Tajuara

Thanks for the quick response, I am a senior and I am in the United States. Initially I was planning to get a PhD, but now I change my plans because I am 32, and I just got an excellent job offer, so I figure out that I rather go for the Master because my company will pay for it. The differential equation classes is technically intended for either sophomores or juniors because you are allowed to take the class after multivariate calculus (Calc III). The probability class is offered at another school and is also after calc III

So I am deciding my Fall schedule and I need to pick a class, the options are: 1) MATH 360- Elements of Probability-Elements of Probability - The study of probability models that involve one or more random variables. Topics include conditional probability and independence, gambler's ruin and other problems involving repeated Bernoulli trials, discrete and continuous probability distributions, moment generating functions, probability distributions for several random variables, some basic sampling distributions of mathematical statistics, and the central limit theorem. 2) MA-26500-Differential Equation Both classes are offered the same day at the same hour, I already have calc I,II, and III, linear algebra, and one stats class, so in terms of admissions which one will be better? I am planning to apply outside the top-50 maybe Suffolk or Northeastern, thanks for your help

Thanks for your help, that is what I thought too, I was actually aiming towards UConn because the webpage says that they have preference for students with Masters, so is a very long shot, and since my undergrad school is unknown I thought that getting a MS from JHU could be a good thing. On the other hand, I think that it would be very hard to get a LOR from there in only one semester, so I rather stick to plan A and complete the math classes, thanks again

Here is my profile PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BS Economics with a minor in math not very well recognized state school with no PhD program Undergrad GPA: 3.83/4.0 Type of Grad:NA Grad GPA:NA GRE: Q800/V700/Awa 5.5 Math Courses: Calc I and II, Multivariate calculus (Calc III), calculus for business and economics, linear algebra. All As except for calculus for business on which I have A-. Econ Courses: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Managerial economics, Money and banking, Environmental economics, Economic theory, Economic forecasting. All As except for Micro on which I got a B and econometrics with a A- Other Courses: 2 stat courses, one calculus based and the other not and a bunch of management class, mainly finance and accounting related Letters of Recommendation: 3 economics professors who have not national recognition. 2 of them should be strong and I was a research assistant for one of them during one semester Research Experience: Did one semester research assistant for one teacher and also did 2 summer of a research school program, one was with economic variables and the other not so much Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Labor economics, monetary policy and industrial organization SOP: Well, I will be 32 once I start the program and I managed to finish a degree with success and I also took many more classes that I should have, so my SOP should be strong Other: Lot of concerns, my age is one of them, my relatively unknown school, relatively unknown letter of recommendation writers, no real analysis class (I would have take it, but my school does not offer that class until next spring, so I am planning to take the class before the PhD program starts. Applying to: I have to live near Boston because my GF has family there, so I will apply to Boston College, Boston University, UConn, Master program in Tufts, Clark, Northeastern, maybe Umass, and some other schools in that area, even the New York is not that far, so I may apply to Rutgers, Syracuse, CNUY, and Stony Brook. The issue with my profile is that I have kind of 2 choices: 1) Stay in my school for fall and take differential equations, Intoduction to abstract math (Proof based class which is a pre-requisite for real analysis), Discrete mathematics, and probably do a thesis. 2) Start a master program during the fall and I was thinking John Hopkins, the link is bellow Johns Hopkins University | Advanced Academic Programs | Krieger School of Arts and Sciences | Academic Programs | Applied Economics | Home In terms of admission which option would be better for me. I may be able to complete the Master in one year, so I should be able to apply for a PhD to some schools during 2013. I have some savings, so I should be able to afford any of those Master program and by the name of the school I assume is very reputable, so in terms of admission which option is better? I know that even BC and BU are a really long shot, so I was thinking more in terms of UConn which is also close to Boston. thanks for your help

Yes, sorry, I meant Albany, my GPS wasn't working right. I actually move to the US 5 years ago, and I do have a BA in Political Science of my country which is a little useless by now. I somehow regret not moving here before to probably pick a better undergrad institution because my school is really really small; however, teachers are very involved and helpful. They want me to apply to schools in the area, but my gf family lives in Boston, so we have to move there to be able to survive, thanks for your help

Yes, I will be applying for the 2013 cycle, I will be 32 by the time of the application. Do you think this will have a negative effect?. Most likely I will be able to take Real Analysis on Spring 2013 before enrolling to a program (Either a Master or a PhD). I also thought about applying to Tufts MS. thanks for all your help. Just for curiosity, you mentioned that "Boston College is easier to get into than UMass" is this because UMass in a heterodox program?. I don't necessarily have to live in Boston, so I was also thinking about applying to UConn or even SUNY at Buffalo which is 3 hours away from Boston, UConn only accept students with Masters, so I may do a Master there, thanks again

Thanks for your help guys. I will not apply to Boston University because I know that realistically I may have no chance to get there, I thought that UMass was somehow feasible, so I will apply there and a couple schools more. Now my question is, is really relevant to have an inside to game theory before entering a PhD program? should I take a class in game theory before going for the PhD? The school offers ECON 451-Game theory at the main campus, so I could enroll there and take that class. Will that be relevant for my admission in some level?

Here is my initial profile PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BS Management with a major in Economics with and minor in math not very well recognized state school with no PhD program Undergrad GPA: 3.83/4.0 Type of Grad:NA Grad GPA:NA GRE: Q800/V700/Awa 5.5 Math Courses: Calc I and II, Multivariate calculus (Calc III), calculus for business and economics, linear algebra, differential equations, Intoduction to abstract math (Proof based class which is a pre-requisite for real analysis), Discrete mathematics, and Mathematics for economists. All As except for calculus for business on which I have A-. The mathematics for economists was a class I took with the Economics head department on which he gave some brief inside about kuhn-tucker, implicit function, separating hyperplane, fixed point, envelope theorem which he told me are some basic things covered in grad school. Econ Courses: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Managerial economics, Money and banking, Environmental economics, Economic theory, Economic forecasting. All As except for Micro on which I got a B and econometrics with a A- Other Courses: 2 stat courses, one calculus based and the other not, and a bunch of management class, mainly finance and accounting related Letters of Recommendation: 3 economics professors who have not national recognition. 2 of them should be strong and I was a research assistant for one of them during one semester Research Experience: Did one semester research assistant for one teacher and also did 2 summer of a research school program, one was with economic variables and the other not so much Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Labor economics, monetary policy, industrial organization, and behavioral economics SOP: Well, I will be 32 once I start the program and I managed to finish a degree with success and I also took many more classes that I should have, so my SOP should be strong Concerns: My university is practically unknown. I am part of the Purdue system, but is a satellite school. I also don't have real analysis under my belt. Applying to: A bunch but I am aiming towards Brown, Boston College, Suffolk, Northeastern, UMass and a couple more, I will not apply inside the top 10 though. I know programs are different, but I have to live near Boston I want to do this short master before applying to a PhD program http://www.valpo.edu/grad/ief/index.php Do you think that this will increase my chances to get admission or is just irrelevant? In the plus side I may be able to get one letter of recommendation out of that program. Any thoughts or advice will be greatly appreciated

I will definitely use n instead of ñ. I also have the same problem, and they understood that I am Hispanic, so just replace ñ by n

I seriously wish I had your profile

If your ultimate goal in the long run is to do a PhD (means if that is what you really want) I think you should take micro, macro, and some more math maybe extended your graduation a couple more semesters. Is that possible? Taking more math and more econ will give you more chances to succeed even if you don't do a PhD in the end. But if you go to the peace corps and then come back and try to take some math classes to enroll in a PhD you maybe a little rusty, then again is just my opinion, and I am just a student like you;)

As far as I am concern most schools require at least linear algebra and up to 3 semesters in calculus, and top schools even more (Up to Real Analysis at least). The thing is that there are so many competitive students nationally and internationally that not even a good amount of math classes can guarantee your admission into a program (specially the top ones), but as far as I am concerned the more the better (math of course).

Your profile looks good and Maryland is actually not far away of your reach, not even the others, but if you don't make it to the top-10 that is not the end of the world, there are plenty of good schools that given your strengths and qualities will gladly take you. In the end, apply to as many schools (based on your interests) as you can and something will come up. You need to consider that top schools accept probably 5% of applicants, so if you don't make it is not because you are not qualified, but probably some students were more qualified than you:p, not me of course because I am aiming way lower than you, so don't worry about the strength of your school because that is something that you cannot longer change, so just keep a positive attitude, good luck:grad:

I am not an expert, but I think that your profile looks very solid, good grades, good amount of math classes, so should be suited for a good program, you profile looks pretty similar to mine except for the fact that I didn't take Real Analysis yet, I am planning to take that class next semester so most likely will not show up in my transcript :yuck: and the economic department in my school is absolutely unknown. For the strength of my school I am aiming towards top-30 and bellow, but still there are some good schools in that range. So good luck in your applications I am sure you will do fine:tup:

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BS Management with a major in Economics with and minor in math not very well recognized state school with no PhD program Undergrad GPA: 3.83/4.0 Type of Grad:NA Grad GPA:NA GRE: Q800/V700/Awa 5.5 Math Courses: Calc I and II, Multivariate calculus (Calc III), calculus for business and economics, linear algebra, differential equations, Intoduction to abstract math (Proof based class which is a pre-requisite for real analysis), Discrete mathematics, and Mathematics for economists. All As except for calculus for business on which I have A-. The mathematics for economists was a class I took with the Economics head department on which he gave some brief inside about kuhn-tucker, implicit function, separating hyperplane, fixed point, envelope theorem which he told me are some basic things covered in grad school. Econ Courses: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Managerial economics, Money and banking, Environmental economics, Economic theory, Economic forecasting. All As except for Micro on which I got a B and econometrics with a A- Other Courses: 2 stat courses, one calculus based and the other not, and a bunch of management class, mainly finance and accounting related Letters of Recommendation: 3 economics professors who have not national recognition. 2 of them should be strong and I was a research assistant for one of them during one semester Research Experience: Did one semester research assistant for one teacher and also did 2 summer of a research school program, one was with economic variables and the other not so much Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Labor economics, monetary policy, industrial organization, and behavioral economics SOP: Well, I will be 32 once I start the program and I managed to finish a degree with success and I also took many more classes that I should have, so my SOP should be strong Concerns: My university is practically unknown. I am part of the Purdue system, but is a satellite school. I also don't have real analysis under my belt. Applying to: A bunch but I am aiming towards Brown, Boston College, Suffolk, Northeastern, UMass and a couple more, I will not apply inside the top 10 though. I know programs are different, but i have to live near Boston Good luck to everyone, I hope I can post my admission to any program later on