Does racial background matter for PhD applications

[youngspartan]

Hello all,

 

I am not trying to cause a race riot on the forum, but I do have a question about racial background and Econ PhD applications. I know for undergraduate, schools take into account minority status during the admissions process. Do ECON PhD programs do a similar thing where they give extra consideration or have slightly different admissions standards for minority applicants?

 

Please respond honestly but without being hateful or racist! :eager:

[startz]

Most programs value diversity. They probably give an extra look to applications from under-represented minorities. I suspect in most cases the extra advantage is pretty small.

 

Many universities have additional financial aid available for under-represented minorities, so that's a factor too.

[tm_member]

Hello all,

 

I am not trying to cause a race riot on the forum, but I do have a question about racial background and Econ PhD applications. I know for undergraduate, schools take into account minority status during the admissions process. Do ECON PhD programs do a similar thing where they give extra consideration or have slightly different admissions standards for minority applicants?

 

Please respond honestly but without being hateful or racist! :eager:

 

I'm guessing they do and have good reasons to do so absent any policy direction. This is because there is massive value to diversity within a cohort. Admitting twelve versions of the same person is not going to be good for their program, or for those twelve individuals. In a perfect world there would be a set hurdle for everyone to jump over but in reality there's nuance and sometimes they can't admit all the applicants who went to ivy league schools because that's not going to be optimal for the program.

[youngspartan]

thank you guys! this has been helpful. I guess as a follow up I would like to know what other forms of visible diversity they value?

[sulebrahim]

Good thing you asked it here as opposed to a certain website :)

I remember a Michigan adcom said he values ethnicity and gender. But like others have mentioned, the effect is still small as they are admitting you on the basis that you would pass prelims/coursework, so anybody that gets into Harvard/MIT/Stanford etc, was probably a 'champ' wherever they came from.

[kipfilet]

In spite of everyone's official positions, PhD programs in the US and Europe are populated only by the ethnicities you would expect.

[chrishacker]

If you are Asian, you are expected to have higher grades in all quantitative sciences including economics.

However, probably econ departments are among those which are least willing to lean towards 'minorities' or female, although this does exist.

[Kaysa]

Hello all,

 

I am not trying to cause a race riot on the forum, but I do have a question about racial background and Econ PhD applications. I know for undergraduate, schools take into account minority status during the admissions process. Do ECON PhD programs do a similar thing where they give extra consideration or have slightly different admissions standards for minority applicants?

 

Please respond honestly but without being hateful or racist! :eager:

 

No, not at all. Gender doesn't matter either. Not for admissions, and to be quite frank, not for the job market.

[startz]

No, not at all. Gender doesn't matter either. Not for admissions, and to be quite frank, not for the job market.

With all due respect, race and gender do get attention both in admissions and for the job market. The amount of attention is small. And the action is mostly more attention paid to applications, rather than a different decision after a short list has been formed.

[yankeefan]

No, not at all. Gender doesn't matter either. Not for admissions, and to be quite frank, not for the job market.

 

The CDO at your institution would like to have a word with you.

[Kaysa]

The CDO at your institution would like to have a word with you.

 

Hah hah you are correct there. He visits us every season.

 

With all due respect, race and gender do get attention both in admissions and for the job market. The amount of attention is small. And the action is mostly more attention paid to applications, rather than a different decision after a short list has been formed.

 

Ya, so like I said, it doesn't really matter.

[Catrina]

I was told by an admissions committee member at one of the schools that admitted me that my being female was a contributing factor. It seemed to be a small one (it was mentioned after other things on a list), but it was mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if being from a very underrepresented minority would be a considerably stronger factor.

[yankeefan]

I was told by an admissions committee member at one of the schools that admitted me that my being female was a contributing factor. It seemed to be a small one (it was mentioned after other things on a list), but it was mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if being from a very underrepresented minority would be a considerably stronger factor.

 

I suspect that preference may be given to racial minorities and women at the margin, but don't expect it to bail out an otherwise weak application. A professor at my school who was an adcom a [far] while back at a midwestern school told me that they actively recruited minorities in an attempt to diversify their campus. The only problem was that too few minorities applied and even those who they admitted sometimes passed up the offer for a lower ranked school closer to the coasts. Hell he even took a paycut to move to my coastal school!