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Hello everyone! This message should be of interest to any of the PhD applicants with special interest in doctoral research in the fields of labor economics, development economics, applied economics or applied econometrics in the U.S. The State University of New York (Binghamton)'s Department of Economics is accepting applications for its doctoral program in Economics for next fall, Fall 2019. The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University) is one of four Ph.D. granting institutions in the SUNY system. Of the 64 campuses, Binghamton University gets the best undergraduate students who enroll in the SUNY system. The Economics Department has 25 faculty members, a very active Ph.D. program and a dynamic weekly research seminar. The PhD program offers fields in labor economics, development economics, and econometrics (applied and theoretical) and is especially excited to grow its student body in various applied economics fields. More information on the PhD program is available at Binghamton University - Colleges and Schools: Harpur College of Arts and Sciences: Economics: Graduate The adcom is looking for applicants with strong preparation in mathematics and economics. To apply, visit: https://www.binghamton.edu/grad-school/admissions/requirements.html

Hello, I have currently been accepted to the above programs with full funding. Given the financial support (stipend + health insurance + full tuition waiver) is pretty much the same between the three universities, where should I go? I am interested in development econ and labor econ. Thank you.

Hello there. I’m an undergrad Econ, with a minor in math. So far, my qualifications are: 1. GRE quant 168, verbal 152, AW 4.5 2. Real analysis, diff. equations, linear algebra, probability stat, math econ, inter micro + macro, multivariate calculus 3. honors student with 4.0 GPA 4. award for "outstanding undergrad paper" in my uni (my thesis) 5. recommenders include a dean who used to be econ prof, a math prof, and a prof that has broad connection No research experience as a research assistant, as I'm undergrad. No published paper. State school bachelor. But i believe no undergrad students can publish paper or have research exp. I know this isn’t enough for PhD applied econ in good programs (top 50 and above). (note: applied econ, NOT pure econ). I want to do PhD in econ, but I prefer solving practical, daily econ issues, rather than staying in my office all day to build new formula and stuff, thus applied econ. Can anyone enlighten me? I have several questions: 1/ additional math requirements for phd applied econ, besides my completed ones? Topology, optimization maybe? 2/ is phd applied econ admission less/same competitive as pure phd econ? 3/ what’s a successful file of a person who gets into a good (top 50 and above) phd applied econ? Any masters? Research exp? publication? 4/ Is it less math intensive than pure phd econ? Is it simply another word for PhD Business as some people said? what're the core differences between applied econ and pure econ? Thanks a bunch! Deeply appreciate. You guys are most kind to enlighten me! And congrats to those who made it into their top choices for PhD econ also.

Hi, so I was accepted to a number of top canadian economics programs this year (the top 3) but i've decided to defer by a year. I'm beginning to wonder whether it might be wiser for me to go for an applied economics program instead of the pure economics streams given my interests and strengths. At the time of application i hadn't realized how much the top three programs focus on theory/mathematical econ, and my interests had never been in those streams as much as they had been on things like policy and applied economic research. I no longer intend to pursue a PhD in Economics, so the relative ranking of the different programs doesn't matter so much anymore. I am not sure which schools offer a more applied economics program and aside from a few schools with explicit "applied econ" named programs (regina, etc.) I am a bit directionless on this. Would McGill be an applied econ school, for example? I know that Mcmaster offers an MA in Applied Economic Policy specifically which seems interesting, and that Dalhousie offers a Master in Development Economics which I imagine would be more on the applied side. I guess I'm wondering 1) what schools in Canada would be good for more applied economic programs (I have strong grades and was admitted to the "top 3" canadian schools for regular MA so i think i'd get in to the others) 2) what exactly I could expect as the difference between the programs---would it just mean that the micro and macro courses would be less proofs based and more calculation based?

Hi all, Does anyone have advice as to whether I am ready to apply (in December 2015) to well-ranked Econ and ARE programs? I am interested in development economics and now have a couple years (total) research experience. I am looking at Econ programs at schools strong in development: Brown, Duke, Cornell, U Michigan, Georgetown, Harvard?, Northwestern? I am looking at Applied Econ at: Minnesota, Cornell, Berkeley, Harvard, UCDavis?, Maryland? Very open to suggestions for programs, and interested in whether people think my profile has a shot. Masters: International Development, Specialization in global economic policy and quantitative methods at Sciences Po (well-ranked European school). Classes: Economics of Development (A-), Microeconomics of Development (A), Macroeconomics of Development (B+), Intro to Econometrics for Development (A), Public Finance (A+), Impact Evaluation (A+), Globalization and Economics (A), Randomized Experiments (A) Math in Grad: Stats I (A) and Advanced Stats (A), Thesis: I did a quantitative development economics thesis under a known (non-academic) economist and received honours for it. Hoping to present it at some conferences this year. Undergraduate: Development at a top (1) Canadian school Econ: Micro 1 (A-), Macro 1 (A-) and 2 intermediate development econs (A- and B+). Math: Linear and Vector Geometry(A), Probability and Statistics (A) This year, I am taking Cal I (now), Cal II (summer), Cal III (fall) I will take Real Analysis and Differential Equations before the start of academic year 2016, I will write this on my application, but work + Cal III means I can't take them earlier. Other: I landed a one year research fellowship at a Research Centre where I am working on my own development economics research project, including fieldwork, under the supervision of an economist and development specialist. This will help my proposal as I hope to continue to work on these themes for my dissertation. Internship at well-known development economics research lab (6 months). Funded with scholarship to work at well-known International Organization working on themes of interest to me in development econ. (6 months) Letters: MA Thesis advisor (IO economist, PhD Berkeley), Current Research Supervisor (PhD UToronto), Professor at Grad School (PhD Polytechnique) All are development economists, know my work well, and will be strong. I know my weaknesses are (a) Math, I'm hoping with Cal will be enough for admission, then I will take the more advanced courses to prepare myself. (b) Non-econ major - I hope the work I've done so far makes up for this! Was going to wait to apply, to have math and try to publish what I'm working on now - but I don't have much lined up fo the next couple years, so I'd rather start my 5 year PhD earlier rather than later. Can anyone let me know if they think I'm ready to apply this December? Advice for potential programs and their rankings? Other advice? Thank you!

I'm strongly considering applying for business PhD programs, and am asking for advice from people (either profs, current PhD students, or otherwise) on: which sort of program would be the best fit, my entry prospects, and the ideal approach I should take at this point in my career. Here are some of the details. My background: I have an undergraduate degree in mathematics, from a decent school, with GPA just below 3.9. Also, I have taken graduate courses in probability theory (A), mathematical statistics (A), real analysis – baby rudin (B-), and a statistical computing course that focused on programming various computationally intensive algorithms – many of them were machine learning algorithms (A). In addition, I have taken the following business–focused courses: financial accounting, managerial accounting, corporate finance, microeconomics, and macroeconomics – 4.0 GPA in these courses. In my spare time, I have really enjoyed learning about stuff such as CAPM, financial decision making (or any decision making involving risk and uncertainty), corporate finance (CFs, capital structure, financial management), and "popular" economics (freakonomics, the undercover economist, micromotives and macrobehavior, Das Kapital, etc.). Note: I took real analysis towards the end of the degree, and it helped me realize that I wasn't interested in a PhD in pure mathematics. While I can understand the intellectual appeal of it, I am not interested in spending years of my life proving abstract mathematical statements that are completely unconnected to real world decision making; and, I'm not sure I would make it through a PhD program that required me to do this. ...On the other hand, I really enjoyed mathematical statistics and the various CLT proofs. My Goal -- My goal is to pursue a career in either an academic setting or a public finance/policy setting. -- I would like to do research in corporate finance, financial decision making (or any decision making involving risk and uncertainty), and possibly even some policy related work (incentives, markets, etc.). -- I am not interested in financial engineering work or research. Right now, I'm thinking of applying for a masters in finance or applied economics, and then using that as a stepping stone to a PhD in finance, accounting, or applied economics. But, honestly, I'm really not sure where to go from here. What advice can you offer? Thanks in advance for any advice, and for reading my post.

Hello everyone, I go to a top ranked undergrad school in the south. I want to go to Econ grad so I'm planning on taking an Analysis course next semester but there's two options 1) The Math department offers their undergrad analysis course which I understand is very, very difficult. The Rudin book is used. Course description is "A thorough treatment of basic methods of analysis such as metric spaces, compactness, sequences and series of functions. Also further topics in analysis, such as Hilbert spaces, Fourier series, Sturm- Liouville theory." 2) The applied math department offers an Analysis course which uses the book by Serge Lang. I understand this course is difficult, but not so much as the math department's. I understand it may also be more useful in an applied sense, such as for economics. Course description is "Real numbers, completeness, sequences and convergence, compactness, continuity, the derivative, the Riemann integral, fundamental theorem of calculus. Vector spaces, dimension, linear maps, inner products and norms." Which should I take for economics grad school? The more difficult yet theoretical or the more applied one?

So I want to go to grad school to study econ and I've been looking at different terminal programs in the US and Canada that might suit my non-econ/math background. I certainly want to do something quantitative and not the usual international development with some economics (which is what you would see at Johns Hopkins' SAIS for example). Maybe you guys can help me figure out what would be best for me. Background: I studied international relations (BA) at a top 50 school in Boston and I've been working in the operations area of one of the big development banks based in DC. Most of my work consists of policy/operations (assisting projects in developing countries, etc.) related stuff and doesn't involve much econ or stats skills. However, it does involve the application of public finance frameworks and concepts, as well as familiarity with general macro concepts. I have learned most of this econ knowledge at my job, as I have taken very few econ courses (zero quant econ) and zero math classes, with the exception of the typical stats req for International Relations majors'. I'm am, however, planning on taking taking calc I and II this summer and hopefully linear algebra and econometrics during the fall. I've been at my job for approximately two years and given my work experience I've figured that the appropriate track for me must be economic policy more than anything. I want to continue doing what I do at my current workplace (or at any other big development bank), but with the added ability of having some basic econ quant skills (eg. macro and econometric forecasting and modeling) in order to help me move up. From what I've seen at my organization, the more intensive math/econ skills are not really required in my area of work, but rather to enter the research departments of the organization. That being said, I've notice that those working even in the operations areas of my organization tend to view quant intensive econ degrees in a better light than say an International or Public Affairs MA. The reason for this? I'm not really sure, as math and pure economics are rarely needed in this work area, yet it is true that econ modeling and STATA/SAS programming skills do improve your profile. However, I assume it's more about having an 'invisible medal' that shows that: "X person was smart enough to go through a quantitative program instead of the usual int'l development route". Whether this is true or not, I'm not sure. And whether a PhD will be enough or even necessary I am not sure either, as even the dynamics of my workplace are now changing in regards to higher recruiting standards. Having said this, I'm not even sure how someone with experience in the organization and with a masters would fair against someone with not experience in these types of organizations and a PhD. Given the path I'm looking into, I've seen that schools such as McGill offer 'Qualifying Years' for future Econ MA's, but I don't know how much it'd be worth to attend such as program (which would mean a total of 2 years to get an Econ MA from McGill, assuming I get into the Econ MA program after my QY). http://www.mcgill.ca/economics/graduates/programs . I'm also considering the Applied Economics MS at Johns Hopkins. Much more expensive than McGill, but perhaps the Johns Hopkins name, the fact it's an MS and technical skills they claims to teach might make it worth it (?). This particular program is not under JHU Econ dept though, so I'm not sure what to think of it. They also don't require GRE; their rationale being that calc grades are more important. Johns Hopkins University | Advanced Academic Programs | Krieger School of Arts and Sciences | Academic Programs | Applied Economics | Home So in a nutshell, are these the types of programs I should be aiming for given my goals? Any advice either on what to look into, or on these two specific programs would be extremely helpful. Thanks

Dear all, Need some help related to graduate admissions. I want to get a PhD, but cant decide on the graduate degree. My research interests are eclectic, very wide and related to poverty, development economics, political systems and higher education. I have an undergrad. in economics and good scores on most economics papers. I have taken little maths papers (primarily because they were not offered in the univ. I graduated from). I did take the GRE and scored 800 in the quant. section? Will that cover up for the lack of maths papers? (I am certain I can handle the maths, but just that I dont have many papers to back up my application - I have one maths paper and 3 stats papers to show for). As for LOR, I can get one from a political science prof and an economics prof. They know me well and should write me good reccos (or so I think :p) I am confused between a PhD in political economy, economics/applied economics, public policy and political science. I would like to ideally work on something like political economy or public policy - something more applied and not strictly formal. Any suggestions?