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Sorry if this has been asked before, but which option would be better for someone looking to bolster their chances of admission to a decent program? For some background, I struggled with personal issues my sophomore year which resulted in me getting a few bad grades in calculus that are really hurting my chances. I've since turned things around and have gotten A's in all of my upper level math and econ courses and should have a GPA of about a 3.6 by graduation in the spring. I'll be doing a guided research project next semester and will try to really improve my skills with things like STATA and SAS in order to be competitive for RA spots. I don't have any previous research experience (I contacted basically every professor in the department but they were either not accepting student assistants or just weren't interested), which I realize is another strike against my chances of getting into a PhD program. I realize that an RA job would really help boost my profile in this respect, but would it actually make up for the damage done by my one bad year? As for the masters, I've heard conflicting things. Some say it's a great way of making up for blemishes in an undergrad record while others have said that an MA in econ is basically worthless. I've even heard that admissions committees look down on them. Basically, given my personal situation, which path would you recommend I take? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

Issue Question: Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student's field of study because acquiring knowledge of various disciplines is he best way to become truly educated. My response: Universities should basically keep a list of courses they provide before the student does their enrollment. This gives the student a brief sum up of what possibilities they can get during their course time. For a student aspiring any course he/she is recommended to take extra subjects which are out of their field of study. This is usually helpful for the students in the long run of their career. Let the student have a sense of satisfaction that they can get jobs which are out of their field.By giving the student education to varied feild courses the educators are basically creating a batch of students who acquire knowledge not just restricted to one branch but diversified by their application as well as area of intrest. This is hugely beneficial when students undergo industrial experience.For example let there be a person qualified from a masters in computers and a minors in business. This will allow that person to do a job in the IT sector of any firmthat it has a rudimentery knowledge of. This could be the major life changing factor especially in today's high unemployment rates as this would give an extra touch to his/her resume. However the students nowadays fail to see this point of veiw by which the syllabus makers do their job. Instead they consider this as extra work to be done during their studies. By not giving attention to that subject they ultimately fail in it degrading their moral. This could be the inly drawback for students who considers these extra courses not essential. For instance take a person who is aspiring core computers branch but have to also study useless (to him/her) courses which are not going to be helpful in the future even remotely. This would lead to less attention paid in the sujects of intrest. So basically students have to consider all future aspects of their decisions taken by them during the selection of their courses. This would provide them with great boon or would just be degradation to their current performance. Thanks in advance