<p>Hi, I have a strong interest in development economics and I'm wondering if I'd be better off studying this in the economics department or AEM. My first thought would be AEM because it used to be call Ag Econ, but now that its become a business program I am not so sure. Is AEM a traditional business program now or is it still a good spot for those interested in development and ag econ? Would AEM or Econ be a better place for someone wanting to become a development economist?</p>
<p>AEM is a business degree. If you want to become a development economist, which means getting your PhD, then an undergrad degree in econ would be best. Both AEM and Econ offer courses in economic development, and if you do one program, nothing will stop you from taking the courses listed in the other department.</p>
<p>CALS has a lot of programs revolving around development, i.e. Development Sociology, International Agriculture and Rural Development.</p>
<p>To be a full-fledged phD economist, be sure to learn lots of math. Econ graduate schools look for math courses up to Real Analysis.</p>
<p>I think developmental economics at Cornell (which, I believe, is ranked 8th in that field) would lye more in CAS than CALS/AEM. Of course, you can always take CALS/AEM courses that you find interesting or related to developmental economics as electives.</p>
<p>Bottom line: do economics at CAS.</p>
<p>almost all of the developmental economists at Cornell are in CALS with most of them in the AEM department - look up Eswar Prasad, Chris Barrett, Ralph Christy…</p>
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<p>You’re kidding? Really? I always thought they had their cream of the crop guys at CAS… this is a university whose developmental economics department has people like Amartya Sen’s affiliation. Never knew they’d throw this at AEM.</p>
<p>^ Cornell usually likes mixing its faculty around, especially its economists. It goes with their tradition of many schools, one college idea. ILR, AEM, Johnson, CAS econ, and even some human ecology professors are all associated with the econ department. The development economists have an extra title that brings them closer to CALS in general because there’s an agricultural concentration within CALS, and agriculture + development economics go hand in hand.</p>
<p>But bottom line OP, if you really want to be a true “economist”, you need enough math to almost be a math major.</p>
<p>LockLockBoy is correct. If you want to be a development economist, graduating as an Econ/Math double major with some development electives and research would be great. </p>
<p>Grading as a AEM major, almost regardless of what you do beside that, would be very risky when you apply for PhD programs. PhD programs want to see you have a solid foundation for graduate studies (this means a lot of math and some economics), and ideally they’d also like to see that you have a commitment to research and to a field if you’ve already chosen one (this means some research experience, coursework, or other experience related to development). </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter in which college the development economists and development sociologists. A business degree isn’t going to look as serious as preparation as an Econ/Math degree, and you can always take electives or do research in other colleges. Use other opportunities to create a compelling narrative for admissions committees to want to admit you so you can pursue doctoral development econ research, but use your core coursework to signal your general abilities in economics and math. </p>
<p>Also, take graduate-level econometrics/ labor economics if possible. These are also challenging classes, and development econ research is all about sound methodology.</p>
<p>I’d recommend looking into the International Agriculture and Rural Development major within CALS. Feel free to PM me if you have questions - it’s one of my majors.</p>
<p>From my experience, getting grad school is all about who you know and what you have done in terms of research. Regardless of which major you end up pursuing, take classes with those professors who are well-known in the field and form bonds/relationships with them in order to do research with them.</p>
<p>HonorLions: CALS is also extremely linked to CIIFAD, headed by Professor Christy, which brings in some of the best and the brightest in terms of development work - economics, crops, soil sciences, anything.</p>
<p>What about at the graduate level? I’ve heard that AEM is only a business degree for undergraduates and it’s an econ degree for grad students.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about AEM’s graduate program. I quickly looked over the courses and the AEM PhD seems not all that far off from a PhD in economics. The Masters in AEM seems more like economics than business, but it’s still not all that intense for the graduate level in economics. The econometrics requirement isn’t even the advanced undergraduate econometrics course in the econ department for the masters.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in going to an Economics PhD program, AEM classes are not a substitute for the prep you’d receive as an economics/ math double major. If you’re interested in a PhD program in development studies (non-economics), this is another matter. Directors of Graduate Studies at Economics departments are unlikely to have heard of AEM or the Ag School’s development programs and will likely treat it as any other business undergraduate degree. For a PhD program in economics, you do not want to be perceived as a business major, and they will want to see the most rigorous basic training possible, with peripheral work in development. Again, your research experience can be with development economists (or potentially even non-economists), but a rigorous background in economics and mathematics is essential. </p>
<p>I’m a PhD student at a top business school doing applied economics research. To my knowledge, no business or economics PhD student in my university is an undergraduate business major, and the faculty (particularly in economics) <em>do not take applicants from business majors or undergraduate coursework seriously</em>. Perhaps an interdisciplinary development degree would be ok if you also took intermediate micro, intermediate macro, the advanced econometrics route, and math through real analysis. Even look at economics departments websites for applicants; they want a rigorous background in theoretical economics and pure math/stats, and do not like substitute courses like those offered in Hum Ec or the Ag school. </p>
<p>As a previous poster noted, you can do research with development researchers in other disciplines, and should tie your experiences into your grad statements of purpose.</p>
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<p>Except Cornell’s development programs have some of the best people in the country. Professors are professors are professors and they teach undergraduates, graduates and PhD students. If you say your honors thesis adviser was one these professors… it’s still going to get noticed.</p>
<p>Hmmm, If i were to get a degree in one of the development programs, would it be a waste of time to minor in “International Trade and Development” which is one of the applied econ minors offered by Dyson? I thought this would be a good way to get a development econ background, but perhaps not. Will it just be seen as “business?”</p>
<p>Also, do grad programs look down upon students who arn’t in an A&S school? Would I hurt my acceptance chances by getting a degree from CALS or one of the other schools rather than CAS?</p>
<p>The choice of your major is a choice of how to spend your time building a core base of knowledge, and your research experiences are to signal your creativity and interest. The former is best used to develop a solid grasp of the basic theory and methods of economics, and the latter can be from anyone, including development people outside of economics.</p>
<p>If your goal is a terminal masters in development (not research-oriented), then any AEM major or applied background would be fine, and these programs often don’t really assume much prior specific skills or knowledge. If you want to do a PhD (research oriented), I think you’d get the same advice from 90% of professors in a bona fide economics departments-- the solid math and economics background as a math/econ major (with a couple supplementary development classes to signal interest) are more attractive to grad programs than the reverse. Admissions committees (understandably) don’t know how to assess the rigor of development classes, and would rather teach you development-proper when you get to grad school and just assume that you have the basic math/economic theory/ econometrics prep. An “A” in some intermediate-level development elective doesn’t mean much to an admissions committee, but an “A” in real analysis or all of your intermediate economic/econometric theory courses is generally a meaningful signal. </p>
<p>If you’re an AEM major, had mostly-A’s in those classes and good recs from development faculty, and skimped on the pure math/econ classes (eg taking applied stats and the easier linear algebra and multivariable calc and not real analysis), you wouldn’t be a very competitive applicant for top-30 economics PhD programs. If you were an international development major (in Ag), did ok in those classes, had good recs from development faculty, but took rigorous econ/ math classes in A&S on the side (ie mostly A’s through intermediate theory, real analysis, and maybe a couple rigorous advanced classes), that would look much better.</p>
<p>EDIT: I doubt grad departments will care whether you’re a major in A&S or Ag per se-- they just want to see you take the most rigorous and “pure” classes, and this means your core courses would be in A&S either way. I’m just saying you might as well get a major out of those along the way.</p>
<p>You also only said you want to be a “development economist”? I had assumed that meant PhD, since that’s really what qualifies someone to call themselves an “economist”, but most people probably don’t assume that. May I ask what your career goal is regarding development economics? The PhD will be useful/necessary if your goal is to do academic research on development. But if you want to work for a policy organization, nonprofit that organizes development projects, etc. you’ll probably want to stop at a Masters.</p>
<p>My goal is to work for a development bank or other NGO. I’m willing to get whatever degree is best suited for doing that. Sorry I did not make that clear.</p>
<p>Btw, great post Ren! It helped alot.</p>
<p>Oh, then you probably don’t need to pursue a PhD. I would suggest you Google around different development banks/NGOs you’d be interested in working for and looking at the qualifications for the positions that interest you. You’ll probably want to go as far as a Masters, but going for a PhD will likely only be useful if you want to focus your activities on more academic-oriented research (ie. you want to run econometric models to advise development organizations on how to focus their activities).</p>
<p>For development, a variety of Masters degrees are useful including economics, development studies, international investment/trade, public policy, international affairs, a law degree, a MBA, or area studies if a particular region interests you. </p>
<p>That said, you have all of undergrad to figure that out. CAS Econ or AEM will both serve you well, as would PAM (Policy Analysis and Management), or even Operations Research (if you are more technically oriented). However, you probably should go Econ if the more academic research aspect of development is what particularly interests you. I myself was an Econ/Government major with minors in International Relations and German Studies, and am working now while I figure out which of those Masters programs I’d want to pursue. I would suggest you look at the curriculums for all those programs at Cornell, and see which appeals to you the most.</p>
<p>^^ Yeah, ditto. A PhD can open doors, but it certainly isn’t the only route (and it’s a very long one). If you were interested in doing work with an NGO or government agency, no need to double-up on the math and econ at the expense of advanced development electives as Ag if it stresses you out. I’d still recommend taking as much as you can stomach early on just in case you enjoy the more technical work, but the returns to majoring in math (and therefore in A&S) may not be as high. A major in development with some decent grounding in theory and research experience would be plenty of prep for a development masters program. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>