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How bad off are you if you didn't take real analysis freshman year?


KFE1998

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Is it really that bad to be a year behind the rest of the pack, or is being behind a year because of mismatches in past experience and university course offerings excusable or at least negligible by the end of undergraduate? That is, am I already too far behind?
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Is it really that bad to be a year behind the rest of the pack, or is being behind a year because of mismatches in past experience and university course offerings excusable or at least negligible by the end of undergraduate? That is, am I already too far behind?

 

Most people take real analysis sometime in their second or third year. As long as you complete the basic math requirements (multivariable calc, linear algebra, stats, possibly real analysis at the higher ranked school), you'll be fine.

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I miss troll profile evals, too.

 

Type of Undergrad: Princeton

Undergrad GPA: 5.23/4.00

Type of Grad: PhD Math

Grad GPA: 2139.04/4.00

GRE: 170Q 170V 6.0AWA

Math Courses: Calc I-III (A,A,A), ODE (A), Measure Theory (A), Abstract Algebra (A), PhD Real Analysis (A), PhD Measure Theory (A), a few other PhD courses (all A's)

Econ Courses (grad-level): all of the first year courses, plus qualifying exams (passed)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Introductory Micro (A), Intermediate Micro (A)

Other Courses: Intro to Botany (A)

Letters of Recommendation: One from John Nash (should be good), another from Paul Krugman (he really really likes me. I helped him write his latest book.), and the last from Janet Yellen.

Research Experience: Two papers in Econometrica

Teaching Experience: TA PhD micro (4 semesters)

Research Interests: not sure

SOP: not written

Concerns: weak profile, lack of good letters

Other:

Applying to: University of Hawaii, idk where else.

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I miss troll profile evals, too.

 

Type of Undergrad: Princeton

Undergrad GPA: 5.23/4.00

Type of Grad: PhD Math

Grad GPA: 2139.04/4.00

GRE: 170Q 170V 6.0AWA

Math Courses: Calc I-III (A,A,A), ODE (A), Measure Theory (A), Abstract Algebra (A), PhD Real Analysis (A), PhD Measure Theory (A), a few other PhD courses (all A's)

Econ Courses (grad-level): all of the first year courses, plus qualifying exams (passed)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Introductory Micro (A), Intermediate Micro (A)

Other Courses: Intro to Botany (A)

Letters of Recommendation: One from John Nash (should be good), another from Paul Krugman (he really really likes me. I helped him write his latest book.), and the last from Janet Yellen.

Research Experience: Two papers in Econometrica

Teaching Experience: TA PhD micro (4 semesters)

Research Interests: not sure

SOP: not written

Concerns: weak profile, lack of good letters

Other:

Applying to: University of Hawaii, idk where else.

 

 

Joke is on him. LoR from Krugman is not really a plus

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You should have taken real analysis as a sophomore in high school. It's Grad/PhD Analysis that you take as freshman. That way you can have the groundwork to be able to publish in econometrica as a junior. Without those things, your chances are dubious at best.

 

 

In a case where this is not a troll, OP you can take RA as a junior or fall of senior year in some cases. Don't freak out or worry to much

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Probably best to save the politics for another forum, I think.

 

I do agree, but sometimes it is relevant for admissions. The big-wigs who write in the national newspapers are not really going to make the best letter writers for various ideological, academic, and professional reasons.

 

Krugman is a polarizing figure and a letter from someone like him or Jeff Sachs is going to be viewed negatively by a lot of people (I believe the joke about a letter from Krugman is something about his assistant writing it...). It's a risk applicants should only take with great caution.

 

Many students won't even have the chance to get close to someone like that but your letter writer's network and ideological leanings should be something you are aware of. It's a small academic community and with Twitter and Blogs and what-not, there are many professors who are closing certain doors for themselves and their students... perhaps in order to open other doors.

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I do agree, but sometimes it is relevant for admissions. The big-wigs who write in the national newspapers are not really going to make the best letter writers for various ideological, academic, and professional reasons.

 

Krugman is a polarizing figure and a letter from someone like him or Jeff Sachs is going to be viewed negatively by a lot of people (I believe the joke about a letter from Krugman is something about his assistant writing it...). It's a risk applicants should only take with great caution.

 

Many students won't even have the chance to get close to someone like that but your letter writer's network and ideological leanings should be something you are aware of. It's a small academic community and with Twitter and Blogs and what-not, there are many professors who are closing certain doors for themselves and their students... perhaps in order to open other doors.

 

Sure. I was actually referring to the post immediately preceding mine.

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I think Paul Krugman jokes can be made without descending into a political debate, mainly because he is so easily made into a caricature.

 

One of my favorite Paul Krugman memes is of him as a weatherman pointing to a large storm, saying, "And as you can see here, we have some lovely stimulus coming in from the southeast."

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I do agree, but sometimes it is relevant for admissions. The big-wigs who write in the national newspapers are not really going to make the best letter writers for various ideological, academic, and professional reasons.

 

Krugman is a polarizing figure and a letter from someone like him or Jeff Sachs is going to be viewed negatively by a lot of people (I believe the joke about a letter from Krugman is something about his assistant writing it...). It's a risk applicants should only take with great caution.

 

Many students won't even have the chance to get close to someone like that but your letter writer's network and ideological leanings should be something you are aware of. It's a small academic community and with Twitter and Blogs and what-not, there are many professors who are closing certain doors for themselves and their students... perhaps in order to open other doors.

 

I don't know about this. Do Krugman's ideological views really affect his ability to assess an RA? I should think professors, assuming their objective function is to optimize their class of incoming students, would be broad-minded enough to see beyond that.

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I don't know about this. Do Krugman's ideological views really affect his ability to assess an RA? I should think professors, assuming their objective function is to optimize their class of incoming students, would be broad-minded enough to see beyond that.

 

I believe that professors can set aside their personal feelings about as well as I believe that everyone can just get along at family gatherings. I can think of a handful of professors that don't "do the right thing," hold vendettas (against students and colleagues), or otherwise act like a **** just because they can. Or, when their career is involved: I have heard many complaints (perhaps stories is a better word) from a wide range of professors across the "famous spectrum" whom have conplained that their work has been rejected by journals because the work in question is in direct conflict with those deciding whether to accept the work or not for publication.

 

Professors are human too. I would only expect someone (whom we are speaking of as being influenced to act poorly) to put aside their personal differences (if they really despised a particular letter writer) if the applicant was either (1) truly outstanding or (2) came with a check from the NSF or other institution.

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I don't know about this. Do Krugman's ideological views really affect his ability to assess an RA? I should think professors, assuming their objective function is to optimize their class of incoming students, would be broad-minded enough to see beyond that.

 

Yup, many people believe he is fundamentally misguided about the way the world does/should work and therefore distrust everything he says. He may assess an RA fairly on his terms but others will dismiss his thoughts.

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I give Krugman some credit for making the unconventional move from Princeton to CUNY. That shows a real dedication to inequality issues, and I think it will give a whole different class of students exposure to world class ideas and produce some really interesting economists. With that in mind, I think we shouldn't discount applicants with recs from Krugman as it could take on a degree of classism because we wouldn't be discounting Princeton students, we would be discounting CUNY students, especially undergrads, who may have overcome some significant obstacles to get to their UG econ department and gain a rec from a world class economist.
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I give Krugman some credit for making the unconventional move from Princeton to CUNY. That shows a real dedication to inequality issues, and I think it will give a whole different class of students exposure to world class ideas and produce some really interesting economists. With that in mind, I think we shouldn't discount applicants with recs from Krugman as it could take on a degree of classism because we wouldn't be discounting Princeton students, we would be discounting CUNY students, especially undergrads, who may have overcome some significant obstacles to get to their UG econ department and gain a rec from a world class economist.

 

If you want to see it that way, be my guest, but I'd suggest you be a little more skeptical of the reasons for the move; basically, as an economist you should always think "incentives matter" before assuming pure altruism.

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