Advice for Applicants from LACs

[Elly]

As a student that did my undergrad degree at a liberal arts college, I wanted to specifically address how LAC students can be successful in the application process. This will be most useful for students that did not attend one of the very top LACs- these schools tend to have built in opportunities and advantages more akin to top research universities.

If you are interested in what happened to me specifically, my profile is here (Profiles and Results 2008).

The first question to address is transferring. I do believe that graduating from a mid-ranked LAC can be somewhat of a liability, so if you are sufficiently early in your studies, this is definitely a legitimate consideration. However, if you are committed to your school, or if it is too late for you to transfer, there are many ways you can use the strengths of your school to your advantage.

The benefits of LACs are as follows:
1) Personal attention from faculty members- if you are a strong and interested student, your professors will be delighted to work with you and help you. Even if they don't do much research anymore, professors love mentoring potential PhD students, even more so at an LAC where students interested in getting their PhD might occur infrequently. Use this to your advantage- they will be more willing to devote effort into independent study courses, independent research projects, or research assistantships, more so than many faculty members at larger schools. LAC faculty will also tend to be great letter writers, in the sense that they will write thoughtful and insightful letters because they know you well and care about your success, even if they don't have the name recognition that gets your letter actually read.
2) No competition from grad students- this is related to point 1, but since LACs generally only have undergraduate programs, if you are at the top of your class, you will be the strongest student in the department period. This means that if there are any opportunities for TAing or RAing, you will get them. By the time I graduated, I had TA'd for 2 classes in the math department, 2 classes in the econ department, and 2 classes in the MBA program. Some of these included teaching sections. It's hard to say if this will help you specifically with applications, but it will help you get stronger letters and will be useful preparation for teaching in the future.
3) Math departments- The math department will be smaller and more supportive than what you will get at a larger school. This means that even if math isn't your strength, you will get the support you need to graduate with a math major. This will definitely be an asset on your applications, and I would strongly encourage all LAC students to get as close to a math major as possible.

There are also plentiful disadvantages:
1) Less likely to have well-known letter writers
2) Less likely to have advanced or mathematical econ courses
3) No access to graduate level classes
4) Reputation- if your school only rarely sends students to Econ PhDs, it will be hard for the adcom to compare you with other applicants. Adcoms err on the side of rejection if there is any question of your qualifications. This also means that if your GPA isn't stellar, and your letters aren't excellent, you will have a very hard time. You really need to do well in the small environment to have a shot at making it in a larger one.
5) Research- as teaching institutions, many LACs have fewer opportunities for research

If you are committed to staying at your school, there are things you can do to maximize your chance at success.
1) Class rank- as mentioned above, you want to be the best student in your class. This means maintain a high GPA and impress your professors. Clearly you also want to do well on the GREs.
2) Math- also mentioned above, I highly recommend getting the math major. Your economics courses are unlikely to be sufficiently rigorous, so this will be absolutely the best preparation for graduate school and the best signal of your qualifications. You want to do well in these classes.
3) Get experience outside of your school- since your community is small, you want to show that you can be successful in other environments. If your school has a cross-registration agreement with a research university, take advantage of it. Be discerning in your course selection- take the advanced classes your school doesn't offer and do well. Think about trying to take grad classes. You could also look into summer school at a top university, or studying for a semester or a year at another institution. While studying at another institution, you want to be thinking about letters of recommendation. If there are two classes that you are undecided between, but one is taught by junior faculty and one is taught by senior faculty, take the course from the senior faculty. Throughout the class do things to get yourself noticed (ie do well, ask thoughtful questions, go to office hours). If you play it right you can get a letter of recommendation, which will be much more powerful than what you can get from your home institution.
4) Research- take advantage of any research opportunities that come your way. Write a senior thesis. Ask professors if they have any RAing opportunities. Apply for summer research programs (e.g. REUs).
5) Take the NSF seriously- I strongly believe that the NSF has less small-school bias than graduate programs. This is largely due to differences in mandate- the NSF values academic achievement and diversity, whereas grad programs are looking for someone who has a high probability of being a successful economist and adding to the reputation of their program. The NSF is highly competitive but if you win it you will be in a much better position for a top admit, and at the very least, it will get you off some waitlists.
6) Masters program- especially if you have holes in your application or high aspirations, consider applying for masters programs. This will allow you to prove yourself in a more competitive environment.

It's important to be realistic about your qualifications. Think hard about what programs you have a chance at being accepted. If you think you are awesome, apply to top schools but be sure to have a couple of degrees of safeties (such as masters programs). Even if you are a stellar candidate, you need to be prepared for the fact that top schools might discard your file after glancing at the school and the names of the letter writers. As long as you apply to a reasonable range of programs, if you are a good candidate you should be accepted somewhere, and be able to lead a productive career as a researcher. If you are a great candidate and play your cards right, top 10 programs are definitely not out of reach.

[beagle07]

Get a job at a Fed Bank. At the Fed, you will be able to acquire recommendations from economists that publish frequently, and the Fed will pay for your graduate math classes.

[Golden Rule]

Great post, Elly, now that is a inspiring contribution. Your NSF discussion in particular is spot on. beagle07 also offers good advice. I know a few people who have followed both paths to great success.

[jeeves0923]

If anything I think that NSF has a PRO small school bias. Many of their REU programs specifically say they want people from small schools. They see this as adding to diversity.

In any event, it worth applying for and taking seriously. Spend the most time on your research proposal.

[Bayern]

Great post Elly!