Maypagasa Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Hi, I am graduating this June with my BSc and MSc Economics degree (Ladderized) and I plan to try my chances by applying this coming application season. May I ask how important are publications in the decision of adcoms? Do publications increase the chances of getting accepted in a top program? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 The academic publication process in the social sciences usually takes 1-3 years from first submission to final publication, so no, virtually no undergrad applicant will have a publication, even if they are already capable of writing academic-level papers at the end of their junior year (which is nearly unheard of). You can "publish" something in crappy undergraduate-run journals but they won't do anything for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDPolEcon Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 In the rare case a publication occurs does it help? I recall there was a student here who claimed he was close to a pub in a Top 5. How about if you have a R&R? Will that help? Again, ignore the fact that this is unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Food4Thought Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Of course a publication would help. It provides a credible signal that one can conduct respected academic research. Graduate programs do not have an expectation that undergraduates be publishing on top economics journals, so there should be no worry about not having publications. A senior thesis or master's thesis is sufficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econapp2014 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 If you can publish at a Top 5 journal already, why would you need a PhD degree after all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDPolEcon Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I am not sure why my question was downvoted... To clarify my question, yes it is assumed a publication or R&R should be helpful but the case I am referring to is for someone whose profile is otherwise non-stellar e.g. missing mathematics courses, no RA expericence, no European Masters, average GPA at undergrad or grad level. Would such a person who might not otherwise be admitted, be admitted to a top 5/top 10 program if he/she had a publication or R&R at a top journal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
startz Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I am not sure why my question was downvoted... To clarify my question, yes it is assumed a publication or R&R should be helpful but the case I am referring to is for someone whose profile is otherwise non-stellar e.g. missing mathematics courses, no RA expericence, no European Masters, average GPA at undergrad or grad level. Would such a person who might not otherwise be admitted, be admitted to a top 5/top 10 program if he/she had a publication or R&R at a top journal? PhDPolEcon, I'm sure your question was well-intended. The issue is that the occurrence of an undergraduate student having anything close to a top publication is just about zero. Even if such a publication would in theory help on admissions, students should certainly spend their time on more fruitful activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Food4Thought Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 PhDPolEcon, The issue is that the occurrence of an undergraduate student having anything close to a top publication is just about zero. Even if such a publication would in theory help on admissions, students should certainly spend their time on more fruitful activity. Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I am not sure why my question was downvoted... To clarify my question, yes it is assumed a publication or R&R should be helpful but the case I am referring to is for someone whose profile is otherwise non-stellar e.g. missing mathematics courses, no RA expericence, no European Masters, average GPA at undergrad or grad level. Would such a person who might not otherwise be admitted, be admitted to a top 5/top 10 program if he/she had a publication or R&R at a top journal? Theoretically, yes. Practically, hypotheticals like these are worse than useless. If someone even has a remote chance at landing a top 5 journal (or R&R) as an undergrad, he is at least in the top 0.1% percentile in future potential, will know it, and will most likely end up at MIT/Harvard regardless of whether he tries to publish anything. On the other hand, people who have otherwise poor undergrad records may think about publishing in top 5 journals as an undergrad, which will be a very, very terrible waste of time. The chance of an undergrad publishing in even a third-tier journal before grad admissions is very close to zero. In the course of my studies I have heard of exactly one person who managed to get a top R&R before grad school, and he was in a different (less quantitative) discipline, and is still widely regarded as the superstar of that discipline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhDPolEcon Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Thanks for the contributions. I still do not understand the downvotes. Can one not ask or question or even disagree without being downvoted? Very strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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