econphd14

You need both probability and intermediate macro, so get one of those out of the way. You'll probably want to take real analysis at some point. You could take it now or save it for a less busy semester. I took it my first semester of undergrad, so it's definitely not too early. Lastly, I wouldn't take development or health econ unless your interests lie in those fields. A lot of the more qualitative undergrad economics courses are not very useful in grad school. They will give you some intuition and a good foundation if you intend to specialize in a related area, but if you are not interested in the field, you stand to gain comparatively little. Math modeling means a lot of different things, so it's hard to judge usefulness, but I'd have to guess that it would be better preparation than development or health. One caveat here may be that you don't know what your interests are, so taking the development or health econ class can help you refine your interests. Edit: I attended a similar institution and am now at a top 10 phd. Maximizing your chances at a higher tier university will require the double major, so you have a good start. You may also want to spend a semester or more at a prestigious research university, either domestic or abroad. British universities (Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, UCL) are good options that you will see frequently mentioned on this board.

Numerical analysis is the most useful, while complex analysis will be the best preparation, as it tends to be the most rigorous.

UCL and LSE are great economics departments. Imperial College is a world class engineering school if you are just looking at math classes. If you're living on the periphery, Oxford is a top notch economics department and Cambridge is one of the best math departments in the world.

As with all universities, you shouldn't attend them if your research interests don't match the department's. George Mason's department has a very narrow focus. I'm fairly sure they don't even offer an undergrad macro course.

An A is an important signal, but generally no single grade will break your profile. Anecdotally, my final transcripts included B+'s in linear algebra and metrics, although linear algebra was taken as a high school student at my eventual undergrad liberal arts college. You will need to shine elsewhere to compensate for any shortcomings in your profile, but in general it is doable. I made the transition from a top 100 LAC to a top 10 with a few holes in my profile (no RAship or masters, but I did complete independent research. I was only #2 in gpa among math/econ double majors, but the other student is doing a finance masters at MIT.)

Honestly, straight B's in the core subject classes and poor calculus grades will get your application tossed without a second look. You're going to need a lot of remedial work.

It is not a necessary condition, but it improves your chances considerably. I know of at least one person in a top 10 program who did their undergrad at Auburn. Speaking as somebody who did not attend a very prestigious undergrad, you would be handicapping yourself by not applying to more prestigious universities. However, you do have a few options to compensate for that, including RAships, research experiences for undergrads, and study abroad semesters.

Don't worry too much. Almost all prestigious (non-specialized) universities in the US have fairly prestigious economics departments. Outside the US, the flagship university in many countries successfully places many students into economics PhDs. Surely, there are a few exceptions, but there's not too much to worry about. Alternatively, there are a number of liberal arts colleges known for producing economics PhDs. Lastly, you could apply directly to specialized universities, where allowed, focusing on business schools, social science schools, or schools known for strong mathematical preparation. All in all, you should try to attend the best university you can.

You essentially have to have some sort of research experience, and an RA position is a great way to build on your resume. Alternatively, you may do faculty-mentored individual research or some coauthored work with a professor, especially an honors thesis or a research experience for undergrads. You don't have to feel cornered into a RA job, but you should know that a lot of your competition at the upper levels will have both RA'ed as well as written a thesis of their own.

I'm an alum of the LSE study abroad, and there are several others on this site. It can be tricky to arrange, because it is a year-long commitment. With any study abroad program, there is a chance that classes taken abroad may not count towards degree requirements, and you should verify ahead of time that you will be able to graduate in timely manner. The other issue you may face is cost. London is fairly expensive, and it may require taking out a few extra loans. Getting into the program, on the other hand, tends to not be very difficult, as the majority of those accepted are not preparing for PhD programs.

This is a risky move, but still doable. You may want to submit 4 letters where possible, including three from economists. However, the list of schools that will take a fourth letter, yet alone read that letter, is small. I can say that it worked for me, with my fourth letter coming from a math professor I took a research project-focused course with and later TAed for (after the submission of my applications).

A certain billionaire once provided funding on the condition that he helped select new hires to promote an agenda. Prior to this, FSU was already a bit of an outlier, with a focus on free enterprise and economic freedom. In these fields, there doesn't have to be a lot of mathematical rigor, as they weave a story about the effects of institutions. If this is your thing, it's a great place, but I dunno how strong their faculty are in other fields. See: Billionaire's role in hiring decisions at Florida State University raises questions | Tampa Bay Times Dr. James Gwartney http://www.freetheworld.com/2013/EFW2013-complete.pdf

This is misleading. Courses at LSE last an entire year compared to the semester long courses at Tufts. Typically, there are 2 terms of material for LSE courses, and then, you come back in May for a refresher before exams.

This seems about right. NY is the largest and traditional center for American finance. It is given a non-rotating position on the Federal Open Market Committee and is in close proximity to NYU and Columbia. Boston is in a prime location near MIT and Harvard. Chicago is a former center for agricultural commodities trading, and it has UChicago and Northwestern. SF has Berkeley and Stanford. Minneapolis has UMN, and Philly has Penn. Location effects are large, and many economists also hold academic appointments at local universities.

I would take optimization and whichever of the grad econ classes you're interested in. The rest of the math classes are of lesser usefulness, unless you haven't taken an ODE class.

I briefly worked an RAship in the two months between teaching a few courses and starting my phd. The answer will vary with the expected contribution of the job. That being said, I'm sure reputable RAships have no trouble finding quality cadidates, even on short notice.

If you want to make a top 5 out of a British masters, your best shot would be from Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, or UCL. After that, it becomes much more difficult but there have been successful applicants from less prestigious universities.

Your profile is very similar to mine. However, instead of graduating early, I chose to study abroad at a top international school. Coming from a unknown liberal arts college, you don't have famous letter writers and your potential is a bit of an unknown. Doing a semester or year at another university helps to solve both of these problems by expanding your network and giving a relative known for adcoms to measure you against. I can say that graduating in three years as opposed to four is a weak signal. Adcoms see plenty of three year undergrads, as it is the norm of many countries and the first year at American universities tends to have quite a few bypassable gen eds (I got out of almost all gen eds). The opportunity cost of attending another year of undergrad is high and it is likely not worth it if you have little to gain. There is a lot of noise in the application process, so you may get into the school of your dreams now. However, I would recommend diversifying applications and including a few masters programs that prepare for phds, such as Duke, and RAships with reputable professors in your fields of interest. All else fails, you could still do a summer of RAing and get a masters, making yourself a more attractive candidate and less of an unknown for future application cycles.

You may want to consider econ phds that specialize in industrial organization. The overlap appears to be large.

If your school has a BA+MA option, that may be a very good opportunity. You could take phd classes and write a thesis.

I had the option to, but ended up delaying it twice to graduate on time. In the international context, three year undergrads are looked down upon as they don't cover the same amount of material as four year American bachelor's. That being said, it comes down to the amount of material covered. If you've taken the same courses as a four year graduate, adcoms will probably be indifferent and it shouldn't hurt you. The large upside is that you may be able to stay a year on financial aid and take grad courses or do more research, which is fairly valuable.

Also, you should be aware of the risk that you change your mind about the phd or otherwise drop out. Even then, a high quality masters should easily pay for itself and is a fairly low risk investment.

It is very clear on my transcripts that I took three classes (normal load was 4) during three out of the eight semesters of my undergrad. I wouldn't worry.

As far as I'm aware, Kellogg MEDS students don't take macro. There also tends to be more funding in B-schools, but I would venture to guess that are more econ students accepted relative to applicants. Keep this in mind when applying.

Adcoms tend to discount most gen eds and should recalculate your gpa for just relevant courses (econ, math, cs, physics, other mathematically intense subjects). With some solid letter writers and individual research experience, top 10 seems very possible. From my own application process, the top 10 schools to pinpoint for game theory research would be Stanford, Princeton, and Northwestern. MIT and Harvard are great of course, but the other three have a comparative, if not absolute, advantage in game theory.