Recruited athletes are more likely to concentrate in economics than the rest of the student body, according to data from The Herald’s First-Year Poll. Poll data found that about 17% of recruited athletes in the class of 2029 plan to concentrate in economics, compared to 6% overall.
Alex Poterack, vice director of undergraduate studies for economics, said he suspected that the higher proportion of athletes in economics is likely due to the concentration’s more flexible lecture-based courses, which better accommodate travel, games and practices.
Most people assume that all athletes studying economics intend to use their degrees to pursue careers in finance, according to Poterack. But while some student-athletes in economics do “fit that description,” many others have diverse interests and hope to pursue a variety of career paths, he said.
Track and field and cross country athlete Veronica Ambrosionek ’27 often finds herself surrounded by athletes, including her teammates, in her economics classes. But she attributed this to the team-oriented nature of the concentration.
The concentration “teaches you teamwork, (and) it teaches you time management,” she said. “It’s great to be surrounded by people who have similar passions.”
Ambrosionek chose to study applied math-economics because she wanted to work in finance or a finance-adjacent field.
But not all athlete concentrators have similar aspirations. Matt Doherty ’27, a runner on the cross country and track and field teams, said he was drawn to the applied math-economics concentration for its practical applications and analytical aspects.
When he arrived at Brown, Doherty initially considered studying psychology. But many of his friends were taking ECON 0110: “Principles of Economics,” so he registered for the course and was immediately fascinated by how economics can be applied to everyday life.
For students who are uncertain of what they want to study — like Doherty initially was — peers can play a role in that decision, he said. This is further magnified on a team where older teammates studying economics can offer “guidance that attracts more and more (student-athletes)” to the concentration.
Economics professors also accommodate travel for competitions, Doherty said, noting that when classes have aligned with one of his races, professors have outlined alternative options that work with his schedule.
Often, professors even preemptively adjust their course schedules to accommodate competitions, Poterack said.
When the economics department designs the schedule for the semester, they schedule courses in a variety of timeslots “to ensure that we have the required core courses available in timeslots that don’t preclude student athletes from going to practices,” wrote Kareen Rozen, economics department chair, in an email to The Herald.
Doherty doesn’t know what career he will pursue after graduation. But he’s confident, he said, that “economics is needed everywhere.”
Economics “is such a useful major,” he said. “Every single company needs (economics) in some way, shape or form to succeed.”
