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econtennis · 2009 July 2nd, 08:08 AM

Type of Undergrad: Small LAC, Economics and History Major

Undergrad GPA: 3.7 overall, 3.84 in economics

GRE: 780Q, 550V, 5.0A

Math Courses:

-taken at small community college - (Calc II (A), Linear Algebra (A),

-taken at large private top 25 econ - Calc III (B), Differential Equations (B+), Probability with Stochastic Processes (A-)

-taken at small LAC - Econ Stats (A)

Econ Courses: Int Micro (A-), Economics and the Law (A), Urban and Regional Economics (A-), Managerial Economics (B+), Social Issues Public Policy (A), Economic History (A), Econometrics (A-), Economics of Sports (A-), Int Macro (A)

-Also have a senior thesis focused on the environmental regulation and policy, which is what I want my research to focus on.

Letters of Recommendation: 1 BC, 1 Yale, not very well known but should be good letters.

Research Experience: None.

Teaching Experience: None.

I'm currently looking into NC State, U Wisc Madison, UCSB, U Colorado Boulder, UCSD, BC, Johns Hopkins, Clemson, U Delaware, U Florida, Florida State, and Maryland. Any thoughts, suggestions, questions, or random doodling's are more than welcome.

Cheers!

NB888 · 2009 July 2nd, 10:27 AM

I don't have a feel for what tier you should aim for. As you seem to be someone who already has an idea what they want to research, you might put your emphasis on places that are a good fit for that topic, rather than aiming for a high ranking on a ranking table that is supposed to capture all topics.

The UC-Santa Barbara department has entire economics department graduate courses in environmental issues and natural resources. They have numerous professors, both in economics and the natural sciences, who research about environmental issues and natural resources. Some of the econ graduate students focus on that stuff, so you won't be the only one who is interested in it. I think there was a case where a graduate student there taught their undergraduate course about environmental economics. They have the Economics and Environmental Science program, and the Bren school. "Environmental and Natural Resources" is one of the fields offered in the econ Ph.D. program. UCSB would be worth a closer look.

At the risk of sounding like a brochure for UC-Santa Barbara:

Should you at some point decide that a Ph.D. in economics is too mathematical/theoretical, or in some other way, not your cup of tea, UC-Santa Barbara also has Ph.D. and master's programs in Environmental Science and Management. Their mathematical requirements are lower. That program has economics courses within it that are less theoretical than what the econ department does, and specifically designed for environmental regulation and policy issues. People in that program don't have to do the Ph.D. sequence in macro, micro or econometrics. They just cut straight to the environmental and natural resource stuff.

econtennis · 2009 July 2nd, 01:21 PM

Thanks for the response NB888. I'll definitely take a closer look at UCSB, were you implying, (and completely ok if you were), the my current mathematical background wouldn't be enough to get me into or handle the mathematical rigorous and an Econ PHD program?

Cheers.

NB888 · 2009 July 2nd, 01:46 PM

I'm not sure how much math is really needed, as a minimum, for those programs. I've only read 1 chapter of a Ph.D. level micro textbook, the same one they assign in the first Ph.D. course at UCSB. I believe that it would be more difficult for those who haven't done real analysis or practiced writing proofs than for those who have. The textbook has an appendix covering all the math you need. And, these Ph.D. programs often have a "math camp" that will make you do basic practice in that stuff. Sometimes the math you need is built into the courses also. At UCSB, the first Ph.D. micro course problem sets include the math problems from that appendix. I have no experience with doing econ Ph.D. programs, so I'm in no more informed a position than you. I know of students who were offered admission to econ Ph.D. programs without having more math than you have listed above, so I wouldn't conclude that more is necessary.

informer · 2009 July 2nd, 02:16 PM

You might also consider the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. I have no idea how hard it is to get in there (surely it requires less math than the straight Econ PhD), but I do know that Forestry students are allowed to take Econ PhD classes if that's what they want to do.

Will you be able to handle these courses without real analysis? I think the answer is yes-- if you would have been able to handle them with real analysis. People on this board emphasize the importance of RA as an admissions signal, and they're probably right, but I'm not sure you actually need much RA once you arrive at a program, at least not for the core courses. I just finished my first year (passed comps!), and it was quite hard. But almost none of that difficulty was attributable to challenging concepts from RA. In fact, if you can do the rest of the stuff, it should be pretty easy to pick up the limited RA you need as you go along.

AREStudentHopeful · 2009 July 2nd, 02:30 PM

You also may want to take a look at some agricultural and resource economics programs. That's commonly where the env. econ stuff is housed. Maryland's ARE department (going from your list) would be good for this. Also Boulder, UCSB, UCSD and NC State are all good spots as well. I would say that Maryland and UCSD would definitely be your reach schools however. Not to say that you couldn't get in (I've given up trying to understand adcoms), but those are both around top 20 schools (ish).

applicant12 · 2009 July 2nd, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AREStudentHopeful

You also may want to take a look at some agricultural and resource economics programs. That's commonly where the env. econ stuff is housed. Maryland's ARE department (going from your list) would be good for this. Also Boulder, UCSB, UCSD and NC State are all good spots as well. I would say that Maryland and UCSD would definitely be your reach schools however. Not to say that you couldn't get in (I've given up trying to understand adcoms), but those are both around top 20 schools (ish).

I don't know. Maryland and UCSD are in the top 20.. do you need more math for those schools?

@econtennis: I think you may wanna take more math, maybe real analysis will boost your chance of being admitted.

AREStudentHopeful · 2009 July 2nd, 05:31 PM

I think it's definitely possible to make it into those schools with the math he has. Real analysis would help, but other things might help more. For example taking a micro PhD course or RAing for one of his/her professors.

econtennis · 2009 July 2nd, 07:38 PM

Thanks again for the responses, this may seem a but naive, but what are the major difference between agricultural and resource economics programs and regular old economics phd programs?

Thanks again!

AREStudentHopeful · 2009 July 5th, 03:18 PM

They're a sub-field of economics that focuses on agricultural, natural resource, environmental and sometimes developmental economics. They're often easier to get into (with possibly the exceptions of Cal, UMD and UC Davis) and if you're sure of your goals, it's a good opportunity to get a tailored education for your field.

2009 July 2nd, 08:08 AM	#1 (permalink)
econtennis I JUST got here. Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4	What tier of schools should I aim for? top 50 possible? Thanks! Type of Undergrad: Small LAC, Economics and History Major Undergrad GPA: 3.7 overall, 3.84 in economics GRE: 780Q, 550V, 5.0A Math Courses: -taken at small community college - (Calc II (A), Linear Algebra (A), -taken at large private top 25 econ - Calc III (B), Differential Equations (B+), Probability with Stochastic Processes (A-) -taken at small LAC - Econ Stats (A) Econ Courses: Int Micro (A-), Economics and the Law (A), Urban and Regional Economics (A-), Managerial Economics (B+), Social Issues Public Policy (A), Economic History (A), Econometrics (A-), Economics of Sports (A-), Int Macro (A) -Also have a senior thesis focused on the environmental regulation and policy, which is what I want my research to focus on. Letters of Recommendation: 1 BC, 1 Yale, not very well known but should be good letters. Research Experience: None. Teaching Experience: None. I'm currently looking into NC State, U Wisc Madison, UCSB, U Colorado Boulder, UCSD, BC, Johns Hopkins, Clemson, U Delaware, U Florida, Florida State, and Maryland. Any thoughts, suggestions, questions, or random doodling's are more than welcome. Cheers!

2009 July 2nd, 02:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
AREStudentHopeful Attending CSU Masters Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: CO, USA Posts: 687	You also may want to take a look at some agricultural and resource economics programs. That's commonly where the env. econ stuff is housed. Maryland's ARE department (going from your list) would be good for this. Also Boulder, UCSB, UCSD and NC State are all good spots as well. I would say that Maryland and UCSD would definitely be your reach schools however. Not to say that you couldn't get in (I've given up trying to understand adcoms), but those are both around top 20 schools (ish). _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ Colorado State ARE

2009 July 2nd, 05:31 PM	#8 (permalink)
AREStudentHopeful Attending CSU Masters Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: CO, USA Posts: 687	I think it's definitely possible to make it into those schools with the math he has. Real analysis would help, but other things might help more. For example taking a micro PhD course or RAing for one of his/her professors. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ Colorado State ARE

2009 July 5th, 03:18 PM	#10 (permalink)
AREStudentHopeful Attending CSU Masters Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: CO, USA Posts: 687	They're a sub-field of economics that focuses on agricultural, natural resource, environmental and sometimes developmental economics. They're often easier to get into (with possibly the exceptions of Cal, UMD and UC Davis) and if you're sure of your goals, it's a good opportunity to get a tailored education for your field. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ Colorado State ARE

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2009 July 2nd, 10:27 AM	#2 (permalink)
NB888 Within my grasp! Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 108	I don't have a feel for what tier you should aim for. As you seem to be someone who already has an idea what they want to research, you might put your emphasis on places that are a good fit for that topic, rather than aiming for a high ranking on a ranking table that is supposed to capture all topics. The UC-Santa Barbara department has entire economics department graduate courses in environmental issues and natural resources. They have numerous professors, both in economics and the natural sciences, who research about environmental issues and natural resources. Some of the econ graduate students focus on that stuff, so you won't be the only one who is interested in it. I think there was a case where a graduate student there taught their undergraduate course about environmental economics. They have the Economics and Environmental Science program, and the Bren school. "Environmental and Natural Resources" is one of the fields offered in the econ Ph.D. program. UCSB would be worth a closer look. At the risk of sounding like a brochure for UC-Santa Barbara: Should you at some point decide that a Ph.D. in economics is too mathematical/theoretical, or in some other way, not your cup of tea, UC-Santa Barbara also has Ph.D. and master's programs in Environmental Science and Management. Their mathematical requirements are lower. That program has economics courses within it that are less theoretical than what the econ department does, and specifically designed for environmental regulation and policy issues. People in that program don't have to do the Ph.D. sequence in macro, micro or econometrics. They just cut straight to the environmental and natural resource stuff.

2009 July 2nd, 01:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
econtennis I JUST got here. Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4	Thanks for the response NB888. I'll definitely take a closer look at UCSB, were you implying, (and completely ok if you were), the my current mathematical background wouldn't be enough to get me into or handle the mathematical rigorous and an Econ PHD program? Cheers.

2009 July 2nd, 01:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
NB888 Within my grasp! Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 108	I'm not sure how much math is really needed, as a minimum, for those programs. I've only read 1 chapter of a Ph.D. level micro textbook, the same one they assign in the first Ph.D. course at UCSB. I believe that it would be more difficult for those who haven't done real analysis or practiced writing proofs than for those who have. The textbook has an appendix covering all the math you need. And, these Ph.D. programs often have a "math camp" that will make you do basic practice in that stuff. Sometimes the math you need is built into the courses also. At UCSB, the first Ph.D. micro course problem sets include the math problems from that appendix. I have no experience with doing econ Ph.D. programs, so I'm in no more informed a position than you. I know of students who were offered admission to econ Ph.D. programs without having more math than you have listed above, so I wouldn't conclude that more is necessary.

2009 July 2nd, 02:16 PM	#5 (permalink)
informer Eager! Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 32	You might also consider the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. I have no idea how hard it is to get in there (surely it requires less math than the straight Econ PhD), but I do know that Forestry students are allowed to take Econ PhD classes if that's what they want to do. Will you be able to handle these courses without real analysis? I think the answer is yes-- if you would have been able to handle them with real analysis. People on this board emphasize the importance of RA as an admissions signal, and they're probably right, but I'm not sure you actually need much RA once you arrive at a program, at least not for the core courses. I just finished my first year (passed comps!), and it was quite hard. But almost none of that difficulty was attributable to challenging concepts from RA. In fact, if you can do the rest of the stuff, it should be pretty easy to pick up the limited RA you need as you go along.

2009 July 2nd, 07:38 PM	#9 (permalink)
econtennis I JUST got here. Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4	Thanks again for the responses, this may seem a but naive, but what are the major difference between agricultural and resource economics programs and regular old economics phd programs? Thanks again!

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