Summer work?

[JFman00]

What sort of summer jobs/internships would beneficial to PhD admissions? Where would start looking for such opportunities?

[asquare]

Anything that lets you do research. An RA job for a professor is ideal. Otherwise, there are some summer research programs (I know GA runs one). There are internships with the Federal Reserve Banks. And there's the AEA's summer program, which is a great way to get a taste of graduate school.

[JFman00]

Any way to find jobs in a specific area? Say, Chicago?

[asquare]

Well, if you are in school in Chicago, the best place to start would be with your professors. The Fed in Chicago also has an internship program. Aside from that, these jobs aren't necessarily easy to find. You're going to have to do a lot of leg work. Start with talking to your professors.

[JFman00]

I go to school in Louisiana but live and will spend my summer in Chicago.

[Jhai]

Do you have to stay in the Chicago area? I mean, I'm from California, where summer is awesome, and I've spent the last two summers in humid & hot Indiana (where my college is located) and super humid & hot Atlanta, where I had an RAship with GSU. I've also come out of both summers with at least $2K in the bank, so if you're one of those kids (like me) who has to earn money over the summer for the coming school year, you should realize that you don't have to live at home to save.

[Chapman]

I did an internship at Chicago Fed while in undergrad. There were 38 interns. Mostly undergrads but there were several grad students as well. Also, while mostly Northwestern and Chicago students, there were also several from places like Stanford and Wharton. So, it may be worth your time to look into. PM me if you have any quesitons.

[jahizbarlas]

i worked at the st louis fed over last summer. there was one other intern with me. you might want to look into that fed also, i know they usually hire interns every summer, the quantity depends on the amount of work that needs to be done.

[JFman00]

Would it be possible to be an RA at a school I don't attend?

[asquare]

Originally Posted by JFman00

Would it be possible to be an RA at a school I don't attend?

Possible but unlikely. Professors are likely to hire their institution's students first (loyalty, obligation to the department, desire for continuity of workflow/mentoring may all be part of this). Your best chance would be through a connection of one of your own professors. Also, it's more likely that you'll get hired if there's some reason it's a particularly good fit -- you want to study this very specific thing that only one guy does -- and if you have some skills that make you a particularly valuable RA. If you're really good at coding, have experience with an obscure or difficult data set that a professor is working on, have done prior research on the topic...that sort of thing.

If you really want to do a summer RA position, you should consider staying and working with one of your professors for the summer. You'll have a much better chance of getting hired.