<p>A very nice piece by [Dr</a>. Tim Salmon, an FSU faculty member](<a href=“http://myweb.fsu.edu/tsalmon/]Dr ”>http://myweb.fsu.edu/tsalmon/ ), with regard to students considering a graduate degree in Economics:
Master’s vs. Ph.D. </p>
<pre><code> The first question a student has to consider in thinking about graduate programs is whether they are interested in a MA or Ph.D. program. There are a couple of different ways of looking at this issue.
The first consideration should be what type of job you want at the other end. If your desire is to be a professor, you have to go for the Ph.D. There are, however, many other job prospects for people with both degrees. The primary employers of people with advanced degrees other than Universities are consulting firms and government organizations. The types of jobs available in both sometimes depend on the degree. The standard arrangement in most such organizations is that on any given project, it will be those with a Ph.D. who might design a program of investigation on an issue while those with MA degrees might work on carrying out parts of that research program. On the other hand, in many cases you will find that organizations do not base their hierarchy on degrees. Instead, they will base assignments, success and promotions purely on demonstrated ability. You will also find some employers, such as the US Dept. of Agriculture, who will hire at the MA level and then sponsor the Ph.D.’s of successful employees.
The decision of which degree to go for also depends on your short-term willingness to endure hard work (especially related to doing mathematics) and the type of student you are. If you want a short, to the point program leading to a degree, then a MA is what you want. These programs usually involve 1-2 years of coursework and supervised projects. The Ph.D., however, is much more open ended. Typically programs begin with 2 years of course work followed by the student writing a dissertation. The dissertation phase consists of work that is almost entirely independent work (you will have an advisor who may help some, but hopefully not much more than occasionally steering you away from really bad ideas) and it requires a highly self-motivated student to complete it. The dissertation may take 2-4 years depending on a variety of variables. If you are an independent thinker and self-starter who is willing to engage in a great deal of hard work, then you might want to pursue a Ph.D.
You should also be aware that Ph.D. programs require a reasonable degree of mathematical sophistication. Modern economics is based heavily on mathematical analysis in various forms. Your ultimate interests may involve areas that require less mathematical sophistication, but you should still be prepared to face a substantial amount of mathematics in your required coursework. This is usually one of the most surprising things to students starting economics graduate school because undergraduate economics is by and large not very mathematical. The material you will see from day 1 of a Ph.D. program will be…
</code></pre>
<p>For the rest, see: [fsu.edu</a> | So you want to go to Econ grad school …](<a href=“http://mailer.fsu.edu/~tzuehlke/doctoral/staff/salmon.html]fsu.edu ”>http://mailer.fsu.edu/~tzuehlke/doctoral/staff/salmon.html )</p>
cjm
February 10, 2010, 5:55pm
2
<p>Thanks for the info. Forwarded it to S at FSU. He says it is something he is considering.</p>
<p>I found the article really interesting. I always thought undergrad econ would include quite a bit of mathematics because many economic formulas are derived through calculus; for example, the rule of 70 (one of the first formulas you learn in econ) is derived from the formula 2 = e ^ (rt) which gives you t = ln(2)/r and ln(2) is 0.693… or approximately 0.7. I’d assume undergrad would include a lot of math; it must be quite a shock to get into a phd program and then all of a sudden be bombarded with Calc/diffyQs. They should probably prepare students better and require more math for the econ major curriculum.</p>
<p>Perhaps the above piece is an effort in that direction.</p>
<p>thanks for posting this.very interesting . son no. 2 has been accepted and strongly considering economics major is likley to pursue post grad.</p>
<p>Glad to help!</p>
<p>If he has questions be sure to PM as my SiL is a PhD candidate in this department.</p>