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I'm one year out of undergrad and just starting to think about preparing to apply for PhD programs. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed already and was hoping to describe some of my goals here to get some feedback on where I currently stand vs. where I should be. Although I'm sure it will be clear as you read, I don't know a lot about these programs/how everything works. Apologies in advance. I got my BA in econ from a private liberal arts school. Not a big name school by any means. 3.7 GPA. No math focus beyond what was required for an econ degree (business stats, calc i & ii). I haven't yet taken the GRE so no scores to report there. I had very close relationships with my econ professors but again, they're not huge names in the field. I have two main concerns. The first is easiest to address since I can't really do anything about it...a lot of people's backgrounds on here seem to be from high-profile undergrad schools. Will my no-name degree hurt? The second has to do with my minimal math courses. Should I take math courses at a local university to round myself out? Try to get a masters first (a problem arising from this approach would be what to go for, I likely wouldn't get into a math program with such a limited background). I do just want to note that I am obviously not trying to apply to places like Harvard. My career path doesn't include winning a nobel prize. I love research and data and this seems like the appropriate path to pursue. Any other suggestions are welcome. Thank you all so much!

I'm a sophomore at a small, top 70ish small liberal arts school with an okay economics department. I'm extremely interested in pursuing economics graduate school, and have been following this forum for a little while now. I'd really like to get into a top 20 program (wouldn't we all?), and so far I've been able to take oodles of math courses while maintaining a 4.0 (I'm taking real analysis this semester). My only problem is research. The professors at my school's economics department seem to like me, but when I ask about opportunities to serve as a research assistant, it seems like nothing exists. The department is in a bit of disarray and they all seem too busy teaching to do much serious research. So, for someone like me who wants to get research experience and LORs that will make me competitive at top programs, what's the best path? I found an opportunity over the past summer to work long distance as an RA for a young World Bank economist on an interesting project, and I could continue down that path. But, is that the kind of research experience top programs are looking for? Plus, is it even worth getting a LOR from someone who's not a professor and has never taught you in a class? Would it be worth it for me to look into the math department to do research there and get a LOR, or would that be bad because it wouldn't be from an economist? As a side note, I'm going to LSE's General Course next year, so I have a very long summer this year but almost no time next summer to do something formative. Also, does anyone know if there are RA opportunities for undergraduates (and more specifically GC students) at LSE? Thanks for your advice!