arresteddevelopment

Thanks for the clarification! I'll be sure to get one of those books and look through them--which one do you recommend (I'll have had Calc I-III, prob, math stat, and linear by next semester)?

That's great news! Thank you so much for your help--I really don't know what I would do without this board, and I wasn't really looking forward to slogging through Gujarati (sp?) on my own next year if that was necessary...

Quick Question: How good of a substitute for undergraduate econometrics is Mathematical Statistics (pre-reqs: multivariate calc and probability)? My school (small, small LAC) doesn't offer econometrics and I was wondering if I needed to independent study it and take stats, or if just taking our math stats class would be fine. Thanks for your help!

Wow! I did not expect this much of a response at all--thank you so much! Just a few caveats: I can see that this sums up an understandable sentiment among quite a few of you, one which I have felt myself from time to time. However, I suppose I should clarify that I primarily want to teach. I really enjoy research, I just do not believe that I am innovative or brilliant enough to create something truly meaningful, at least not to the degree that would be demanded by a top research university, and I don't want to spend my career kicking out meaningless articles in unread field journals. I do hope to "give something back" to economics, of course, but I think I would be better equipped to teach and then work on research on the side. That was a long clarification. Second of all, I do believe that it would be necessary--or at least highly preferable--to get a PhD even if I only taught undergraduates for the rest of my career. First, I think a PhD is a great signaler of how committed one is to the pursuit of education or ideas. I think the passion that is required to get a PhD transfers into teaching; I've seen too many (business) teachers coast into college with a masters degree and work experience and just suck at teaching. Also, I think having a deep, theoretical understanding of a subject allows one to be a better instructor, even at an elementary level (think teaching calculus without analysis). I would also need it to help students who, being more brilliant than I, would actually want to go on and get a PhD and contribute to the field on the research side. And on a side note, I would be focusing on micro (and maybe applied 'metrics). I'm not really a fan of how...diverse macro seems to be right now, or how its taught at the undergraduate level. Sorry this was so long--terseness is not really a strong point.

...at a good liberal arts college or lower-ranked university? This is not to say that I don't enjoy researching, because I really do, but an honest assessment of my abilities is that I am more equipped to communicate ideas than to generate them. So I guess I have some specific questions: If I want to teach at a liberal arts college, how much does reputation of my PhD institution matter? Is there really that much difference between, say, a school ranked #50 and #100 for my purposes? How much do the chosen fields matter? I know it would be miserable to spend six years studying macro if I hate it, but other than that...? Should I be looking for any other qualities in a school to signal or prepare me for teaching at a smaller school? I know this a little off the beaten path as far as this board is concerned, but I'd love any help you guys could give! Thank you so much!

Thank you all so much for taking time to respond to my question! I appreciate your honesty and thoughtfulness in helping me make such an important decision. I do have another question though: Although the idea of researching poverty with economic tools does interest me, I feel that I am more interested in/suited for implementation and hands on work. If I wasn't able to get a job with the Worldbank--apparently the standards are a bit high--what would be the ideal degree to do this with? I know that the MPP and MA/ID have been mentioned; are there any others, or are these by far the best? Would an MBA be of any use in setting up programs to help those in developing countries? Thanks again for your help!

Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could help me clear up some questions about getting a doctorate in economics so I can figure out what to do with my life...no pressure ;) . Let me just start by saying this: the first thing that really drew me to the idea of getting my Phd was the idea of working in development economics, because I mainly just wanted to have a vocation that would help others--particularly those in impoverished countries. However, after doing alot of reading on this forum and elsewhere, I'm beginning to doubt that this is the best way. I've heard from several sources that only the very top articles from the top economists actually make any difference in the way we approach real world problems, and, while I possess a decent amount of academic and intellectual ability, I certainly am not Ivy material (I figure I'd land anywhere from a school in the 30-80 range, if I'm lucky). So I guess my question is this: is becoming a fairly good (but not great) economist an effective way to help people, or should I pursue another route, like getting an MBA and starting a microcredit organization overseas? (Just as one example) Thank you so much for your help, and hopefully this will create some interesting discussion outside of myself :) .

Hey guys, I'm attempting to do an independent study in game theory my Junior year at a small LAC, and I'm trying to find a good textbook to work with. I'm trying to find one that's fairly mathematical (which shouldn't be hard, considering the subject matter), but the commonly used graduate texts are a bit overwhelming at this point. I've take Calc 1-3, DEQ, and Probability theory upto this point, just to give you a reference of where I am mathematically. Thanks so much for your help!

Unlike many of the potential applicants on here, I am more interested in teaching at a liberal arts university than I am in doing research (though I would like to continue to do research, just to a more limited extent). I am also interested in working in an applied setting in development, such as in an international organization or an NGO. So, in light of the top schools emphasis on research, should I apply to an AgEcon program, a lower-level US state university, or am I simply misguided about the programs of higher ranked universities? Thanks for your help!