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Ibn Abbas · 11-02-2006, 07:51 PM

Hello people,

I am currently a Qualifying Year student at Carleton University in Ottawa. My undergrad was in BBA from my home country Bangladesh, though I did have some Economics and Statistics courses and a Maths course.

In the Qualifying Year, I am taking the following 4th year undergrad courses in the 1st semester (Fall 2006)
1. Mathematical Analysis in Economics (4th year course and covers Chiang almost entirely)
2. Econometrics I (Gujarati is used)
3. International Monetary Theory and Policy (Elective - so it doesn't really matter)
4. International Aspects of Economic Development (again Elective...so ignore)

In the 2nd semester (Winter 2007), I will be taking taking the following:
1. Microeconomic theory (Uses Varian Microeconomic Analysis)
2. Macroeconomic theory (Uses Romer Advanced Macroeconomics)
3. Statistical Analysis in Economics
4. Econometrics II

If I get a B+ average in my Qualifying Year, I will be get into the MA program at Carleton. But I am looking to apply at better universities:
Canada
1. UBC
2. U of T
3. Queens
4. Simon Fraser
5. McGill

USA
1. NYU
2. Boston U
3. Duke
4. UWashington at Seattle
5. USC
6. Indiana

Any suggestions? I know that Masters Programs in USA are in general not as good as compared to those in Europe or Canada but I am a US immigrant. So I was wondering whether that will give me some sort of advantage in funding?

Thanks

werther · 11-02-2006, 09:03 PM

when you say you took "some maths" while you were a BBA, what kind of math did you take?

in regards to first-tier canadian MA programs, the first two are quite* competitive to get into unless you have sufficient math courses (i know some folks with very high GPA but not much math didn't get into either one of them), and as for Queen's, i get the feeling they are more inclined to accept canadians over internationals, and slightly less importance in math than the first two. many people from my school got into queen's last year. there were people on this board with better profiles who didn't get into queen's (internationals). since you are at carleton this year, i don't think being an international would make things disadvantageous for you..

i think it really depends on your fall term grades, and whatever econ/math courses you took as a BBA. i hope you have at least calc 1 & 2, which is absolute min., but you really should have calc 3 to have good chances in these programs. i hope you also have linear algebra, some kind of stats course which you say you have, and good grades in all those, plus good grades in upper div. econ courses. most canadian undergrads i don't think have analysis or anything like that, so if you don't have it, i don't think you'll be at a disadvantage, just that it won't give you an "edge".

good luck. i am applying to exact same canadian universities as you, in that order. i would say, excellent choice!

i know nothing of US programs.

Ibn Abbas · 11-03-2006, 11:07 PM

Thanks for the reply, werther.

The Maths course I took in my BBA covered basic calculus uptil limits and continuity. But I was wondering whether that should matter because if I had all the maths in the first place, I wouldn't go through a 'Qualifying Year' Program in the first place, right? The whole idea of the QY program is to prepare me for the Masters.

And that is precisely what I am doing right now at Carleton. The ECON 4001 course at Carleton that I am doing right has ECON 2400 as its prerequisite which in turn has ECON 1009 as its prerequisite.

So if I am handling ECON 4001 Advanced Maths course well (I got 92 in the first mid-term...thanks to God), where I am doing advanced optimization including Kuhn-Tucker conditions, saddle point theorems etc., the Maths course during my BBA really shouldn't matter, right? Correct me if I am wrong.

What I am more worried about is my Econ courses. The intermediate Micro and Macro courses that I had during my BBA is not equivalent to the 2-semester long courses Canadian Econ programs have. It was more like the 1-semester Micro for Non-Major and 1-semester Macro for Non-Major.

True that I am taking Advanced Micro and Advanced Macro at Carleton in the Winter, but the admission decisions will be made by the time the grades come out for those courses.

So effectively, my application will be banking on my ECON 4001 and Econometrics course grade unless the admission committees at the universities I will be applying to are kind enough to consider the mid-term grades of Advanced Micro and Macro in the Winter.

So the bottomline question is: do I stand a reasonable chance of getting in to UBC or U of T with As in the Maths and Econometrics course at Carleton?

And if someone else can shed some light on the US programs, that would be really helpful.

OneMoreEcon · 11-03-2006, 11:29 PM

US masters probably won't offer you any funding, so being a US immigrant doesn't help. Most of us on the board can't really say much about admission to US MA programs, except that they're lower than the standards for the PhD counterparts. Unlike the programs at places like UBC and U of Toronto, US MA programs are applied degrees that don't focus as heavily on mathematical rigor or theory.

I would recommend that you look up some old posts by Reactor. He had some pretty thorough comments about MA programs that he posted in late spring.

werther · 11-04-2006, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mishal

Thanks for the reply, werther.

What I am more worried about is my Econ courses. The intermediate Micro and Macro courses that I had during my BBA is not equivalent to the 2-semester long courses Canadian Econ programs have. It was more like the 1-semester Micro for Non-Major and 1-semester Macro for Non-Major.

True that I am taking Advanced Micro and Advanced Macro at Carleton in the Winter, but the admission decisions will be made by the time the grades come out for those courses.

So effectively, my application will be banking on my ECON 4001 and Econometrics course grade unless the admission committees at the universities I will be applying to are kind enough to consider the mid-term grades of Advanced Micro and Macro in the Winter.

So the bottomline question is: do I stand a reasonable chance of getting in to UBC or U of T with As in the Maths and Econometrics course at Carleton?

that's a tough one. they want to see at least 2 semesters worth of intermediate theory courses, as minimum. however i know a guy who deferred intermediate macro ii final and therefore his grade was not included when he finished the application (only sent in intro macro and intermediate macro i) but he got into queen's and was waitlisted at western. but he did not get into UToronto or UBC. his gpa was around 3.9 ish, and graduated with distinction, and was TA for tons of courses. but he did not have much math. around the same as what you listed. i'd say you'd have a better chance at queen's than UT or UBC, to be honest.

Ibn Abbas · 11-04-2006, 04:34 PM

But won't they take into cosideration the fact that I will have already taken Advanced Micro and Macro at Carleton by the time I join their MA program? It's just that they won't have my Advanced Micro/Macro grades when they consider my application....

werther · 11-04-2006, 09:23 PM

in my school adv. theory courses as well as real analysis are offerd only in winter as well. i will also apply with just intermediate marks, and i don't think the fact that i'm merely signed up in those courses in winter will really help in my getting admitted. but i am not too sure.

11-02-2006, 07:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
Ibn Abbas Within my grasp! Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 244	Applying for MA Econ Hello people, I am currently a Qualifying Year student at Carleton University in Ottawa. My undergrad was in BBA from my home country Bangladesh, though I did have some Economics and Statistics courses and a Maths course. In the Qualifying Year, I am taking the following 4th year undergrad courses in the 1st semester (Fall 2006) 1. Mathematical Analysis in Economics (4th year course and covers Chiang almost entirely) 2. Econometrics I (Gujarati is used) 3. International Monetary Theory and Policy (Elective - so it doesn't really matter) 4. International Aspects of Economic Development (again Elective...so ignore) In the 2nd semester (Winter 2007), I will be taking taking the following: 1. Microeconomic theory (Uses Varian Microeconomic Analysis) 2. Macroeconomic theory (Uses Romer Advanced Macroeconomics) 3. Statistical Analysis in Economics 4. Econometrics II If I get a B+ average in my Qualifying Year, I will be get into the MA program at Carleton. But I am looking to apply at better universities: Canada 1. UBC 2. U of T 3. Queens 4. Simon Fraser 5. McGill USA 1. NYU 2. Boston U 3. Duke 4. UWashington at Seattle 5. USC 6. Indiana Any suggestions? I know that Masters Programs in USA are in general not as good as compared to those in Europe or Canada but I am a US immigrant. So I was wondering whether that will give me some sort of advantage in funding? Thanks

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11-02-2006, 09:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
werther a ghost Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 334	when you say you took "some maths" while you were a BBA, what kind of math did you take? in regards to first-tier canadian MA programs, the first two are quite* competitive to get into unless you have sufficient math courses (i know some folks with very high GPA but not much math didn't get into either one of them), and as for Queen's, i get the feeling they are more inclined to accept canadians over internationals, and slightly less importance in math than the first two. many people from my school got into queen's last year. there were people on this board with better profiles who didn't get into queen's (internationals). since you are at carleton this year, i don't think being an international would make things disadvantageous for you.. i think it really depends on your fall term grades, and whatever econ/math courses you took as a BBA. i hope you have at least calc 1 & 2, which is absolute min., but you really should have calc 3 to have good chances in these programs. i hope you also have linear algebra, some kind of stats course which you say you have, and good grades in all those, plus good grades in upper div. econ courses. most canadian undergrads i don't think have analysis or anything like that, so if you don't have it, i don't think you'll be at a disadvantage, just that it won't give you an "edge". good luck. i am applying to exact same canadian universities as you, in that order. i would say, excellent choice! i know nothing of US programs.

11-03-2006, 11:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ibn Abbas Within my grasp! Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 244	Thanks for the reply, werther. The Maths course I took in my BBA covered basic calculus uptil limits and continuity. But I was wondering whether that should matter because if I had all the maths in the first place, I wouldn't go through a 'Qualifying Year' Program in the first place, right? The whole idea of the QY program is to prepare me for the Masters. And that is precisely what I am doing right now at Carleton. The ECON 4001 course at Carleton that I am doing right has ECON 2400 as its prerequisite which in turn has ECON 1009 as its prerequisite. So if I am handling ECON 4001 Advanced Maths course well (I got 92 in the first mid-term...thanks to God), where I am doing advanced optimization including Kuhn-Tucker conditions, saddle point theorems etc., the Maths course during my BBA really shouldn't matter, right? Correct me if I am wrong. What I am more worried about is my Econ courses. The intermediate Micro and Macro courses that I had during my BBA is not equivalent to the 2-semester long courses Canadian Econ programs have. It was more like the 1-semester Micro for Non-Major and 1-semester Macro for Non-Major. True that I am taking Advanced Micro and Advanced Macro at Carleton in the Winter, but the admission decisions will be made by the time the grades come out for those courses. So effectively, my application will be banking on my ECON 4001 and Econometrics course grade unless the admission committees at the universities I will be applying to are kind enough to consider the mid-term grades of Advanced Micro and Macro in the Winter. So the bottomline question is: do I stand a reasonable chance of getting in to UBC or U of T with As in the Maths and Econometrics course at Carleton? And if someone else can shed some light on the US programs, that would be really helpful.

11-03-2006, 11:29 PM	#4 (permalink)
OneMoreEcon TestMagic Guru-in-Training Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 538	US masters probably won't offer you any funding, so being a US immigrant doesn't help. Most of us on the board can't really say much about admission to US MA programs, except that they're lower than the standards for the PhD counterparts. Unlike the programs at places like UBC and U of Toronto, US MA programs are applied degrees that don't focus as heavily on mathematical rigor or theory. I would recommend that you look up some old posts by Reactor. He had some pretty thorough comments about MA programs that he posted in late spring.

11-04-2006, 04:34 PM	#6 (permalink)
Ibn Abbas Within my grasp! Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 244	But won't they take into cosideration the fact that I will have already taken Advanced Micro and Macro at Carleton by the time I join their MA program? It's just that they won't have my Advanced Micro/Macro grades when they consider my application....

11-04-2006, 09:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
werther a ghost Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 334	in my school adv. theory courses as well as real analysis are offerd only in winter as well. i will also apply with just intermediate marks, and i don't think the fact that i'm merely signed up in those courses in winter will really help in my getting admitted. but i am not too sure.

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