2nd graduate degree from Harvard Extension School

[dogbones]

Okay, so you took the graduate-level econ classes apparently (three of them?) How did you do in them? And I'm not too sure how programs handle you re-taking these courses, if you have already done so at the same institution, and passed.

 

Re: placements - Where has Hawaii placed its graduates?

 

And I second tutonic's comments - from my experience, the problem sets are very long, the material difficult. There is a lot of content to study. It seems very unrealistic to take on a second degree in addition to advanced math courses + PhD core + TA/RA responsibilities. That's setting yourself up to earn mediocre grades somewhere down the line in a class you cannot afford to, given your school.

 

I know you mention you are buying books to study. But ultimately, it comes down to you being able to actually commit and do the work. Reading math everyday should help your preparation. You don't need to spend a lot of money on analysis texts like Rudin or Rosenlicht. You need to develop your intuition, and that takes time.

 

You have gotten mediocre grades in some of your math classes. You do not need to respond to this, but you should think carefully about why that happened. Is it just a knowledge gap, or is it something else? Failing to consider this will ultimately result in the same outcome as your undergraduate math classes.

 

Thank you for your thoughtful comments! The reasons some of my math grades were not up to my standards (A grades) is because (a) I was naive and thought college was just like high school where the material trickles down instead of blowing up in your face like I think it does in college especially in higher math, (b) I was overconfident and didn't think I needed to live in a cave just to get by in college math which I now see that many people actually do, and © I wasn't that competitive and also didn't know that I was in the same room as engineering majors, and than these engineering majors were really good at math. Basically, I was living in a funny bubble and am glad that I now see the light rays shining onto earth as I now look to get ahead of the game well in advance.

[startz]

Hi: so actually the MA placements are found in the same place as the PhD placements, they are indicated by "(MA)" next to the name... sadly a lot of the placements are not posted and I do not have that much insider information, but the older cohorts have more MA placements, as can be found here: Economics Department-University of Hawaii ...

Thanks. I note they do not report any MA placements in the last 8 years. You should be concerned about this.

[dogbones]

Thanks. I note they do not report any MA placements in the last 8 years. You should be concerned about this.

 

I’m not concerned because the website also shows all grad students and there are a good number of MA students there mixed in with PhD students... I’m not trying to squeeze too much juice out of the MA since Hawaii is the perfect fit for me.

[startz]

I’m not concerned because the website also shows all grad students and there are a good number of MA students there mixed in with PhD students... I’m not trying to squeeze too much juice out of the MA since Hawaii is the perfect fit for me.

 

You're interested in continuing on to a PhD program. Many master's programs give great professional training while not usually sending students on to PhD programs. I don't know about Hawaii. You should be sure that they regularly send students on to the kind of PhD program you would like to attend.

[tutonic]

Fit doesn't, and shouldn't, factor into the decision to pursue a masters. The only metric of any importance, is the placement strength of the masters programme. Fit only enters the picture when you're deciding on which PhD programme to apply to.

[industryguy]

I don't understand dogbones. She is obviously a troll, but why would somebody troll this of all forums on the internet?

[dogbones]

I don’t understand your confusion, industryguy, but I also don’t think that your comment is necessary.

[startz]

I don't understand dogbones. She is obviously a troll, but why would somebody troll this of all forums on the internet?

dogbones often asks questions that seem a little odd, but I am absolutely certain that she is sincere and is not a troll.

[laborsabre]

dogbones often asks questions that seem a little odd, but I am absolutely certain that she is sincere and is not a troll.

I agree with this. I think some of dogbones' questions are unconventional, but they do seem genuine.

[industryguy]

Dogbones, I have to say that I agree strongly with Bayes. I believe you will go far in life due to your clear determination, but you seem entirely not cut out for a PhD in economics. Please save yourself the trouble.

[dogbones]

industryguy, I sure do hope you get banned from this forum for violating the prescribed rules with your senseless and uninformed remarks.