Guidance for MS + PhD in Economics

[mohitag]

Hi all,

I am a B. Tech. from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering. I passed out in May 2008 and my CGPA was 8.0/10. I have experience as an interest rate derivatives trader for an year. I have been involved in my family business since past 2 years. I am also one of the founding members of a management consulting firm in India. I have passed CFA level 1. As a research project in economics I have done research on Indian and Chinese patents. Apart from regular Math courses I have done few Mathematics courses as electives during my engineering (e.g., Mathematical Methods, Graph Theory etc.). I don't have any formal training in economics but I often read economic articles in newspapers and magazines.

I want to do MS + PhD in Economics from an Ivy League. I am preparing for GRE and will appear in April for the exam. I need some guidance regarding the same. I mean the GRE score required to pursue my interest, the universities I can target to and whether I can get scholarship or not. Kindly guide me if my profile fits for being an economist or I need to do some more (any certification course or something else) to reflect my interest in economics.

Thanks

[orangeMan]

have you considered business economics or finance? i think you need bs in econ or closely related subjects like financial econ to do ms and then phd in (pure) econ. but there have been engineers in the past who successfully switched from engineering to business admin (with an emphasis on finance) or business economics (with an emphasis on strategy). merton and porter were engineers weren't they?

[abandoned]

Since you are targeting only the very top programs I think you will need a well rounded application. To be considered you should have good math prep: [Cal I, II, and III, linear algebra, diff. eq.s, and real analysis]. You should have strong GRE scores (new equivalent of 770+Q and 620+V) you need letters of recommendation and ideally some econ related research experience. You will also need a convincing statement of purpose that explains why the interest in economics with a non-economics background. If you were applying to lower ranked programs these criterion would be more relaxed but the pool of qualified applicants for the top 10-20 programs is pretty good.