Search the Community

I've read a lot that people experience grad macro to be extremely conceptual and very foreign looking. I'm in undergrad currently and have taken macro and it also seems really conceptual. Where are the differences found in undergrad v. grad macro? We use Macroeconomics by Mankiw and have gotten to the point of just seeing the possibilities of DSGE models. Wondering how much more it could go into the weeds.

Hello Urch forums! I was just wondering if we have any Data Scientists/Analysts around because I'd really like to know if it is a good career move to study it further. For some background, I'm currently in an Electronics and Communications B.Tech. degree and I'm about to graduate by May. I'm honestly lost on how to proceed and have been debating Big Data/Analytics or going with something more related to my stream. Any opinions would be helpful!

Hi, I am a exchange junior in Berkeley and will stay there for only one semester. I think it is a good chance for me to choose a grad econ course that is well recognized. Here are two options: First option: grad micro (david ahn, seems a tough course), international montary econ (gourinchase), IO (edlin) Second option: grad macro (obstfeld, romer, seems easier than grad micro), some other undergrad courses which are not taught by well-known professors Taking into account LOR, grades signaling, and their weights in adcom's view, which option do you think is better for PhD application? Thanks! BTW, which professor do you think is approachable and willing to give LOR in Berkeley?

Hey everyone! I've been combing through these threads for a couple of weeks, but I would still like a little bit of guidance. I'll keep this short, hopefully. I'm a junior Economic and Mathematics double major at a fairly large private university in a big US city, with a decent reputation of its grad business and law schools, but not much beyond that, and there is a lack of substantial research in most areas. My economics advisor has expressed some concern over the reputation (or lack thereof) of my school making admission to a good PhD program difficult. So, I'm wondering if my course choices are alright considering my school. Relevant Courses taken: Honors "States, Markets and Society" (political economy course), Principles and Intermediate Micro, Principles Macro, Calc I-III with Scientific Applications, Mathematical Reasoning and Proofs Somewhat relevant?: Year of bio, two trimesters chemistry, two trimesters physics This term, I'll be taking: Real Analysis I, Multivariable Calculus I, Advanced Microeconomics (grad level) and an Honors Program Junior Requirement course. The rest of Junior Year: Real Analysis II, Multivariable Calculus II, Linear Algebra, [Grad] Research Methods for Policy Analysis I (closest thing to econometrics), Intro to Econometrics... and then Differential Equations or Game Theory or some other math course? I considered Mathematical Economics but apparently it's too low-level in terms of math. Senior year: Full year of 300-level Prob and Statistics, intermediate macro, hopefully [grad] Advanced Macro, and a bunch of other econ and math courses (suggestions, anyone?). Some of the courses that I mentioned as possibilities can definitely be taken senior year, but the question is whether it is better to take them junior year so they're on my apps to PhD programs? Also (what happened to keeping this short?), what else do I need? I'm going to RA for a young, top 5 PhD professor later this year. What kind of stuff should I aim for during the summer between junior and senior year? What about senior year? And I suppose I'll ask this now: Should I apply during my senior year to PhD programs, or wait a year or two while working at the Fed or in economic consulting, etc? I'm dead-set on an Econ PhD, so it's not an issue of 'getting a feel for the "real" world'. It's an issue of building my resume to compensate for the fact that I'm not coming from a well-ranked university (though I love it here), and a not-perfect GPA (darn pre-med sequences!). And I gotta say, though I've only been a creepy lurker, you guys and gals have impressed me with your intelligence, ambition and friendliness. I look forward to being more active here in the future. Thanks in advance for your help!

I'm a junior in a math/econ program at an unranked school. I've been looking into the possibility of taking grad courses to boost my profile (it seems that taking grad courses is almost a necessary condition for getting into top 30). I just got an email from the Head of the graduate program saying that my uni prohibits undergraduate students from registering for graduate courses. What would you advise doing? I do know that other undergrads here have taken Micro II as an undergrad reading course. Someone in this thread suggested auditing the course, doing the work, and getting a LOR. Any other suggestions?