I am currently an undergraduate student at a state University in Arizona working toward a major in Economics. My original intention was Law school however I have heard horror stories about the legal market and have decided instead to focus on attending a PhD program for economics. My only dilemma is that my Economics program only required Calculus 1 as the highest math course which is woefully underprepared for applying to any of the top 25 programs. My gpa is solid at a 3.9 and I have letters of recommendation from prior instructors I am just worried about the math requirements. All of the programs I have looked into require good scores in Calc 1-3, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, 300 and above Statistics, and “Advanced Calculus” ( not even sure what that entails). My main question is can I take a year off after graduation to catch up on these classes before applying? I don’t want to pile on extra math classes on top of my 300-400 level degree requirements. Also could I possibly take some of these courses at a community college so that it saves me money or will that look bad? I figure if I take calc 2 and 3 during my senior year I could finish all of the prerequisites within a year and apply for PhD programs a year after graduation.
If I am not mistaken, advanced calculus is more or less a stepping stone towards real analysis. That class has sort of made a reputation for itself at my school.
I think you need to get in a room with an economics graduate advisor to get an exact list of classes they recommend (should be close to the same between different graduate programs). Then I would head straight to the math department advising office to see if getting all the courses done in one year is even possible.
I took a year off of school right in the middle of my undergraduate degree, and that didn’t negatively affect my ability to get into graduate school. I don’t see how you taking an extra year to go beyond your degree programs requirements will be any different. If anything, that might show some initiative on your part.