Can I take some prerequite courses at some community colleges...?

[coldsun]

Hi guys,

I applied to PhD finance last year and of because, got all rejections After I read a number of posts in this forum, I found out I probably lacked some prerequite courses such as Cal I, II, III, Advanced Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential equations, ....I am going to take these courses at some community college because it's cheaper than taking courses at my previous university. Do you think if there is any big difference if you have math courses at a college rather a university? Another question is the courses I mention above are an INDISPENSIBLE courses for admission? Is there any university which does not care about those courses if I have a quantitative GRE of 800, for example, to show my math ability. I took my undergraduate in foreign trade economics, but that curriculum was so general that now I cannot figure out which I majored... In short, I lacked many math courses. An MBA didn't help me much either.

I would appreciate if you guys can advise me which necessary courses I need to take (all univs need them???) and if I can take those courses at community colleges (in Texas, for example).

Thanks in advance

[zshfryoh1]

Calc I, II , III and lin alg are all absolutely necessary for any decent finance PhD. You will also need a stats course that covered the basics of probability distributions, linear regressions and hypothesis testing. ODE's and PDE's are extremely useful, but are not a necessity for schools outside the top 20-30. Adv Calc or Real Analysis are also very useful but are not necessary for schools outside the top 10, though without it you would have a hard time getting an admit at a top 20.

You could take the courses at a community college. However, while at a 4 year school you can get away with B's and still get a middle tier (50ish) type admit and sometimes even better, but if you take them at a community college you will need A/A- no matter where you end up because the courses are often perceived to be graded easier. You would be better off taking the courses at a 4 year public college rather than a 2 year CC and the cost should not be much higher.

Sometimes a very low ranked finance PhD will take someone with less math if they have a high GRE or GMAT, but even then you will absolutely need Calc I, II and a stats course and you will have a lot of trouble with first year econometrics if you don't have linear algebra.

[coldsun]

Originally Posted by zshfryoh1

Calc I, II , III and lin alg are all absolutely necessary for any decent finance PhD. You will also need a stats course that covered the basics of probability distributions, linear regressions and hypothesis testing. ODE's and PDE's are extremely useful, but are not a necessity for schools outside the top 20-30. Adv Calc or Real Analysis are also very useful but are not necessary for schools outside the top 10, though without it you would have a hard time getting an admit at a top 20.

You could take the courses at a community college. However, while at a 4 year school you can get away with B's and still get a middle tier (50ish) type admit and sometimes even better, but if you take them at a community college you will need A/A- no matter where you end up because the courses are often perceived to be graded easier. You would be better off taking the courses at a 4 year public college rather than a 2 year CC and the cost should not be much higher.

Sometimes a very low ranked finance PhD will take someone with less math if they have a high GRE or GMAT, but even then you will absolutely need Calc I, II and a stats course and you will have a lot of trouble with first year econometrics if you don't have linear algebra.

Thanks, zshfryoh1, for your detailed reply. Now I know for sure why I got all rejections. I need to work on more math courses. Btw, are u a PhD candidate? I am amazed at what you know. Uhm...I have to rush to apply to college in the spring or else I will miss another year..