quantitative requirements for HKS/SIPA/SAIS

[lora03]

Hi all

I am an economics graduate, however, my course entailed a few courses in econometrics and just one in maths for economists (calculus, statistics, etc). I do not have the multivariable calculus course yet but I am planning to make up for this.

Question is how. I have a full-time job and having checked already I cant seem to find any suitable class in the evenings/weekends where I live.

Is it possible to take online/distance classes (for credit)? I've done some research and came across some calculus classes offered by UC Berkeley Extension or Univ of North Dakota.

Would the admission committee take these classes into account when they review my application? Or would it be a waste of money?

any of you in the same situation?

advice would be welcome.

thanks

[lora03]

anyone?

[ridofme]

I am applying for fall 2013, and as such can only give you my untested opinion, but maybe it will be of some use to you.

I never took stats or econ in undergrad, and realized that would be a major deficiency on my application. I looked into taking courses at four-year institutions in my city, but was horrified to discover that they would cost me $2000+ each, plus fees and course materials. I called a couple of my target schools and asked if it would be OK to take these courses at a local community college, and they all said that would be totally fine without skipping beat. The guy who answered the phone at Georgetown even said something like "we're not looking for you to spend thousands of dollars; we just want to see a background proficiency and that you'll be able to handle the quant component of the degree".

I'm not sure what the options in your area are for community colleges, but all three courses I wanted to take were available online, and apparently they won't show up any differently on the transcript.

When you say 'suitable', do you mean suitable to your schedule, or suitable to your intellectual/academic level? Because if it's the latter, perhaps you should reevaluate! I took the stats course on-campus, and there were a number of people in the class who were in similar situations to me - applying to grad school, transitioning careers, or doing a summer internship during a master's program and taking their stats requisite at night. Now, of course the professor was pretty mediocre and the grading was laughably lenient, but overall it wasn't that bad and I do feel I learned the foundations. Plus it was a pretty easy A.

Good luck

[Eclectic4]

Hello,

I'll weigh in. I am starting an MPA at Columbia SIPA this fall.

My background is not quant heavy. Here is the sum of my quant experience:

Honors statistics course

College Algebra

2 years of lab research applying basic stats.

With this, I was accepted to Upenn Fels, Berkeley GSPP, and Columbia SIPA.

With the exception of people doing the Economic Development concentration at SIPA and similar concentrations at other schools, having a high level of calculus is not required.

It seems that stats is desirable though.

[sherpa07]

Hi Eclectic. Thanks for the info! I'm also curious about this question. For perspective, what were some of your other quant-related credentials? (GRE quant, GPA, work experience)?

[lora03]

I am applying for fall 2013, and as such can only give you my untested opinion, but maybe it will be of some use to you.

I never took stats or econ in undergrad, and realized that would be a major deficiency on my application. I looked into taking courses at four-year institutions in my city, but was horrified to discover that they would cost me $2000+ each, plus fees and course materials. I called a couple of my target schools and asked if it would be OK to take these courses at a local community college, and they all said that would be totally fine without skipping beat. The guy who answered the phone at Georgetown even said something like "we're not looking for you to spend thousands of dollars; we just want to see a background proficiency and that you'll be able to handle the quant component of the degree".

I'm not sure what the options in your area are for community colleges, but all three courses I wanted to take were available online, and apparently they won't show up any differently on the transcript.

When you say 'suitable', do you mean suitable to your schedule, or suitable to your intellectual/academic level? Because if it's the latter, perhaps you should reevaluate! I took the stats course on-campus, and there were a number of people in the class who were in similar situations to me - applying to grad school, transitioning careers, or doing a summer internship during a master's program and taking their stats requisite at night. Now, of course the professor was pretty mediocre and the grading was laughably lenient, but overall it wasn't that bad and I do feel I learned the foundations. Plus it was a pretty easy A.

Good luck

Hi

Thanks for your input.

I live in the UK where one generally needs to enrol in a Maths degree to get access to calculus courses. The only exception i have found is one university where I could take this course for an exorbitant fee of £2250. This would also mean 4 hours of commute by train on a weekly basis + ticket fares. However much I would like to increase my chances of getting into HKS or SIPA, the price seems just too high.

The online calculus courses seem a better, more affordable option at this time, my only concern is whether schools will view the online format favourably as quant prep for the admission. Is it worth writing to them and asking for advice?

[OregonGal]

As others have said, many schools find online coursework (for college credit) an acceptable qualification. That being said, I was a liberal arts major with no (good) math experience since high school and no economics coursework since freshman year of college. I'm required to attend pre-term courses, which I could've waived out of by taking a course online or at a community college. I got the sense that adcoms are used to people not having a lot of quant experience coming into these programs, since it's presumably something a lot of people want to improve on through grad school coursework.