Ag/Applied Econ Programs

[butler blue]

Ok. So I'm just curious what you all know about applied econ/ag econ Ph.D. programs. I'm trying to figure out what exactly their advantages and disadvantages are. It seems that some of them (Minnesota's, for example) are trying to grow out of just being ag econ programs. Do you think that there are programs out there that take a more applied approach without being tied completely to their ag econ past?

Also, what are the job prospects of ag/applied econ grads? Is this better suited for a student with interests more toward policy than academia?

Finally, how do the admission standards compare to the standards for regular econ Ph.D. programs?

[Corneconomics]

Here at Cornell, the applied econ program (AEM) is geared towards people interested in non-academic careers (WB, etc(, and has close ties to various development professors, not just those interested in ag econ. Admissions standards are a bit higher than some expect, I think. On the other hand, once in a program, if you pass the micro Q, you can sometimes switch to regular econ.

[butler blue]

Originally Posted by Corneconomics

Admissions standards are a bit higher than some expect, I think.

I have my preconceptions of what this could mean, but could you be more specific?

[Corneconomics]

Cornell has the top Ag school in the nation. I don't know how this might affect our ag econ, but it might explain the feeling I get talking to AEM (applied economics and management) students. From what I can gather, students in Cornell's ag econ program are accepted to traditional econ programs in the lower 20s on down, and are rejected from traditional econ programs from the lower 40s on up. So I'd say admissions wise, AEM is about the same as, say, a school ranked 35-45. On the other hand, an AEM student is ranked on some things differently than a pure econ (for instance, job expirience can help mor in applied, I think).