Random question about US News Ranking for phd econ?

[iloveeconomics]

So when i was looking at the rankings for EconPhD, i found that there are no rankings for universities after 54. I am just wondering how do I actually evaluate the universities after 54 when i am applying? Thanks a lot!

[greeneggs]

a ouija board

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by greeneggs

a ouija board

I wouldn't recommend that, I tried to use one to get an letter of reference from John Maynard Keynes. All I could get out of it was, "Tell my granddaughter I'm proud of her.." and "Listen carefully, I have a formula to get out of this mess.." blah, blah. Nothing about my abilities as a researcher. What a waste of $15.99.

[asquare]

There are other rankings of economics departments, including those at econphd.net and RePEc. However, the broader point is that rankings are an extremely incomplete way to evaluate departments and to identify schools that are a good fit for you. Rankings are most useful for getting a sense of the rough tier into which a school fits, but they are not particularly helpful for comparing schools with similar rankings or assessing whether a school would be a good fit for you. Also, you should note the methodology and be aware of how it may affect whether the rankings are useful for you. US News uses evaluations by other institutions to rank departments, not hard data. The other sources I've suggested use publications, but being good at producing research isn't necessarily the same as being good at teaching graduate students to produce research. Also, a low overall ranking may obscure a school's particular strength in one field, particularly for lower-ranked departments. When you are considering schools outside of the top 50 range, you should be focusing on finding a match with a school that specializes in the field or fields you want to study rather than focusing on their overall strength.

You should discuss your interest in graduate school with your undergraduate advisors and seek their suggestions. You should look at departments' websites to get a sense of the research interests of their faculty and their depth in fields you may want to study. You should look at journals in fields you want to study to see who is publishing in them regularly, and then use Google to find out what schools those authors are affiliated with. You should look for new working papers (you can find them through NBER, Google searches for topics of interest plus "working paper", and conference websites) and again, learn where the authors teach. You should look at where recent PhDs who obtained jobs you would like to have were educated. You should discuss all of the information you gather with people who have information about the process, including your advisors, any current graduate students you know, and users on forums like this one.

Rankings should be only one of many lines of inquiry in determining which schools you apply to, and there are many more important sources of information than the US News rankings.

[asianeconomist]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

"Listen carefully, I have a formula to get out of this mess.." blah, blah.

Did you actually listen to what his suggestions were.