Search the Community

Hello, Some schools are making classes taken this semester pass/fail while others are giving the option to choose which classes. How will this look on a transcript to adcoms? If I'm taking honors classes and math courses to try and go onto graduate school, will this hurt me? Thanks

I'm an undergraduate student studying economics, and I am planning my courses over my junior and senior year. My goal is to as an equity analyst covering the financial sector (because it is so directly driven by economics), or working at a macro hedge fund. I am trying to plan my courses accordingly, but I'm having difficulty choosing a path. Would anyone be willing to help me map out the courses that I should be taking? These are the related courses I've taken so far: Finite Mathematics Principles of Statistics Calculus I Linear Algebra Microeconomics Macroeconomics Financial Accounting I am trying to decide if, given my situation, I would be better off choosing more qualitative classes, or more quantitative. I am at a top 20 undergrad school with all the typical classes. I will definitely take: Micro Theory Macro Theory Money and Banking Industrial Organizations Instruments and Markets Corporate Finance Investment Analysis The courses I'm considering are: Calculus II Differential Equations Intro to Econometrics Topics in Econometrics Development Economics Game Theory Economic Growth International Finance Strategic Analysis Economic History of the U.S. Wages, Employment & Labor Markets I don't know enough about economics to judge whether or not courses like econometrics and calculus II will be applicable to understanding the economy from an investing perspective (I'm not a quant or trader type). I plan to get my MBA, not a higher degree in economics, so positioning myself for graduate admissions isn't an issue. I apologize for the lengthy post, but if anyone is willing to point me in the right direction (qualitative vs quantitative, most useful courses), I would be greatly appreciative.

Hey all, I am an RA at a top university and have the chance to take graduate coursework this coming fall. As a prospective economics graduate student, I am torn between taking the first semester Real Analysis course (measure and integration) with the Math Ph.D students vis-a-vis taking Micro 1 (Chapters 1-6 MWG). On one hand, the micro course is probably a direct signal of ability to perform well in graduate coursework, and for most people it would be an obvious choice. However, I feel measure theory- pervasive as it is in so many areas of thought including mathematics, statistics, econometrics and the economics of information- feels fundamentally more important to know and understand. Have any of you taken both courses? Which one felt more challenging and demanding? Which one did you personally feel like you learnt more from? I am currently working through Rudin's book Real and Complex Analysis. My progress is very slow, since I do problems by myself (hardly an advisable strategy if you want to make rapid progress in learning the material; I suspect peer effects are very prominent in courses like these) and I do not spend much time on it given my other commitments as an RA. I have virtually no experience with MWG and have only done baby Varian many years ago. People also tell me that I need to be in the top 5% of my class to get the highest grade in Micro which seems unfeasible as many graduate students (almost all international students) have seen the material before in masters programs, so then I would come in with a disadvantage relative to them. I do not know how the grading works in the Math department. Given all of this, do you have any advice?

Hello, My school gives me the option to pass-fail certain courses. I have the ability to pass-fail a course in time series analysis that I am doing poorly in (my math record is otherwise almost perfect, this course is just not going very well). I don't know if having a "pass" on my transcript for that course would be a positive or negative signal, so I'm not sure if I should take that option or just drop it altogether. If I drop it I will get a few hundred dollars refunded. Any thoughts on this or how pass-fail courses are perceived are appreciated. Thank you!

Thanks in advance for any help- I just finished my undergrad at a so-so economics dept. in Canada. My marks are great, have good recommendations etc. but I kind of decided late in the game that I wanted to do a PhD, so I don't have the most extensive math background, especially with proofs. I'm taking a year off school and moved to Toronto to work in policy, applying to master's programs in the Fall- I'm fairly confident that I can get into a top 4 program in Canada, based on placements of similar students at my school/conversations with people on this forum. I have some free time this year though, and I want to take a U of T math course at some point to a) boost my application for PhD time and b) make sure I really kick *** once I start master's classes. Here's my math background: Calc I-II (A+,A), Statistics I-II (A,A), Linear Algebra (A-), Multivariate Calc for Economics(A+) I'm looking at a few math courses, but I want some advice on which courses I'm both likely to do well in based on my experience, but will be really good for signalling and for masters prep. I have a few in mind: MAT157Y1 - Analysis I MAT237Y1 - Multivariable Calculus MAT244H1 - Introduction to Ordinary Differential Equations MAT336H1 - Elements of Analysis MAT337H1 - Introduction to Real Analysis With 3 potential courses in Analysis, I'm pretty unsure of which to do. Analysis 1 goes over some stuff I learned in Calc II, but only part of it, and I took that course in my first year. The two third year Analysis courses are all new to me, and would probably be better signals, but I have no idea whether I would be able to do well in them. Here's a description of the courses, for context: https://fas.calendar.utoronto.ca/section/Mathematics Thanks

Hello all, I am posting this question because I have concerns about 1) my GPA, and 2) how to structure future academic course work. My majors GPA (economics, maths, stats) is 3.96, and my cumulative is about 3.82. As it stands, the discrepancy is projected to grow even more. As far as I know, the cumulative GPA is the only GPA calculation that goes in my graduate school application. (But of course, there's the transcript) Now, my school has a pretty heavy core, and I've noticed a general trend in my academic records: I have been doing worse and worse in my core humanities classes(B/B+), but better and better in my major classes (A/A-), despite the fact that I am pretty aggressively taking more advanced major classes (but doing the bare minimum for the others). I really don't like the core classes, but if I am to graduate, I have no choice. Here is the question: Should I cut back on my major classes in rigor and workload so that I have more time to do better on my humanities core classes? How important is my overall track record vs. taking more advanced (graduate) major courses? (Think an applicant with 2 grad courses + 3.83, or 4 grad courses + 3.77) This is probably a minor point, but I am trying to gauge how important that extra (hopefully A) grad math/econ course would be. I wanted to be careful, since I would be taking it on margin (in terms of credits). Thanks a bunch!

Full-time RA 2016 Profile Evaluation Hey all, After traveling a long journey, I am open to any suggestions. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: B.Eng. in Urban Planning, B.Sc in Mathematics from top2 Chinese university Undergrad GPA: 3.95/3.83 Type of Grad: Master in city planning from MIT Grad GPA: 5.0/5.0 GRE: old score, 700V+800Q+3.5W Math Courses: Calculus I&II (A+) Mathematical Analysis (A+) Probability Theory (A-) Functions of Real Variables (A) Advanced Algebra (A+) Mathematical Statistics (A-) Abstract Algebra (A) Ordinary Differential Equations (A) Operation Research (A-) Theory of Functions of a Complex Variable (A-) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principle of Economics (A+); Urban Econ (A); Environmental Econ (A) Other Courses: some finance courses, mathematical finance, real estate finance, investments, etc. A handful of applied courses for urban planning. Letters of Recommendation: Research supervisors at work – well-known in the field (top 5% ideas). Possibly IO professor at GWU who graduated from MIT Research Experience: Various research experience in urban studies & public finance. Currently working as full-time RA at DC think-tank specializing in environmental economics for 1.5 years Teaching Experience: TA for public finance in grad dept at MIT Research Interests: Environmental, IO SOP: Will be strong -- focused and concise with research interest and projects that I have been working on. Will talk about 2~3 papers (upcoming) as 2nd and 3rd author. Concerns: not trained as an economist in school. Before full-type RA, my research experience has largely been qualitative, based on survey and fieldwork, extraneous to what I am aiming to do. Insufficient econ courses. A- in statistics/probability course. Weak GRE writing. Applying to: top 20 econ, top ARE programs, HKS, Standford MS&E Other: I am currently taking Phd Micro II, III, RA II at GWU part-time (and hope I will get As) Ideally, I want to go to a place that is strong in both IO and environmental, because my research interest now is how firms respond to and affect the efficiency of energy and environmental policy. Harvard and MIT would be great ( I have plan to take more courses in summer and next fall (hoping I can get my fall transcript to adcom). What courses will have the biggest marginal utility? Many say field course like PhD IO will not carry much weight but it will be very good for me to consolidate my research ideas. Or Macro I will be a better choice? Do I need to take a graduate-level mathematical statistics or phd econometrics to compensate my weakness in statistics grade? (if so, which one is better?) Though I have taken many undergrad math courses (4 year ago), the knowledge is not active. Is it necessary to take grad measure theory, functional analysis, typology to send stronger signal (or am I just being paranoid)? Also importantly, will my grade at GWU be discounted in some way because it is not a top school? Thanks much -- I look forward to any feedback

Hey All, Just a quick question about my course selection for next term. A masters-level PDE class or a new Mathematical Modeling course? I'm a double major pure math and econ, taken calc, multicalc, RA, LA, Diff Eqs, measure theory, a couple grad econ courses, will take abstract alg, prob and stats, etc... Also, would a semester of master-level Game Theory/Strategic Thinking ('fairly non-mathematical') be a better signal over a second semester of a masters-level Econ and Public Policy sequence? I'm highly interested in both game theory and public policy, and may apply to public policy programs in the future. But I love game theory... :( I don't know how one question turned into two, but one or more answers would be much appreciated! :)

How would you rank these statistics electives in terms of preparation for an Economics PhD program? What about for an industry career (just in case I'm not accepted)? Multilevel Modeling Time Series Analysis Generalized Linear Models Nonparametric Statistics Survival Analysis Elementary Stochastic Processes

I'm a junior in a math-econ program. I plan on sending grad applications next fall, so this year I'm preparing the ground for LORs and having a strong application. To that end, which courses would you recommend taking this year before I send applications? For example, should I take modern algebra this year to show a strong math signal, or do adcoms want to see my aptitude in econometrics? Does it even matter which courses you've taken/are currently taking when you send apps? Here's my list of courses to allocate to each year (excluding courses I can't move): Math: Probability, Numerical math, Modern algebra, Complex analysis, Combinatorics Econ: Advanced Micro, Advanced Macro, Intermediate Econometrics, Econometrics seminar Which courses should I take before I send apps, and which should I leave for my senior year?