dutchdisease

There is but there would be significant issues with transferring to my state flagship university. I would probably lose most of my credits. Hello chateauheart, thank you for continuing to put up with me. My current GPA is roughly a 3.5. I have also been involved in tutoring in my department and I have received an award from the department. I still have not taken part in any research at this time. As a side note I did not realize that this thread had actually been posted. In my original attempt to submit it, it was not listed on the forum so I figured it didn't take. I came to a conclusion similar to yours between then and now. I have for the most part decided that I will go to my original university and do as well as I can. If I manage to do amazing getting nothing below an A- in any of my math or economics courses, then I will consider going on to do a PHD. If you have any last bits of advice for me I would love to hear them. Sorry for any typos. Also I have no expectation of getting into a top program at this point. I have realized that the competition in tremendous, and I have also realized I would be more than happy to end up at a lower ranked but respectable university. Finally, I just want to thank you. You have been one of the most helpful members on this forum to me.

Hello All, Feel free to skip ahead to the bottom questions. I am currently finishing up my time at a community college and had originally planned to attend a local but not well known state school. It is my hope to one day get a PHD in economics. I realize however, that competition is incredibly high for such programs, and I am starting to reconsider whether or not it is a safe option to transfer into a program that has very little prestige. So I started looking for programs programs ranked on U.S. news that are reasonably priced for out of state students. Here is the rub. I do not really have a solid financial background at this point and I would hate to accumulate debts that would greatly harm my family members should I be unable to pay them after getting my degree. So here are my questions. 1) Would it be worth transferring over into an undergraduate economics program that is more well known instead of going to a much more convenient and most likely less costly state university that is practically unknown? 2) What well ranked colleges would provide an out of state undergraduate with a low cost tuition (tuition + room & board + additional expenses

Sorry about the late replies to all of this but I want to thank the three of you for your answers, they were very helpful.

Thank you for your answer. The reason I said A's and B's was largely because I really do not have a full comprehension of how difficult the upper level math courses can be. I assumed there would come times when I would not get the grade of an A just out of recognition that many of these courses would be difficult. Also do you have any idea of what range of schools I could realistically get into? I obviously am not going off to Harvard given my background but what can I realistically expect?

Hello All, A while back ago this forum was very helpful to me and I am hoping that it will hold true this time as well. I will try to make this short. Basically I am a Community College business student preparing to transfer to a four year university. I have a GPA of roughly 3.5. I am interested in pursuing a PHD in economics. The issue is that at this point, it is really only possible for me to go to a few local in state college. None of these colleges are known for their economics programs and really most of them are not known at all if you live outside the state. My plan is essentially to get a double major in economics and mathematics from one of these state colleges. I guess my first question would be as follows: As a student coming from a little known college where can I realistically hope to place assuming that from this point on I receive a mix of A's and B's in my mathematics major and pretty much all A's in my economics major? Also assume a good GRE score, no research experience, and good letters of recommendation from little know professors. My second question is a little bit more subjective. I realize what an extremely rigorous path a PHD in economics is compared to other careers. I also cannot say that I am without my doubts. In the past my mathematical skills have been sub-par, (something I have been trying to make up for over the last two semesters) and I know that such a statement in damning. What I really want to know is whether or not I am really cut out for this path if I do take it. Is there any way I can know without going through this whole process so I can avoid making a costly mistake. Just to clarify I have enjoyed economics more than any other of my college classes up to this point but I also realize that my experience is limited and that I am nowhere near the most challenging parts of it. I also really have trouble thinking of something else I would rather do with my life. Sorry about length but help would be appreciated very much.

Just as a quick response as far as income goes I am fine with making sacrifices now if I believe they will lead to a better lifestyle later. But if I were to end up outside academia and out into (for lack of better words) into the real world I would of course like to make a decent wage in industry in a job that doesn't entail 90hr work weeks.

Thank you all for the answers everyone, I fully realize that this is an awfully difficult thing to answer considering my minimal background in the area and the extremely small field. Here is my reasoning though, even though I am making a rather long shot goal I am doing this partially because I need to pick some sort of path that will lead me to prosperity in the future. When I move on to the 4 year university I imagine without a doubt that in order to have any chance into getting into a top econ program I would need to at least have a minor in mathematics and I would probably benefit a whole lot more from say a degree in economics than a major in Supply Chain Management or Finance. This is why I feel the urge to make the decision now because I think it would be hard to turn back to graduate school once I have already chosen a different field. I would enjoy getting an economics major no matter what but an undergrad in economics is not in my eyes as viable as say a degree in finance for finding a career in industry. Basically what I am trying to say is that all my decisions are dependent on one another and that I am trying to decide between this long and difficult road and just trying to find a career in one of the business sub-fields that makes me an above average salary and gets me employed. From what I have read an unemployment for people with degrees in economics is higher than that for those with say a finance degree (not to say I want to go into finance just highlighting a point. I do have one other reason as well. I tend not to always do all that well if I do not have a particular goal I am working towards and it really helps to paddle the boat a little harder when you can see land on the horizon.

Hello everyone, This is my first time and possibly my only time posting on this forum. From what I understand this is the place to go in order to ask questions relating to PHD programs in economics. So a bit of background first, I am currently an undergrad at a community college in the Northeast. For a long time I have been looking for a career that would suite me and in taking a look back at all the classes and experiences I have had, one in particular stands out. The basic Micro and Macro courses were by far my favorite out of all required business courses (currently a business major). In spite of this I am well aware that a PHD and particularly a PHD in economics is especially difficult. I fear that I might not be cut out for graduate school and that it might be much different than what I expect. My current GPA is something like 3.3 and to be honest I have not always done as much as I am capable of doing. I am currently really trying to get my life on track so I may succeed in the future. If I decide to go this route my current plan is to go to a state university and get a major in economics and minor in mathematics (note my mathematics in the past has often been rather mediocre). Hopefully I will have a good GPA and some good recommendations (I am currently in good standing with an economics professor from my community college) to see me through to a preferably top 20 grad school. It is also worth noting I do not come from a particularly strong financial background and I don't want my parents to shoulder any of the burden of me achieving what I want. If anything I think it should be the other way around. I realize this post is somewhat free form and not straight to the point so I'll try to sum all this up into one or two simple questions. What will it take for me to get into a top graduate school? How can I figure out if I am cut out for a PHD in economics preferably before I go onto the 4 year university? Any other advice would be helpful and if anything needs clarification please feel free to ask.