Advice for Applying to Grad School in Economics

On this webpage you will find a short summary of things you should do if you are considering advanced degrees in economics. - What Courses to take to prepare for Grad School? - What Graduate programs are available? - Some advice for graduate school?

Graduate School Types

An undergraduate degree prepares you for many different types of graduate school programs. Here is a short list

• MA, MS, or PhD in Economics
• Master in Environmental Science
• Master in Public Health
• Masters in Public Policy
• Masters in Urban Planning
• Masters in Business Administration
• Law School, JD
• Data Analytics

Choosing classes

• Graduate schools care much more about what hard classes you’ve taken and how you’ve done in them than about overall GPA.
• If you have taken difficult classes its probably a good idea to point this out in your application essay because schools might not know what the math classes are, which economics classes are the advanced ones, etc.
• And while we are on the subject, take Math! As much Math as possible if you are considering a PhD. It is recommended you complete the Calculus Sequence (Calculus I - III) and Linear Algebra. Also recommended, but not required are upper levels in Probability, Statistics, and Real Analysis. Here is what the American Economics Association recommends.
• For MA degrees, the math requirement is less stringent. Calculus I-II, Linear Algebra, and some quantitative Economics Electives.
• Below you will find a list of suggested courses depending on your interest.

A Suggested Schedule

This is the suggested schedule for an economics major at the University of Louisville. We also include suggested electives for our economics majors depending on the emphasis and the career goals. Students are required to complete MATH 205, so we recommend that they take this course as soon as possible. This may require that they fulfill some Math prerequisites prior to this course

Freshman year - Semester 1:

• ECON 201 - Principles of Microeconomics
• ENGLISH 101
• Math 205 (or prerequisite 107)
• 2 other general education requirements
• Camp 100

  Freshman year - Semester 2:

• ECON 202 - Principles of Macroeconomics
• ENGLISH 102
• Math 205 or Math 206 (2)
• other general education requirements

Sophomore year - Semester 1: *We highly recommend students take ECON 301 as early as possible in the program

• ECON 301 - Intermediate Microeconomics
• Economics elective

  Sophomore year - Semester 2:

• ECON 302 - Intermediate Macroeconomics
• Economics elective
• Economics elective

  Junior year - Semester 1:

• Economics elective
• Economics elective

  Junior year - Semester 2:

• Economics elective
• Economics elective

  Senior year - Semester 1: We suggest that students sign up for senior seminar after they have completed most of the economics electives.

• ECON 475 Senior Seminar
• Economics elective

  Senior year - Semester 2: Economics elective

• ECON 475 Senior Seminar

Tracks for Economics Majors:

Theory/Quantitative -

• Math 206, Calculus II, Math 301 Calculus III and two or more of the following:
• 402 Econometrics I
• 411 Price Theory
• 373 Game Theory
• 380 Industrial Organization
• 401 Mathematical Economics

(other math classes which could substitute are Probability, Higher Math, and Linear Algebra)

Law and Public Policy

• 372 Law and Economics
• 374 Economics of Politics and choose from the following:
• 380 Industrial Organization
• 331 Labor Economics
• 341 Public Finance
• 342 State and Local Public Finance
• 350 History of Economic Thought
• 370 Economics of Health
• 375 Capitalism and Economic Freedom

Business Economics

• 360 Business Economics
• 380 Industrial Organization
• 402 Econometrics I and two or more of the following:
• 312 Urban Economics
• 431 International Economics
• 331 Labor Economics
• 341 Public Finance
• 342 State and Local Public Finance
• 375 Capitalism and Economic Freedom

International Economics

• 431 International Economics
• 381 Emerging Market Economies
• 371 The Chinese Economy

More Information

PhD/Masters in Economics here, here, here, here, and here.

Want to be a Data Scientist? Here is a how to guide.

Law School, LSAT, and Economics majors

Job outcomes for Economics majors

Useful programs to learn for graduate studies: R, STATA, and SAS for statistical analysis

Programming Languages: C/Fortran, Matlab, Python, and Julia

There are lots of free resources for these above programs.