Graduate Bootcamp

Kelly Walsh

Boot Camp for Incoming Public Policy Graduate Students

The 2023 Economics and Math Preparatory 'Boot Camp' for incoming Public Policy Graduate Students will be held on Monday, September 11 until Friday, September 22.

Math Boot Camp will be in week one: September 11 - 15. Econ Boot Camp will be in week two: September 18-22. The instructor will send more a detailed syllabus in late August. Student should plan to watch pre-recorded videos in advance and attend afternoon sessions to work on problems from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

The course will review/introduce students to mathematic and economic concepts that will be encountered frequently in first year MPP and MA core graduate courses.

All incoming Public Policy graduate students are strongly encouraged to attend. 

Topics covered may include the following:

  • Math basics: Functions, Notation and Logic
  • Single Variable Calculus: derivatives (rules), integrals, and applications
  • Optimization: Constrained and Unconstrained
  • Graphs: Area and basic geometry
  • Algebra: Systems of equations, linear independence, exponential and logarithmic functions
  • Multivariable Calculus: total and partial derivatives, higher order derivatives, chain rule and applications
  • Probability Theory I: events, random variables, distributions
  • Probability Theory II: expectation, variance, correlation, conditional probability
  • Consumer Theory I: Choice functions, preferences and indifference curves, utility
  • Consumer Theory II: The Consumer's Problem and utility maximization
  • Theory of the Firm: Profit Maximization
  • Types of Markets: Competitive, Monopoly, Oligopoly
  • Price Discrimination

 

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