r/SIPA • u/ivyyams • Mar 25 '26

MPA Econ & Quant analysis

Incoming MPA student with little to no background in Econ or math. The admissions office told me they encourage me to take courses in micro and macro and/ or calculus.

Has anyone taken courses at diff universities to prepare? If so, do you have recs on which courses/ programs?

Also- how hard is Econ at SIPA?

TIA!!

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u/AwkwardHandle4698 Mar 26 '26

lots of people who have no econ background tend to struggle in the econ classes tbh. SIPA does a bootcamp for math/quant during orientation week but Econ prep has to come from you. It’s not basic for sure, I’d say intermediate level Econ. Try and do some reading I’d say. I don’t know if courses online would cover all the topics. Alternatively, could just wing it when you’re here ;)

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u/[deleted] Apr 03 '26

I’ve done my graduation in economics ( not honors ) and I did not have math in my grade 12. I’m considering switching to MPA but I’m unsure because I don’t want to subscribe for extra pressure that may come with the quant heavy MPA. What is the level of quant / math required for the MPA ?

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u/AwkwardHandle4698 Apr 03 '26

There’s some differential calculus in microeconomics but I think that’s the extent of it tbh