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So I have just finished my first year of my Ph.D. program and have hit a stuck point. I initially expressed interest in studying macroeconomics but have found that I am more interested in political economics (particularly voter behavior and the formation of public opinion). I especially like the idea of looking at the overlap between politically economy and poverty in the United States (especially Appalachia). There is a professor in my department whose specialty is political economics and has also spent time on the Joint Center for Poverty Research at University of Chicago. Unfortunately, he is also the department chair. I believe he has advised Ph.D. students before, but I am concerned I will not get as much advising and I would from other professors in the department. I do not mean that as any slight to him, but simply from a pragmatic standpoint. The other faculty members I am considering are in macroeconomics (which is the department's strength). I know one professor who is very invested in the student's success and whose research has a more theoretical bent, which I prefer. Another (who's relatively new) who has an especially strong overall research track record (regarding number of publications, journals they are published in, and other institutions he is affiliated with. This second professor is also the sole author of an article on political polarization that was published in a Fed Journal (though most of his research in in real estate macroeconomics). My question is would I be better off going with the department chair and make best of the fact that I will probably not get as much attention as I would otherwise, or should I go with one of the macro professors? Also, it there a way to overlap political economy and macroeconomics (even if I leave poverty out - since that's not my only interest and I can come back to that later on in my career).

Hi, I'm a transfer student from an unknown university in Asia and have been at a U.S. public university for two years. Could you please help me do a profile evaluation? Thanks in advance! PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 20 Econ Department, Econ double Math with Stat minor. Econ major at the unknown university in Asia. Cumulative GPA: 4.0/4.0 Cumulative GPA at previous university: 3.5/5 GRE: Haven't taken yet. Probably get 168+Q and 155+ V. Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A), Multivariable calculus (A), Probability I/II (A), Intro to proof (A), Mathematical analysis (Baby Rudin) (IP) Econ Courses: Intermediate Microeconomics & Macroeconomics (A), Trade (A), Cost-Benefit Analysis (A), Econometrics(IP), Micro Analysis I/II (IP), Development (IP) Other Courses: C++(A), Regression analysis (A) All courses above are taken in the U.S. Letters of Recommendation: 1) Chairman of the department. Have taken classes and RAed for 2 semesters. 2) Instructor of the Micro Analysis. Full Professor. 3) New Assistant Professor at an overall top 40 university (unranked in Econ). She graduated from our department and I am doing research with her at present. Research Experience: One year of RA experience in the department. Teaching Experience: TAed 3 semesters for the Intermediate Macro. Programming skills: Python, C++, R, Latex, Stata Other: Awarded a scholarship from the Econ Department. I wish to receive an offer from a top 20 or top 30 graduate schools. Do you think it is reasonable? Thanks again for your advice!

Hey guys. I am going to apply for Econ/Finance PhD for 2021 Fall PhD program. Just wondering if you guys can give me any advice on that please? Many Thanks! So here is my profie: Undergrad: 3% ranking in top 3 Chinese University. Grad course: got full A in PhD level micro, macro, metric series and mathematical economics in a top20 US university. GRE: V161 Q170 W3.5 TOEFL: 111, S26, L30, R30, W25 Research: I have an NBER paper on monetary policy. The paper is coauthered with a professor from a top 10 econ department. I am also working on a new paper which I intend to use as my writing sample. I have been RA for another professor in top 10 department for 6 months. RL: I can ensure two strong letters, one from my coauthor in top 10 US econ department, the other from my undergrad supervisor. I am still seeking for my third letter. Is there any possibility for me to be accepted by a top 10 Business school or Econ department in the US? And would COVID-19 make the application for 2021 fall PhD extremely hard? Many thanks to your advice!

Now, please don't get me wrong, this is all out of curiosity. I get that agricultural economics had a different start point, in that it initially developed after a bunch of agronomists/agricultural scientists started using economic theories in their work. And, now, these departments in land-grant universities get huge government funding, so there are nice funding opportunities for students. But it seems that a lot of agricultural economics departments now deal more with research topics marginally related to agriculture, like environment, natural resources, and international development. I am curious that if I am interested in, let's say, international agricultural development and the related topics (smallholder farmer issues, technology transfer and adoption, agricultural cooperatives, gender in agriculture, etc.), why would it be better to do a PhD in an agricultural economics department, compared to an economics department or even a nice public policy department like at HKS? I think the same could be said to a certain extent for traditional agricultural topics (agricultural and commodity price analysis and forecasting, agricultural markets, agribusiness and farm management, etc.). Am I missing something?

Hello. I am brazilian. I've got a GPA of 3.5 in my Economics B.S. at my local university. It's a good university, but calculus disciplines were pretty weak. I wanted to do an "academic upgrade" and applied to a master's in the University of São Paulo's (that's the most important university in Brazil) Agricultural Economics Department. I struggled very much with quantitative disciplines, and got lots of "C" grades. The university does not state how much a C is worth, but it's the lowest grade one can have without failing. I would guess it's a 5(of 10), because that's the lowest an undergrad can get without failing. Well, they say a master's at a good school in Brazil is harder than a master's in U.S. but easier than a PHD. I want to do a PHD in the U.S., but I'll work to improve my math abilities before I can do that. I intend to complete a Real Analysis course in a Math department. My question: Is doing a Real Analysis course enough to compensate for my bad grades in my master's in an Admission selection in the U.S.? Or is it advisable just to pretend I havenn't done this master's (which would be sad because that's the most valuable thing I have got in my curriculum)? P.S.: I don't intend to try TOP30 schools. The hardest I consider aplying to are TOP 50 schools (and even these I don't know if it's worth trying with my grades), like Cornell. The easiest I want to try is CUNY. P.S. 2: I think I may have some papers published by the time of selection. I don't know if it helps much.

The table can be read column-wise and row-wise. For each of the top 25 U.S. agricultural economics departments, each column counts the number of enlisted faculty by doctoral alma mater corresponding to the department listed in a given row. Each row, inversely, counts where the doctoral alumni of each department are affiliated to as tenured/tenure-track faculty within the top 25 U.S. agricultural economics departments. [ATTACH=CONFIG]7264[/ATTACH] (Open in a new tab for a larger view) Notes: 1. The ranking is based on REPEC's agricultural economics department rankings, as of April 2020. 2. The figures are based on the faculty listing in the respective department's website, as of May 26, 2020. 3. The figures only count the number of tenured/tenure-track professors in each department, excluding non-tenure-track faculty (visiting professors, research professors, clinical professors, professors of practice, adjunct professors, lecturers, and instructors). In addition, emeritus professors are also counted. 4. "General Econ" counts faculty who have a (general/non agricultural) economics Ph.D. degree. Environmental (and natural resource) economics degrees, traditionally not lumped together with agricultural economics departments (Yale, Duke, U Mass) are provided their own rows. "Canadian Ag Econ" counts faculty who have a Ph.D. degree from a Canadian agricultural economics department. "Other U.S. Ag Econ" counts faculty whose Ph.D. alma mater is other than the 25 listed. "Non-Econ" counts faculty who have a Ph.D. degree in a discipline other than economics (most commonly, law, public policy, statistics, engineering, and environmental science, among others). 5. All tenured/tenure-track faculty are counted for Cornell's Department of Applied Economics and Management. Only agricultural economics faculty are counted for Iowa State's Department of Economics. Similarly, only agricultural economics faculty are counted for Penn State's Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education. 6. Washington State University graduates are counted under "Other U.S. Ag Econ". 7. A crucial limitation of the statistics is that they do not account for the temporal variation of the alumni graduation years. Some departments were at their peak in certain years in the past, and their figures are over-represented by their graduates from those specific years, despite their graduates not landing tenure-track faculty positions in recent years, and vice-versa.

Okay, I've posted a few times on here before on different parts of this issue, but I would just like to gather any opinions on the whole thing. I narrowed my consideration between 2 Ph.D. programs, say Iowa State and Mizzou (I accepted Mizzou). I want to study macro and want to get a job in academia doing at least some research. I found the Mizzou (program and professors) usually ranks higher than Iowa State on macro (according to RePEc), but Iowa State usually ranks higher otherwise and has a better track record at getting students into academic positions. I also chose Mizzou so that I can maintain personal relationships better (family and friends are within 2 hours from Mizzou - and I have problems with seizures) and because the department at Mizzou also seems very eager to have me join their program (I have had more than one professor reach out to me and have been offered a fellowship). Based on this, I'm guessing I would be given more opportunities at Mizzou. I am wondering if you guys think I made the right choice (if not, is it worth reaching out to Iowa State to see if I can still get in)? Also, what do you think are my odds at getting an academic position (ideally research) and how do you recommend I do to maximize my chances? Iowa State: US News and World Report (53), RePEc - Department Rating (93), RePEc - Macro (243) Mizzou: US News and World Report (63), RePEc - Department Rating (118), RePEc - Macro (110)

Hi all, I am torn between two departments. First is good with professors who are working in the same line of research I want to work on, but they are mostly old (60 to 65+). Not sure if they would be around for too long. I don't find the research profiles of the younger professors very interesting.... yet! Second is slightly lower-ranked department but I really LOVE the work of two people working there, and who are renowned in the field. They aren't young and aren't old either... say, around 40-year-old associate professors. However, they have the reputation of not giving a ton of time to their students and expecting way too much from them. Considering these two factors only, do you think the latter program would be worth it?

Hello everyone, I have an offer from UW-Madison for the AAE PhD program (environmental/climate change economics track), but I'm struggling to get a feel for how it compares both to other agricultural/applied programs, and to other pure econ programs as well. I remember reading a comment somewhere that any US top 50 econ program would be better than AAE at Madison, which surprised me a little as the core courses are taught by the economics department which is a top 15 department, and then all of the faculty in the AAE department are specialised in their respective fields (agri/environmental/development), so I don't really understand why that would be the case. If I was interested in environmental economics then would I really be better off going to a top 50 school on a straight econ program? I understand that it's not a PhD from an economics department so you'd be less likely to achieve an academic placement in an economics department that doesn't have a particular focus on environmental economics, but given that could someone please help me to gauge how reputable the program is overall? As an example, how would you say that it would compare with a PhD in Environmental Economics from the LSE (the geography department program, not the Economics PhD)? Thank you in advance for any insight that may put my mind at rest one way or another!

One of the department who offered me a place is inviting the admitted students to their visit day, with reimbursement allowance. However, as an international student, it's still ocstly. I estimated that the trip would cost fourth-fold of the allowance. That's huge to me right now. I am in a hard struggle of going or not. I really don't know if the visit is supposed to sell the department, or it contains something crucial for my academic career. Appreciate for any experience shared.

I am yet to hear back from there, so I am assuming I am on an implicit waitlist. I do not have any other admission offers right now. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Economics department at SSE? I can see there are some big names in micro theory (Ellingsen, Weibull) and macro-theory. But the applied emperical fields seem to be completely neglected. In terms of placements, how does SSE fare? How does the department compare to top-20 universities in the US? How is it ranked within Europe? I was talking to my batchmates about SSE, and they were of the opinion that the grad students there are basically rejects from other European programs.

Check out this new resource:Econ RA Listings (@econ_ra) | Twitter. Started by Sarah Bana of the UCSB economics department.

I am interested in applied micro. My research experience has been all in development economics. Nonetheless, I know that my interest my change. UMD AREC offer me 4 years of guaranteed funding (I don't know how easy it is to get year 5 and 6 funding if I need it, although a professor told me that students usually get RA position or get employment in many agencies in DC). The connection to the DC organizations such as WB and IMF is great. It's also located in DC (city life), although the stipend is the same as Notre Dame. The placements are of course greater than ND, although I have heard from EJMR that the department is not a pleasant place (I take this with a grain of salt though, if anyone have more insights into this that would be appreciated). With ND, the funding situation is great as I am guaranteed for 5 years of funding. The department is on a fast upward trajectory from hiring like crazy with good faculty members across the applied micro field, which would give me more options in case I change my field. The department is also very collegial, with close interactions between faculty members and student. That said, the placement aren't as great as UMD AREC for academic positions. South Bend is also not inspiring as a city. Currently, I am indifferent between academic positions or private sector. Any advice would be very much appreciated ! Thanks guys

Hello guys, almost everyone advised me to fully enjoy the summer before PhD and I'm going to do that of course, but at the same time, I'm quite worried about what's gonna come in several months. Are you guys really going to have fun and relax in this summer? I want at least look into the syllabi of the first year core courses and get an idea but I can't find them on the department website :proud: I can only browse their course schedule and see who is teaching what.. So I guess I should email to a random PhD student and ask for the syllabus..? or would there be another option for me to get to know which textbooks are normally used there etc?

I am lucky enough to be accepted to both programs. However, I am confused as to which one I should choose. I am going to visit both departments in the near future. However, I would really appreciate if you or your friends could who go to one of these schools can give me some insights into each respective department. I know that rank-wise, UIUC is higher. However, ND's close tie between students and faculty members intrigued me as well.

Hello, everyone, I’d like your opinions on which schools I should apply for. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 70 State University, Top 15 Econ Department, Dual degrees in Math and Econ Undergrad GPA: 3.31 Master in Economics Type of Grad: Top 40 State University, Top 15 Econ Department Grad GPA: 3.71 GRE: 153V, 167Q, 3.0AWMath Courses: Calculus I-III (B, B, A); Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (B+); Intro to Analysis/Proofs (A-); Applied Linear Algebra (B+); Master level Financial Mathematics (C+), Stochastic Process (A), Master level Honors Analysis I(B-, A(retake)), Master level Honors Analysis(B-, B(retake, I know it is a very bad signal..)); Master level Theory of Statistics (A, A-); Econ Courses (grad-level): Master level microeconomic theory (B, C), Master level microeconomic theory(A, at my master's program), Master level macroeconomic theory(AB), master level Econometrics I-III (A, AB, currently taking), Math for Economists(A), PhD level microeconomic theory(currently taking, highly likely to get an A), PhD level macroeconomic theory(currently taking, highly likely to get an A) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principles of Micro, Principles of Macro, Int. Micro, Int. Macro, Financial Economics, Economic Development, Money and Banking, International Economics, Advanced Quantitative Analysis of the Macroeconomy, Econometrics. Other Courses: Some CS major courses Letters of Recommendation: 1) Research advisor, tenured AP at the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. Solid Letter. 2) Micro theory instructor, AP at the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. Solid letter based on course grade. 3) Titled professor at the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. Not the best student in his class, but he said my writing sample is impressive. Will be a solid letter. 4) Distinguished Chair of the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. My applied econometrics paper advisor. Told me my paper is well-written but not the best among the whole class. 5) Distinguished Chair of the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. Supervising my co-authored writing sample with another student in my cohort. Not sure how strong the letter would be. He said it will be based on the final product I submitted to him. Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Econometric theory, micro theory, macro(Yes I have broad interests in all these of areas) I have a co-authored writing sample on proposing a new estimator of discrete choice dynamic panel data model with fixed effect. It turned out to be not a big deal, but at least it was a very good research experience for me. SOP: Mainly focused on my development of writing sample. Concerns: 1)Low undergrad GPA and low GPA on math courses.. 2) Don't have very strong letters... Other: N\A Applying to: Yale, Caltech, UCLA, UMN, Cornell, BU, BC, PSU, MSU, UC Davis, USC, U of Washington, Iowa State, Rice, UCSC, NCSU, Notre Dame, Stonybrook. Please give me comments on this list.. Do I need to apply more/lower ranked schools? Any help will be appreciated!

On the department, it says 3 but does not go beyond to say whether they encourage or discourage 4th, 5th, or 6th letter. The application portal allows up to 6. The general Stanford graduate school says to consult the department before utilizing the slots allocated for 4-6th letters. I've contacted the department but no reply for a while... It's my understanding that over-submitting letters is generally negative. Do you think that applies to Stanford Econ?

Greetings everyonehttp://forum.thegradcafe.com/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png I am an undergraduate economics student who's very interested in statistics. I know that Stanford has a top statistics department and a top economics department as well. But I heard that the strength of its economics department lies in game theory and IO. So I would like to know how its econometrics ranks. Does the strength of the statistic department pass through to its econometrics? Any idea would be very much appreciated! Thanks! http://forum.thegradcafe.com/public/style_images/master/rep_up.png http://forum.thegradcafe.com/public/style_images/master/rep_down.png 0 Quote MultiQuote Blog This

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