about these accounting courses, please contact BusinessManagement@gsb.columbia.edu at the Business School or the IEOR department.

College Business Courses

Columbia College offers several business oriented courses. The department does not oversee these courses, and does not have any information about them. If you have questions about these courses, you should send an email to BusinessManagement@gsb.columbia.edu in the Business School. Finally, note that you may NOT take these courses for elective credit towards any major in economics other than Financial Economics. Financial economics majors should check their major requirements for details on which courses may be taken for elective credit.

5000 and 6000 Level Courses

Graduate level courses in economics (courses numbered 5000 and above) are closed to online registration to undergraduates. All 5000 level courses are limited to Masters students only. Undergraduates wishing to take a 6000 level class must receive approval from both the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Director of Graduate Studies. Since the first year PhD courses are year-long courses, students may only begin these courses in the Fall semester.

All Spring Elective Courses

The table below lists the pre-requisites of the elective courses offered this Spring. The two columns labeled “Fin Ec Elective” and “Econ-Phil Elective” indicate which electives may be taken to fulfill major requirements in that joint major (see your checklist or the bulletin for more information).

* These courses are co-requisites. A co-requisite may be taken prior to or concurrently with the class.

The department limits the number of courses that students may take outside of the Columbia Economics Department.

• All majors and joint majors must take a minimum of 5 lecture courses in the Columbia Department of Economics. ECON UN3025 and ECON UN3265 will be considered Columbia department electives regardless of the instructor. Concentrators must take a minimum of 4 lecture courses in the Columbia department.
• The remaining credits for economics lecture courses may come from AP, Barnard elective courses (2000 or 3000 level), and transfer credits (either taken before registering at Columbia or study abroad).
• Students must take their senior seminar in the Columbia Department of Economics.
• The department does not have restrictions on the number of non-economics courses taken outside Columbia to fulfill major requirements. For example, a student who has AP or transfer credits for Calculus-I will be able to take the same number of economics courses outside the department as a student who does not have such credits.
• Note that in the case of joint majors, courses taken to fulfill the requirements of the affiliated department are subject to the rules of that department. For example, a joint major with political science must check with the Political Science department on whether or not a particular class taken outside of Columbia is acceptable for the joint major.

All students who are planning on studying OUTSIDE of Columbia University in the spring must see Sunil Gulati during the fall semester to get preliminary approval for any economics courses that they are planning on taking at another institution.  Please see the Transfer Credit Info page on the departmental website for more information regarding the transfer credits that the department will accept. Note that you must also speak with your school adviser about taking courses at another institution.

Students interested in working with a faculty member should read the Opportunities page on the department website. In January the list of researchers looking for assistants will be posted on the wiki page, Econ Info for Students. There is no November registration for these research positions. See the Registration Information page for more details.

Undergraduate TAs receive $2,076 per semester. Undergraduate TAs have many of the same responsibilities as the graduate TAs in the department. In late December a list of TA available TA positions will be posted on the WIKI page, Econ Info for Students.