My DS13 really wants to take a course on quantitative economics. He took a high-school honors economics course last summer at one of the talent development summer programs and really liked it--except that it wasn't as quantitative as he was hoping for. We are looking for local options. My question is: where do people generally look to find such a course for someone who is not yet in high school? Local community colleges? Other places? DS would rather be in a classroom than taking an online course because he is really social and getting to know new people is a big deal for him in summer. Any thoughts?

Quantitative economics might mean two things: a) mathematical modeling of economic behavior or b) statistical analysis of economic behavior. They are related, of course, since statistical analysis should be testing a model, but scholars tend to specialize one way or the other. I think modeling classes probably aren't found outside upper-level undergrad or lower-level grad courses. Statistics, though, he could definitely take now and would have some economic applications.

Thanks, GF2 and Portia. The CTY online course is our backup, but we are hoping to find a course in a real classroom. It does seem that the options are quite limited. I will definitely ask DS if he wants to consider statistics--there might be more options for this.

You could contact a local university or college, ask who TAs the core econometrics (which requires a knowledge of stats and matrix algebra) and second year micro/macro/stats courses, and have them teach your son on a one-to-one basis. Undergrad programs in economics tend not to be overly quantitative until about third or fourth year. A high achieving undergrad student might enjoy teaching an enthusiastic young protege at an affordable rate. There are lots of interesting game theory applications taught in the core micro courses, and macro could introduce him to the basic IS/LM/FE and Solow models.

Great idea!!! DS got to know a couple of people in our local university's economics department through a project that he did this year. He is indeed planning to ask them--not about someone who can teach him, but general resources in our area.

So we are looking at two potential options: 1) some sort of self study with tutoring from an undergrad. or graduate student. We are still asking but this is a possibility. 2) online AP course in microeconomics. We have found a few places that offer this.

Now the question is: DS13 has never had an AP course. He's had a high school honors course in macroeconomics and did well, and his math level probably far exceeds high school graduation requirements (based on SAT/ACT scores and the courses he has taken). His SAT and ACT writing and essay scores are all fairly strong. We think that he should be able to handle an AP course. Any thoughts or warning from parents here whose kids have done AP courses in middle school?

The AP Potential calculator http://www.collegeboard.com/counselors/app/expectancy.html?micro shows the chance of getting a 3 or higher or 4 or higher on the AP Microeconomics exam as a function of the PSAT math+reading score (or 1/10 * SAT math+reading score). But if he takes a summer course, won't there be a long gap until the AP exam in the following spring?

At this point he simply wants to learn the stuff systematically. We don't mind if he doesn't take the AP test this time. The gap is something that we haven't considered but his SAT/ACT scores predict well of his potential AP score (thanks for the link, never knew this existed).

Can he audit the class at a university/college locally? You could find out what text was used-- that would probably provide a good idea what the nature of the approach would be in the class. Just ask the instructor how closely they adhere to the text's presentation.

The timing doesn't work out... He will go to a stay-away music camp and by the time he comes back, the local colleges/universities won't be offering this course.

I wouldn't recommend that unless he strongly wants the social element. Most core courses move at a snail's pace. As a TA, I derived the entire course for a second year micro class on 4 pages of double sided paper and taught it (a full semester course) in a 2 hour lecture. I passed out the handouts, then I gave permission to everyone who felt they understood to skip class for the rest of the semester.

Point being, there's a lot of repetition and time wasting. A good tutor will get your son through the slog quickly and onto the more interesting material faster than a conventional class.

Oh boy... Thanks for the insider's info. This is so helpful. We are looking at an online "self-paced" course but with instructor facilitation. This still doesn't have the social component that DS is hoping for, but we may just have to find some social activities through other channels in the summer.

We are most likely going to go for the individually-paced AP course--didn't find many other options. So, question for aquinas and other experts in economics, if we pick a microeconomics course, it is usually fairly quantitative, right? Or do microeconomics courses vary a lot?

I would check your local colleges and community colleges as well. Quite a few of them offer classes for ages 7-17 during the summer these days - it's a big money-making market.

I can't speak to AP Micro, but college Micro 101 is not heavily quantitative in the formal sense. Very few equations. It is highly logical, though, and (depending on the teacher), there might be some mathematical relationships formalized (e.g., direct and inverse variation). The typical course uses a lot of graphs (upward-sloping supply, downward demand), and the concept of change (margins) is important. So it's math-y but not formalized. Undergraduate econ doesn't get very quantitative in the formal sense (I speak as a former econ major). They had us take Calc, but we rarely used it. Grad school is a whole different story!

We did. The timing doesn't work out for this summer.

This is a bit discouraging... Do you have suggestions for us on how to look for a quantitative economics course at the high school level? (DS14 has done a high school honors economics course which was not quantitative at all, and his math level exceeds high school graduation requirements.)

Could MIT OCW Scholar work for you?

Principles of Microeconomics

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/14-01sc-principles-of-microeconomics-fall-2011/

Principles of Microeconomics is an introductory undergraduate course that teaches the fundamentals of microeconomics. This course introduces microeconomic concepts and analysis, supply and demand analysis, theories of the firm and individual behavior, competition and monopoly, and welfare economics. Students will also be introduced to the use of microeconomic applications to address problems in current economic policy throughout the semester.

Instructor: Prof. Jonathan Gruber

Prerequisites and Preparation

This course will include some basic uni-variate calculus material, as taught in the MIT course 18.01 Single Variable Calculus or in a comparable high-school calculus course. There are no other prerequisites.

Visit 18.01SC Single Variable Calculus to learn or review this material.