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Originally Posted by snappythecrab
as far as being able to pick up mathematics when you're in grad school...I don't know how anybody can do it, or do it well. in grad school, you're pretty much expected to learn more than you can really handle - I figure we cover 6-8 chapters a week. that's a struggle in and of itself without trying to pick up a course like RA, which makes even some of the best math majors squirm. Get it done ASAP.
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This is absolutely true. I'll add that in an econ PhD program, math is supposed to be a tool -- something that helps explain and organize economic concepts. But if you aren't comfortable with the math before starting the program, then your first year classes become about the math more than the economics. It turns something that's already difficult into a very frustrating experience where you're struggling to keep up and not developing strong intuition for the foundational material of the field.
There are some people who do fine in their PhD without ever having written a proof before graduate school. But for most, it's a lot easier to really get a handle on the material -- to learn it in a solid enough way that it becomes the basis for your own future research -- if you speak the "language" in which it is being taught.