XPost: sci.econ, soc.college.grad, sci.stat.edu   
   From: richardstartz1@comcast.net   
      
   A Masters in economics is quite valuable - just not in academia. But   
   unlike many other disciplines, a masters is not generally a degree you   
   take before a PhD. A Masters gives good technical skills, but doesn't   
   teach how to do original research.   
      
   The very top programs in economics, certainly the top 10 and maybe the   
   top 20, don't take students seeking a masters. But there are lots of   
   good programs that do.   
      
   You probably ought to go take a linear algebra course right away. You   
   can't do graduate level econometrics or statistics without it. And if   
   by some chance you don't like the course, that's a sign you'll really   
   hate graduate level training in statistics.   
      
   George Washington has a good program in DC which you might want to   
   check out.   
      
   -Dick Startz   
      
      
   On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 16:45:50 -0400, "Jose Luiz"    
   wrote:   
      
   >   
   >Hey, I graduated from a major public university in the Baltimore/D.C. area a   
   >couple of years ago with an economics degree and have been working as a   
   >statistician for the federal government since then. I really want to go back   
   >to grad school to get my master's in a statistics and/or economics-related   
   >field and was wondering what some of the "top" economics/statistics grad   
   >schools are? I'm particularly interested in finding out what the top stat   
   >schools are, as I've had difficulty finding a list. In truth, I'm unsure as   
   >to what my exact major will be (econ-related, stat-related, or a mixture of   
   >the two - like econometrics)   
   >or what I will even do with my major but I'd like to get a good list so I   
   >can at least look at some schools and get some ideas. Also, my undergrad   
   >grades were decent (3.43, 3.93 in-major) and I expect to do reasonably well   
   >on the GRE but, except for one advanced number theory class I took, the only   
   >math I have on my transcript is one year of calculus (calculus I and II, no   
   >linear algebra). I took numerous advanced stat/econometric courses and did   
   >extremely well in all of those but I'm wondering if my not taking any   
   >additional calculus or linear algebra courses will hurt my chances of   
   >getting into a good college? Also, I'd like some thoughts on the suggestions   
   >I've heard that a master's degree in economics is almost worthless, compared   
   >to a Phd. I'm still young and am only a couple years out of college but,   
   >after working and being out of school for 2 years, I'd rather go back to   
   >school for only 1-2 years and get a master's, rather than investing 5-7   
   >years for a Phd. Any thoughts/advice anyone may have is much appreciated...   
   >   
   >Jose   
   >   
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   Richard Startz                          RichardStartz1@comcast.net   
   Lundberg Startz Associates   
      
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