What They Won’t Tell You about Pursuing an Economics PhD

• How did I come to these conclusions?
• Polish your quantitative skills ➕
• Get into a top program, or bust 🏆
• Think outside the professor 👩‍🏫
• For those already in academia 👨‍🏫
• Rapid Fire Advice ✍️

A couple years ago, I investigated the cost-benefit for an Economics PhD. I’ve also included some rapid fire advice at the end of this article for those short on time. I hope this provides a novel perspective on any graduate program research that you are currently undertaking.

How did I come to these conclusions?

I interviewed 6 PhD Economists and a Business (formerly Economics) PhD candidate. Interviewees were from top programs (LSE, UPenn, UChicago, MIT, Berkeley, Stanford) and provided candid insight in one-on-one conversations. Please keep that in mind as I outline the advice I received.

Polish your quantitative skills ➕

Everyone mentioned upper level mathematics. Specifically, top programs will expect linear algebra and multivariate calculus. Beyond these courses, the advice began to diverge where some recommended real analysis while others recommended group theory. When choosing mathematics courses, strongly consider choosing professors over a graduate student teaching the class. And if choosing between professors, pick the one with the highest ranking for letters of recommendation (more on that later).

The GRE Quant score is very important. This means aiming for a perfect or near perfect score. But, what does a high score indicate? If you’re near the top percentile in the GRE ranking, it means you’ve optimized the way you solve and approach problems. Sure, you may be able to solve a particular question with a traditional approach but perhaps it’s much easier and faster with another approach (or shortcut). A high score signals flexibility in your logical thinking skills.

Although there is a recent push to remove standardized testing requirements for undergraduate studies, I’m personally skeptical these tests will be removed for graduate programs.

Get into a top program, or bust 🏆

“If you can’t get into a Top 25 school, don’t bother. Especially, if you’re considering a career in academia afterwards.” I heard this from multiple people. The logic here is that you’re spending the same amount of time and effort for less desirable opportunities. If it takes an extra year to get an offer from a Top 25 school, rather than a Top 50 school: take the extra year. Your future self will be grateful.

The next reasonable question would be: Which list of top 25 programs should you reference? I suggest a combination of US News & academic papers (starting with this one). I created a combined list a few years back, but the US News ranking changes every year so it’s irrelevant for those of you reading this now.

Top programs will usually require you to have a customized letter of recommendation. Make sure to clearly communicate this when you ask for your letters from your professors (hopefully top ranking Mathematicians and Economists) and employers.

Lastly on the Top Programs, an interesting, often overlooked approach is to seek a parallel program. One example is the the Agriculture Economics Program from Berkeley. This program is more specialized, but you still walk away with a PhD in Economics from Berkeley. Additionally, there is a chance you get into the Specialized Program then drop the specialty and default to the general Economics program.

Think outside the professor 👩‍🏫

Contrary to advice you might have read elsewhere, aim to evaluate the overall program and not a specific researcher — unless you’re very clear on your research agenda. Yet, you’re likely to change your mind about what you’re looking for in a mentor over the course of your PhD (typically 5–7 years).

When you are at your desired institution, pay attention to the up and coming professors. They’ll be able to invest more time and resourcing into mentoring you. Whereas if you work with a top researcher, you’ll likely be lower down in their list of priorities. If you’re lucky, hopefully you can get a mentor who is world renowned and provides the guidance you’re looking for.

For those already in academia 👨‍🏫

One piece of interesting game theoretic advice was: Do not to mention if you’re even considering entering the private sector after graduating. Your professors, mentors, and current peers will eventually want to co-author with you. If you’re going to the private sector, your academic peers won’t give you as much time as they may perceive less of a long term benefit to your potential partnership.

It might be helpful to note, it is often frowned upon within academia to walk away with a Masters in Economics. You’ll notice most notable institutions do not offer this option (Berkeley, Stanford etc.). The core emphasis of a PhD program is on novel research.

If you intend to stay in academia for economics, I vaguely recall an old EconTalk episode (over 4 years ago and can’t remember the exact episode) where Russ Roberts and the speaker mention the importance of the American Economics Association conference. Essentially, this conference will disproportionately determine where you get hired.

Rapid Fire Advice ✍️

1. Seek out the Top 25 PhD Programs or bust
2. Seek alternative, parallel paths (eg Agriculture Economics at Berkeley)
3. Brush up on your Upper Level Maths (Linear Algebra; Real Analysis or Group Theory)
4. Aim for GRE Quant Score perfection
5. Keep any aspirations related the private sector to yourself while pursuing your PhD (or Masters in Economics, if offered by your institution)

Special Note: Even though I mention “Top Programs or Bust”, I do not intend to mean that an individual is more or less qualified because of some institution’s ranking. I think the distribution of outcomes is higher (on average) for those from top programs given the inherent biases in the labor market. I concede it is possible for those outside of the Top 25 to have similar or better outcomes than those in the Top 25 programs.