Xindol Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 I'm thinking of joining a Ph.D. program in economics, and I'm perplexed about what is more important 'to the admissions committee' and most importantly to the success in the program, per se, at a regular institution such as UC Irvine, UC Riverside, or Boston College, U of Virginia, U of Washington, or maybe U Penn, Columbia, Berkeley as one of the top programs. By looking at their requirements, they usually prefer a mathematics sequence like the following: 3 semesters of calculus, linear algebra, real analysis, probability/statistics. I've emailed one of the department heads at UC Irvine and he/she told me that I should at least 'try to take intermediate macro/micro'. Sure, I could take only one of them, but is it important? Are the mathematics more important than taking these econ courses? And is differential equations applicable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booksnlooks Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 You'll need a strong background in math to succeed, but you'll also want some background understanding of economic concepts, models, and theories. Profs will assume you have both. Differential equations are used a lot in macro, at least in my experience. Quant_Liz_Lemon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanWonk Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Differential equations are used in macro, but having taken 2 semesters of diffeq (ordinary and partial) didn't help me with them much--the solving techniques are pretty different. Knowing what BVPs and IVPs are is somewhat helpful, but since most of them will be solved using numerical methods and not by hand, there's not a huge benefit to having taken it. Much more important are stats and real analysis, and secondly proving that you're capable of graduate-level coursework (that's probably why they suggested the intermediate course), especially if you're aiming at universities that are a tier up from your undergrad. Arguably most important is demonstrated research ability, so if taking the intermediate course would be in lieu of RAing, I wouldn't recommend it, but if you could do both, that would be ideal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradcafe26 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil413 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 LOL Your not going to Columbia you idiot Hey! Are you a troll? Just wondering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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