Some people take economics college courses because they want to work in business, but distinguish themselves as a cut above the rest. Compared to a mere business degree, a degree in economics involves more mathematics, more statistics and a well-rounded mixture of economic theory, organizational communication, management and technical writing courses. To employers, an economist has more gravitas and adds more value to their organizations. As a result, graduates from a school’s department of Economics tend to earn more money out of school and win more prestigious positions than business majors. According to a 2002 National Association of Business Economics survey, economics majors earned 20% more than business administration majors, 19% more than accounting majors, 18% more than marketing majors and 15% more than finance majors.
Stanford University is considered one of the best economics university institutions in the nation for both undergrad and graduate students. In February, the department reviews more than 700 graduate applications each year to choose the 50 best students for admittance next fall. Another school with a highly-regarded Economics department is Princeton University, which admits 25 students per year out of 800 applicants. To be considered, students will need a GRE score of 780 to 800 and above. The University of Wisconsin (Madison) will admit 25 to 30 students to their graduate school. Other prestigious schools in education economics include MIT, the University of Chicago, UC-Berkeley and Yale. If your grades weren’t top-of-your-class caliber, then you may want to try a middle-ranked school like Penn State.
When choosing classes from a school’s department of Economics, the best advice is to take more math courses! It can be easy to fall behind in your studies if you aren’t crystal clear on the statistics, calculus and mathematical concepts. When you were trying to get your bachelor’s degree in economics, you were likely scanning the course options for “easy electives” and ways of pulling your GPA up. However, graduate schools care most about what hard classes you’ve taken and how well you did in them, rather than your GPA as a whole. Be sure you take real analysis, calculus and econometrics, as these classes will be vital to your understanding.
Unlike undergrad, the department of Economics in grad schools looks to cultivate the best and brightest talent. Most students are granted a fellowship, assistantship, grant, tuition remission or monthly stipend to cover the cost of the program and living expenses. Be aware that you’ll be required to do a lot of dirty work for your money, like grading, teaching, lecturing, leading weekly section meetings, researching and writing. If a lot of students are admitted, then you may still need to pay or seek NSF grants on your own. The good news is that, after all their hard work, 99% of graduate students get placed into applied economics positions right out of grad school.
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