ModernMajor

I agree that it is unrealistic for me to know what I want to study at this point, but from what I understand the school is not concerned with if I actually follow my plan. They just want to see that I can identify at least one reasonable plan of study that builds on my previous experiences. They want a few specific things mentioned so that during interviews they can ask me about my topic to gauge if I have a basic understanding of what I am signing up for. Perhaps if I was an Econ undergrad it would not be a problem, but I am an Engineer. The program would like to be sure I actually have some realistic conception of my new field of study. Everything you said about learning during the MS is true, but at application time they want a little more than "Hey! I have raw, completely naive talent" While you might run your admissions a different way, in this case I think my adviser knows best (they have been working with this specific program for a long time). Can anyone help me with my original question? (I think I found a pretty good tactic since I first posted. I should try to find all the conferences on this and related ideas. If anyone could suggest a website/database that is particularly good for finding these sorts of things that would be awesome!)

Hello all, I am applying for an MS Econ, likely continuing to a PhD Econ at the same school if all goes well. However, I am having a little trouble writing my application. I have been advised that I need to be as specific as possible when describing my research interests. Based on my previous experiences I feel that I am best suited for studying knowledge spillover effects (both managerial and technology-related). What are your thoughts on this research area? Is it worn-out/cutting-edge? growing/shrinking? I am reading as much as I can, but it is hard to get a perception of the momentum / greatest challenges in the field.

@chateauheart If you don't mind me asking, do you know what made the person you mentioned a strong candidate? It is a little late for me to accomplish anything new before application time but I ask because I am trying to understand what I should emphasize in an interview. For example: -Should I focus on relating my undergraduate research to economic concepts? -Should I try to mention the work of prominent economists in my intended field of study in order to show I do understand what I am applying for? -Should I focus on explaining my new found interest in the field (mostly relates to work/study abroad experiences in my case)?

I am not assuming what you said. I am just saying there is no way I am going to get a LOR from an economics professor. I have good reqs lined up from my own major, but I have not worked with any economics professor in any significant capacity. I am just trying to guage how much of a disadvantage that is.

I dont want this to become a profile evaluation, so I will try to keep things general. I have heard a lot of conflicting information about transitioning to economics from another field. Some people have told me that some undergraduate majors are even better than Econ (for example Engineering, Math) when applying to grad school. But on the other hand I have read that you NEED multiple solid LoRs from econ professors (which is unlikely if you are not an Econ UG). What do you all think? If this questions is too vague, I can make a profile evaluation post in another forum.