Carnegie Mellon University

Economics Graduate Amelia Gilson

B.S. in Economics (Concentration: Advanced Quantitative Methods) 
Minor in Mathematical Sciences 
Minor in Biomedical Engineering


The Undergraduate Economics Program provided me with a very strong mathematical and technical background; in fact, it is what led me to pursue a masters in data science.  I feel that the predictive power of economic modeling will give me deeper insights into my graduate work.

Why are studying economics?

It uses to technical applications to garner social science insights.

Do you have a favorite economics course? If so, which one and why?

Market Design or Econometrics: Both heavily involved computation, data analysis, and algorithms

Do you have advice for incoming CMU students?

Try taking different classes because you never know what you might end up feeling really passionate about. Also drink more water!

Do you have advice for students studying economics?

Get involved in the Economics community as a freshman! It can be really helpful to have people in your classes to study with and all your teachers and advisors want to get to know you!

Describe your typical weekday morning

Afternoon classes end around 3:00 p.m. (I will have drank coffee number 2 then), then study by myself or with friends, often have a meeting/club actively

Describe your typical weekday afternoon

My afternoons are usually filled with a combination of classes and my on-campus jobs. When I'm not doing either of those, I'm usually grabbing food with friends, catching up on studying, or watching some Netflix. I also love to lounge around the grass outside Tepper (weather permitting, of course). You can often find me tabling in the UC for Global Business Brigades fundraisers as well!

Describe your typical weekday evening

T/Th my classes end around 8/9:00 p.m., WMF done at 2:30 p.m., normally get dinner with friends (drink another coffee if it feels necessary), normally have an activity for one of my clubs/organizations, study in sorrels or Tepper (if its nice I try to work outside but always get hot/sunburned and promptly end up back inside), Wednesdays/Thursdays I go to Trivia (if I don't have too much work)

Describe your typical weekend

Saturday: I try to get some work done, normally have some club activity, hang out with friends and go somewhere off campus. Sunday: Typically work all day (in sorrels or at home), go to the Turkish Kebab House for dinner with friends, Alpha Phi chapter at 7:00 p.m.

Is there anything else that you would want to share about your "typical day"?

It varies a lot depending on the week, obsessively keep track of my activities in Google calendar