Zeratul

haha the math GRE is out of 990, what are the chances of an auto-admit? :grad:

Ok thanks, I was thinking grad analysis and micro would be really good to take and that the math gre on top of that would be even more solid because even with grad analysis I won't have too many upper level math courses. Is the level of mathematical maturity what's important here, or is it sheer number of classes? Would good grades in those classes make up for a lack of the more traditional coursework?

Hi, I'm a non-traditional applicant, and I've been toying with various plans to try to get into a decent program for econ. The problem is I don't have that much math in coursework, but I have self studied a large amount of the undergrad math major. Do you think taking the GRE subject test in math (and scoring well, obviously, say above the 70th percentile) would help in signalling ability? Thanks. I figure if I'm going to try to go to grad school I should try to get into the best school I can, so I'm willing to take first semester micro and econometrics, and maybe grad analysis on top of that if necessary.

this is what i hope to do. the way i see it, it's my best shot at showing admissions committees that i'm serious. i'm more worried about showing up in the fall ill prepared than whether i'll be able to motivate myself. but it seems that many students coming straight from college don't have that much advanced math and still adjust fairly well, so i'm optimistic.

Sorry, I may have misused the word audit. I'm planning on going back to school this fall and taking the first semester of grad econ courses for a grade. I was planning on using this as a way of signaling competence and acquiring useful technical skills. Are there any benefits in doing a master's instead of this? I figured since I have the math background (or.. hopefully I will by this fall), I might as well just take the first semester of classes- if you didn't have the math, would doing a master's help that?

Would a master's be a better choice than just auditing classes at a phd program?

Thanks for your input- I'll keep it in mind when I go talk to some old advisors and see what they think. I don't have any targets yet; I've been out of the game for a while, so I don't really know how I stack up against other applicants. I hope to find out this fall :)

Thanks guys, if I remember correctly all of my math grades were A-'s, which isn't too spectacular. Is the general idea behind taking grad courses that you absolutely need A's in them? Most programs require B- or above to pass, right? What is the typical average grade in the first year courses?

Hey guys, first post here- I have to say, this is a great forum. Unfortunately, my search didn't come up with the answers I'm looking for. So I've spent a few years away from school but would like to go to grad school in econ. I never took any advanced math courses as an undergrad (my math courses include calc, prob, math stats, linear algebra with an intro to proof, and differential equations) I've self studied Ross' Elementary Analysis and feel I have a pretty good understanding of basic real analysis. My question is, how can I best signal to admissions committees that 1) I am serious about going to grad school in econ, and 2) I can handle the rigor? I'm currently considering two options: 1) Take the first semester of grad econ courses at my undergrad university (math-econ, metrics 1 which I'm pretty sure is statistics, micro 1, and macro 1), which is top 15 econ in all rankings i've seen 2) Take micro, macro, metrics, and sub undergraduate real analysis for math-econ. I'd probably still audit math-econ just to make my life easier for micro and macro. Originally, I was thinking that taking the full load of a first year student would be the best signal, but now I'm not sure. Is comfort with proofs enough, or is it necessary to have a grade in real analysis? Also how good of a signal is metrics? Would a grad probability course be better? Thanks for all your time.