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Interested in PhD economics


Jeremy

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My major is quantitative finance, but I am very interested in macroeconomics and econometrics. I plan to purse a PhD in economics. Because of lack of economics theory training, I think I should go to MA degree first. And I know that MA programs leading to PhD are very limited, and I may not have a good recommendation letter (this is a big drawback). I don't know whether my RA experience in a Asian central bank helps me or not. I list some of my courses for your reference: grades are good

ECON: Introductory Microeconomics, Introductory Marcoeconomics, Game Theory, Intermediate Marcoeconomics

MATH: Calculus and Advanced Calculus (3 courses), Linear Algebra (2 courses), Numerical analysis, Probability theory, Ordinary Differential Equations

I haven't taken any pure analysis courses, such as Real Analysis, but I will take more math courses in the coming year.

STAT: Statistical Inference and Probability (2 course), Stochastic Process, Applied Linear Regression, Time Series

Does anyone help me analyze my situation and give me some advice on grad school selection?

Thanks a lot.

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You need econometrics in order to cover some basics of linear regression, ways of calculating properties of estimators (variance, assymptotic distribution etc). I presume you statistics courses cover this sort of thing (the applied linear course and time series, that is). Might want to clarify that it does in your application, just to avoid confusion.
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So, honestly as long as you pick up intermediate micro, then I don't see a problem with your profile as long as you're looking

 

Bad advice. You need a MSc econ before you apply for PhDs given that you come from Asia. The content of your undergraduate record is irrelevant (and is more than enough in this case - it is obvious that OP has covered the equivalent of multiple undergrad econometrics courses in the US; I don't know what else "Time Series" could mean.). You should also not aim at

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Serious, honest question. Why does a student from Asia need a MSc econ?

 

Yeah, me too since it apparently qualifies my advice as bad.

 

 

Further, Chateau, why is it also bad advice for OP to take intermediate Micro? You really think he has a chance getting into a top 20 school with that sort of gap in theory? I'm legitimately asking because finance isn't my area. Is there some sort of overlap that I'm not aware of?

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People from his country take intermediate micro in high school.

 

Occasionally people from mainland China go straight into American grad schools. Not Hong Kong or Singapore. Their bachelor's degrees (such as quant finance) are not academically oriented, and so many of them are virtually unheard of in American admissions (despite being pretty rigorous degrees), and furthermore they used to be 3-year programs which often made them ineligible. A well-known master's program is needed for signaling.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Occasionally people from mainland China go straight into American grad schools. Not Hong Kong or Singapore. Their bachelor's degrees (such as quant finance) are not academically oriented, and so many of them are virtually unheard of in American admissions (despite being pretty rigorous degrees)... A well-known master's program is needed for signaling.

 

Seconded, albeit with some qualification. Name recognition is a problem; I'm not sure about Hong Kong (I've heard of success stories from HKU) but in the Singaporean case, I haven't heard of anyone going from quant finance to a top-20 economics PhD program without some sort of MSc at LSE in between. (Source: anecdotal evidence from peers/former high school classmates at NUS/SMU)

 

People from his country take intermediate micro in high school.

 

I wish I had that option. In fact, I remember hating introductory micro in high school; in a certain part of Asia, one writes essays giving plausibility arguments for changes in supply and demand for one's A-level economics examination, sans computations or proofs. I'm glad I took econ in college...

Edited by srslee
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Hi, chateauhear! Thank you for your reply. I didn't take any economics courses in high school. I finished my high school in mainland China, and got the full scholarship to study in Hong Kong. Quant finance is a department under business school, and graduates are supposed to find a job after graduation. A few choose to go to graduate school. But I find I am interested in theoretical stuff rather than those taught for job seeking. My math and stat courses are taken with math or stat major students. Do you have any good master programs to recommend? (P.S.: Last year, a graduate for my major got admitted by USCD. But she has 2 recommendation letters from UCB.) BTW, do you think I need to have some academic research experiences? Thank you.
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Thank you for your reply, iamelben. I want to study rigid economic theories in the future. I was told that US schools are good at it. I don't have clear idea about European MRes or MSc. Would you mind giving me some brief introduction? Like, which country, which school? Thank you!
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Bad advice. You need a MSc econ before you apply for PhDs given that you come from Asia. The content of your undergraduate record is irrelevant (and is more than enough in this case - it is obvious that OP has covered the equivalent of multiple undergrad econometrics courses in the US; I don't know what else "Time Series" could mean.). You should also not aim at

For my case, do you think it is more likely to apply for MSc than PhD?

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Like I said, you should apply for a MSc first, perhaps in Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, or Canada. It is very rare to go from a professional education directly into a doctoral program. There are some previous threads on good master's programs in those countries.
Thank you for your advice! What kind of programs should I target on? As far as I know, there are many programs offered by top universities in UK or US etc. But most of them are applied econ degrees, which implies that they are terminal degrees and may not be helpful if graduates want to apply for PhD. Are those programs worth trying? Thank you.
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