| Masters and Phd in Economics/Agriculture Economics |
The admission process has one outstanding feature that must be mentioned
at the outset. You do not have to pay the application fee until you are
accepted in the program. This helps the school receive a large number of
applicatons. Every year the school receives 600-800 applications and 30-
35 students are taken into the Masters and PhD program although the mix
varies each year. The economics and agricultural economics departments
are combined and admission is also common. In evaluating the criteria to
be admitted into the program, the most important factor is your grades
in your undergraduate degree, then the GRE quantitative scores and
overall GRE scores. An undergraduate degree in Economics is not
necessary for admission but a quantitative backround and college level
calculus is important. These deficiencies may be overcome in the Math
Camp conducted before clases commence. The average GRE scores are over
2100 for international students but are lower for American Students,
about 1900 for the PhD program. The rules are a bit relaxed for Master's
admission. Most Master's students continue to pursue the PhD , and that
helps the school admit well trained students into the PhD program. The
school admits a large number of international students and international
students are evaluated with other applicants from their country. A lot
of students who apply to the program are genuinely interested in
Agricultural Economics and have an extensive background in Agriculture.
Those are the students that will get in without very high GRE scores or
school grades. In such cases reference letters and demonstrated
interest/Research publications in Agricultural Economics is critical.
There are no interviews to get in and admissions essays are not
critical. There are plenty of opportunities to get financial aid in the
form of a Teaching Assistantship or a Research Assistantship in the
school. The associated Centers of Agriculture and Rural Development and
Agricultural Extension provide opportunities for Research Assistantship
in Agriculture and Environment . Teaching Assistanthips are offered to
grade problem sets, exams in Micro and macro economics. Other Teaching
Assistant opportunities may be available for students in the education,
Afro American, Mathematics and Statistics departments although a lot of
these opportunities have dried up in the last couple of years.
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Iowa State University: Graduate Business/Economics Degress (Non-MBA) Admission & Application Surveys
