<p>I go to a top liberal arts college, am majoring in econ (probable minors in math, Chinese) and am becoming worried our econ program isn't quantitative enough to prepare me for a PhD program in economics. I've taken intro micro/macro and we used very basic math, no mention of calculus or even much algebra. Intermediate micro uses calc I, macro doesn't. Advanced macro/micro, however, require calc II. Econometrics isn't required for the major, only the introductory probability and statistics class (which I took and I did terribly in, learning little in the course). I've also taken calc I and II, which were, like the math dept overall, on the proof-based side. Our econ dept is highly esteemed, but math seems significantly weaker. The math dept's statistics offerings are especially weak, their intro prob/stats covers less than half of what the econ dept's version does. What should I be doing in order to prepare myself well? I would appreciate any and all advice.</p>
<p>I think it’s mostly taking the initiative to study math on your own, and then try to find a link/application of the math. You can always ask professors for help on these sorts of things. Besides, if you’re going for a Ph.D., you’ll need teacher recommendations, right? Might as well become close with your economics professors. Two birds with one stone.</p>
<p>Proof-based Math classes are fine, particularly Real Analysis. You should ace fairly rigorous stats classes. See other threads: for prep for an Econ PhD, Math actually trumps undergrad Econ as prep.</p>
<p>Intro micro and macro are usually taught at a very basic conceptual level without calculus, to make them more accessible. Intermediate-level theory usually doesn’t require more than single-variable calculus. Econometrics is not required for the economics major at most universities either, though a basic statistics course is (and I assume it’s required at Vassar as well). </p>
<p>The 100-level intro to stats class in the math department looks like a gen ed course for non-math people. The statistics and probability sequence for math majors starts with 241. (You will notice that this sequence covers fewer topics per course than econ stats as well. That’s because all of the theory is derived rigorously, whereas economics departments usually focus on the applications and skip most of the proofs.)</p>
<p>I encourage you to seek academic advice from your economics professors at Vassar. They know exactly how your curriculum is set up and (presumably) have experience sending students off to grad school.</p>
<p>b@r!um, you’d be surprised actually, my prob/stats course in the econ dept was largely focused on rigorous derivations and applications were by no means emphasized, usually only taking up 5-10 minutes at the end of a 75 minute lecture. Applications appeared as an important component of the midterms and final, however.</p>
<p>I would suggest if possible, to take an additional major in Math (Double Major in both Math and Econ). Or at least a lot more Math classes in the future.</p>
<p>You cannot get into a good Econ PhD without lots of math. Econ PhD= Loads of Math except its development economics. Classes like Real Analysis are a must.</p>
<p>Look through the profiles and you would probably have a general idea of the math classes required and what type of grades you need to get, if you want to get into a top econ program.</p>
<p>KGB1337, I would be surprised if your statistics course was rigorous because you need calculus to develop a theory of statistics. The statistics course in the econ department does not have a calculus prerequisite, whereas the math one requires multivariable calculus.</p>
<p>B@r!um, although it did not say it had a calculus prerequisite, it used integrals and partial derivatives at times (fault of the new professor who taught both sections for not listing the prereq)</p>
<p>If she’s like most Econ majors she probably took an intermediate stats class. IIRC (this may differ at you school) it’s mostly a probability type class in the first weeks followed by a study of the standard distributions (normal, exp, hyperg, geom, poisson). It isn’t a very thorough class at all tbh. You need to take a higher level statistics class after that one.</p>
<p>^ I may have spoken prematurely. Most of the economics departments I am familiar with don’t require econometrics for the major, but I may be extrapolating from too small a sample.</p>
<p>I also found that a course called “econometrics” does not cover a standard set of material. I was thinking of econometrics as advanced statistical methods in economics, but some colleges use the term for a first course in statistics and probability [not what I meant]. </p>
<p>Colleges that required only a single statistics course for the economics major when I was applying to college a few years ago:
Bryn Mawr
Swarthmore
Smith
University of Pennsylvania
UC Berkeley
Michigan - Ann Arbor</p>
<p>Colleges that required more than one course in statistics or econometrics:
Haverford
University of Chicago</p>
<p>And “a probability type class in the first weeks followed by a study of the standard distributions (normal, exp, hyperg, geom, poisson)” describes the first 1/3 of the prob/stats class. We went up through single regressions. Unfortunately, I barely passed the class and understood very little of the material so I’m worried about taking higher level statistics(and economics) courses. If I took econometrics, I would no doubt fail out within a few weeks considering it’s taught by an internationally known MIT econometrician (Paul Ruud, who wrote what many top programs use for graduate econometrics).</p>
<p>Well, after that you do hypothesis testing, linear regression, dummy variables etc…
If you had a lot of problems with the class I suggest you study the material on your own
before taking the econometrics class you just mentioned. In our Econometrics class we used Gujarati’s Essentials of Econometrics (We covered the entire book). You could start by studying either that book or a similar book and go from there. For stats, I haven’t seen a better book than Applied Statistics and Probability for Engineers. (Montgomery)</p>
<p>@KGB1337
The standard econ sequence in most departments is
Intro Micro and Macro (2 classes)
Intermediate Micro and Macro (2 classes)
Econ Statistics and then an Econometrics (2 classes)
4 Upper level econ classes.</p>
<p>If you are really worried about the quantitative content of your classes, you will be well advised then to take more math classes. Most people in grad committess will not be familiar with the content of your classes as much as the general reputation of the department. So even if the quantitaive content in your econ class seems weak it will not count against you that much if you come from a well-regarded department. Though its expected that well-regarded departments will always be the most rogorous (which is not always the case anyways).</p>
<p>Also a lot of non-econ majors or econ majors with no plan for grad school would be taking these classes with you. Most would not have even done calculus. Thats why the classes might have less calculus.</p>
<p>You definitely should take Econometrics and if possible make yourself fall in love with the subject matter. Econometrics and advanced statistics forms the core of economics for further study of economics which you would encounter later in graduate school. So I find your situation quite perplexing- You find the content of your classes not too quantitative enough, while finding an intro to stat class difficult to understand.</p>
<p>Regardless of what your department requires for your major, its usually better to take more classes than the recommended requirement. Even if possible max out all the classes in the department.</p>
<p>“Econometrics and advanced statistics forms the core of economics for further study of economics which you would encounter later in graduate school”</p>
<p>Agreed.</p>
<p>If you’re having trouble with those classes, you really need to remedy that.</p>
<p>I’m wondering how I’d go about fixing that =\ I barely learned anything in prob/stats (we didn’t use a textbook) and my reading comprehension is terrible so I can’t really learn from just reading a textbook I get at the library or something. Any suggested learning sources? I don’t have money for things like tutors or classes, I couldn’t even take Harvard or community college courses this summer like I wanted.</p>
<p>Reading comprehension is terrible? Uh-oh. RED ALERT! RED ALERT! </p>
<p>Your classwork aside, how do you propose to manage graduate work where part of the game is keeping up with articles in Journals, many of said articles being written in an obfuscatory manner to begin with?</p>
<p>Hey why don’t you start studying Calc III (multivariable), elementary Linear Algebra and Differential Equations? With your background you could very easily learn the basic methods (i.e. partial derivatives, triple integrals, matrix reduction gauss/gauss-jordan, first and second order linear and non-homogeneous, systems, theorems, etc.) in a few weeks. You may not get the applications or challenge type problems from a course, especially difficult in the area of physics, but from what I understand you will need the methods and notation in these courses for upper level econ studies. It is still good to understand. From the few papers I have ventured to read in econ I find that DEs/Matrices are everywhere, alongside econometrics/statistics. Go to Google Scholar and search for any econ topic, skim the papers and you will get a feel for how economics works. </p>
<p>You can also go directly to studying elementary analysis (advanced calculus). Definitely a more difficult route but it will prepare you well. </p>
<p>Go to MIT OCW for free coursework in math and econ department. Best resource out there, you can start with lectures and notes in Calc III, Lin Alg and DEs. I think they have Analysis notes also. Everything is very easy to follow, I learned a good amount of calc 3 myself before first year of University. </p>