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I'm choosing between these two programs, and they both south incredibly fascinating. My interests are development and political economy, and more applied work. I have a larger network on the east coast. I'm 50-50 on whether I want an academic or non-academic research career and going in I'm leaning slightly towards the latter. Anyone in the same boat in previous years and what made you choose the program you did? Or in general, anyone wiling to weigh in?

The end of undergrad is rapidly approaching for me and this means that I now need to actually figure out what I want to do with myself. So far I've been involved with the economics department at my school (T20 Econ T10 PPol) and have been able to get a bit of research experience under my belt along with the expected math/econ courses as well as another major in philosophy, though I realize that will mean very little its just something I enjoy. I've been looking a lot into the paths required to end up at a good Econ grad program however I have lately been much more interested in public policy for various reasons. I was wondering what the main functional differences in the programs would be between Econ and PPol (also potentially Political Econ) and if one is typically easier to get into e.g HKS vs Harvard Econ. In terms of placements I see that some of the top PPol programs have sent people to top tier Econ departments and I was wondering how realistic of a path that is. Would my econ background help because it shows I have the ability to do relatively quantitative research or would it hurt since it seems I'm not focused on policy? Also, any tips on how I would go about deciding which is right for me? Thanks!

Hello, I'm looking to apply for a PhD Econ or PPOL program this year, and I've whittled down a list of appx. 30 programs for application. Based on my profile, I'd love both a standard 'chances' eval, as well as some recommendations for programs I should absolutely cut from my list (ie. my profile isn't good enough). I plan on sending about 20 applications and want to live in a decently-sized city (350k+ pop, ideally) for my PhD. Undergraduate Degree: BSc in Economics and Political Science, Minor in Math from a mid-ranked US university Undergraduate GPA: > 3.7 Graduate Degree: A one-year MSc in Economics from a T100 university in Europe; beginning in September GRE: 167Q, 165V, 5.5W Math Courses: Calc I-III (all B), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (B+) Econ Courses: Econometrics (A), Intermediate Micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A), Economic Data Analysis (A-), Game Theory (A), Economics Thesis (A), Law and Economics (A), Business Regulation (A) Rec Letters: Chair of economics dept at my university, active econ research prof, young assistant political science prof; all served as my professors and were on my thesis panel, and the second was the professor who I served an RA term under Research Experience: Served as an RA for my prof, received research certificate from university after a research-intensive course sequence, worked as a research intern for a justice org, and started a policy brief-writing company where I wrote nearly 40 policy briefs Teaching Experience: Been doing private tutoring and teaching at instructional summer camps for three years; will be serving in a school teaching position in the upcoming year Research Interests: Labor, policy, IO Potential Applications Aarhus Auckland Bonn Boston U Bristol Carnegie Mellon Chicago PPOL Copenhagen Emory Goethe Frankfurt Harvard PEG Harvard PPOL Lausanne Libre Bruxelles Ludwig Munich Mannheim Michigan PPOL Minnesota Pompeu Fabra Rochester Sciences Po Stockholm School of Econ Tinbergen Toronto Toulouse UBC USC PPOL Vienna Washington WashU St. Louis Zurich