Some undergrad/post-grad options...help SVP

[dmunson98]

So I am currently in the Honours Econ program at McGill (technically joint honours) and, due to some financial and logistical considerations, I have a long-term decision I need to make within the next few months about what I want to do at the end of the 2018-2019 academic year. I am going to talk to my advisors about this too, but I thought I would put it out here and see what you guys think. Note that my long term goal is to pursue a PhD in econ. My current GPA in my econ program is 4.0, and while I will hopefully be able to maintain that, it might drop a bit if I get an A- at some point (obviously). So here are my options.

 

1. Stay a 4th year in undergrad. I can technically graduate in 3 years from McGill; if I do, my math background will be: 4 semesters of calc, 2 semesters of statistics, 1 semester of ODE, 1 semester of real analysis, 1 semester of linalg (plus 2 semesters of honours metrics, which I figure is basically a math course in itself; I may also be able to squeeze a math minor out of this, which would be great). Staying a 4th year would really just let me add a few more math courses and maybe take a 2nd or 3rd grad level econ course (I already will probably be taking one if I do three years). The downside is, obviously, paying for an extra year of school (which while not much by US standards is still not nothing since I'm an international student)

 

2. Get a masters in econ from a Canadian or English uni. Obviously I would still be paying for another year of school, but I am much more likely to get funding as a masters student (at least I know McGill gives their masters students TA positions sometimes, and I would probably be applying to McGill as one of these programs).

 

3. Get a masters in statistics at a Candian uni. I like this option because, at Canadian unis, math masters are usually partially or fully funded, and I really do enjoy statistics and think it would allow me to beef up my math profile at a lower cost than staying an extra year in undergrad. The only downside is I may have to go to a slightly lower-tier school for this degree, such as McMaster University or the University of Alberta, though I am hoping my connections at McGill might allow me to slide into their program as well.

 

So tell me what you guys think. They are obviously none of them horrible options, I just have no idea which one will be best for me financially and in terms of setting me up for a good PhD admissions profile!

[Zilch]

1) There dont seem to be many advantages in staying an extra year if all you can get done is a little more coursework. Your grades and classes even without this are fine.

 

2) You will get into the McGill masters without a doubt and probably with near full funding if you maintain your 4.0 . I'm not sure if you would get full funding in the other canadian schools like UofT and UBC though.

 

3) I know someone who recently got into UBC statistics after undergrad econ McGill as an international. He received almost full funding as well. You could probably follow the same path but I'm not really a big fan of this route since you would be spending 2 years on a masters in a different field. I dont think you would get into the McGill Math masters since they dont have as much resources as the other big canadian schools and so the spots for international masters students are extremely competitive (think of near 4.0's in the honours probability and stats program as mcgill ).

 

Of all the options I would suggest a masters in Econ since you're very likely to get full funding there from several schools with your grades.

[dmunson98]

1) There dont seem to be many advantages in staying an extra year if all you can get done is a little more coursework. Your grades and classes even without this are fine.

 

Just a little update–I am looking at probably getting an A- or B+ in my 2-semester macro course (due in part to some exogenous factors). Staying an extra year would probably take a bit of stress off and would also allow me to get a minor in mathematics.