<p>I just graduated with a music degree this past August, and in the end I found the experience hollow, as far as overall interest and intellectual rigor, and I'm also obviously having problems with finding work; not just in my field, but in any field really. The normal lack of demand for my specialties was further compounded by recession and all that. Naturally I thought it would be a good idea to apply for grad school, but now I'm having second thoughts. I was going to apply for some interdisciplinary programs (American Studies and other sorts of Humanities and history-related subjects), thinking I could blend my interest in music with my interest in history and social science, but I just found that these programs were inherently flawed for various reasons (such as not having enough quantitative analysis and usually possessing certain ideological agendas). On top of all that, these degree programs really only prepare you for life as an academic, and I have more desire to do research and analysis sorts of things rather than teaching, and I really don't want to go out into a market where the highest position I can hope to attain is as an adjunct in a college where my position could be easily swiped away from me at any moment. </p>
<p>The one social science I've always seemed to gravitate towards is economics: I'm really interested in it and it seems like the practical and grounded choice for me. The only thing is that in my undergrad I didn't have to take any rigorous math courses, so I was thinking of just going ahead and taking Calculus I-III and Linear Algebra at the local college near me, and some Econ pre-reqs, so I can apply for MS/Ph.D programs in Economics, I'd just have to take the next year off. Given my bigger interests (not teaching and wanting a career more aligned with research, statistics, gov't/politics etc) and an ambivalence towards my undergrad studies, should I make this jump or is it too rash? I may have answered my own question while writing this post, but I just thought I'd get some feedback from others who might have gone through something similar.</p>
<p>P.S. Just to clarify: I'm living at home now since I graduated from my undergrad. Going to the local college near here and taking some pre-req courses to get into an Econ Ph.D program is the cheapest solution as well. I considered reapplying to my undergrad as a 2nd Bachelors degree student, but people who already earned a Bachelors don't qualify for grants. So if I'm going to have to use student loans, I'm going to go for the cheapest option naturally.</p>
<p>Econ is good as an employable field outside of academia as you have surmised. However, good answers to the direction of your inquiries depends on what direction you want to go in. If you want to play in the big leagues: the DC think tanks, Capitol Hill staffs, Federal Reserve banks, etc., you’re going to want to get not just a PhD but a PHD from a Top 10 or so program. </p>
<p>If you want to work for state/local government or many corporate jobs, a less competitive PhD or Masters or Masters paired with a Masters in Public Administration or the like might suit very well.</p>
<p>Math cases like Real Analysis, Differential Equations, Complex Analysis, and even courses like Topology and Combinatorics will useful. </p>
<p>Then there’s the elaborate dance: graduate programs are biased towards taking people they think will be future academics even though they know about half will wind up working in non-academic environments. Framing your interests in a way that makes you look attractive without being dishonest may take a bit of finesse.</p>
<p>Note: I know just enough to be dangerous on this subject, mainly to myself, and what I do know is geared toward top programs and thus may not apply to you.</p>
<p>I would caution against jumping into an Econ PhD. I thought about doing that because I took econ classes in undergrad and really enjoyed them. I’m now in a master’s program taking some of those econ PhD classes to test them out, and they completely changed my mind. Econ PhD’s are not actually very practical – they are highly theoretical and full of people who care mostly that the matrices in their regressions have been inverted properly, not that what they are actually doing make sense/is of any value to society. </p>
<p>I’m not saying an Econ PhD isn’t the right choice for you, but a PhD is a huge time commitment, is highly draining, generates a lot of anxiety and depression, and you shouldn’t do it unless you’re pretty sure you want to do it for the rest of time. It would be worth it if:</p>
<p>A) You enroll or audit a decent Econ class that is meant for 1st/2nd year PhDs, and see if you enjoy it/can keep up. (I have a 4.0 in my master’s classes, and am almost failing the PhD classes.)</p>
<p>B) You can get into a fully funded program (5 years of guaranteed funding)</p>
<p>C) You can get into a top program. Anything lower than top 10 will not generate many gains for you, but will cost you years of your life as well as money (they usually won’t be fully funded).</p>
<p>No, you don’t have to major in Econ to get a PhD in Econ. They’ll want to see some top work in some Econ courses and a lot of proof-based Math courses. My D is considering an Econ PhD and she doubled in Government and Math. She’s missing Econometrics on the Econ side and Diff EQ on the Math side but has some compensating items like Complex Analysis and Combinatorics in the mix and has been told she’s fine for Top 10 programs.</p>
<p>I agree that the OP appears to be pretty light in the Math department. If nothing else, a Masters in Econ, not ordinarily recomended, might show that he/she can handle the high-level math stuff.</p>