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Hi! I do research at a university so I get tuition benefits for classes here, but I'm not allowed to count them towards a degree. I am planning to apply for an econ PhD in the next 2-3 years. Because I made a career shift after undergrad, I am missing the following classes: Real Analysis, Econometrics, Stochastic Processes in Statistics, and upper level Econ classes. I prefer to take these classes using my tuition benefits because it is much, much cheaper for me. However, I also want to have a strong application. Can anyone please advise me if it would look better on my application to go for a full masters in econ, even though it would be expensive? Thank you!

I'm an undergraduate student at Michigan State University and in a few years I want to apply for a PhD in either Applied/Computational Mathematics or Economics. I've been lurking on this forum for some time now, and see a lot of importance in choosing the right coursework, so I'm looking for suggestions on my coursework outline and for things that I may be unintentionally neglecting that are important, etc. My profile (GPA, research, etc.) is included in another post from this account. 1st year (19 - 20) Partial Differential Equations (MTH 442), Discrete Mathematics I (MTH 481), C++ Programming (CSE 232), Intro Econometrics (EC 420), Behavioral Econ (EC 404), Honors Micro (EC 251H), Discrete Structures for CS (CSE 260), Honors Linalg (MTH 317H), and Intro Engineering (EGR 100). 2nd year (20 - 21) FS20: Parallel Computing (CMSE 822), Stats & Prob I (STT 861), Econometrics IA (EC 820a), and Honors Abstract Algebra I (MTH 418H) SS21: Numerical Linalg (CMSE 823), Stats & Prob II (STT 862), Econometrics IB (EC 820b), and Honors Abstract Algebra II (MTH 419H) 3rd year (21 - 22) FS21: Microeconomics I (EC 812A), Macroeconomics I (EC 813A), Intro Analysis (327H, may skip this since I have Analysis credit from high school), and Selected Topics in Computational Math (CMSE 890). SS22: Microeconomics II (EC 812B), Macroeconomics II (EC 813B), Real Analysis (429H, may elect to take graduate Complex Analysis (MTH 829) instead), and Selected Topics in Computational Math (CMSE 890). 4th year (22 - 23) FS22: Time Series Econometrics I (EC 822A), Cross Section Econometrics I (EC 821A), Special Topics in Applied Math (MTH 994), and Numerical Analysis I (MTH 850), and Capstone in Mathematics (EC 496W). SS23: International Trade: Theory and Commercial (EC 840), Applied Econometrics (EC 823), Special Topics in Applied Math (MTH 994), Partial Differential Equations (MTH 849), and Capstone in Mathematics (MTH 496W).

Especially for those of you who are in or have gone through pre-doctoral RAships, what would you say are the best ones (NBER, university, Fed, JPAL, etc.) in terms of being able to be placed into a good program (again, when paired with good grades and coursework in undergrad)? Many people who ask this come from small liberal arts colleges, and I think advice tailored to this subset of applicants would be useful. And any advice you would give to people who are just entering into these pre-doc RAships?

Hi everyone, I'm currently a student at a mid-sized state university in Texas. I have a background in computer science and software engineering, but I chose to study economics for my undergrad because I wanted to research and understand issues like economic inequality and poverty. I realized after about a year of taking economics coursework that I wanted to go into economic research, and to that end I wanted to get a PhD in economics. At that point, I added a mathematics minor to my degree plan and planned to take as many math courses as possible by the time I graduated. I have significant experience in computer programming (internships at relatively prestigious companies), and I have also applied to a fellowship that would enable me to contribute to economic research for a semester. Here are what my stats look like, along with my projected classes/experience by the time I graduate: GPA: 3.8+. My first semester of college I had pretty bad priorities and got, like, a 3.02. That includes a C in principles of macroeconomics (because I never attended class), and similar grades in some general prerequisites like Art and Introduction to Philosophy. Since then, I have received all As in all of my coursework, but that one semester still haunts me (and my GPA). I will have some buffer room in my last semester and sometimes consider retaking Principles so I can have a perfect GPA in Economics/Math coursework, but on the other hand, I got an A in the intermediate class, and I could just take more math classes with those hours. I think that's probably better. Any thoughts? (At my university, if you retake a class one time, that grade will replace the old grade on your transcript and GPA). Economics Coursework: Intermediate Microeconomics (A+), Intermediate Macroeconomics (A), Money and Banking (A), Mathematical Economics (A), Econometrics (A+), Public Sector Economics (A). I am currently taking Labor Economics and Game Theory and am doing well in both. Mathematics Coursework: I took Calculus 1-3 dual credit in high school, as well as AP Statistics. At my university, I have taken Linear Algebra (A+) and am currently taking Vector Calculus, Differential Equations, and TCalc (the intro to proofs class). I am doing well in all of these so far and expect to complete them with As. Before graduating, I will also be taking Numerical Analysis, Mathematical Analysis 1 and 2 (Real Analysis), Abstract Algebra, and Probability, for my minor. I have previous experience in software engineering, and I have accepted a software engineering internship at Facebook this Fall. I will be interning at a large financial technology firm in NYC for software engineering this summer. I have applied for, and am hoping to receive, a fellowship so that I can contribute to research at a think tank in DC this Spring. I am also active in a lot of stuff on campus (positions in student government, clubs, etc.) but that's just because I enjoy it, and I don't think it's going to do anything for me after college. I have kept doing work in software because it pays enough to help me make it through my undergrad, and I think it could help me secure an RA position. What I am trying to plan for is what to do next summer and after I graduate, in 3-4 semesters. What positions/internships would I be competitive for to apply for my last summer in undergrad? Should I apply to intern at the Fed? Here are some options I am considering: 1. A master's degree in Economics from UT Austin, or an APE from the Paris School of Economics (PSE). I believe I have good chances of getting into one of these programs, and that they could potentially help me get into a better PhD program. However, I have heard that master's programs aren't very well regarded in academic economics anyways, so I am also considering: 2. Trying for a RA position, at the Fed or at a T5 school. I think I could get one of these because of my strong programming background. Is that true? What can I do to prepare for something like this? I'm trying to figure out if I should just go ahead and apply to PhD programs, or if I am competitive for a RA position (ideally at the Fed), or if I should get a master's degree. Any advice is appreciated.

Hi all, I am RA at a top university in the U.S. and have the chance to enroll in graduate courses in the coming fall. I am split between taking the graduate real analysis course (measure and integration) in the math department or taking Micro I (consumer and producer theory, choice under uncertainty MWG chap 1-6). As a prospective economics Ph.D student, the obvious choice would appear to be Micro, given that it is a direct signal for performance in the first year coursework. However, given the pervasiveness of measure theory in various fields -- from statistics and econometrics to the economics of information and Bayesian learning -- it seems like a solid real analysis course may be good for my own edification. For context, I have been studying from Papa Rudin (RCA) for the past couple weeks, albeit progress is slow since I am doing all the problems by myself and have not really put all that much time into it given my other commitments as an RA. I suspect peer effects are important with respect to outcomes while engaging with material like this. I have no experience with MWG (only baby Varian). People here tell me that getting the highest grade is crucial in Micro but to do so you need to be in the top 5% of the class. That does not seem realistic for me given I will be competing with a host of international students who have seen the material before. I do not know how the grading works in the Math department. Does anyone have any advice for me? Did you take both the courses? If so, which one was more challenging and/or edifying? Appreciate the help

I received a few admissions offers for PhD in management. I have rejected all but two (so I have 2 in hand offers). It's a tough choice: one school has better location and stipend, the other has a better ranking and shorter program. I am considering whether it might make sense to enrol in both, rather than choose. In a sense they are complementary. In terms of coursework, there are synergies - both have similar required curriculum, so there won't be a ton of extra work that I'd need to put in. In terms of the actual research output, based on my ongoing work, I feel confident that I should be able to produce 2 separate, different and competent pieces of PhD theses. Any thoughts/perspectives on this idea? Is this legal? Esp. in terms of immigration rules. Any thoughts on what the universities may say about this? (I don't want to bring this up with either, if it means I would piss them off and get my offer rescinded) Possibly relevant details: Both are in Europe (one in EU), and I am a third country national. The funding at both is via so-called assistantship "jobs" (which are taxed as such), not true stipends. The locations of the universities/countries are such that it is practical, at least financially to attend both for the coursework...even if that means round trips every week.

Hi guys, I want to know how a PhD in Accounting differs from a PhD in Economics in terms of coursework, research methods and placements? My interest lies in taxation which is common to both Accounting and Economics. As per my understanding, Accounting has traditionally concerned itself with more of the business oriented and institutional aspects of taxation (eg mergers, acquisitions, transfer pricing etc), econ usually looks at economic phenomena like tax incidence, incentives for compliance, optimal taxation, salience etc. However, my impression is that these boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred and it is possible to do an Accounting PhD which is heavily economics focused in terms of coursework content (economic theory, econometrics) with the benefit of strong institutional focus. Is this understanding correct? The reason I ask is because some top departments (such as MIT's Accounting Group or Wharton) have remarkably little information on the structure of a PhD in Accounting in terms of coursework, what the degree entails etc. Is it possible to take classes in the economics department for instance? How much traditional Accounting material does the coursework contain? How much Finance coursework? And while the intake is way lower in Accounting compared to Econ, the placements at some of the top places seem to be very very good. Does it make more sense then to pursue a PhD in Accounting instead of Econ? Thanks

Hi guys, I want to know how a PhD in Accounting differs from a PhD in Economics in terms of coursework, research methods and placements? My interest lies in taxation which is common to both Accounting and Economics. As per my understanding, Accounting has traditionally concerned itself with more of the business oriented and institutional aspects of taxation (eg mergers, acquisitions, transfer pricing etc), econ usually looks at economic phenomena like tax incidence, incentives for compliance, optimal taxation, salience etc. However, my impression is that these boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred and it is possible to do an Accounting PhD which is heavily economics focused in terms of coursework content (economic theory, econometrics) with the benefit of strong institutional focus. Is this understanding correct? The reason I ask is because some top departments (such as MIT's Accounting Group or Wharton) have remarkably little information on the structure of a PhD in Accounting in terms of coursework, what the degree entails etc. Is it possible to take classes in the economics department for instance? How much traditional Accounting material does the coursework contain? How much Finance coursework? And while the intake is way lower in Accounting compared to Econ, the placements at some of the top places seem to be very very good. Does it make more sense then to pursue a PhD in Accounting instead of Econ? Thanks

I had 2 questions I wanted to ask current/former PhD students 1. What was Math Camp at your school like? What topics did you cover and how relevant did you find them in your coursework? 2. I also wanted to ask current and former PhD students how relevant PhD coursework grades are to your departments. Would faculty members decide to work against a student solely on the basis of bad grades even if they would be otherwise perfectly suited with working with that said student? I'm at a school with a reputation for a strict econ department which is known to be tough when it coming to grading so I am a bit worried how important PhD grades are for nurturing future faculty relationships. Also in your own experience how correlated are PhD grades and future research potential?

As far as I know, not many schools require us to upload the course outlines of relevant courses. Also, it is not always the case that schools give us a spreadsheet to indicate textbooks/contents of the coursework. Although I am sure we can emphasise the rigor of courses somewhere in our application, how can we signal ourselves EFFECTIVELY? I mean: how can we increase the probability that Adcom really understand our coursework without official course outlines? (I think for spreadsheet of coursework, Adcom cannot always know even if somebody lies.) It is especially true for international applicants studying in an international school with non-conventional course titles. Examples in my school: - Foundation of Morden Math --> Intro to Proof - Stochastic Calculus --> Measure Theory + Stochastic calculus - Quantitative Methods in Derivatives --> Stochastic calculus/Stochastic Differential Equation - Empirical Finance --> Financial Econometrics Indeed, these course titles are not wrong, but just fail to (fully) highlight their rigor. Any suggestion?

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!

Hi, I am currently a sophomore at Occidental College, a top 40 liberal arts college, studying International Relations and Economics, with a minor in math. I'm looking to get a PhD in Econ, but am worried that my low Calc I grade will hurt me. Should I retake it? As you can see I got a B- in Calc I, which hurts my econ GPA and my math one as well. If I retake it, both will be at a 3.7. Below are my stats: Major: Diplomacy and World Affairs and Economics, minor in Mathematics GPA: 3.43 (Doesn’t include grades in courses currently taking) GPA (Fall Semester, Freshman): 3.0 ((French 201 (C+) screwed it up)) GPA (Spring Semester, Freshman): 3.85 GPA (Fall Semester, Sophomore): 3.43 GPA (Economics): 3.42 (3.47 w/ an A- in Intermediate Micro) Principles of Econ I: A- Principles of Econ II: A- Intermediate Microeconomic Theory: A- (so far) Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory: B+ Economic Development: A- Calculus I: B- (should I retake?) GPA (Mathematics): 3.2 (3.47 w/ Calc II being an A-) Calculus I: B- Calculus II: A- (so far) Statistics: A- Planned Courses (Economics): Game Theory Applied Econometrics (Fall 2015) International Economics Senior Seminar (Honors) Planned Courses (Mathematics): Multivariable Calculus (Fall 2015) Discrete Mathematics (Prereq for real analysis) (Fall 2015) Linear Algebra Real Analysis Probability Mathematical Statistics Planned Courses (Computer Science): Intro to C++ (Fall 2015) Intro to Java I (Fall 2015) Intro to Java II and Intro to Computer Science Research Experience (Planned): Honors Comps in Economics Internship at Economic Policy Research Institute (South African think-tank) over Summer 2015 Summer Research on Campus Research with Polish Economics Professor (my mom knows the dean of a top twenty business school in Europe that I can do research with) GRE: not taken Target Schools: Top 30 – 50 University of Washington Georgetown George Washington University University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Boston University University of California – Santa Barbara Rice University Reach Schools: University of California – Los Angeles London School of Economics Brown University Columbia University University of Michigan – Ann Arbor New York University

Hi guys, Given that I am going to apply for PhD econ programs in the fall, I need help deciding whether I should do a graduate statistics/probability course in the fall, or whether I should take a PhD-level field course, International Trade, which is the area of research I am pretty sure I want to focus on. Here is my math background: Calc I-III, Math Stats I-II, ODEs, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis I-II (all undergraduate, A/A+ in all). 800 GRE quant, if that means anything. Here is my econ background: macro, micro, econometrics all at the MA level, A average. So, once again, should I do the graduate probability course, or should I do the PhD field course on international trade? Thanks for the help!

Hey there;) I'm an Indian student (recent graduate in Economics) currently applying for the position of Research Associate with MIT's Poverty Action Lab. I hit a roadblock while filling their online form. At one place they ask for a scan of my Undergraduate Transcript. At another, they ask for coursework and grades received. How is coursework different from syllabus exactly? If my scores are what they want, it's already in the transcript, right?:mad: In college, we had an additional 'honours' programme (unlike most universities in India) where we undertook additional projects outside the 'main' syllabus. These projects and essays received grades. Is that what 'coursework' might be referring to? After all, we get marks only and not grades for our core subjects anyway. If anyone understands the fine semantics of Western academia, I'd be really grateful for a little advise. Plus if you know what kind of coursework J-PAL values, I really wouldn't know how to thank you. Adios! -Abhishek

Since a lot of programs have different application dates, I was wondering how all of you dealt with applications where you submitted transcripts that did not include your entire course history. For example, if you apply in the Fall, then courses from Fall and Spring are not listed. In my case, this means the absence of very important coursework (Linear Algebra, Math modelling, graduate level microeconomics, etc.) Would you advise sending a supplemental letter explaining recent coursework once grades are in and enrollment is complete? Thanks everyone.