***Please email all questions and requests for Waiver Exam registration to econwaiver@jhu.edu*** PURPOSE OF THE WAIVER EXAMS: The International Economics Program offers students with prior equivalent coursework in microeconomics, macroeconomics, international trade, international monetary theory, or statistics the option to take waiver examinations in each subject in order to facilitate the attainment of the economics requirements of the M.A. Degree. Specifically: - Successfully passing the waiver exam in micro or macro absolves the student of the need to take the micro or macro course at SAIS
- Successfully passing the waiver exam in trade or monetary allows the student to take an economics course in substitution of trade or monetary (in fulfillment of our program's requirement of a minimum of four economics courses beyond micro and macro)
In addition, - Successfully passing the statistics waiver exam grants the student a waiver of statistics as a prerequisite course (thereby allowing the student to register for, say, econometrics, which is a next-level course above statistics).
A successful pass of a waiver exam will be denoted on transcript (though no course credit will be accrued, nor any letter grade given). Failure or a non-attempt, on the other hand, does not lead to any annotation on transcript whatsoever. The next paragraph explains the relationship between the waiver exams and our general policy regarding the waiver of prerequisites for higher-level courses. USING A WAIVER EXAM TO SATISFY PREREQUISITES: If the intent of the student is to obtain the right to enroll in a course for which micro/macro/trade/monetary/statistics is a prerequisite, then passing a waiver exam is generally sufficient to satisfy the prerequisite requirement. (For example, passing the trade theory waiver will allow the student to register for a next-level trade course such as Advanced Topics in Trade, or Trade Policy in Transition and Development). If a student has neither sat the prerequisite course nor has passed the waiver exam in that course, then in general the student can only be allowed to register for the next-level course if he or she obtains the special permission of the professor teaching the next-level course. (The leading exception to this is econometrics, which strictly requires that the student either have passed the SAIS statistics course or passed the stats waiver exam.) The professor teaching the next-level course must convey this permission in writing to the registrar and indicate that he or she understands the student lacks the prerequisite coursework but is being allowed to enrol in the course. In practice, most economics professors whose courses have micro, macro, trade, monetary, or statistics as a formal prerequisite tend to disallow registration without the prerequisite in hand, and will ask that the student sit and pass the corresponding waiver exam. But there is generally much more flexibility among professors who teach higher-level courses that do not have a basic course as a prerequisite, but some other course instead (generally one for which there would be no waiver exam available). For example: Multinational Corporate Finance requires Corporate Finance as a prerequisite and there is no Corporate Finance waiver exam. Our policy for situations like this is as follows: in cases where the next-level course has a prerequisite for which we do not offer a waiver exam, permission of the professor teaching the next-level course is sufficient. (Therefore in the case of Multinational Corporate Finance, it is sufficient for the student with prior coursework or background in Corporate Finance to obtain the permission of the Multinational Corporate Finance professor in order to be waived of the prerequisite requirement.) Note: The granting by an individual professor of permission to attend a course without prerequisites (i.e., a "waiver of prerequisites") does not imply that the student has in any way successfully completed the prerequisite course, nor does it imply the student has satisfied any degree requirement associated with the prerequisite course. It merely implies that that particular professor has allowed the student to register for that particular course without satisfaction of its formal prerequisites.
ELIGIBILITY FOR A WAIVER EXAM: To qualify to take the International Economics Program on-line waiver exams, candidates must show that they have already successful completed (i.e. a grade of "B-" or better) the same course at an accredited academic institution. For microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, the corresponding equivalent course is micro or macro at the INTERMEDIATE level, which is one level beyond that of the "principles" level. The waiver exam for trade requires that the student has already successfully completed an international trade or international economics course. The waiver exam for monetary requires that the student has already successfully completed a course in international monetary theory or open economy macroeconomics or international finance. The statistics waiver exam requires that the student has already successfully completed a course in basic statistics or probability theory. TIME LIMIT ON WHEN ONE CAN ATTEMPT A WAIVER EXAM: All students attempting the MICRO and MACRO waivers must do so BEFORE THEIR FIRST SEMESTER OF RESIDENCY in the M.A. program. All students attempting the TRADE or MONETARY waivers must do so BEFORE THEIR SECOND SEMESTER OF RESIDENCY in the M.A. program. This rule is in place to ensure that students who are unable to pass a core economics waiver exam will still be able to complete the economics requirements of the M.A. degree in time to graduate on schedule. Students attempting the statistics waiver may attempt the waiver any time during their residency in the M.A. program. M.I.P.P., Ph.D., and special arrangement students are not restricted in terms of when they may attempt specific waiver exams, but are strongly encouraged to take these exams early in their residency since micro, macro, trade, monetary, and statistics are prerequisite courses to many upper level economics electives.
OTHER VERY IMPORTANT PARTICULARS CONCERNING THE WAIVER EXAMS PROPER: - Each waiver exam may be taken ONLY ONCE so it is imperative to properly prepare for them, as no student gets a second chance to pass any given subject. Absolutely no retake of a given waiver exam is allowed.
- Exams are given at various points or "cycles" during the academic year and, unless otherwise specified, are administered on-line, over the internet. Students can only take the waiver exams on these fixed schedules. WAIVER EXAMS ARE NOT GIVEN ON DEMAND. If a student misses the exam cycle for whatever reason, we do not offer make-up exams or make special arrangements. They must then wait for the next available exam cycle. The full schedule of waiver exam cycles for each campus appears below at the bottom of this webpage.
- All waiver exams are in on-line format, but those held at the beginning of Fall term in both DC or Bologna are proctored on-campus (though the exam itself will remain in an on-line format). If you are planning to take the waiver exam during one of these cycles you will be required to appear on-campus, in-person, at the specific times indicated by the International Economics Program (or the Bologna Registrar's Office, for Bologna students). The remaining examination cycles are not proctored. Thes non-proctored on-line waiver exams can be taken during any two-hour period within the open examination window (typically three days in length) using any computer with internet access and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. Please see the bottom of this webpage for the schedule of each waiver exam cycle.
- Again, a passing performance on a waiver exam implies that the student need not sit the waived course. But there is no course credit that accrues therefrom, so the student remains subject to our program's minimum requirement of four economics courses beyond micro and macro, and the broader school-wide requirement of a minimum of sixteen SAIS courses taken for credit. Therefore again please note importantly that passing the trade or monetary waiver exams will eventually require substitution with a higher economics elective in order to fulfill the requirements for the SAIS M.A.
- As the exams are already open-book, open-notes, and multiple-choice in format, we do not issue any sample exams or practice questions. For particulars on what subject matter areas one should review, please visit this link: MORE DETAILS REGARDING THE CONTENT OF THE WAIVER EXAM
SPECIAL OUTRIGHT WAIVER FOR JOINT SAIS-WHARTON MBA AND JOHNS HOPKINS BA/MA STUDENTS: Students who took and passed equivalent courses in micro/macro/trade/monetary/statistics as part of their program of study under either the joint SAIS-Wharton MBA program or the BA/MA program of Johns Hopkins University, are eligible for an outright waiver of the corresponding course without need to take the corresponding waiver exam. If you belong to either of the above two programs and want to be given an outright waiver for your coursework, email us at econwaiver@jhu.edu and present transcript evidence that: (i) you took an equivalent course, (ii) and it was taken while you were resident in one of the above two joint-degree programs. What counts as an equivalent course is part of the formal agreement between ourselves and the partner program-- if unsure, please check with either us or the local administrator of the partner program as to which courses are considered equivalents. As examples, the course "Managerial Economics" at Wharton is equivalent to our microeconomics course at SAIS, and the course "Macroeconomic Theory" (but not "Elements of Macroeconomics") at JHU Homewood campus is equivalent to our macroeconomics course at SAIS. Students from all other joint-degree programs with SAIS do not qualify for an outright waiver, and must sit the waiver exams.
HOW TO APPLY FOR A WAIVER EXAM: To apply to take any waiver exam(s) please e-mail your request to econwaiver@jhu.edu. Attach a copy of your transcript showing prior successful completion of the equivalent course as that which you are attempting to waive out of. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable, though we reserve the right to later request an official copy from you later, should the need arise. Depending on which exam(s) you are applying to take we will be checking your transcript to confirm that you have any of the following courses appearing therein: Intermediate Micro (or Micro II), Intermediate Macro (or Macro II), International Trade (or International Economics), International Monetary (or International Finance or Open Economy Macro), Statistics (or a Probability Theory Course). If no course with these titles appear, we will either deny eligibility outright, or request that you provide us with a more detailed course syllabus and possibly other information that establishes equivalency with the course for which you seek a waiver. Should these be insufficient to clearly establish prior equivalent coursework, eligibility to take the waiver exam will be denied. Because we need to review many transcripts in advance, we strongly suggest that you send us your application at least TWO WEEKS PRIOR to the corresponding waiver exam cycle. We stop accepting applications for waiver exams one week prior to the exam itself. If it is determined by the waiver exam administrator (typically an economics faculty member) that you are eligible, you will receive a return e-mail with information on how to access and take the on-line waiver exam or when to appear at SAIS for a proctored version of the on-line exam. If you do not have an electronic version of your transcript, please note accordingly in your e-mail to us and instead send a hard copy under separate cover (along with a copy of your original e-mail) to the following address: Attention: Econwaiver
The Johns Hopkins University-SAIS
International Economics Program
1717 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 704
Washington, DC 20036 WAIVER EXAM DATES AND TIMES, ACADEMIC YEAR 2011-2012: Washington DC Students Wednesday, May 18 - Thursday, May 19, 2011 - online exams
Friday, June 3 - Sunday, June 5, 2011 - online exams
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 (trade, monetary and stats only)
(*Proctored - must be taken on campus at DC (stats: 10am-12pm, 2pm-4pm; trade 10am-12pm; monetary 2pm-4pm)
Friday, August 26, 2011 (micro and macro only)
(*Proctored - must be taken on campus at DC (macro: 10am-12pm and micro 2pm-4pm)
This is the last chance for fall incoming first year students to waive out of micro and macro. No micro or macro waivers will be offered in the spring except for spring admits.
Friday, January 13, - Sunday, January 15, 2012 (the online exams for trade, monetary, stats are open to all first year DC students; micro and macro are open here only to Spring admits)
Bologna Students Friday, June 3 - Sunday, June 5, 2011
Saturday, June 25 - Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, September 26 - Tuesday, September 27
(*Proctored - must be taken on campus, exact exam times and location to be announced-- check with Bologna registrar in September if no schedule appears here by then)
This is the last chance for fall incoming first year Bologna students to waive out of micro and macro. No micro or macro waivers will be offered in the spring except for spring admits.
Wednesday, November 30 - Thursday, December 1, 2011
Friday, February 10 - Sunday, February 12, 2012
(the online exams for trade, monetary, stats are open to all first year Bologna students; micro and macro are open here only to Spring admits)
Nanjing Students
Nanjing students are eligible to take the waiver exams on any of the above cycles that are not proctored. |
