Welcome to Grad Economics! 9/5/2017

Where Are We? Our main office is 301 Lake Hall. Professor Dickens (our department chair) is there. Prof. Wassall (graduate coordinator) is in 305 Lake Hall. All Economics faculty are located on the third floor of Lake and Holmes Halls, which are adjacent.

Our Graduate Programs We have an MA program; we admit 30-35 new students each year. Most students take 1.5 to 2 years to complete it. And a PhD program; we admit up to 6 students each year. Both programs are applied in nature. We emphasize applied work and student-student and student-faculty interaction.

Persons You Should Know Cheryl Fonville (c.fonville@northeastern.edu; 617-373-2872). Jacquaetta Hester (j.hester@northeastern.edu; 617-373-2882). Kathy Downey (k.downey@northeastern.edu; 617-373-2882). They all work in 301 Lake.

Emails You all should have received email addresses of the form lastname.f@husky.northeastern.edu. We will send emails to this address. If you use another email account, please set up forwarding.

Timing of MA Courses Master’s-level courses generally meet in the late afternoon or early evening. Doctoral-level courses generally meet during daytime hours. All courses meet for 3 hours per week, usually in two 1.5 hour class sessions. International students are required to take at least 8 semester hours (i.e., two economics courses) per semester to maintain full-time status.

The MA Program in Brief Required core courses (4). Electives (4). When you complete eight courses (32 semester hours), you can graduate. The University requires a minimum grade point average of 3.000 for graduation. It is possible to take one course as a non-departmental graduate-level elective. We also offer a readings course and an optional thesis.

MA Courses Offered Each semester we offer two core courses and five or six elective courses. In the fall, we offer the following core courses: Mathematics and Statistics for Economists (ECON 5105) Microeconomic Theory (ECON 5110) In the spring, we offer the core courses: Macroeconomic Theory (ECON 5120) Applied Econometrics (ECON 5140) The elective courses vary, and are rotated each year. MA students may also take PhD theory and econometrics courses as electives, if they have completed the prerequisite course(s).

The MA Co-Op Option MA students who maintain at least a 3.5 GPA in their first year are eligible to apply for a co-op experience in their second year. The co-op job experience generally runs from July to December. A co-op job is full-time work as an economist at market pay. Job search begins during the spring semester of your first academic year. For more information, contact Linnea Basu (l.basu@neu.edu; 617-373-2435), or Stephen Williams (s.williams@neu.edu; 617-373-3421)

Career Services Northeastern’s Career Services office has been ranked first in the country by at least one college guide. MA students should consult with Career Services when you are in your last semester and beginning to search for employment. They are found at 103 Stearns; also reachable at www.northeastern.edu/careerservices; 617-373-2430.

Computing Resources at Northeastern There are several statistical, econometric, and mathematics software suites on NUNET, the university computing network. The entire campus is wireless. Room 310A Lake Hall has free computers for student use.

Departmental Seminars and Workshops There is a regular seminar series (about once every two weeks). There are job market seminars by candidates for positions in our department (usually January and February). In addition, there are Labor and Industrial Organization weekly lunches, where advanced doctoral students present their ongoing research. All represent further opportunities to further your knowledge.

Social We have an Economics Graduate Student Association. There also is a university-wide Graduate Student Association. There are many groups and clubs on campus, and many cultural and sports choices within walking distance of Northeastern. There are 35 colleges in Boston, 52 in the metropolitan area, including several world-class universities. Over 150,000 college students live in Boston. The MBTA allows you to extend your reach to Cambridge and inner suburbs.

Questions?