PinkEcon

http://ntweb8.ais.msu.edu/ScheduleBook/schedule.asp If you search for "EC" --> Economics, you can look at all of the MSU courses and the corresponding professors who taught them dating back to about Fall 2002 or so. Grad-level courses are 800+. Wooldridge tends to stagger his teaching between 1st and 2nd year courses, but if you specialize in econometrics you'll for sure get him at least once.

I actually attend MSU as an undergrad and I have to say that the department has really grown in recent years; there seems to be a renewed group effort amongst the faculty to boost up its rankings. If anyone is interested in econometrics or labor economics, I would really recommend taking a look at MSU because those are the two areas that the department has traditionally been strong in and also continuing to develop (as reflected by the recent hires). The faculty are all really nice and get along with each other great. Cost of living is pretty cheap as well.

Thanks a lot for this post, FightingIrish1! I originally planned on graduating in 3 yrs and going on to a phd program (in a different discipline) and have now decided to stay and graduate in 5 yrs with two degrees, so I have been over the whole graduate school application process through and through. Everything on this board was making me feel like economics was a discipline that did not follow what I generally knew about applying to grad school, but your post reconfirmed everything that I have been taught in the past regarding grad school (tailored to economics, of course). Good to know and thanks again for taking the time to lay everything out in an organized and concise manner! :)

I'm not sure what you mean by female charm. I am using it in the sense that I'm actually friendly and social with my classmates and wasn't referring to self-insinuated sexual forwardness. However, to be fair, I've been told that I am very nice and friendly in general...which explains why a lot of guys I meet for the first time think I'm trying to hit on them and why many girls I meet for the first time question my sexuality.

I'm not sure where to begin with my comment but will try to keep it short. Jhai makes a good point, which is that many female economists of the 'old age' were able to make their niche in the field by studying topics that were not traditionally studied back when the field was (as if it still isn't now?) male dominated~such as labor (with attention to gender differences) etc. While I am definitely drawn to the field of labor economics and ask questions that include sociological insight and analysis, I think that it makes models more sophisticated and thus require a higher degree of mathematical skill and ability. And those mathematical skills are something that I am more than willing to develop in order to ask the types of complex questions I like to ask about the state of the world. Another thing I have noticed in higher level mathematics and economics courses is that, besides the fact that I tend to be one of very few girls, a lot of my male classmates try to make themselves appear to be smarter than what they actually are by throwing in complex terminology on the subject while we are having a conversation with hopes of losing me. Unfortunately for them, I am quite good with terminology and am usually able to tell immediately whether or not they actually know what they're talking about. In my past experience, most of my other female counterparts tend to have the perception that their male classmates are smarter than what they are in reality, and this can lower their (the females) confidence in continuing on with the hard sciences. Oh, and back to the original comment made by econon. I can definitely see sexual harassment, etc. coming up as an issue between female students and professors...but is this any different from females in any other male-dominated academic field or sector? Probably not. Do I use my "female charm"? Absolutely :) But I usually use it in a selective manner (i.e. to get into a better study group) than for manipulation. And, again agreeing with Jhai, femininity can definitely be a huge disadvantage when it comes to the respect of your peers.

Does anyone actually know stats on how many U.S.-born Economics Phd students come from the bottom quintile? This is an interesting article by Ross Douthat on the growing inequality to access in higher education by class in the U.S. A mix of statistics and opinions, but an interesting point of debate if anything :) http://www.questbridge.org/resources/articles/meritocracy.html

Good to know others have also had non-US born recommenders! Everyone on this forum seems to be putting a lot of high stress on the LORs so I had been a bit worried that EVERY aspect of the LOR had to be perfect! :) A comment on foreign students; I heard from a professor that 40% of their 1st year econ dropouts are US citizens...basically, many of the US students are unable to handle the rigorous math. If I were an adcom I would probably put higher weight on the math courses of international students since their courses are probably much more rigorous than their US counterparts and less emphasis on the LORs. As many of you know, there is a lot of "curving" going on in US courses so just because someone got an A in linear algebra or analysis does not always correspond to an "A" proficiency in the topic...which is probably why for U.S. applicants like me, letter of recs from math professors is a good idea :)

How does everyone feel about getting LORs from non-U.S. born profs? Non-U.S. born professors are in the majority in our mathematics/statistics departments, many of whom are simply excellent professors. However, since they mostly come from East Asia/Former Soviet Union (where the syntax, cultural coding, etc. is completely different) I know that their written expressions would probably mean less to nothing next to what they could express verbally. I stress that this is not meant to be brought up as an issue of racism; I myself am a 2nd generation American of one of the above descents and have intensively studied one of those languages abroad for a year, so I know what the difficulties are like. I know that I have been doing really well in my proof-based stats course and would like to potentially ask my prof for a LOR in the Fall, but I am worried about how the adcoms might receive a somewhat non-perfect English letter. Any thoughts?:hmm:

I concur. :D

Thanks everyone. I talked with Gail and we're going to try to work something out, but it looks like I will have to try to somehow solicit funding for this program from my home university or try to form a relationship with the Duke financial aid office to look at educational loan options. Regardless, I think this is the best prep program available and I'm planning on attending :)

Yeah I'm mentally running across similar dilemmas. Most masters of mathematics programs require the Math GRE for admissions, which is about 50% calculus, 25% linear algebra and 25% analysis/topology? or something like that? Another option I've been fishing around with is a masters in "Applied Mathematics" as opposed to pure mathematics; sometimes those programs are more lenient with prior mathematics requirements. As for the LSE program; for those without a lot of math background would probably do the 2-year program (as opposed to the 9 month research track) and in that case yes, you would have a least a year's worth of LSE grades appearing on your transcript when you apply for grad school in the fall of your 2nd year in the program.

I just received word from AEASP that I was accepted :tup: but the downside is that I only received 75% tuition assistance; which means there is still $5,750 to cover the remaining tuition and boarding charges, in addition to transportation and books that I would have to pay out of pocket. The problem is, I (nor my parents) absolutely do not have the money--the most I would be able to pay is $2,000 (literally, everything in my bank account and expected money from a part-time job). The other option for the summer is to take linear algebra, diff. equations, applied linear algebra, and do a research project with one of the economics faculty at my school (tier III) and then subsequently take grad microecon and econometrics next academic year in the fall and spring. Any advice? Do any of the past participants know of the AEASP allowing students to take out federal loans, etc. to make up for the additional costs of the program?

Has anyone applied for the AEA Summer Program at Duke? (http://www.econ.duke.edu/aeasp) I applied for the early decision deadline and the program organizer said that their goal was to send letters out on February 20th with the responses, but I'm not sure if she meant email or standard mail... For those who have completed the program, any comments/advice?