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Strategy Consultant looking to pursue academic econ


bustoecon

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Context: I just graduated in may with a dual degree (commerce & econ) from a Canadian University (top 2 for business undergrad), and even though I’ve been on the job for about a month, I started to seriously explore academic econ in my last few years of uni, and think I would prefer it over continuing to be a powerpoint specialist. Wanted to get some advice on how to best set myself up for success, as I’ve heard grad econ can be very hierarchal, so I want to maximize my changes at top schools. Here’s my profile:

Cumulative GPA: 4.09/4.3

Courses: real analysis (A+), Stats & Prob (full sequence, A+ & A+), Vector Calc (A+), applied econometrics (A+), Intro to Mathematical Economics (A+), intermediate and advanced micro and macro (A+ in all except for A in intermediate macro), Introductory econometrics (A+), discrete math for computing (A+), Diff & Integral Calculus (A+ & A+)

*note on courses*: never took a full sequence of linear algebra or ODE, which I hear many take, but I took a version of lin alg that was a first year course for all business students (was not very rigorous, but nonetheless got A+). All of my non A+’s & A’s came from business courses. also took some elementary comp sci courses (A & A+)

GRE: 168 quant, 164 verbal, 6 writing

Internship experiences: all business internships (e.g consulting) throughout my summers

Letters of rec: 1 from applied econometrics prof (his course was a thesis course), and 1 from micro prof (RA’d for her and her research group for 8 months, including through the summer).

Main question:

I know that many PhD programs require 3 letters of rec, but I just don’t have a solid third letter since I didn’t really interact with any profs other than the two above. I’ve been doing research and realizing that many options exist for ppl to bridge the gap, so my ultimate questions are:

  • Should I just email profs (e.g. my real analysis prof) I barely interacted with to get a third letter? If so, where should I apply?
  • would you suggest I pursue masters programs (ie. LSE EME)? If so, which ones?
  • would you suggest I focus on looking into pre-docs / RA positions? If so, any suggestions for where to look?
  • Do you think I should wait until the next app cycle and just apply with a third letter of reference being a manager at my current job?

All advice/feedback is greatly appreciated 🙂

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