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Originally Posted by bheld
Right now I'm a junior high math teacher. I've been out of school for about a year now and got my degree in education with a business minor.
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Which economic classes have you taken? What were your grades in them?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bheld
I'm taking the GRE next month which I'm expecting to do well on. I'm good with standardized tests and assuming I get a very good score, what are my options going to be as far as getting into a decent program?
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Definitely do well on the Quant part of the GRE. If you do poorly on the QGRE, many programs will not take you seriously. However, you must understand that a solid QGRE score is a neccessary condition for admission, but it is far from a sufficient condition. I'm sure many people with an 800 get turned down because the rest of their profile is lacking.
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Originally Posted by bheld
My career goals lie in academia or the public sector. I'm not really interested in working in the corporate world, so if that's my only option I might have to look into what else I can do for the rest of my life.
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There are definitely plenty of opportunities in academia and the public sector. Furthermore, if you're interested in working for think tanks, non-profits, or international organizations, then there are additional opportunities. The attractiveness of career opportunities however are related to where your PhD is from. That's not to say that it's impossible to get great jobs coming from low ranked schools, just that it's much easier to land great jobs coming from higher ranked programs. As a general rule, the higher ranked the program the more doors you will open.
In regards to academia, even the lowest ranked programs tend to place most of their graduates in academia. If you'd be happy teaching economics at relatively unknown colleges and universities, with high teaching loads, and don't mind having little control over location, then you can definitely find an academic job if you receive a PhD.
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Originally Posted by bheld
I've already started contacting some offices to see if I can help out with some research but haven't heard anything on that front yet. Does anybody have any advice in that area? I'm assuming research experience would be a big boost to an otherwise weak application file.
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Research experience will help. However, just like the QGRE it's generally to compliment an otherwise solid profile. Unless you do some great economic research (which is nearly impossible without a PhD, and even very difficult with a PhD), don't expect it to make a huge difference.
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Originally Posted by bheld
I'm also wondering if I could take something like the Math GRE to show that I can handle the upper-level math, since many admissions boards might be wary of a transcript that stops at linear algebra with otherwise basic courses like stats and finite math.
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A good score on the Math GRE would definitely help a lot. However, I'm under the impression that the Math GRE is incredibly difficult. Even Math majors with superb grades struggle with that test. This shouldn't be suprising considering that the Math GRE is used to tell math addmissions commitees how qualified one is to pursue math at the grad school level.
Additional Comments/Advice:
In my opinion, you have a few main options.
1. Apply to low ranked PhD programs. I believe some of them may be willing to accept you with your current profile. However, you will likely not get fundking. Furthermore, surviving the first year and passing prelims may be very difficult given you've been out of school for awhile and have probably not been exposed to a lot of the economics and math that most 1st year students come in with.
2. Take classes as an undergrad/postbac for a while. If you're willing to go full time, you could probably knock out most (maybe even all) of the important courses within 1 year. If you are a part time student obviously it will take a little longer (potentially 2 or 3 years). The most useful classes will be in economics and math (and you will have to receive solid grades in these courses, meaning mostly A's). Important economics classes would be advanced micro (or maybe even grad micro), econometrics, potentially game theory, potentially advanced or grad macro. A good rule of thumb is to take the most quantitatively rigorous economics courses. Important math classes would be matrix algebra, multi-variable calculus, probability, stats, and real analysis. Once again, which classes you take will also be determined by how highly ranked the schools you're shooting for are. If you're happy at some lower ranked programs, you can probably skip some of the courses I've mentioned (however, even at lower ranked schools, it'd still be highly beneficial to have seen the material).
3. Enter an MA program in economics and take the undergrad math courses listed above in your free time. Once again, it's important to do well in these courses.
4. You also could just get an MA in economics and hit the job market. This would allow various government jobs. You could also be a lecturer at many colleges and universities with a masters, as well as a professor at the community college level. Jobs for think tanks and non-profits are also probably available to someone with an MA in economics.