Economics Undergrad Requirements for IR Grad Programs

[giants24601]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm a current undergrad at American University in DC, and I'm applying to a bunch of schools for "security studies." I have decent stats - 3.9 GPA, perfect GRE verbal and analytic scores, 75th percentile GRE quant score - and my reccs/SOPs/work and internship experience are all solid, but there's one problem. Many of the top programs either flat-out require that applicants have taken macro and microeconomics in undergraduate school in order to be accepted (SAIS, the Elliot School) or state that having macro/micro is "highly recommended" (Fletcher).

 

Now, I love AU and it has some great professors and classes, but for some godforsaken reason, American University does not require political science majors (like myself) to take ANY econ to graduate, and as I am graduating a full year early with a major and minor, I never had room to squeeze econ into my schedule without totally derailing my early graduation train.

 

However, all of the schools which either explicitly or implicitly demand undergraduate econ (even SAIS and Elliot) state that sometimes, applicants who do not have the prerequisite econ course experience will be accepted anyway, on the condition that they take econ at the graduate school in question (or some other college, they don't really care) before starting in at the graduate program. Also, I HAVE in fact taken classes in economics - two classes with AU's economist-in-residence, for crying out loud, with an A (in a graduate-level class) and an A minus - but they were not called "macro/micro," in the course name or on the transcript, even though that is pretty much what they were.

SO: Do any of you know if my lack of formal macro/micro undergraduate coursework will totally torpedo my chances to get into some of these schools? Or will they sometimes take a flyer on applicants who otherwise meet or exceed their stat barometers and have good work experience behind them as well, and just don't have the econ? I mean, at this point there's not much I can do to CHANGE anything, but as I wrap up my applications, I figured it'd be a good idea to check in and see where I might stand. Thanks y'all!

[RiseofthePhoenix]

I would guess that you will get what they refer to as "conditional acceptance" meaning that you will be required to take anywhere from 3-6 core classes in econ before you finish your MA degree. I had a BA in psychology and applied to a sociology MA program and got in on conditional acceptance because I only had 3 hours of undergrad sociology. Since econ is also considered to be a social science, I'm assuming this is how it will work for you too. Best of luck.

[DCLivin]

You should try your best to take the classes prior to matriculation.  All other applicants to these schools probably have the same stats as you, and have taken the prerequisite econ classes.  I'd look at your local community college classes and see if you can take them online, if you don't have time to take them in person.  If you think your previous classes should meet the requirement for micro/macro, then email the syllabi from the classes to the admissions office to see if they will waive the requirement for you. The onus is on you to take these classes if you want to get into these graduate schools. A basic economics background is fairly important in security studies programs.

[ridofme]

Also, I HAVE in fact taken classes in economics - two classes with AU's economist-in-residence, for crying out loud, with an A (in a graduate-level class) and an A minus - but they were not called "macro/micro," in the course name or on the transcript, even though that is pretty much what they were.

 

I realize this might be too late for your deadlines, but all my applications that specifically asked for my econ background gave me the option to include courses not explicity titled "Intro to Microecon" or the like. You typically just had to provide a detailed explanation of the course content. If you've already submitted your applications, perhaps you can contact the schools about affixing an addendum with descriptions of these two classes you took.

[riverguide]

LSE has 2 summer sessions where you get take Micro and Macro. That's where I took mine. The first 4 weeks is micro and the second four weeks is macro.