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Several weeks ago I ordered a book from Amazon for one of my classes. When I got it, and I realized it was missing pages 19-51. So I sent Amazon an email, and they sent me a new copy the next day (as in, I received a replacement *the day after I reported the problem*… Amazon FTW). Unfortunately, it had the same problem. So I asked around and found out other classmates had the same problem (ordering it from other bookstores, even).

I decided to contact the publisher, MIT Press:

I have ordered two separate copies of Lectures on Macroeconomics by Blanchard and Fischer (ISBN 0-262-02283-4) and both copies are missing pages 19-51. Other classmates are having the same problem. What can be done to fix this? It seems that multiple booksellers have the same faulty printings…

A couple days later, they replied with this:

Dear Brandon:  I have checked with the press, and they can’t seem to think of a particular book off hand.  Perhaps you can try Amazon.com.  I’m sending the link to hopefully help in the search.
thank you,
____

<http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=women+law+enforcement&x=0&y=0>

The punch line to this story is found by clicking on the link they sent me.

I found out yesterday, and received an official letter today, regarding my application to George Mason University.

I have been accepted into their Economics Ph.D. program for the Fall 2009 semester — classes start August 31. Click on the image below:

George Mason University (GMU) is located in Fairfax, VA, which is about 20 miles west of Washington, DC. The economics department is well-known for its concentrations on Public Choice Theory and the Austrian School of economics (among others). On top of that, it has been ranked among other universities offering graduate studies in economics: 9th in general economics and teaching, 11th in law and economics, and 25th in public economics — just to name a few — all of which are areas of study I am highly interested in. Overall, it has been ranked as the #41 among all economics grad schools. Read this for more on the rankings.

The program has a minimum length of four years, so we will be East Coasters for at least the next few years. Ashley and I are both very excited for this new adventure, and feel very fortunate for the opportunity.

Calculus is not a required course for my degree; I am taking it because it is a recommended/required course for most graduate programs in economics. This is my second to last semester of undergraduate coursework, and in my entire college career, I have never had a more terrible “teacher” than Mr. Phanord.

Our class was scheduled to meet twice a week during the semester; Phanord canceled (or didn’t show up to class) for FOUR of the class periods.

During the lectures we did have, he would spend precious time trying to teach us Latin or French, or talking to us about physics or other science subjects. While I appreciate he was trying to help us with “real life examples” it only resulted in most students being completely confused — even the ones studying science and engineering! Or at the very least, wasting time that we should have been using to study derivatives, integrals, etc. The class is Calculus I — not engineering!

Phanord assigned only even-numbered problems as homework. I realize homework assignment is at the discretion of the professor, but assigning homework for which you can’t check to know whether you’re doing the problem correctly or not is a bad idea. What if I was doing the process incorrectly?

He used strange mathematical notation that appears nowhere in the book, which lead me to think, “Is this guy just trying to show off how smart he is?” (I would ask the same question when he would expound on scientific topics, too, as was previously mentioned)

His grading system is ridiculous; while the final grade is (according to the syllabus) a composite of homeworks, tests, and a research paper (Yes, a RESEARCH paper for a Calculus I class… which is also absurd!), he told us throughout the semester that “Whatever you get on the final is what you will get for the class,” which lead me to wonder, “Why should I worry about turning in homework problems, a paper, or even stressing out for midterm, if my final grade really just depends on the final exam?”

I will never recommend this “teacher” to anyone I know; in fact, I will exhort any individual taking a math course to avoid Mr. Phanord like the plague.

Next semester will be my final semester of undergrad. Kill me now. Here’s the schedule / course lineup (all times are PM):

BUS495 BUSINESS CAPSTONE M/W 2:30-3:45
ECON495 ECONOMICS CAPSTONE M/W 4:00-5:15
ECON442 HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT T/Th 4:00-5:15
MBA735 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS T/Th 5:30-6:45
MATH182 CALCULUS II T/Th 7:30-9:10
ECON457 LAW AND ECONOMICS Sat 9:00-11:45

Yeah. It’s exactly what I was hoping for, PLUS I managed to find a Calc2 class that would meet my schedule. This will be 19 credits. Wee!

I posted about a month ago about the classes I’d like to take next semester.

This past week, the official schedules for next semester were released, so here’s the proposed schedule:

BUS495 BUSINESS CAPSTONE M/W 2:30-3:45
ECON495 ECONOMICS CAPSTONE M/W 4:00-5:15
ECON442 HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT T/Th 4:00-5:15
MBA735 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS T/Th 5:30-6:45
ECON457 LAW AND ECONOMICS Sat 9:00-11:45

Note the absence of ECON462/463, which I previously mentioned was a required course for graduation. Notice also the addition of a graduate-level MBA course. I was recently speaking with one of my professors about the predicament I’m facing regarding ECON462 (it’s only being offered during one section next semester — at 8:30am — not good for my schedule) and he told me he will be teaching a more advanced version of the same class at the graduate level. I submitted all the paperwork last week to be able to take MBA735 in place of ECON462, and now I’m just waiting to see what happens.

Next semester could be the nicest schedule I’ve had my entire time at UNLV… if everything works out.

I took the GRE today. I scored 720 on quantiative (math) and 590 on verbal. I also had to write two essays which take longer to score (a real person scores them). I’ll report those results when I get them.

The scores are out of 800.

A 720 means I missed 2-3 questions (out of 28) on the math portion; a 590 means I missed 7-9 questions (out of 30) on verbal.

The average math score of incoming PhD students at GMU is 760. Thus, I am probably at the lower end of acceptable.

While I suffer through my terribly terrible calculus class, I frequently drift off and think about other things. Recently I was thinking about which classes I’d like to take next semester. It seems I’m dreaming the impossible, though, as the course load would be 20+ credits. Here’s what I’m looking at, along with some notes about the courses.

BUS495 BUSINESS CAPSTONE^a
ECON495 ECONOMICS CAPSTONE^a
ECON462/463 INTERNATIONAL TRADE/MONETARY RELATIONS^a
ECON442 HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT^b
ECON457 LAW AND ECONOMICS^b
MATH182 CALCULUS II
MATH251 DISCRETE MATHEMATICS
PHYS152 PHYSICS II

^a: These classes are required to graduate.

^b: I need to take at least one of these classes to graduate.

In other words, I only have to take four more classes after this semester to graduate. The two math classes would definitely help me out in grad school. The physics class is just the second part of the physics class I’m taking right now, and I find the subject material incredibly interesting.

However, as you can see, that’s 8 classes, two of which are 4 credits. The total credit load would be 24 credits.

I’m hoping the schedule for spring and summer will get released around the same time; if so, I think what I could do is take MATH251 and PHYS152 in the summer. And maybe MATH283 (Calculus III).

Ugh. If I could only go back a couple years and redo my school career with the knowledge I have now…

Anyone have any suggestions/comments concerning the above class listing?

Since I know you’re all curious, and since it’s changed since I last posted about it:

ECON303 INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMICS
ECON359 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECON441 ECONOMETRICS
MATH181 CALCULUS I
PHYS151 GENERAL PHYSICS I

As you may know, I received a C- in my calculus class over the summer, which means I have to retake the class.

My professor now is a guy named Dieudonne Phanord. If you stumbled through that last sentence, don’t feel bad: I don’t know how to say his name either.

Now, this guy has an accent. That wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t go off on seemingly non-sensical tangents. Or if he didn’t try to teach things from chapters 2 and 4 when we haven’t even gone over chapter 1. Luckily, I know the course (having taken it already), so when he starts talking about derivatives and integrals, I have an idea of what he’s saying.

Today, he started telling us what the definition of a derivative is, using limits, even though he hasn’t taught us what limits are.

I was glancing around the class, and all but a few of us (other retakers, I’m assuming) had very puzzled expressions.

He also went off on a tangent about concavity and inflection points (we were doing a review of common functions) even though that discussion doesn’t come up in the book until chapter 4.

Wow.

His tangents are not confined to strictly mathematics, either. He tells us all the time “Since you’re all engineers, blah blah blah” and goes off about something in engineering. Sorry, I’m not an engineer. And I told you that before. He also does the same thing with other fields of science (eg. “Since many of you are physicists…” etc. He hasn’t said “Many of you are economists…” and I don’t expect he will, either)

Did I mention it is a calculus class, and he is expecting us to write a ten page research paper? Yeah. That too.

End rant.

Got a C- in my calculus class. Ugh. That means I have to retake it before I can go on to other math classes. With the fall semester starting next Monday, I’m now scrambling to figure out what to do with my schedule, since two of the classes I had signed up for were upper level math.