NYU CAS Econ Theory vs NYU CAS Econ for PhD in Economics

[Saint]

Hello,

 

Currently I am a sophomore undergraduate at NYU Stern but have decided after some long thought that I want to go into a more serious study of economics and so plan on transferring into CAS this spring. However I am not sure whether to go down the Economic Theory track or through more traditional economic coursework. I hope someone on this forum will be able to point me in the right direction. I have already met and talked with several advisors and professors. Usually the response leans toward Economic Theory but tell me that in terms of placement there is not a large enough difference and that I should follow more towards my interests. In either case I would still compliment the major with a double major in mathematics from Courant. I have read this forum as thoroughly as possible and attempted to search for this information so I apologize if this question has already been answered elsewhere.

 

This is a list of the course descriptions and sequence:

 

NYU > Economics Department > Majors, Minors and Honors

 

NYU > Economics Department > Course Offerings

 

Thank you for any help you can provide me with.

[Guest _nanashi]

I would go through the theory track. I would assume that it is is the same as traditional course work just at a higher level of rigor.

[Harry Lime]

From the link you gave, I would recommend doing the "joint" econ-math major rather than going for a double major. The math looks more than sufficient (Analysis I & II are required) and you wouldn't have to take unrelated math classes such as algebra (which I assume you have to take if you are a full math major.)

[Zeno]

+1 on both of the above comments.

[econslave]

Actually, I wouldn't do either of these things. You should stay in Stern, in my opinion.

 

CAS is the default undergrad school at NYU, and Stern is perceived by most as being much more competitive. Just take the theory courses in economics and lots of math courses and you'll be set to apply to PhD programs. Since you're a sophomore already, you will have taken all of your core courses by the end of the year anyway. Just focus your energy on economics, math, and stats courses during your last two years and get the degree from Stern. I don't think CAS will give you an advantage.

[TA89]

Completely agree with econslave. Stern is much more highly regarded than CAS.

[Harry Lime]

Hey, the Juilliard School is more prestigious than both, maybe transferring there is a good idea.

[Saint]

Actually, I wouldn't do either of these things. You should stay in Stern, in my opinion.

 

CAS is the default undergrad school at NYU, and Stern is perceived by most as being much more competitive. Just take the theory courses in economics and lots of math courses and you'll be set to apply to PhD programs. Since you're a sophomore already, you will have taken all of your core courses by the end of the year anyway. Just focus your energy on economics, math, and stats courses during your last two years and get the degree from Stern. I don't think CAS will give you an advantage.

 

Ideally I would want to stay in Stern and do as you have said. However Stern requires alot of extra business classes (something like 80-90 credits worth). As a result I could take the theory courses but the theory track works differently in Stern. In Stern the mathematic requirements end at Calculus III and Linear Algebra simply because it would be impossible to fit in any more classes due to credit restraints. On the other hand I could try to do Stern Business Economics or Statistics along with a math major but I feel as though these would not be rigorous enough because a Stern major in economics or statistics requires only 3-4 classes. As such it seems to me that transferring to CAS would be my best option. Would it be possible to break into a PhD program with either of these with a math major attached?

 

Stern Economics:

http://www.stern.nyu.edu/UC/CurrentStudents/Academics/MajorsAndMinors/CON_021626

 

Stern Statistics:

http://www.stern.nyu.edu/UC/CurrentStudents/Academics/MajorsAndMinors/CON_021625

Edited September 4, 2010 by Saint

[Harry Lime]

Ideally I would want to stay in Stern and do as you have said. However Stern requires alot of extra business classes (something like 80-90 credits worth).

I assumed something like this was the case. Obviously for someone coming out of undergrad onto the private job market, a degree from Stern is a lot better, but I seriously doubt adcoms are looking at the specific name of the school on your diploma when all of the econ theory and math classes (which is all the coursework they care about) are the same classes taught by the same professors regardless of which school you finished in. So yeah, if you are 100% sure you are going for an econ PhD, 90 unrelated credits are definitely not worth it for a Stern degree in my opinion. In addition, though it may not be too significant in the adcom's mind, the fact that you would leave Stern in order to better prepare for graduate studies shows real commitment.

[Saint]

I have looked into econslave's suggestion about staying in Stern and this is what I came up with. i could double major in Econ and Stats with a math minor in Stern. This would mean I would be taking the following courses.

 

Econ: Microeconomics, Economics of Global Business, Game Theory, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Monetary Policy and the Financial System, Topics in Econometrics.

 

http://www.stern.nyu.edu/UC/CurrentStudents/Academics/MajorsAndMinors/CON_021626

 

Stats: Statistics for Business and Economics with Regression Analysis, Intro to Theory of

Probability, Intro to Stochastic Processes, Forecasting Times Series, Regression and Multivariate Data Analysis

 

http://www.stern.nyu.edu/UC/CurrentStudents/Academics/MajorsAndMinors/CON_021625

 

Math: Calc(I-III), Linear Algebra, Analysis I+II, and I think I could squeeze in Ordinary Differential Equations.

 

I realize this may not be enough for PhD admission but would it be enough to get me into a decent Masters Econ program? Presumably then I could strengthen my application and then jump into the PhD process?

[LAecon]

Saint, you could do a double major econ theory and math while in Stern. I have a friend who is graduating this year and is precisely doing that. By the way, try not to take stats in Stern, you have Courant, one of the best applied math departments in the world, take their Theory of Probability, Mathematical Statistics and CAS's Econometrics (not necessarily in that order), instead of any of those Stern courses. Specially avoid Intro to Stochastic Processes, it is not worth your time.

[Harry Lime]

I realize this may not be enough for PhD admission but would it be enough to get me into a decent Masters Econ program? Presumably then I could strengthen my application and then jump into the PhD process?

This is more than enough for a PhD. If you do well in those classes, don't even think about an MA. The only thing I'd be concerned with is your electives, but I don't know what yours interests are. I assume you don't have much of a choice in terms of selection, but if for instance you are really into development or urban or basically anything other than econometrics, monetary, game theory, or international you wouldn't have much exposure to anything else. Of course if you know these are your interests, you're fine.

 

There really isn't much of a consensus about economics elective classes on this board. Some people view them as irrelevant if they are not graduate classes, some view them as essential. I think different views are reflective to the emphasis one's school places on them. Some schools only require principles as pre-reqs for a lot of electives and thus they may not be very rigorous. At my school intermediate micro and macro are pre-reqs for every elective, and the intermediate classes are really seen as preparation for electives which build on these classes; that is, the electives really define your major. I don't know how it is at NYU though. Anyway I just thought I'd mention that as I have a bias that inclines me to think of economics electives as more important than they might be at your school or for that matter to adcoms.

[Saint]

Saint, you could do a double major econ theory and math while in Stern. I have a friend who is graduating this year and is precisely doing that. By the way, try not to take stats in Stern, you have Courant, one of the best applied math departments in the world, take their Theory of Probability, Mathematical Statistics and CAS's Econometrics (not necessarily in that order), instead of any of those Stern courses. Specially avoid Intro to Stochastic Processes, it is not worth your time.

 

In my case it is a bit more difficult to do so. I can almost double major in econ theory and math while at Stern. I come up short something like 2 or 3 classes on the math side. Now this could be considered irrelevant because I would be missing mostly extraneous classes (i.e. algebra). The reason why I was considering CAS however was because I felt like it would increase my chances. If I stay in Stern and do econ theory with math it would look something like this (might change slightly since i am doing this from memory):

 

Econ: Stern Micro, Economics of Global Business(Stern), Micro(theory), Macro(theory), Mathematics for Economists(Theory), Intro to Econometrics(theory), Plus 2 Stern/CAS electives

 

Math: Stern Stats(w/regression analysis) Calc (I-III),Linear Algebra, Analysis I+II, Theory of Probability, Math Stats, Ordinary Differential Equations.

 

Perhaps I am underestimating myself but looking at other profiles here I feel as though I would be at a disadvantage. Some profiles seem to have significantly more econ/math courses as well as the ability to write a senior thesis which I would not be able to do. Whereas if I were to transfer to CAS I could take more electives, do a thesis and potentially apply with highest honors. As to how econ electives work at NYU, they seem to act as appendages. There are 2-3 "core" classes that act as prereqs for everything else. So I am not sure how much weight to place on them.