Economics/Math/ Grad School

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm currently in my third year of undergrad. This school was not for me and I currently have no more passion or will whatsoever to study anything anymore; almost all interest that I had has been sucked out of me. I'll refrain from going into the details of why I haven't transfer, etc. etc. so ...</p>

<p>I plan on graduating with a BS in Economics at the end of this year and then I need some time off from school in a different atmosphere. Plan on working for a little while. </p>

<p>I eventually at some point hope to apply to some top PhD Econ programs. Since I'm graduating so early my application will not be competitive when it comes to the math background or extensive advanced econ courses. </p>

<p>I was thinking of getting an MA in math or statistics which would hopefully help with the PhD application. </p>

<p>My question is, is this a good route to take, can it make one more competitive in the process, etc? If not someone that doesn't come from a well-known institution but with a good GPA (3.8 or higher) what should this person do to eventually be a competitive applicant in a top PhD program. Again, I'm not planning on going to school full time again for a few years; I would like 3 to 4 years between me graduating undergrad and attending a PhD program. I would not mind taking some classes part time.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>An MA in Statistics may be easier to find funding for, and it will mostly be an advantage. However, the Math MA will likely look more impressive. How much it matters is questionable.</p>

3

<p>The math classes that really concern Economics admissions committees are Real Analysis, Probability, Math Stats, Linear Algebra and Topology (although there is argument amongst adcoms about how much Topology matters). If you have good GREs and a solid background (good grades in your Intermediate Economics classes and these Math classes), your application will look rather good. The problems would be getting the teacher recommendations (they prefer teachers who know a.) what admissions is looking for b.) how well you would do in graduate school and c.) how you would handle research/what you have done), so it depends on who you get and what you would do in your time off... work at World Bank, Federal Reserve, IMF, or other research institutions that would help catapult to graduate school.</p>

4

<p>^how do you get the chance to work in fed reserve, imf?</p>

5

<p>Just saying that if you do take the "couple of years off", it certainly matters what you do... you could be working at places that matter to Economics adcoms or be backpacking in South America, your choice.</p>