Hey everyone! I’m a senior at a fairly rigorous school (aka Penn/Berkeley/Columbia) and I’ve lost a lot of confidence in my ability since coming here. I’m an economics major and have a 3.6 GPA. I also picked up a few minors. I did extremely poorly in my first semester freshman year and was almost on academic probation because I thought I was capable of succeeding in engineering. I received a D in Differential Equations in my freshman year… Since then, I’ve gotten 3.7+ each semester.
I recently decided that maybe I should consider applying to Masters programs (or possibly PhD). Unfortunately, I have absolutely no confidence in my ability to get into any decent programs. I thought about enrolling in a Masters programs for accounting (I’ve taken about 6 accounting classes so far), but my grades are fairly abysmal in accounting as well (ex: B+ in Financial Accounting when the median was A-, B in Managerial Accounting when the median was B+, A+ in Intermediate I when the median was A-, A- in Intermediate II when the median was A).
I have yet to take the GRE, but I think I should do OK on it. Am I not qualified for schools with decent Masters programs in economics?
Go talk this over with your advisor. The professors inyour department know where their students have been admitted, and can tell you more about your options.
You can get into decent masters programs in economics, but note that many top schools offer a PhD and don’t offer the masters. If you are interested in working after you get your masters, choose a program that has good connections with employers and internships. Some masters programs in econ (like at UIUC and perhaps the new one at UW-Madison) are intended to be moneymakers as they are full of international students who are full pay.
Your grades are pretty solid. I think the best thing for you to do is to separate yourself, for the moment, away from the idea of going to a particular school or program. Now, try to understand what you want to do, sit down with pen and paper and write down what you want from yourself in the next 5 years. This is really important, because reading what you wrote, I sense a lot of panic and uncertainty, and that isn’t a good way to live your life.
Once you are sure you want to go into a graduate program for whatever it is that interests you, from that point make sure all you do aligns with that decision. Try connecting with graduate students at your current school, if that is possible, and see how they feel about their program. Also, don’t feel as if you aren’t good enough, you are capable if you point in the right kind of work, efficient fulfilling work.
You got this.