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Old 05-21-2008, 12:39 AM   #17 (permalink)
wcd123
Eager!
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 33
wcd123 just joined TestMagic.
This question should be broken down a bit more.

If you have an opportunity to take a field course from someone who is actively publishing in top journals in that field, then taking that course can be incredibly useful for a number of reasons. First, it may lead to an RA position or a letter of recommendation from that professor. Second, it will introduce you to the frontier of research in that field, which may help you gauge your future interest in studying in that area. Third, if you are interested in specializing in the field, then learning how the productive researcher approaches important questions and critiques journal articles can really improve your ability to do research and understand what important issues a good paper must address. All of these are factors that you may not get from the marginal math class (beyond what is really required).

If you do not have access to field courses from an active publisher, the payoff associated with each of the incentives listed above is greatly diminished. In that case, expanding your math background is always the best option.
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