How to strategically build up my math profile?

[mobilegreen]

Dear all future economists,

This is my first post and I really appreciate your help.

I had just graduated and start to work next spring as an economic
consultant.But I plan to come back to academics to have more rigourous
training of economics in a couple of years and thus I would like to take as
many math course as possible beginning from now to be a good applicant.

Unfortunately, my major was in International Relations program for my undergrad education and took some(9 courses) economics classes at
top-ranked Econ department in North America but they are the ones
which requires no calculus as its prerequisite.
Although I self-studied Calculus 1 and 2, and whole Chiang's Mathematical
Economics book and become quite familiar with those concepts,
I realize that I need to show the ad com that I did take math courses
with a transcript(currentlly with no math courses on mine) when I apply for either Master or Phd in Economics.

In order to solve the problem, I decided to take distance education math
courses in a next couple of years(after a lot of consideration, I did realize
this is only option available to me) to bring myself up to a standard
level of graduate economics applicants.

O.K. Here is where I ask you for your kind help.
There are two programs
One is "NetMath" at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
http://netmath.uiuc.edu/
The other is "Distance Calculus" at Suffolk University.
http://www.distancecalculus.com/
And wondering which one I should choose if I want to be a bit strategic
based on th following features of each program.

Since they are using the same material(electronic material) from the
same company, main differences are grading and the time allowed to complete one course.

At"Distance Calculus" at Suffolk Univ, we are allowed to complete each course within a year. The course policy is that you cannot go to the
next module unless you understand 100% of the material.
As a result of the policy, most of the students end up with
either A or B(high grade).

At "NetMath" at Univ of Illinois, we are allowed to complete
each course within 16 weeks.
They do not take a policy of 100% understanding. So the comparativelly lower probability of getting A than "Distance Calculus(Yes, I am ready to
work 10 hours a day, 7days a week and committ myself in pursuing
economic graduate programs. However, I am not yet really quantitative
person at this stage and that is why I need to worry about its probability).

Considering the fact that "Distance Calculus" transcript does not state
how long it takes to complete the course(even if it takes a year),
factors that affect my choise over two above stated programs
in terms of graduate admission are, I believe,
First, How good do I do in math courses I take
Second, where do I take these math classes,

In other words, do you think it is better to get better grade in Maths
even if it is offered at relativelly unknown institution(In this case, I must
say it is Suffolk Univ unfortunately) or it is better to take
Maths at a famous institution in Econ and Math(at the Univ of Illinois)
even if I need to take a risk of lower probability of getting good grades?
(I do not live in North America and only have a little exposure to
Noth American University system, by the way).
Please keep in mind that I need to use those maths credits toward
applying for Master or Phd. in econ as more details are given below.

For more clarification of my situation, I would like to be a
development economist at international organization or quasi-public
organization. I am thinking first to pursue MA. in economics(but not applied
econ master's program) possibily at top-5 Canadian Univ, LSE two-years
MS and etc.to have a rigorous taining in both Econ and Math and
possiblly PhD afterwards. I do not really care, at least at PhD level how good the department is in terms of ranking, but the higher is better
because I care about rigorousness of the training in Econ.
Adding to it, I do not think I want to go to international development
econ policy program,MBA or sort of policy-oriented program since I do not
like the policy-focused style of the program as far as my degree is
concerened.So research-oriented programs in Econ is my concern, here.

Thank you for staying with me till the last line.
I trully appreciate it if you can give me any suggestion(Of course, an
adivise other than the one reagarding a distance program selection
is all welcome).
I really decided to become a development economist(even if it sounds
a bit late to change my career toward math-oriented one) after
obtaining some field experiences in developing countries, so please
please help me.

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

[shootermcgavin7]

I took Calc I - III, Matrix Theory, and Linear Algebra I through the UIUC Netmath program. The classes were not easy, but as you mentioned, they're a well-known university and you definitely learn the mathematics.

They build a lot of practical applications with differential equations in using the Mathematica software, something that I have found tremendously useful in the Macro classes.

The only drawback is that I feel like I was a little behind on the notation aspect when I started taking math courses in Grad school. If I recall, a lot of very common terminology is not used in the UIUC courses, (i.e. scalars, etc) although I picked this up relatively quickly in graduate school.

[Ross123]

I suggest you take some online math courses from Stanford. However, the tuition fee is very expensive.

http://epgy.stanford.edu/summer/vss/courses.html

[asquare]

Ross123, that's a great link -- it can be hard to find a summer real analysis course, but there's definitely one taught through Stanford's on line summer program.

[mobilegreen]

Thank you for all your kindness.I am very glad since I am severelly in need.

Particulary, I still have something to ask to Mr.Shootermcgavin7 and possiblly anyone who can help me.

When you say that the classes at NetMath were not easy, do you mean
that a grading policy in the program were tough?
As far as "NetMath" and "Distance Calculus at Suffolk Univ" are
concerened,they are using exactlly the same course materials
operated by Mathematica.
So in order to choose one from these two, the difficulty of the materials
is something that I need to accept. Thus, it is not my main concern.
Only diffrences are time limit,grading policy and the rank of the school (according to the instructors from those two programs).
And I find that Suffolk Univ has more flexible program in terms
of the above two conditions even in great favour of working
professionals(I will start to work next spring by the way).

Borrowing your words from another thread, another important question
is that
"is the reward of taking math courses at a more famous instituition
(Univ of Illinois) worth the risk of lower probability of getting a good
grade" as long as my aim is to use those math credits toward applying
Master or PhD in econ as high-standard as possible?

Thank you a lot for your kindness and I am glad to know that I am not
the only person in this forum who needs to build up math skills from the beggining to reach the goal of doing what one really wants to do in the
future!

Sincrely,

[shootermcgavin7]

Originally Posted by mobilegreen

Particulary, I still have something to ask to Mr.Shootermcgavin7 and possiblly anyone who can help me.

When you say that the classes at NetMath were not easy, do you mean
that a grading policy in the program were tough?

So in order to choose one from these two, the difficulty of the materials
is something that I need to accept.
Borrowing your words from another thread, another important question
is that
"is the reward of taking math courses at a more famous instituition
(Univ of Illinois) worth the risk of lower probability of getting a good
grade" as long as my aim is to use those math credits toward applying
Master or PhD in econ as high-standard as possible?

I'll start from the end - on a math level, yes. The tougher program was looked upon more favorably. I'm currently in a dual MS program (I'm working on an MA in Economics and an MS in Finance); and I know for a fact that my 3.65 Math GPA from UIUC was looked upon more favorably than a 4.0 from a university like Suffolk.

I had never heard/seen of the Stanford programs, but I don't think the UIUC transcript looks bad at all .

I haven't seen the Suffolk courses, but I'd still imagine the UIUC courses are harder. As I mentioned, the repeated exposure to DiffEq is very helpful, the lack of formal notation is not. To further repeat myself, you really do learn the math if you can fight your way through the program.

The grading policy at UIUC is not unfair, it is just that the subject matter covered is not easy, and they don't treat it as such. I made it out with around a 3.65 in the math courses I took (I received a B in Calc II, obviously, which I still hold as the most challenging math course I have ever taken).


As to your other question, I think you'll recall that I didn't get much of an answer to my Q. My question, however, regarded the choice of PhD vs. MS courses in a Master's program. Everyone needs Calc II/III/etc. Obviously, if you can take these courses at a good school and get good grades, this is ideal. When I finished Calc III at UIUC, my TA told me that they were going to use some of my problem set answers for answer keys in the future.

Stuff like that doesn't help your grade, but it can help a supplemental recommendation down the road.

[economicus]

Waw!! And it seems that it's possible to take real analysis at stanford whenever one wants, not only during the summer (http://epgy.stanford.edu/applyandreg...deadlines.html)

I just don't know how rigorous the real analysis course based on the book by Ross is... I ask this because it seems that everyone is talking about Rudin's book... Is it worth a shot? ...also, how reputable such on-line courses are? (I mean...someone else could do graded homework for someone else...). Anyone know for another on-line real analysis course (perhaps a less costly one)? Thanks so much!