Are these classes enough for a phd in economics???

<p>Im going into my freshman year of collegw and i am down to two choices for college. Nyu stern is my number 1 but i do have a limit on the number of courses i can take because of my major ( business and political economy): would these courses be enough for a top 20 economics phd program?</p>

<p>Intro to economic and political thought
Micro i
Micro ii
Macro i
Analytical statistics
Mathematics for economics
Econometrics i
International political economy i
International political economy ii
Economics of emerging markets
Political economy of east asia
International trade and finance</p>

<p>My maximum math background would be </p>

<p>Calc i
Calc ii
Calc iii
Ordinary differential equations
Linear algebra i
Analysis i</p>

<p>Are there any other courses i would need to take to be competitive?</p>

<p>Forgot some math classes:</p>

<p>Probability and Statistics
Statistics for Business Control & Regression/Forecasting Models
Analysis II
Algebra I</p>

<p>and two more econ classes:</p>

<p>International economics
Labor Economics</p>

<p>Are you allowed to take any graduate courses in Econ and/or Math at Stern?</p>

<p>That’s suitable and if you can get a high GPA (3.8+) on the math classes, you have a decent shot; a caveat being that it won’t necessarily give you a ticket to a Top 20, though. You still have to also do well on the GRE and maybe even have substantial research experience as an undergraduate, too.</p>

<p>Well, hoom as Treebeard would say. Oyama, I know of undergrads from LAC’s who get into Top 10 programs with relatively limited, compared to what’s available in universities, research records and, of course, no graduate course work.</p>

<p>Personally, I would trade 2-3 of the Econ courses for some chewier Math courses and maybe a Gov IR course or two to give you broader perspective on what your interests seem to be. </p>

<p>Q: is Analysis II “Real Analysis” or “Complex Analysis”?</p>

<p>True, TD, but seeing as the OP is possibly going to be in Stern/NYU (which has a large breadth of UG and graduate math courses taught by some of the world’s top professors), why not take advantage of the resources? I think adcoms would hold it against the OP if he/she did not since they are so readily available at NYU.</p>

<p>I got into a few top programs, and I do believe that my taking a rigorous curriculum played a large part of that coming from a large research university myself.</p>

<p>Anyway, I agree with TheDad about the replacement of some of those courses for more math.</p>

<p>Check this link for some good advice:
[Econ</a> Grad School](<a href=“http://www.davidson.edu/academic/economics/foley/gradschool.htm]Econ”>http://www.davidson.edu/academic/economics/foley/gradschool.htm)</p>

<p>Unfortunately, there is a limit on out-of-stern classes that I can take, so I believe that would be the maximum (I might be able to stretch one more in there if I push for it, but I wouldn’t have a definite chance…)</p>

<p>Also, I didn’t list some of my gov IR courses and such… and outside of the two eco classes in my second post all the math classes except for two calc and one stats class, most of those classes are part of the core. (it’s a pretty set curriculum…)</p>

<p>Idk what Analysis II is. That’s just the name of the class o_O</p>

<p>Oyama, good point about taking advantage of what <em>is</em> available. I hadn’t considered that; it’s akin to taking AP classes in high school when applying to undergrad.</p>

<p>[Undergraduate</a> Course Descriptions: AY 2005-06](<a href=“Undergraduate Course Descriptions | Department of Mathematics | NYU Courant”>Undergraduate Course Descriptions | Department of Mathematics | NYU Courant) 325</p>

<p>Analysis I is Real Analysis</p>

<p>Analysis II seems to be Functional Analysis (something not offered at my undergrad, so I can’t comment on this)</p>

<p>If the OP is interested, MATH-UA 394 treads on Complex Analysis, just a bit (but this would act more of a signal (a la Spence) than actually learning about something more relevant to graduate studies in Economics. </p>

<p>[Undergraduate</a> Course Descriptions: AY 2005-06](<a href=“Undergraduate Course Descriptions | Department of Mathematics | NYU Courant”>Undergraduate Course Descriptions | Department of Mathematics | NYU Courant) 394</p>

<p>OT again: O, do you have a feeling as to how much of a handicap it is to have not had more Applied Mathy subjects like DiffEq and topics like Fourier series, etc.? Curious, because on one hand m D went through Complex Analysis, on the other didn’t take even DiffEQ, which is a “gimmee” in many Math sequences.</p>

<p>I’m far enough removed from the days I was taking post-DiffEQ Math (unsuccessfully) as an Engineering student that I haven’t a clue.</p>

<p>Your D can probably learn most of the material in PDE/ODE in the short “Math Camp” that she’ll have to go through before the Fall term at whichever school she decides to attend.</p>

<p>The only hard skill that should be acquired beforehand is knowing how to solve proofs in a variety of ways and to be familiar with the Real Number Set and its characteristics. It is my understanding that everything else is foundational and acts more as a signal than anything else, but can be acquired in relatively short time in comparison to how long it takes to master real analysis.</p>

<p>Hey thanks guys :)</p>

<p>Btw, on the point of admissions counselors looking down or up on the rigor of the curriculum based on the university. Because I’m going to be in the BPE program at NYU Stern, I would only have room for like 8 classes outside of the core curriculum or outside of Stern (Three math classes are covered inside the core curriculum I believe: Calc II, Calc III, and Statistics and regression control… I would test out of calc I). Would they look down on me even though I would have the 8-class out of Stern limit… I’d be taking 6-8 math classes in that 8-class slot (1 or 2 non-maths might be required but might not count as part of the core curriculum because of the mandatory study abroad part of the curriculum). In other words, I would take all the math that I could possibly take along with all the econ I could possibly take, would they still look down on me or would htey understand the situation with the curriculuM?</p>

<p>I think if you explain that caveat in your personal statement (in 4 years from now), that’d be fine.</p>

<p>There’s a lot of room for you to look for other opportunities, though, like NSF REUs, taking classes at other R1 universities, etc.</p>

<p>Thanks, O. At the school where I think she’ll be going, the brag that they don’t have a Math camp. However, they have a summer Math class. What’s interesting is that I think she could get a waiver out of it based on Real Analysis/Complex Analysis according to the website but that it’s pre-reqs assume some material that I’m pretty sure she hasn’t had. (Don’t mind me…I’m just an old fogey who has a little trouble grokking a Math degree without having taken DiffEQ.)</p>