PhDPlease

I didn't have any connections to my program (top 5), and I'm under the impression that this is fairly common. It's certainly possible to be considered/admitted as a strong candidate without connections.

I'd also consider whether the person would be willing to get to know you better and put in effort to personalizing the recommendation. It seems like you didn't get to know either professor especially well. You don't want a professor who just says you got a good grade. Sometimes it's "too late" to get to know the professor better if you didn't during the class, but other times the professor will be willing to get to know a former student who expresses interest in grad school. I'd probably try to meet with both to discuss your interests, and see whether there is one that is more enthusiastic and willing to go to bat for you.

It is okay to not be certain at this point, as you will be exposed to a variety of topics in your first year of the PhD. What I did when I applied was wrote about one topic that was particularly interesting me at the time of the application, and also wrote that I anticipated that my interests may evolve as I progress throughout the program. I think that writing about 1 or 2 topics of interest (as opposed to just saying everything interests you) is beneficial in that it shows the schools that you've put thought into your application, and schools anticipate that many people's interests may evolve. In general, it isn't a problem if your interests change (unless they change to something your program doesn't offer), so I wouldn't worry so much about it.

There is plenty of variation in my program in terms of whether or not people had experience before entering the program, but everyone is able to pick up the skills that they need. For those who didn't know programming before entering, how long it takes to learn really varies... If your first research project requires a lot of effort to gather data (e.g., field study, lab study, survey where you have to design and carry out the study which takes a while before you get to the stage of analyzing data), then it might be a while before you really spend much time programming. Also it depends what programming language you use and whether or not your university offers a course in the language or you have to learn it on your own. But in my experience, everyone manages to figure out the programming, and those who don't have programming experience are given time to learn. The summer after the 1st year can also be a good time to improve your programming if necessary, as by that point you'll have more of an idea of what language(s) you will use, what exactly you will need to know, etc. Also on a different point, are you sure you will use SAS in your analysis? If you haven't already confirmed that SAS is used, I would confirm this before spending too much time learning it. I say this because I don't know anyone in my program who (to my knowledge) uses SAS, although I'm sure this varies.

I would go with 1, 2, & 3. Academic references are usually preferred to professional corporate references. There are some exceptions such as if you've been out of school for many years, but that doesn't seem to be applicable in your case. Since you mentioned that you've done things like writing reports and participating in class while at the U.S. university, the professors should be qualified to comment on your English abilities. Also, your verbal GRE is very good, so I don't think your profile raises concerns about language skills. I wouldn't worry much about your program having arts & science separate from the business school. At many universities, the business school either doesn't offer courses for undergrads or the courses are focused on skills for practitioners, not really things that would be very helpful for someone going the academic path. #1 and #3 demonstrate that your interest in OB. #2 is also helpful to demonstrate strong statistical skills, which are very applicable. Also at some universities the OB program is part of the Management Dept and requires taking courses in other fields of management (that may be more econ-based) in addition to taking OB courses. If you had 3 recommendations that were econ and nothing to demonstrate any interest in OB or psych, that might be concerning, but I think 2 in OB/psych and 1 in econ shouldn't raise any flags.

I am not really sure how to answer this question without knowing what your country is. I am in the US, so the international conferences are usually (although not always) in the US, so I guess for people in the US, the international and national conferences are basically the same. If you're in the US, I think you can get away without attending conferences in other countries (possibly w/the exception of going to Canada once or twice, which isn't really much more difficult than travelling in the US). If you're in another country, without knowing the country and field it isn't possible to know how the hiring is done and whether your field even has any conferences in your country. I think this question is really impossible to answer. In some fields, preliminary interviews take place at the conferences. In others, non interviewing takes place, but it still may be an opportunity to demonstrate interest in a school. Top programs like Harvard usually assume that many people are interested and there is a high chance that applicants would seriously consider their offer, but lower-ranked schools or schools in less popular locations may prefer a candidate who has demonstrated serious consideration of their school such as by networking w/them at a conference to a candidate who just sends in an application. Even if the latter candidate is well-qualified, there is a risk the school might assume the candidate is just applying to tons of jobs and not seriously interested in their school due to not having met them at the conference. Overall I'd say not going to conferences has a high chance to hurt you, but I wouldn't say that you would definitely not get a job under any circumstance without attending a conference. There are really too many factors that are impossible to predict + not knowing what country you are in, that make it impossible to give a definite answer.

I think you need to get the syllabus to answer that question. Probably different topics but hard for anyone to give you a definite answer if they haven't attended the specific camp. I would also see if you can talk to any grad student in the program who has taken the camp recently (although of course keeping in mind everyone's perceptions may differ based on differences in prior training and learning styles). In the event that you think it's too challenging and fast-paced and aren't confident you can jump in after reviewing the 1st half on your own, that could be an indication that it would be safest to just go for the 1st half.

I would say that how helpful it is depends on the program as well as your prior background and ability to review on your own. You might be fine if you don't go, but it's kind of risky. Many students will have had RA + attend the camp. There is also some variation in the expectations of professors across schools, so theoretically the math camp should make sure you are prepared for your specific program. I think the safest thing would be to do the camp.

Additionally I have some friends who work in international affairs and have said that studying abroad was not only enjoyable but helped them gain entry to their field.... So I am definitely not saying that a study abroad cannot be useful for some career paths or wouldn't lead to any opportunities, just that the 1st two options you listed don't seem to be the best path to what you've said is your goal (econ phd).

I think you need to learn more about prioritizing and not being able to take every opportunity that sounds worthwhile (based not only on this, but also on your previous posts). I agree with chateauheart that the Warsaw plan might be good based on what you've said, although I'm not familiar enough to say for sure. If your #1 priority is to get into the best PhD that you can, that might come at the cost of not being able to pursue all things that could be an interesting life experience or that might be relevant to your other interest in international affairs. We can advise you on what to do for an Econ PhD if you've decided that your #1 goal is to get into the best PhD possible... But we can't tell you whether or not that is the right goal for you in the first place. This comment is intended to be helpful rather than harsh. I personally am someone who has a range of interdisciplinary interests and also enjoys having a range of life experiences, but I have definitely made an effort to evaluate trade-offs and realize that I cannot do everything.

In my field, it is important to attend the field's annual conference (usually in the US, sometimes in Canada) if you are interested in the US job market. At my program students usually attend starting in the 2nd year, although the year that it would be really important to attend is the year you are on the job market. Also universities will usually fly out a small list of top candidates to give a job talk before hiring, so you would probably need to be willing to travel to locations that you are considering for your job. Since I am at a US program, I am not really familiar with job markets outside the US, so I am not sure whether it is essential to attend if you are outside the US and not interested in the US job market. If you are in a non-US country and interested in staying in that country, you might need to look into the specifics of that country (rather than asking very general questions), but (depending on the country) it might not be essential to travel much in that case. I would also say that in my experience, there are not many formal requirements beyond passing classes, passing an exam, and submitting a dissertation. However, there are many things you can do like conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. that can increase your chance of success. It isn't the case that it is officially "required" in the sense that anyone will track your attendance and kick you out of the program if you do not attend. However, if you only do the bare minimum official requirements to graduate from the program, the chances of success would be lower than if you take up non-officially-required opportunities at least sometimes.

By "as many as possible," don't take more than you can handle. You don't want to do poorly due to taking much on. The math minor + 1 or so additional courses should be plenty. CS is good but is not required; many people get admitted without any CS courses. I think that 1 CS course can be helpful if it fits your schedule as it will help you gain a strong understanding of programming fundamentals, but I really wouldn't take a high # of CS courses unless you are confident that you have room in your schedule and it won't risk your math/econ grades or your well-being.

Also agreed that your best option is to do just one major + one minor, not two majors. Why are you only considering a double major and not considering any options with a single major? A major in econ + a minor in math is the best combination for your goal of a PhD (or full-time RA followed by PhD). If for any reason you end up not doing a PhD, a major in econ + minor in math would still qualify you for private-sector jobs as well. If you can do the international relations minor without too much extra coursework then keep the minor, but the important thing is the econ major + math minor.

I think this is common. I went to a top 10 econ dept for undergrad, and the econometrics class did not require linear algebra as a prereq. Many econ majors don't take math beyond calc, so the econ dept often caters to those students. In my opinion, it might be better if econ depts offered separate econometrics classes for those students who took linear alg and those who didn't, but I don't think that is very common. Even if linear alg isn't requited, it's still possible that you might get more out of econometrics if you take linear alg first, although that might depend on how the course is taught.

Are you sure you want to take that many classes? Based on your other posts, it seems like something that could make you stressed. Assuming you have finite hours in the day and you need sufficient sleep to perform at your best, you can only increase your effort to a certain point. If I were you, I would take 1 fewer classes or turn down the job. In my opinion, it is better to have a normal number of classes and really put your best effort into each while getting enough sleep and staying healthy than to take on too many classes + other commitments and strain yourself too much.