MNGoon

In addition to all the above mentioned suggestions, I would take a look at the New Economics Papers listing on the ReREc (Research Papers in Economics) website: http://nep.repec.org/ You can have a weekly digest of new working papers emailed to you - this can give you an idea of the work that is currently being done in any particular field.

Bheld- Try sending an email to a number of your former professors, set up a phone call about your plans interests and what you've been up to since you took their courses. Both times that I have applied for graduate programs I had been out of school for 3 years before I applied. Both times I was able to find 3 professors who were excited about what I had been up to and why I wanted to go back to school. They seem to have written me pretty solid letters of recommendation - I consistently got into top 15-30 schools.

Not particularly, but a surprising number of the urban, or regional econ folks I talked to suggested it. It was, more than once, referred to as a couple of first rate guys in a third rate program.

I would look at the work of Vernon Henderson at Brown and Quigley at Berkley. Georgia State also has an Urban Economics focus. Also, you might consider looking at programs with a focus in Regional Science, such as the Consumer Econ program at University of Illinois - Urbana, and Cornell's Regional Science program (FYI: they don't provide funding). Some Applied/Ag Econ Programs have a Community Economics focus, which may apply to your interests, if so I would look at UW-Madison, Ohio State, and Penn State. When talking about community economics programs, you might hear Clemson tossed around as a good option as well, I would disregard that since their two biggish names are retiring. Good Luck!

oavdn17, please check your PMs Thanks!

If you look at the faculty of liberal arts colleges, the vast majority of the faculty have a PhD. At the top LACs the faculty have PhDs from top programs. If you want to teach at the collegiate level, a Masters is just not going to cut it.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics and Political Science with a Math Minor from large state University top 25ish in general, top 20 in Econ Undergrad GPA: 3.07/4.0 Type of Grad: Master of Regional Planning Grad GPA: 3.8/4 GRE: 780Q, 710V, 800A Math Courses: Calculus (multi variate), Linear Algebra, Differential Equations Econ Courses (PhD-level): None Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Public, Input-Output, IO, Urban, Housing, Game Theory, Micro and Macro Theory Other Courses: A whole pile of Economic Development and GIS courses for Masters Letters of Recommendation: 3 economic develoment professors (1 UC-Berkely PhD, 1 Cornell PhD, 1 Rutgers PhD), all extremely solid. Research Experience: RA for Econ Development Prof, thesis, and cited extension work Teaching Experience TA for Masters level Urban and Spatial Econ Research Interests: Public Finance, Urban Econ, Spatial Modeling, Community Economic Development, Extension SOP: Critiqued by Econ Profs Other: Been out of school for a while, Former Peace Corps Volunteer, Currently working for a non-profit loan fund RESULTS: Attending: UW-Madison (Agricultural and Applied Economics) Acceptances: Applied/Ag Econ Programs: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia State, Clemson Waitlists: Rejections: Econ Programs: Brown, BU, UMass-Amherst, UConn Applied: Cornell, Wharton, UNC What would you have done differently? Maybe not have waited until I turned 30 to accept an offer. In all seriousness, as far as the application process goes, I would not have done anything differently. I spent last summer talking to former professors and asked them to introduce me to the people they know in departments that they thought would be a good fit for me. I also talked to them extensively about my interests and the work I had done with them in the past so that they would have more information to draw upon when writing the LORs. As a result, I got into more, and better programs than my profile may have suggested. I am though going to get my *** handed to me at Madison.

Math Camp in July? Wow, I wonder if I could take the UMN math camp before I move to Madison in August...it's been 8 years since I've done any heavy lifting in the math department and 2 camps might be necessary :P

Agreed! Congratulations all around!

Going to UW-Madison for Ag and Applied Econ!

Institution: UMass - Amherst Program: PhD Economics Decision: Rejected Notification date: April 3 Notified through: e-mail

I'm going to beat the Applied / Ag Econ drum again. I think you might want to consider Minnesota's Applied Econ and Wisconsin's Agricultural and Applied Econ Programs, as well as those at Berkley and Maryland. At each of these schools you'll be taking classes with, and have access to, the faculty in the Econ departments, as well as having alot of Development faculty directly in your program. There are of course downsides to Applied programs (less prestige is generally cited) but I think they are definately worth a look. I was very happy when I shifted my search from straight econ programs to applied and ag econ, and I got into better programs than I would have otherwise.

Yeah, I think that their - "we're not going to tell you if you were rejected even if you have been officially rejected" policy is kinda crappy. What do they have to lose in telling you that your are out? /end venting

I think that Trudog's question is essential: What PhD programs are you interested in (ranking)? If you don't specify the general program rank you are interested in, it will be generally assumed that you are shooting for the top tier. If you aren't, then a general range would be helpful for folks giving you advice. Also, what do you want to study? If applicable, I would suggest looking at Applied / Agricultural Econ. The Applied programs that I was admitted to this year (Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State and Ohio State) all seemed to have put additional weight on my work experiences and non-econ masters degree. So if you are interested in Applied fields (Resource Econ, Development, Urban/Regional, Policy Work, Agriculture) I would take a hard look at Applied/Ag Econ programs.

I think that Trudog's question is essential: What PhD programs are you interested in (ranking)? Also, what do you want to study. If applicable, I would suggest looking at Applied / Agricultural Econ. The Applied programs that I was admitted to this year (Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State and Ohio State) all seemed to have put additional weight on my work experiences and non-econ masters degree. So if you are interested in Applied fields (Resource Econ, Development, Urban/Regional, Policy Work, Agriculture) I would take a hard look at Applied/Ag programs.