pylaios

You might consider looking into applied economics rather than pure, since you seem most interested in developing a toolkit of economics for use in real-world policy making. Trying for a masters somewhere in applied or agricultural economics could go a long way given your background and interests. It would allow you room to expand your research and coursework in economics, but still be valuable in its own right on a job market. I have colleagues in my MS program in ag econ in Europe who have the potential to go on to work at places like the FAO, World Bank, national government ministries, or research centers such as IFPRI or a CGIAR partner. At the same time, if you find you do like research and academia you can go on to a PhD in applied econ without requiring as strong a background in maths.

In my opinion, if you take this attitude just about anywhere you can succeed. If what you say about yourself is true, you are obviously a capable and talented individual. If you think that the door on a potential career in academia is closing if you wait a year, then take the place at the top-35 school and go for it. Yes, a top-10/top-20 school will open more doors, but a top-35 won't close any. And if you put yourself into it and really give it all you've got, which sounds like a lot, you can open a ton of those doors yourself. So if you think that this your chance and it won't be there if you wait another year—grab it now and don't look back. If you think, on the other hand, that you can take a year and build your resume and your portfolio in a way that puts you into a school that better fits all of your needs, then do what it takes to get there. There are ways to improve your background, to build experience and to get better LORs. If you think you are capable of doing it and your current advisors think it makes sense, go for it. People have done it before you, and people will do it after you. If you want my opinion, you sound like you want to do a PhD in economics. You have an opportunity to do so this year at a school that will allow you to pursue your dreams, if you take the initiative. If I were you, I'd go to the top-35 program this year and be damn happy about it. Of course earning admittance to a top program would be amazing and help open doors you never had available to you before—I'd love to have the opportunity to go to a top program. I can't—I have neither the background nor the training to do so. While I won't be able to have the opportunities I would if I went to one of those top programs, I can still go to a great school, study what I love and do what ever I can to contribute to research and gain skills in teaching. With that, I am completely confident in my ability to make a career for myself doing what I love. I think if you really want, you can too. Don't stress the rankings, just do what you love and the rest will take care of itself.

Agricultural economist here. I think most of what has been said is pretty accurate. It's definitely true that many applied departments place less emphasis on proof-based math and the like, but the best (UC Berkeley ARE, Cornell Applied) will prefer it. It's also true that academic placements are better from pure econ, if only because there are significantly more econ departments than applied econ departments and it can be hard (but not impossible) to go from applied to pure, but not necessarily from pure to applied. That said, I think it has a lot to be said for it. First off, there is a good deal of funding available because applied programs (especially agricultural and resource departments) are working on projects highly relevant to public and private concerns. Also, it has the advantage of being attractive to a lot of non-academic employers. In addition, I think with the increase of interdisciplinary departments and environmental policy research at top research universities, applied economists will be in high demand. If you are really passionate about working in academic economics, you are probably better off with a good econ degree. But if you would be willing to work in a number of different fields (geography, resources, policy), you will be very attractive with an applied econ background. So there's a lot to be said for it, especially if you are really interested in putting your economics background to practical use. Also, today's cutting edge frontiers of economic mathematics and theory is tomorrow's application. If you want a good argument for applied economics and are also interested in putting some more innovative economic models to use, Wassily Leontief had a great speech that appeared in the American Economic Review in 1971 that praised agricultural economics for its ability to put the cutting edge tools of economics to use. So in support of applied econ and to quote Leontief, "True advance can be achieved only through an iterative process in which improved theoretical formulation raises new empirical questions and the answers to these questions, in their turn, lead to new theoretical insights... An exceptional example of a healthy balance between theoretical and empirical analysis and of the readiness of professional economists to cooperate with experts in the neighboring disciplines is offered by Agricultural Economics as it developed in this country over the last fifty years."

I don't know too much about Michigan's department specifically, but I had a similar question when I was looking around at where to apply. I'm interested in simulation modeling, ABM and integrated assessment, and I found a lot of labs working out of Natural Resources or Forestry and Natural Resources that did good research for me. But I felt the same way that it might be limiting. On the one hand, 'Economics' or even 'Agricultural Economics' signals a clear general background that went into the degree, but 'Natural Resource and the Environment' doesn't really indicate clearly what your PhD means. The program likely includes good coursework and you will leave with the skills necessary to succeed in a think tank/NGO/public job, I'm sure, but it might be that you're always in that 'and other related degree' part of the job qualifications for education. Then again, it's all speculation how much that matters and I'd bet in the field of resource policy and behavior Michigan's program is known. Also, these sorts of interdisciplinary departments have become really popular recently. Obviously, Michigan is a great program and just looking through the faculty list it's clearly got some great talent and researchers. They definitely publish well and I know Agrawal, for example, is well cited and respected in the literature on collective action management and institutions. So it's probably not a real risk, and if things continue down the path of more interdisciplinary approaches to these issues you will get in on the ground floor. So while I understand the feeling, I think it's a pretty safe bet you won't face too many limitations. I think it's more a matter of personal preference whether you want that doctorate in a more traditional area, and the actual effects on future career will depend more on what you researched, whether you published and what networking you did. I'd bet the program at Michigan will give you a strong resume in that regard.

Thanks! I'm going for ARE at Berkeley and Geography at Illinois. I had been in touch with an ARE professor at Illinois that does what I do, but he advised that funding was tight, so I looked at the geography program and found some interesting opportunities. We're looking forward to hearing from Davis and also getting the official info from Florida, but right now our debate is a back and forth over the pros and cons of Purdue and Virginia Tech. The program at Purdue is fantastic, but we're not so excited about the location. And while I think Purdue's bigger department is an asset, Virginia Tech could have some cool opportunities and offer a great degree, while also being in a better location for us. It's tough, nothing's clear enough to be a decisive choice! If she gets into Davis and Florida offers something really interesting, I don't know what we'll do! Any thoughts among everyone here about balancing the department and the location?

I didn't apply so not sure, but I also saw the (just one) GC post

Congrats on the admits hardball162! I had emailed Penn State to ask about decision timeline and heard back I was rejected, but got in today to UC Davis's Geography program. Still waiting on Berkeley and Illinois, and my girlfriend is waiting for Davis ARE as well.

Heard back from Purdue today, admitted with an assitanceship. Very nice email, making decisions tougher for me and my girlfriend!

Institution: Purdue Program: PhD in Agricultural Economics Decision: Admitted Funding: With funding Notification date: 2/2 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Email from coordinator

Hey, good luck on your apps! Where did you apply to?

I'd love it if I could make it, but I'm based out of Europe right now. Have fun if you go! I'm looking forward to hearing more.

I'm guessing this is all school-to-school, but I wouldn't jump to too many conclusions. Some schools may do acceptances + fellowships/full assistanceships first, then a wave of acceptances + some funding. Others might just do two waves or have one pile of 'definites' they do quickly (since it takes time anyway to get the Grad school to approve transcripts and whatnot) and then sort out the remaining in a second wave. Some schools may want to get top internationals done quickly, since it takes a little more time with visas and figuring out funding. Applied programs might spend more time trying to match faculty. I know that I heard back from one place, but my girlfriend not—but a few days later she heard from someone in the department interested in working with her, so who knows. And of course, a Grad Cafe post might just be BS. Don't despair, keep hope (:

First responses came in. Admits to University of Florida FRED and to Virginia Tech arrived via email last night. No changes to their websites, yet, notifications through admissions coordinators. Both with funding, but not clear on amount/exact type yet. Good luck to everyone!

Two responses came yesterday: Institution: University of Florida Program: Food and Resource Economics PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: With Funding Notification date: 1/27 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Notified by admissions coordinator Institution: Virginia Tech Program: Agricultural and Resource Economics PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: Assistanceship Notification date: 1/27 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Notified by graduate program director

I thought I'd give this thread some life. I'm applying for mostly ARE programs (seven all together) and a few Geography programs. I'm an American student coming out of a European master's program and anxiously awaiting results (didn't apply to Ohio and I'm expecting first results not for another month or so). Anyway, thought I'd at least give the thread a little bump and connect with other ARE-ers. I'm waiting on Berkeley, Virginia Tech, Penn, Purdue and Florida ARE and Davis and Illinois Geography. I went for Geography for a few because of professor matches and because I want to work in ABM and spatial modeling, so it seemed like a cool option.