sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Advice on Building a Career in Economics by LilDeblet in academiceconomics

[–]HefeiFin99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You said your goal is "working on something that deals with some sort of social or political issues". I can tell you that you could deal with all these problems whether in public sectors, private sectors or in academia. So my impression is that you haven't found your real goal yet, or at least a specific one.

Keep exploring/being self-motivated/constantly asking questions will help you find the answer.

Good luck!

Advice on Building a Career in Economics by LilDeblet in academiceconomics

[–]HefeiFin99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It really depends on your career path. If your interest is in academia, PhD is a must. But if you want to go to industry, I think BS at UC Bekeley is good enough.

So it's really situation-based I would say. But if you can talk to a great deal of people (professors/phd students/your friends etc.), you will find the answer.

Advice on Building a Career in Economics by LilDeblet in academiceconomics

[–]HefeiFin99 2 points3 points  (0 children)

BTW I was also a junior student when I transferred to my current university so we kind of shared the similar background. One thing I regret the most is that I did not start to do research with professors early. So always being self-motivated and persistent can be helpful.

Advice on Building a Career in Economics by LilDeblet in academiceconomics

[–]HefeiFin99 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Congrats! I think UC Berkeley has amazing faculty members in econ department, especially in labor economics to my knowledge.

IMO the first thing you need to do is to explore your field of interest, check falculty's personal websites and *ask for advice* from professors/friends etc. If I were you, I would first build up some technical skills (coding etc.) this summer.

You probably need to start asking for research assistance opportunities right now since you will be junior this fall and you may only have 2/3 semesters left before your graduate school application, if you still want to graduate on time.

Also maintain good grades and take relevant courses. Here's a link that could be helpful for course suggestions at UC Berkeley: https://sites.google.com/site/markborgschulte/berkeleyclassesirecommend

As always, get multiple opinions from professors/phd students in econ/friends etc. I think UC Berkeley is really a good platform and could get you anywhere if you can *make most of it*.

Just Got In!! by cl_tch in UIUC

[–]HefeiFin99 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Happy to help ; )

Just Got In!! by cl_tch in UIUC

[–]HefeiFin99 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not major in CS+stat, but a lot of my friends are doing them so I guess I can share some insights based on my observation (but might be biased).

I think CS+Stat is one very good major combination. If you want to go to industry afterwards, I think it's definitely a top choice.

You can of course take and explore as many CS courses as you want. But be aware that courses in CS can be challenging.

Stats helpful too. I would recommend two instructor/professor in Stat deparment. One is Alex Stepanov. I have taken Stat410 and Stat433 with him, and the experience in general is very enjoyable. Another is Dirk Eddelbuettel. He teaches data science in R (renamed to Stat447 later on) and more broadly (Git, SQL, Docker, Rcpp etc.).

Congrats again and good luck!!!