phdeconomics

based on your profile, I think that you won't have a problem getting through the initial application round for most positions (i.e., the resume/cover letter screening). in my experience, actually getting an offer had more to do with successfully demonstrating your programming ability and being able to talk intelligently about your past research experiences.

in terms of being competitive for an RA position--your grades are fine. I had very imperfect grades and I got multiple RA offers at top-5 programs. In my experience, professors cared a lot more about previous research experience and programming skills than my grade in some random math class. since I haven't gone through the phd application cycle I can't comment on your chances at grad school admissions.

This is just from personal experience, so maybe take it with a grain of salt, but I would say working with an academic economist at your school may help the most for grad school admissions. I had the opportunity to do a summer RA position at a top fed, and a professor at my school (who was well connected to the federal reserve) recommended that I research with a professor at my school. His argument was that the fed summer RA jobs are short, and there is always an adjustment/learning curve. By the time you get well-versed in what you are supposed to be doing, the RA gig is over and you're back at school. This probably would not leave much time for a great letter of recommendation from a fed economist. If you can work with a professor at your school over the summer, and in to next semester, you can develop a better relationship and have the chance at a much more informative letter. On the other hand, a summer RA gig at the fed could probably help if you want to get a full-time fed RA job after graduation. If I were you, I would pick which one you would enjoy the most--in a completely non grad school admissions argument, living in a place like DC/NY/SF/Chicago for a couple months in the summer would be a great experience too.

I was wondering if someone could shed some light on the differences between business school economics programs and traditional economics programs. In particular: 1. Programs like Harvard's Business Economics, NYU Stern Economics, Chicago Booth Economics, etc -- how do these compare in terms of preparation, research focus and future job prospects to their school's traditional economics programs? 2. How do programs like Berkeley Haas Business and Public Policy, Wharton Applied Economics differ from traditional economics programs? From what I understand, these business school programs focus on placing you in a business school after graduation, but you often take the same core classes as traditional economics students. What else am I missing?

I will be starting a full-time RA job at a top 5 place this fall, and I'm planning on staying for 2-3 years. Maybe I'm selling myself short, but I think if I had applied this cycle, I would have gotten offers in the #25-40 range (good but not great math grades, some research experience, two very strong letters, etc.). I have two questions: one, how much can this type of RA gig improve my chances at getting into a top 10-20 place (I can also take classes while I'm RAing) and two, I've heard that, provided you do well as an RA, you have a good shot of getting into the university where you are RAing. Is there any merit to this?

I agree with pocpoc, a follow-up email should be fine. Although I don't think a week is that long--in my experience the process can be slow.

Spectrum -- for me, the places I applied to had some sort of programming data task. If you did well enough on that they'd request an interview. For me, it seemed like the most important component of the interview was being able to talk about my previous research experience; why I did something a certain way, why I used the data I did, what problems I ran into and how I figured it out--stuff like that. This was just my experience, but being able to talk clearly about research (like your thesis or some other RA experience), strong programming skills, and obviously good grades in things like econometrics and statistics should put you in a good position for landing a good RA job.

It is an empiricially-oriented RA position, so thanks for those suggestions!

Thanks for the suggestions--someone else suggested Linear Algebra Done Right as well, so I might try to take a look at that. I am doing an RA position before grad school, and it's been a couple semesters since I took econometrics, so I was hoping to get an econometrics book to refresh my memory before I start the RA job. I would just reread Stock and Watson, but I really didn't enjoy that textbook very much so I was thinking of trying something else. I'd like something at more of an advanced undergrad level, just because I'm taking a full class load my last semester and I won't have a ton of time to dedicate to the book.

I know there has been a couple of past posts about this, but I thought I would add another. What advanced undergraduate textbooks would you guys suggest for econometrics and linear algebra for independent study? My econometrics class used Stock and Watson, and my linear algebra class used Linear Algebra with Applications, by Leon.

I am applying to a few PhD programs as well as some research assistant positions. In some cases, it appears that I might have to accept an RA offer before hearing about graduate school admission decisions. If I get an admission offer after accepting an RA job, is it acceptable to ask to defer admission for a year and complete this research position? It appears that this is maybe handled on a case by case basis at each school, but I was having trouble finding any concrete information about this.

Out of curiosity, how strong of a signal to an admission committee is being a coauthor with an economist? Is this something that could really make your application stand out?

Thanks for the replies--regarding field classes, can you succeed in a PhD field course without completing the core micro/macro sequence? I was thinking about taking a PhD field course in conjunction with the first grad micro sequence. Just to clarify, I wouldn't take the complex analysis or numerical analysis course, but instead take a field course. I just assumed a field class without the grad micro/macro was out of the question.

If you had to choose between graduate-level complex analysis or undergraduate-level numerical analysis, which class makes more sense for getting ready for graduate school? I'll have real analysis and topology under my belt, and grad real analysis or grad functional analysis aren't available to me next semester. I've read through the threads about the limited use of complex analysis in economics, but my thoughts are that the grad complex analysis would send a much stronger signal of mathematical ability--even with its limited economic applications.

Not sure if this is the right place to post this question, so my apologies in advance. I recently heard about Caltech's Computing and Mathematical Sciences PhD program, and I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the program. Although my foremost interest is economics, I have other varying interests in computer science and mathematics in general. I'm curious about the program in general, but also about potential placements in the future. Also, here's a link to the website: Computing + Mathematical Sciences | Graduate Program in Computing + Mathematical Sciences Thanks!