<p>I graduated from college in 2008 w/ an economics and mathematics degree and have worked at an investment bank for a year. I've decided to apply for graduate school in economics and am somewhat uncertain about a few issues. Right now, I'm pretty burned out with banking and have an offer to join another job that is unrelated to economics that would actually give me enough time to apply for schools and grants. I've thought about applying this year as I switch jobs.</p>
<p>Do you think it would hurt my application if I chose to switch to something that is irrelevant to economic research? </p>
<p>In school, I did pretty well and I think I'd be otherwise competitive for graduate school (good grades, took math classes, wrote a thesis).</p>
<p>Also, how much time does it take to write an NSF proposal from beginning to end, and is there an advantage in getting it done by the August 2009 cycle as opposed to the January 2010 deadline for applying to grad school this year?</p>