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What Can I Do with a PhD in Economics?

If a graduate degree in economics is on your mind, you may wonder why someone would pursue a doctorate degree in the field. After all, many master's degrees in economics are designed to prepare students like you for myriad economics careers. But while a master's degree will help you stand out against competitors in the job. market, a PhD can open even more doors.   

Earning a PhD in Economics means you have completed the highest level of education in the discipline, thereby creating nearly unlimited opportunities for any job in a related field. 

What does an Economics PhD do?

Economics PhDs specialize in areas like labor economics, macroeconomics,  industrial organization, or international economics and pursue careers within that specialization. For example, institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO) — the international trade body —  the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank might seek to hire economists who have specialized in international economics.

The Federal Reserve Bank system hires lots of PhD macroeconomists. Government agencies like the Federal Trade Commission hire PhD economists specializing in industrial organization. The Census Bureau hires lots of PhD economists specializing in fields like labor economics.

These complex, high-profile positions are often found in the corporate sector or government and frequently involve exploring regulatory, strategic or public policies.

In addition to jobs in government and industry, academic economists play leading roles in the development of new ideas in economics and hold faculty positions in a variety of academic settings.

Industry Profile for Economists 

The need for candidates with extensive economic knowledge and an upper-level understanding of quantitative analysis continues to grow as the government and private corporations seek to understand international competition, predict consumer behaviors and apply analysis to a rapidly changing global environment. 

Industries With the Highest Levels of Employment in Economics

Nearly every entity relies on economists in some way to help research and advise, optimize results, interpret data and recommend solutions. Some of the top industries that employ economists include:

• Federal and state governments
• Management, scientific and technical consulting services
• Scientific research and development firms
• Finance and insurance companies 

How to Get a Doctorate in Economics: The Econ PhD Program at SMU

The PhD program in Economics at SMU is the oldest PhD program at the university and has been providing students with rigorous training in a broad range of fundamental methodologies for conducting economic research for more than 55 years. 

With a low student-to-faculty ratio in a relatively small program, the Economics PhD program at SMU allows for an open and friendly environment, careful supervision, quality contact time with faculty and individualized mentoring that can’t be matched elsewhere. 

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The Economics of Everything is our guide to the department, research, graduate student funding and more. 

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The Complete Guide to Getting Into an Economics Ph.D. Program

Math challenged? Never taken an econ class? Don't worry about it. There's hope for you yet.

Back in May, Noah wrote about the amazingly good deal that is the PhD in economics. Why? Because:

• You get a job.
• You get autonomy.
• You get intellectual fulfillment.
• The risk is low.
• Unlike an MBA, law, or medical degree, you don't have to worry about paying the sticker price for an econ PhD: After the first year, most schools will give you teaching assistant positions that will pay for the next several years of graduate study, and some schools will take care of your tuition and expenses even in the first year.

Of course, such a good deal won't last long now that the story is out, so you need to act fast! Since he wrote his post , Noah has received a large number of emails asking the obvious follow-up question: "How do I get into an econ PhD program?" And Miles has been asked the same thing many times by undergraduates and other students at the University of Michigan. So here, we present together our guide for how to break into the academic Elysium called Econ Ph.D. Land:

(Note: This guide is mainly directed toward native English speakers, or those from countries whose graduate students are typically fluent in English, such as India and most European countries. Almost all highly ranked graduate programs teach economics in English, and we find that students learn the subtle non-mathematical skills in economics better if English is second nature. If your nationality will make admissions committees wonder about your English skills, you can either get your bachelor's degree at a -- possibly foreign -- college or university where almost all classes are taught in English, or you will have to compensate by being better on other dimensions. On the bright side, if you are a native English speaker, or from a country whose graduate students are typically fluent in English, you are already ahead in your quest to get into an economics Ph.D. program.)

Here is the not-very-surprising list of things that will help you get into a good econ Ph.D. program:

• good grades, especially in whatever math and economics classes you take,
• a good score on the math GRE,
• some math classes and a statistics class on your transcript,
• research experience, and definitely at least one letter of recommendation from a researcher,
• a demonstrable interest in the field of economics.

Chances are, if you're asking for advice, you probably feel unprepared in one of two ways. Either you don't have a sterling math background, or you have quantitative skills but are new to the field of econ. Fortunately, we have advice for both types of applicant.

If You're Weak in Math... Fortunately, if you're weak in math, we have good news: Math is something you can learn . That may sound like a crazy claim to most Americans, who are raised to believe that math ability is in the genes. It may even sound like arrogance coming from two people who have never had to struggle with math. But we've both taught people math for many years, and we really believe that it's true. Genes help a bit, but math is like a foreign language or a sport: effort will result in skill.

Here are the math classes you absolutely should take to get into a good econ program:

• Linear algebra
• Multivariable calculus

Here are the classes you should take, but can probably get away with studying on your own:

• Ordinary differential equations
• Real analysis

Linear algebra (matrices, vectors, and all that) is something that you'll use all the time in econ, especially when doing work on a computer. Multivariable calculus also will be used a lot. And stats of course is absolutely key to almost everything economists do. Differential equations are something you will use once in a while. And real analysis -- by far the hardest subject of the five -- is something that you will probably never use in real econ research, but which the economics field has decided to use as a sort of general intelligence signaling device.

If you took some math classes but didn't do very well, don't worry. Retake the classes. If you are worried about how that will look on your transcript, take the class the first time "off the books" at a different college (many community colleges have calculus classes) or online. Or if you have already gotten a bad grade, take it a second time off the books and then a third time for your transcript. If you work hard, every time you take the class you'll do better. You will learn the math and be able to prove it by the grade you get. Not only will this help you get into an econ Ph.D. program, once you get in, you'll breeze through parts of grad school that would otherwise be agony.

Here's another useful tip: Get a book and study math on your own before taking the corresponding class for a grade. Reading math on your own is something you're going to have to get used to doing in grad school anyway (especially during your dissertation!), so it's good to get used to it now. Beyond course-related books, you can either pick up a subject-specific book (Miles learned much of his math from studying books in the Schaum's outline series ), or get a "math for economists" book; regarding the latter, Miles recommends Mathematics for Economists by Simon and Blume, while Noah swears by Mathematical Methods and Models for Economists by de la Fuente. When you study on your own, the most important thing is to work through a bunch of problems . That will give you practice for test-taking, and will be more interesting than just reading through derivations.

This will take some time, of course. That's OK. That's what summer is for (right?). If you're late in your college career, you can always take a fifth year, do a gap year, etc.

When you get to grad school, you will have to take an intensive math course called "math camp" that will take up a good part of your summer. For how to get through math camp itself, see this guide by Jérémie Cohen-Setton .

One more piece of advice for the math-challenged: Be a research assistant on something non-mathy. There are lots of economists doing relatively simple empirical work that requires only some basic statistics knowledge and the ability to use software like Stata. There are more and more experimental economists around, who are always looking for research assistants. Go find a prof and get involved! (If you are still in high school or otherwise haven't yet chosen a college, you might want to choose one where some of the professors do experiments and so need research assistants -- something that is easy to figure out by studying professors' websites carefully, or by asking about it when you visit the college.)

If You're New to Econ... If you're a disillusioned physicist, a bored biostatistician, or a neuroscientist looking to escape that evil Principal Investigator, don't worry: An econ background is not necessary . A lot of the best economists started out in other fields, while a lot of undergrad econ majors are headed for MBAs or jobs in banks. Econ Ph.D. programs know this. They will probably not mind if you have never taken an econ class.

That said, you may still want to take an econ class, just to verify that you actually like the subject, to start thinking about econ, and to prepare yourself for the concepts you'll encounter. If you feel like doing this, you can probably skip Econ 101 and 102, and head straight for an Intermediate Micro or Intermediate Macro class.

Another good thing is to read through an econ textbook. Although economics at the Ph.D. level is mostly about the math and statistics and computer modeling (hopefully getting back to the real world somewhere along the way when you do your own research), you may also want to get the flavor of the less mathy parts of economics from one of the well-written lower-level textbooks (either one by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells , Greg Mankiw , or Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok ) and maybe one at a bit higher level as well, such as David Weil's excellent book on economic growth ) or Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics .

Remember to take a statistics class, if you haven't already. Some technical fields don't require statistics, so you may have missed this one. But to econ Ph.D. programs, this will be a gaping hole in your resume. Go take stats!

One more thing you can do is research with an economist. Fortunately, economists are generally extremely welcoming to undergrad research assistants from outside econ, who often bring extra skills. You'll get great experience working with data if you don't have it already. It'll help you come up with some research ideas to put in your application essays. And of course, you'll get another all-important letter of recommendation.

And now for...

General Tips for Everyone Here is the most important tip for everyone: Don't just apply to "top" schools . For some degrees -- an MBA for example -- people question whether it's worthwhile to go to a non-top school. But for econ departments, there's no question. Both Miles and Noah have marveled at the number of smart people working at non-top schools. That includes some well-known bloggers, by the way--Tyler Cowen teaches at George Mason University (ranked 64th ), Mark Thoma teaches at the University of Oregon (ranked 56th ), and Scott Sumner teaches at Bentley, for example. Additionally, a flood of new international students is expanding the supply of quality students. That means that the number of high-quality schools is increasing; tomorrow's top 20 will be like today's top 10, and tomorrow's top 100 will be like today's top 50.

Apply to schools outside of the top 20 -- any school in the top 100 is worth considering, especially if it is strong in areas you are interested in. If your classmates aren't as elite as you would like, that just means that you will get more attention from the professors, who almost all came out of top programs themselves. When Noah said in his earlier post that econ Ph.D. students are virtually guaranteed to get jobs in an econ-related field, that applied to schools far down in the ranking. Everyone participates in the legendary centrally managed econ job market . Very few people ever fall through the cracks.

Next -- and this should go without saying -- don't be afraid to retake the GRE. If you want to get into a top 10 school, you probably need a perfect or near-perfect score on the math portion of the GRE. For schools lower down the rankings, a good GRE math score is still important. Fortunately, the GRE math section is relatively simple to study for -- there are only a finite number of topics covered, and with a little work you can "overlearn" all of them, so you can do them even under time pressure and when you are nervous. In any case, you can keep retaking the test until you get a good score (especially if the early tries are practice tests from the GRE prep books and prep software), and then you're OK!

Here's one thing that may surprise you: Getting an econ master's degree alone won't help. Although master's degrees in economics are common among international students who apply to econ PhD programs, American applicants do just fine without a master's degree on their record. If you want that extra diploma, realize that once you are in a PhD program, you will get a master's degree automatically after two years. And if you end up dropping out of the PhD program, that master's degree will be worth more than a stand-alone master's would.

For getting into grad school, much more valuable than a master's is a stint as a research assistant in the Federal Reserve System or at a think tank -- though these days, such positions can often be as hard to get into as a Ph.D. program!

Finally -- and if you're reading this, chances are you're already doing this -- read some econ blogs. (See Miles's speculations about the future of the econ blogosphere here .) Econ blogs are no substitute for econ classes, but they're a great complement. Blogs are good for picking up the lingo of academic economists, and learning to think like an economist. Don't be afraid to write a blog either, even if no one ever reads it (you don't have to be writing at the same level as Evan Soltas or Yichuan Wang ); you can still put it on your CV, or just practice writing down your thoughts. And when you write your dissertation, and do research later on in your career, you are going to have to think for yourself outside the context of a class. One way to practice thinking critically is by critiquing others' blog posts, at least in your head.

Anyway, if you want to have intellectual stimulation and good work-life balance, and a near-guarantee of a well-paying job in your field of interest, an econ PhD could be just the thing for you. Don't be scared of the math and the jargon. We'd love to have you.

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Profile Results 2021

By hallowedelegy April 15, 2021 in PhD in Economics

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Hallowedelegy.

As the cycle is mostly over for most people, starting this thread now. Some people have been interested in knowing whether some programs have shrunk their target cohort size, so if you have that information and are willing to share, please do!

Type of Undergrad:

Undergrad GPA:

Type of Grad:

Math Courses:

Econ Courses:

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation:

Research Experience:

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests:

Acceptances:

Rejections:

What would you have done differently?

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Share on other sites, impossibiity.

Type of Undergrad: No name school from third world country

Undergrad GPA: Low but high wrt to class

Type of Grad: Top Msc worldwide

Grad GPA: Above average but nothing special

Math Courses: Maths during Msc only

Econ Courses: PhD level Macro, Micro, Metrics, Game theory, Trade, Development. IO at Msc level

Letters of Recommendation: 2 top 5% Repec, 1 top 10% Repec

Research Experience: RA during the summer

Teaching Experience: Nothing

Research Interests: Micro

Acceptances: UMN, Caltech, Rochester, Queen's University, OSU, GWU

Waitlists: Nothing

Rejections: Bonn, JHU, Cornell, Duke, Brown, UMich, PSU, UWO, Zurich, LBS, Mcgill, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, WUSTL

Pending: Manheim

Maybe I could have got in lower top 10 like Columbia or Upenn or even NYU. Was too scared to apply

Happy April 15 folks, let's get started!

Type of Undergrad: Top 50 Public (Math Honors, Econ Honors, & Engineering)

Undergrad GPA: 3.56

Type of Grad: Top 20 Private (Applied Mathematics & Statistics)

Grad GPA: 3.91

GRE: 153 V, 170 Q, 3.5 W

Math Courses: Calculus I/II/III (A,B+,A), Real Analysis I/II (B+,A-), Linear Algebra I/II (B+,A), Differential Equation (A-), Group Theory (B), Stochastic Analysis (A-,A), Bayesian Statistics (A-), Mathematical Finance (A), Stochastic Methods in Finance (A-), Analysis of Algorithm (A+), Probability & Statistics I/II (A,A), Statistical Methods in Data Analysis I/II (A,A), Graduate Level Statistical Modeling (A-), Graduate Level Probability (A), Graduate Level Linear Algebra (A), Graduate Level Statistical Inference (A), Graduate Level Data Mining (A), Graduate Level Machine Learning (A), Graduate Level Deep Learning (A)

Econ Courses: Basic/Intermediate Micro (A+,A), Basic/Intermediate Macro (A+,A), Econometrics I/II (A+,A+), Corporate Finance (A), Investment (A), Risk & Uncertainty (A+), Statistical Methods in Economics (A+), Managerial Economics (A+), International Trade (A+), Asymmetric Information (A), Honor Thesis in Economics (A)

Letters of recommendation: Economics Honor Thesis Advisor, Statistics Research Advisor, Finance Professor whom I did projects & TA.

Research Experience: 2 year of Mathematics & Statistics Research as undergraduate, 1 year of Econometrics Research & Honor Thesis as undergraduate, 1 year of Statistics and Machine Learning Research as graduate student.

Teaching Experience: 1.5 years of Corporate Finance, 1 year of Probability, 1 semester of Generalized Linear Model, 1 semester of Introductory Statistics.

Research Interests: Econometrics and Machine Learning

Acceptances: University of Washington, University of British Columbia (MA), Columbia (MA)

Rejections: Stanford, MIT, Yale, Columbia, Chicago, Virginia, Toronto, University of British Columbia, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Irvine

Comments: Overall I think it was a tough cycle as everybody knows, was not expecting much after rejected by UC Irvine (since I thought it would be my safety school with great research fit); almost settled with UBC MA and reapply next cycle, but really grateful got an offer from UW with a great fit for my research interest.

Well, I found out that the information I found at Urch was very helpful and I only figured out about Urch after I finished submitting my application (where i started to realize I did something wrong with my application). I aimed too high and probably should've spread out more in the 20-50 range instead of top 20. I still feel really happy and grateful to get an offer in this difficult cycle. Good luck everyone!

We made it guys! Congrats to everyone on getting through this hellish admissions season.

Type of Undergrad: Low-ranked, small LAC, math and econ double major

Undergrad GPA: 3.95

GRE: 167V/169Q/5.5W

Math Courses: Calc I-III (A, A-, A), Prob and Stat I-II (A,A), Topology (A), Linear Algebra (A), Mathematical Modeling (A), Abstract Algebra (A), Differential Eq (A), Intro to Proofs (B+)

Econ Courses: Intermediate macro and micro, environmental, econometrics, history of economic thought, game theory, political economy of Africa, senior research seminar, independent research course

Other Courses: object oriented programming with Java

Letters of Recommendation: From three econ professors, I think they were exceptionally strong (one of the few advantages of having gone to a small, low ranked school)

Research Experience: two independent research projects for credit, part time work as undergrad RA to professor’s consulting practice, two years public sector research since undergrad

Research Interests: labor, macro

SOP: Normal

Acceptances: University of Illinois Chicago, Tulane, Rice, Johns Hopkins (off of waitlist)

Waitlists: UC Irvine and WUSTL (I removed myself from both of these), Pittsburgh (was rejected off the waitlist; they filled up quick)

Rejections: Maryland, Minnesota, U Penn, Georgetown, Vanderbilt

Pending : UNC (I assume a rejection but they're weird lol)

Attending: Johns Hopkins

Comments: Tough year. I applied two years ago, I got some offers but for personal reasons decided to work for two years before reapplying this cycle. Obviously I had no idea how tough that would be; last time I had an offer from Pittsburgh and a waitlist from Maryland, so not getting either this time around stung a little bit. On the other hand, I was rejected outright by Hopkins last time and got an offer this time. Overall, considering where I went to undergrad and other weaknesses in my background, I am very happy with my outcome and excited to start my program.

I realized that I was interested in this path pretty late, and so there are things that I wish I’d done differently when I was younger, but I don’t think there’s anything I could have done differently in my applications.

PROFILE : Chinese national with US undergrad with Math and Econ, Top 5 Econ RA

Type of Undergrad : top 30-40 US News Private with a relatively weak(ranked below 60/70, relatively weak publication-wise but teaching is very good) Econ Dept

Undergrad GPA : 3.81, Econ 3.91, Math 3.96

Type of Grad : None

Grad GPA : None

GRE : 158+170+4.5

Math Courses : linear algebra, calculus I II III, abstract algebra, probability and stats, undergrad real analysis I II, undergrad topology, complex analysis, stochastic processes, PhD real analysis, PhD Topology I, all A/A+ except phd analysis

Econ Courses : normal stuff, with PhD Micro I at Undergrad, all A/A+ except A- in intro micro(never went to class in freshman year) and Chinese Economy

Other Courses : python in business analytics

Letters of Recommendation : 1 joint letter from current PIs(both working on energy IO, 1 is top5% repec), 1 math PI from undergrad, 1 teaching/metrics class reference from undergrad

Research Experience : 1 year part time RA at undergrad with math PI(game theory), 2 year full time RA at top econ dept(energy IO); 1 senior thesis in game theory

Teaching Experience : 2 year econ TA(intro micro, undergrad metrics); 3 year math grader/TA/tutor(stats, calculus, linear algebra)

Research Interests : IO, currently working on Energy IO

SOP : boring stuff about previous exp, a somewhat doable research proposal, and not exactly tailored to each program(no pointing names in SOP), but has worked on it with my PIs since August

Other : applied 2 years ago to top 20 as undergrad, got all rejected; was somewhat confident seeing previous placements at my RA job, so had a relatively high expectation on mine as well; submit everything the weekend before thanksgiving

Acceptances : UT Austin, Maryland, BC, UBC

Waitlists : Northwestern, UCSD, Wisconsin, UC Davis, (BC, UBC)

Rejections : US News top 20 Dept except for Penn, UMN and Brown, BU, LSE, Toronto

Pending : None

Attending : Maryland

Comments : I was def a bit frustrated that I cannot go to top-ranked programs like my former and current colleagues, but it is what it is and I'm happy for them since they deserve it! And more importantly I'm happy now that I get to a good place with awesome faculty that fits my research focus.

From what Ive learnt from rejection letter or contact with depts, Wisconsin sent out around 90 offers to get a class size of 25-30; BC is targeting 12; UCSD is aiming for around 20?

I wish I had a better GPA, somehow gave programs some more tailored info on SOP, probably not taking a gap year before college so I would be in last year's market lol

Type of Undergrad: USNEWS ~ Top 75 US University (nontechnical major)

Undergrad GPA: 3.54

Type of Grad (1): USNEWS ~ Top 150 US University, Top 5 in my undergrad field (nontechnical major, withdrew early to study economics)

Grad GPA (1): 3.93

Type of Grad (2): USNEWS ~ Top 150 US University, ~ Top 100 Econ (Non-degree undergrad courses for 1 year and an MA in Econ)

Grad GPA (2): 4.0

GRE: 158V, 166Q, 4.5AWA

Math Courses: None in formal undergrad.

• Undergrad: Calc I-III (A+/A+/A), Probability and Statistics (A), Differential Equations (A), Linear Algebra (A+), Analysis (A)
• Grad: Math Analysis I/II (A, TBA), Linear Algebra (TBA), Stochastic Processes (A+), Probability Theory (A)
• Undergrad: Principles of Micro/Macro (A+/A), Intermediate Micro/Macro (A+/A+), Econometrics (A)
• Grad: Math for Econ (A), Micro I-II (A/A), Macro I-II (A/A), Econometrics I-III (A+/A/TBA)

Other Courses: A basic CS course (A)

Letters of Recommendation: I had four letters, all from current professors at my institution. Likely fairly strong, but I am not a mind reader.

Teaching Experience: Lots of TA experience (mainly in undergrad/grad macro and metrics).

Research Interests: Macroeconomics and Econometrics, perhaps Empirical IO, all broadly speaking

SOP: I explained my unorthodox background, why I want to become an economist, my coursework and RA experiences, and what I'm interested in researching. I adjusted it slightly for each school.

Other: RA for two professors at my MA university, currently coauthoring with them.

Acceptances: Penn State ($), Michigan State ($), my current university ($)

Waitlists: CMU (probably unofficial, withdrew)

Rejections: Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, UCSD, NYU, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Cornell, UT, WUSTL

Pending: Washington (withdrew), Rochester (withdrew)

Attending: Penn State

Comments: My professors told me to target schools between ~8-30 in the rankings. I'm not sure if we overshot a bit, especially given the craziness this year and my weird profile. But all in all, I'm quite satisfied with the outcome - I honestly didn't think I'd get accepted anywhere. I also withheld a bit of information on my previous studies for personal privacy.

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 LAC, but with little econ research activity.

Undergrad GPA: 3.63

Type of Grad: n/a

Grad GPA: ​ n/a

GRE: 165V / 167Q / 5.5 AW

Math Courses: Calc III ©, Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis I (A), Real Analysis II (A), Real Analysis III (A), ODEs (A-), Prob (A), Math Stats (A)

Econ Courses: Way too many at the undergrad level. All As

Letters of Recommendation: No one remotely famous, but 2 from highly productive researchers who publish well at my predoc. The other from a LAC professor who knows me very well/went to a prestigious university.

Research Experience: Two senior theses (one being an applied micro paper for a poverty studies minor, no idea if anyone took this seriously). Two year predoc. One coauthored pub at a niche journal, another coauthored paper currently waiting on someone's desk at AER.

Teaching Experience: Nada.

Research Interests: Public, labor, tax-related items, and macro-labor. Will inevitably draw upon some I/O and more structural concepts.

SOP: Standard stuff. One IP tailored to each school. Feel good about my current research agenda.

Other: Upward trend in grades. Hoped that schools would ignore my first year grades.

Acceptances: UVA ($$), WUSTL ($$$), UMD

Waitlists: Northwestern

Rejections: UC-Berkeley, UCSD, Michigan, Wisconsin, Cornell, Duke, Minnesota, CMU, JHU, BC, UT-Austin, UC-Davis, UW, Vandy, UCSB, Rice, UC-Irvine, Georgetown, Georgia

Pending: UNC

Attending: UVA

Comments: Very difficult choice. Super excited to to continue to be a math nerd. All of my safeties rejecting me relatively early on (admittedly) frightened me, but I feel happy with my outcome.

There were pretty reasonable holes in my profile. There's no way to go back and tell my 18 year old self to perform better or to go to a school with an econ PhD program for my undergrad (this can hurt you). For future applicants, I'd strongly recommend starting applications *very* early. Try to have your SOP and letter writers together over the summer. Fill in most/all of the applications for each school in the first weeks that applictions are open, then iteratively edit everything. Doing this forces you to think about and be very aware of what schools are looking for. By the time application deadlines roll around and you have to submit, your applications should be drum tight and your final list of schools should be nailed down. I mostly filled out applications in the 2-3 weeks leading up to deadlines and noticed a significant improvement in my applications and their outcomes for those that I submitted later. I simply got better at writing these things as time went on. You want to put your best foot forward on *all* of your applications.

Otherwise, I'm happy that I applied to a ton of schools and wish that I stayed off grad cafe a little more.

Type of Undergrad : Physics degree from no name school in the UK

Undergrad GPA : High 2.1

Type of Grad : One year masters in economics from a decent school in Europe

Grad GPA : Above average

GRE : 165Q, 158V, 4.5W (didn't submit to most schools)

Math Courses : All courses in undergrad were math heavy

Econ Courses : None in undergrad, grad level micro/macro/econometrics in master's

Other Courses :

Letters of Recommendation : 2 from RA stint (well known professor at a top 5 school in the US, an AP at a top 15 school in the US), 1 from master's

Research Experience : 2 years RA at a research organization in a developing country

Teaching Experience : Econ dept math/statistics TA during master's

Research Interests : Development economics

SOP : Talked about transition to economics, the work I did as an RA

Acceptances : UC Davis ARE

Waitlists : Cornell AEM

Rejections : Columbia Sustainable Development, Berkeley ARE, UCSD, UCLA, Michigan, Maryland, UT Austin, UW Seattle, Duke, BU, BC, UBC

Attending :

Happy with my one acceptance but should've applied to econ programs outside the top 25, especially in such a competitive year.

guessandverify

Congrats everyone, these are great results.

My case is fairly unusual, so probably doesn't generalize well. (Essentially, I had to suddenly deal with a chronic disease during my undergrad. While I was getting medical care, had a tough time studying. But was fine afterwards.)

Type of Undergrad: Mid-tier American private university

Undergrad GPA: Less than 3.2

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: Very high (took some grad courses during predoc)

GRE: 170Q, 167V, 5.0W

Math Courses: Mix of grad and undergrad. Did very well in some (As in PhD topology sequence) and very poorly in others (F in analytic number theory)

Econ Courses: Mix of grad and undergrad. Same as above.

Other Courses: N/A

Letters: I think these were very strong

Research Experience: Some in undergrad, including NSF REU. 2 year predoc (not Top 5)

Teaching: N/A

SOP: I think this was fine. Mentioned some specific lines of inquiry/papers.

Other: Am coauthor on a working paper. Am not an under-represented minority. Strong software development background and intend to do computational work.

Acceptances: Rutgers, Simon Fraser, WUSTL (off waitlist), Carnegie Mellon, Virginia

Waitlists: Virginia (priority waitlist for 1st year funding)

Rejections: Cambridge, Oxford, Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, UT Austin, UC Santa Barbara, Boston College, Penn State, UBC

Pending: UNC Chapel Hill, Ohio State

Attending: Carnegie Mellon ( normal cohort size )

Not gotten sick during undergrad. I think conditional on that, I did more or less what I could.

Applying to a ton of schools was definitely the right call this year.

Type of Undergrad: T5 LAC

Undergrad GPA: 3.99/4.0 (4.0 in Math and Econ)

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 167V/169Q/6.0AW

Math Courses: Linear Algebra, Applied Topology, Real Analysis, Regression Analysis, Measure Theory & Probability, Differential Equations, Abstract Algebra, Indep. Study on Stochastic Calculus (measure-theoretic from Oksendal (2003)), Bayesian Statistics, Applied PDEs (covered functional analysis & numerical methods)

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Seminar in Theoretical Macrofinance, Game Theory, Adv. Econometrics (VARs, SVARs), Financial History, Indep. Study on Research in Continuous-Time Macrofinance, Seminar in Labor Economics, Honors Thesis

Other Courses : Intro to CS (Python), remaining courses were not quantitative or economics-related

Letters of Recommendation: (1) Undergrad advisor (2) Direct supervising economist at Fed (3) Joint letter from another Fed economist and a well-published tenured professor at a T10.

First two letter writers have sent multiple students to Top 5 schools in recent history and likely compared me to them as equally good or better. First letter is very strong b/c I am a co-author with them on 3 papers; they advised my thesis; and they have told me and others that they consider me "a co-author" rather than just a student. Second letter is nearly as strong as the first. Third letter is also strong b/c I worked extensively for them as an RA for a published paper and for an internal Fed briefing.

Research Experience

- 4 Papers w/ undergrad advisor: 1 under review at a T5 journal; 1 under review at low-ranked field; 3rd is work in progress; 4th is my senior thesis (may be re-written in the future); all 4 used continuous-time methods from Brunnermeier and Sannikov (2014)

- 2 Years at Fed: RA for a published paper in a journal like NBER Macro Annual, Brookings; co-author on working paper with a HANK model; co-author on 2 internal briefings

Teaching Experience: Undergrad TA for 6 math & econ courses (held TA sessions and graded problem sets). 2 most adv. courses were Measure Theory and Seminar on Theoretical Macrofinance

Research Interests : Macroeconomics, Finance (espc. Business Cycle Theory, Macrofinance, Applied Theory, Computational Methods)

SOP : I described my research experience in undergrad and postgrad. If there were faculty at the school whose research I've read and my SOP did not reach the word count yet, then I mentioned my interest in these faculty by citing papers I have read. I based my SOP off the SOPs of other successful RAs from the Fed at which I worked.

Other : I have contributions on GitHub to a couple open-sources packages in economics and applied math.

Acceptances: MIT (36k for years 1-2, 35k for years 3-5), Stanford (46k), UChicago (43k), Princeton (36k), UChicago Booth (43.5k for years 1-4, 36.5k for year 5, 33k for year 6), Harvard (from WL)

Withdrew application before hearing back: UCLA, UC Berkeley, Univ. of Rochester, LSE, Yale, Univ. of Minnesota, UPenn, Northwestern, NYU, NYU Stern (UCLA, Yale, and NYU Stern still issued me explicit rejections, so they may have evaluated my application anyway)

Waitlists : Stanford GSB Finance

Rejections: HBS (received an interview)

Attending: MIT

Comments: After my admission to Stanford in January, my direct supervisor at the Fed said that I ought to withdraw my application early from schools whose programs are strictly dominated by Stanford's (for macro, at least). This way, admissions committees at other schools could offer a spot to someone else rather than waste time on me if I almost surely was going to pick Stanford over them. After receiving admission from MIT, I turned down more schools.

On the business school interviews, while HBS's interview was a straightforward "talk to me about your research experience and interests" interview, both Stanford GSB and UChicago Booth asked more "complicated" questions like "Why choose our school?, "When was a time you encountered an adverse situation and how did you go about overcoming it? Did you come up with creative solutions to your problems?", and "Describe a time in which you had a disagreement with someone and how did you go about navigating the disagreement."

What would you have done differently? Nothing really. I'm happy to have done my 2 years at the Fed and learned a lot, even if it may not necessarily have been necessary to get into a top 5 program. I'm confident that there will be long term benefits from having done the predoc.

Type of Undergrad: The best program in my country, unknown in the USA, Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.83

Type of Grad: MSc in Econ and MSc in Finance (not finished), the same institution as the undergraduate one

Grad GPA: 3.84

GRE: 154V/168Q/4.0AW

Math Courses: Real analysis, Calculus, Multivariable Calculus, Intro to Statistics, Theoretical Statistics,

Econ Courses : Microeconomics and Econometrics(graduate), intermediate micro and macro, Time Series Analysis, Financial Economics, International Finance, etc.

Letters of Recommendation: I had 4 letters - 1 senior professor from the top 5, 1 Associate Professor from the top 10, 2 professors from my master's and undergrad

Research Experience: 1 year RA + worked for 2 years at the central bank in my country

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: macroeconomics

SOP: Generic one, almost the same for every school

Acceptances: Northwestern,UC Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison

Waitlists: UCSD, UMichigan

Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, UChicago, Princeton, Yale, NYU, Columbia, NYU Stern, Booth, HBS

Attending: Northwestern University

What would you have done differently? I would start preparing everything earlier, but I am still very satisfied with the outcome

Winnythepooh

Type of Undergrad: B.S. (Honors) Mathematics and Economics from the top 15 in US

Undergrad GPA: 4.0 (My school doesn't have A+)

Type of Grad : N/A

GRE: Q170 ,V157, AWA4.0

Math Courses Undergrad: Linear Algebra (A), Calculus I-III (A), Analysis I-II (A), Abstract Algebra I-II (A), Logic (A), Linear Optimization (A), Topology (A), Complex Analysis (A)

Math Courses Grad: Differentiable Manifolds (A), ODE (A), Two semesters of Ph.D. analysis sequence (both A), Measure-theoretic probability (A), Stochastic analysis (A), Modern discrete probability (A)

Econ Courses Undergrad: Intro to micro and macro (A), Intermediate micro (A), Intermediate macro (A), Econometrics (A), Game Theory (A), IO (A), Growth theory (A), Independent research (A), Honors thesis (IP)

Econ Courses Grad: Two semesters of Ph.D. micro sequence (both A), First semester of Ph.D. macro sequence (A), Advanced micro theory (A)

Other courses: Two programming classes in Java and Matlab

- Math Professor whom I did research with (Very strong - the best student he has ever had for 20 years)

- Assistant Professor from intermediate macro and growth theory classes (Strong)

- Well-known professor in micro sequence whom I did research with over the past summer (Strong)

- Two years of math research in dynamical systems with the first LOR writer (1 working paper & 1 in-progress)

- Math REU at U. Chicago over the past summer about optimal stopping time

- One semester of independent research class on matching theory

- Research on games in contracts with the third LOR writer over the past summer

- Honors thesis about search theory (I didn't have a strong relationship with my advisor, so I didn't have him writing a rec letter for me)

Teaching Experience: TA for analysis, combinatorics, and stochastic process classes

Research Interests: Microeconomic theory (Game Theory, Information economics)

SOP: How I can use my problem-solving skills from math competition to solve problems in economic theory and help my research in theory. I also make a connection between what I learn from math class and my potential research topic in the future.

Other information: IMO silver medalist for three years and Putnam top 50 for three years.

Acceptances: MIT ($$$), Princeton ($$$), UC-Berkeley ($$), Yale ($$$), Caltech ($$$), U. Penn ($), U. Michigan ($$$)

Waitlists: Northwestern, Harvard

Rejections: Stanford, Columbia, U. Chicago

Attending: MIT!

Comments: After I got the offer from MIT, I withdrew applications from many colleges (UCSD, UCLA, UW-Madison, U. Rochester, BU, BC, UT-Austin...Yes, I was so desperate that I would not get in any program, so I applied a lot). What I was concerned most about was that I did not let my thesis advisor write the letter (If you want to know why, see my previous forum: Profile Evaluation for 2021 and concerns about LOR (www.urch.com) ), so I was afraid this was a red flag to ad com showing that my thesis was bad. The first offer from MIT relieved me a lot! I was so glad that ad com didn't take it into account.

What would you have done differently? I am happy with my results so far. Maybe I should have done application materials earlier so that I didn't have to be stressed out during late November and December. I should have applied to fewer schools and save those money for travelling lol.

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 institution in my home country

Undergrad GPA: 3.8/4.0, Major in Econ, Minor in Math. I graduated a semester early

Type of Grad: the same institution as undergrad

Grad GPA: 3.93, M.S. in Econ (not finished yet)

GRE: V166/Q170/WA4.0

Math Courses: Calc1,2 , Multivariable Calc, Advanced Calc 1, Linear Algebra 1,2 ,Differential Equations, Real Analysis, Numerical Analysis, ect,. Mostly A+/A with two A-s and two B-s(Calc 1 and a computation class; had a hard time catching up on Calc 1, but I think it didn’t matter a lot in the end since I did well on more advanced courses )

Econ Courses: Usual undergrad/grad courses, all A+ except for a B+ on undergrad macro and A- on grad macro (macro is my weakness)

Other Courses: Several undergrad statistics courses, mostly A+ with one B+

Letters of Recommendation: I think they were strong/pretty decent at least (but who knows…)

Research Experience: Several short term R.A. for professors that I took courses in, 2 monthes research internship at a private finance research institution, two national research competition awards ( work published in conference proceedings)

Teaching Experience: T.A. for four undergrad courses

Research Interests: Microeconometrics(applied/theory)

SOP: Talked mainly about my experience working on the research projects that were awarded at the national competitions and how it motivated me to pursue doctoral studies.

Other: Alternate candidate for the Fulbright scholarship (will decline soon)

Acceptances: UT Austin($), TAMU(waitlisted for funding)

Waitlists: WUSTL(waitlist->rejection) , Wisconsin-Madison(waitlist->rejection), MSU (waitlist->decline), UC Irvine (radio silence, don’t know what happened)

Rejections: Yale, Northwestern, UCLA, Cornell, Duke, BC, U of Arizona, Purdue, Georgetown, USC, Rice(declined interview)

Attending: UT Austin

Comments: It really frustrated me how so many schools sent out their decisions in several rounds or kept a really long waitlist this year. I was super anxious for the past three months, got a bad insomnia and lost several pounds. I can’t say that I am attending my dream school, but I am happy and grateful that I can continue my studies at a solid department with professors that fit my research interests.

What would you have done differently? Nothing in terms of preparation, since I honestly tried my best. Maybe I should have applied to more schools in the top 5~30 range, since I ended up getting outright rejections from many lower ranked schools despite being at least waitlisted/ waiting for several rounds before being rejected from higher ranked programs. I felt that research fit plays an important role in the admission process, especially for students like me who has a specific/quite narrow field of interest.

Type of Undergrad: Top 5 Econ

Undergrad GPA : 3.3

Grad GPA : N/A

GRE : 168Q/166V/4.5W

Math Courses : Multivariable Calculus (P - took on pass/fail), Linear Algebra and Differential Equations ©, Intro to Stats ©, Intro to Stats retake under different course name (A-), Linear Algebra & Real Analysis I (A-), Real Analysis Convexity & Optimization (A-)

Econ Courses : Macro (C+), Micro (B+), Metrics (A-), Independent Research Seminar (A), Honors Thesis (A), Case Studies in Economic Development (A-), Poverty and Impact Evaluation (A-), Intro Econ (A)

Letters of Recommendation : (1) undergraduate thesis advisor, top economist in my field (2) pre-doc supervisor, top economist in my field (3) pre-doc supervisor, younger economist in my field

Research Experience : undergrad thesis, undergrad RA 3 semesters, pre-doc/full-time RA 3 years at top 5 universities

Teaching Experience : N/A

Research Interests : Development, environment, applied micro

SOP : tailored last paragraph mentioning school faculty members

Acceptances : UC Berkeley ARE, Duke Econ, Chicago Harris, U Maryland Econ, U Maryland Ag Econ, UCSB Econ, UC Davis Ag Econ, UC Santa Cruz Econ

Waitlists : HKS Public Policy (didn't see through til the end), Brown Econ (rejected), UCLA Econ (accepted)

Rejections : LSE Econ, Northwestern Econ, UCSD Econ, Chicago Booth Econ, Michigan PPol + Econ joint, Boston College Econ, Boston U Econ, Columbia Econ, NYU Econ

Attending : UC Berkeley ARE

What would you have done differently?: Obviously I would have gotten better grades in undergrad, or taken more courses after undergrad, and maybe applied to a few more higher ranked schools. But overall extremely happy with my results given my profile!

Type of Undergrad : top liberal arts college in my country, somewhat well known in the US

Undergrad GPA: 3.88

Type of Grad : T10

Grad GPA : 3.9

GRE : 170Q / 166V / 5.0AW

Math Courses : Linear Algebra (A), Math for econ I (A), Math for econ II (B+), real analysis I (A)

Econ Courses : Advanced micro (H), advanced macro (H), econometrics (multiple, all A/H), advanced development economics (H)

Letters of Recommendation : 1 from DGS at grad school who was also my thesis advisor, 2 Assistant Profs who are my current PIs.

Research Experience : 1.5 years of field and 1.5 years of data RA work

Teaching Experience : none

Research Interests : Development, political economy, gender

SOP : Surprised myself when I realized that my SOP had a very common theme aligned with my interests straight from undergrad. This was especially apparent in the kinds of research I've undertaken independently, as well as with my PIs. Also tailored SOP for the institutions, mentioned profs and their work that was relevant to my interests.

Acceptances : Berkeley ARE, UCSD, Georgetown, McGill, Bocconi, NYU, BU, HKS PPOL, UCL

Waitlists : Northwestern (eventually rejected), U-WM (and asked to be taken off)

Rejections : Cornell AEM, Yale & Columbia (both because they already had my GRE and application fee was waived, would not have applied otherwise), Brown, Michigan (econ+ppol), Duke ppol

Attending : HKS PPOL ( normal cohort size)

Comments : Fee waivers were my best friend during this process! I also wanted something slightly more multi-disciplinary and HKS was the best fit. I guess strategically going to an econ department would have made more sense. I was really looking for where I have good support systems and where I can stay slightly outside econ but still interact with some great economists! I also feel like I would end up outside of academia in 6+ years, but who knows.

What would you have done differently? Didn't have many math course options to take during undergrad, so can't even go back to my undergrad self and ask them to take more math! Definitely was a great decision to not do math in grad school and instead focus on fun courses, and do real analysis online later. Wasn't expecting most of the acceptances I got, so I'm pretty satisfied (including the months of application + refreshing grad cafe stress).

Type of Undergrad: Top 75 USWNR, Large State School

Undergrad GPA: 3.71

GRE: 167Q / 164V / 4.5

from undergrad: business calc I,II (A,A), Business stats (A);

After undergrad, through state school online: Calc I-III (A+,A+,A-), Linear Algebra (A+), Intro to Proofs (A+), Intro to Analysis (A), Stats (IP)

Econ Courses: Intro micro/macro (A,A,), Int Micro/macro (A,A), Environmental (A), Public (A), Comparative Systems (A), Intro Econometrics (B), Adv Econometrics (A), Game theory (B), a few seminar courses (all A's)

Other Courses: Nothing relevant

Letters of Recommendation: all from undergrad professors, all full/distinguished profs but not famous

Research Experience: Basically none, tried to tie my work experience to research but it's not really a research role

Teaching Experience: ​ some math tutoring, nothing else

Research Interests: Public/ Political economy/applied micro. Listed some potential research areas that are very niche but related to my work experience (4 years)

SOP: Pretty good I think, got some help from a relative on copy-editing. Tailored for each school as much as possible.

Acceptances: Clemson ($$$), UC Irvine (Off waitlist, $$), CU Boulder ($$$, off waitlist after 4/15)

Waitlists: UC Irvine (Accepted), CU Boulder (Accepted after 4/15), USC (rejected)

Rejections: Chicago Harris (had a fee waiver, otherwise wouldn't have tried), Duke, UCSD, UCSB, UVA, UMich, Vanderbilt, BU, UT Austin, Georgetown

Pending: Maryland, UNC (never heard back from either, obviously rejections)

Attending: UC Irvine

Comments: I knew I would be a controversial applicant given my lack of research experience and several years of work experience, plus starting from scratch on math at a less prestigious university (& online). Really hard to say if I would've placed higher in a normal year, I think my letter writers thought I would but they don't send students to PhD programs that often, so I think they were basing it on placements from 5-10 years ago who did much better. Different game now.

UCI has a reduced cohort this year, target was 12 compared to 20 in a normal year. Great research fit and seemingly super-positive environment. Very grateful they were willing to take a chance on me.

What would you have done differently? The classic answer is gotten into research earlier and started math courses earlier, and of course that's true, but I had other focuses and interests in undergrad and I wouldn't give up those experiences for anything. No regrets on the application side either, I applied to my undergrad feeling comfortable that they would accept me, and only wanted to go somewhere else if it was considerably higher ranked so I didn't apply to anything below top-50 besides my alma mater. I have a two-body problem with a partner in industry, and California is super far away so that sucks, but I avoided applying anywhere that was difficult to get to (penn state, michigan state, etc).

Dazedprospect

Type of Undergrad:Large state school

Undergrad GPA: 3.48 (econ and math are 3.9+)

Math Courses: Calc 1-3 (A), Intro to Proof Writing (A), Linear Algebra (A), Abstract Algebra (A), Real Analysis (A), First year econometrics (A-)

Econ Courses: Intro/Intermediate Micro Macro (A), Advanced Micro/Game Theory (A), Labor economics (A), Analysis of Asia (A), Research seminar (A), International Economics (A), Economics of sports (A), Intro Econometrics (A), Advanced Econometrics (A), probably more idk

Letters of Recommendation: (1) from research advisor who I wrote senior paper for and then RA'd for (2) advanced metrics prof (3) intro metrics prof

Research Experience: ~9mo

Teaching Experience: Year of TA for intro micro/macro

Research Interests: Development, labor, health

SOP: Pretty mediocre most likely, but good enough to not be thrown out

Acceptances: University of Washington, UT-Austin

Waitlists: University of Virginia (withdrew from WL)

Rejections: Maryland, Penn State, Rice, Wisconsin

Pending: UNC (probably rejection)

Attending: Washington

Comments: Hard cycle. Happy to have acceptances though. My cumulative GPA is low from my first year of college with irrelevant classes. Was on academic probation my first year, so it's pretty distorted by that. Grades after that are much better.

What would you have done differently? Generic answer of take more math early on, but truthfully I had no idea I would be down this path so what can ya do. I am also coming straight from undergrad so in hindsight I should've applied for RAships before applying. Also should've applied to more schools, especially this year. Lucky to have gotten anything applying so narrowly.

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• INOMICS Salary Report

Is an Economics PhD Worth It? The PhD Pay Premium

Read a summary or generate practice questions using the INOMICS AI tool

Economics students may often wonder if doing a PhD is the right move for them. After all, you can still get a good job in economics with just a Master’s degree. We’ve covered different angles of this topic before with helpful advice about what degree you’ll need as an economist , asking whether you should do a PhD , and even asking what kinds of economists are paid the most . Thanks to INOMICS Salary Report 2023 data, we can look more closely at the pay benefit for an economics PhD in today’s job market. This will help you decide if doing an economics PhD will be worth it for your own career.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the typical PhD in economics earns more than the typical economist with “only” a Master’s degree. But how much more? Is doing an economics PhD program worth it in the long term?

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The short answer: yes. INOMICS Salary Report data shows that in 2023, economics PhDs earned on average 96% more than economists with a Master’s degree. These are worldwide statistics taken from the full breadth of the INOMICS Salary Survey data.

The benefit to doing a PhD in economics varies by region. Figure 1 compares the “earnings premium” that an economics PhD has over economists with a Master’s degree across the world, using 2023 INOMICS Salary Survey data.

Figure 1: Regional Premiums in economics PhD pay compared to a Master’s

Clearly, in most regions acquiring a PhD in economics offers quite the premium. Some results may stand out as surprising, however.

First, in North America in particular, the premium for earning a PhD in economics seems smaller than expected. If a PhD only earns an economist an extra 36% increase in wages, ignoring a PhD and continuing to work might seem like a preferred option in this high-wage region.

In the Caribbean, South & Central America and Africa, PhD earnings are below Master’s earnings. This unexpected result appears to be the case due to the distribution of survey respondents. In both regions, the amount of industry economist respondents is much larger than academic respondents, and Master’s-degree-holding economists outnumber PhD economists in Government, Central & International Bank, and private business roles. These three categories of employer tend to pay more highly than others. This suggests that in these two regions, acquiring a PhD may not be necessary to have a well-compensated industry career. Further, it seems more realistic for Master’s-degree-holding economists to attain high-paying roles in these sectors without a PhD, as opposed to many other regions where a PhD would be considered a requirement.

As the previous discussion just showed, Figure 1 doesn’t account for the different sectors that economists work in. In general, economists who work in industry tend to earn very high wages, while economists who work in academia earn noticeably less until they are finally promoted to a full Professor of Economics. Then, academic economist pay catches up to industry pay. This is a trend noted in multiple editions of the INOMICS Salary Report.

This is particularly true in North America, the highest-paying region on average. Economists working in industry can earn high wages with only a Master’s degree. This is also true of Western Europe & Scandinavia and East Asia & Australasia, the second and third highest-paying regions identified by the Report.

Some other regions of the world feature much more of a premium for PhD economists. Part of the reason for this is clear. Since high-paying regions like Western Europe and Australasia pay higher salaries to begin with due to the higher cost of living, a high pay increase in these regions represents a lower percentage of overall pay.

This fact is supported by the graph; North America is the highest-paying region and features the lowest positive percentage increase in pay for PhDs. Western Europe, which pays the second most on average, features a slightly higher percentage increase. Readers should make no mistake; a 35.6% increase from a base salary of $100,833 (the average Master’s degree economist salary in North America) is a massive increase in pay. Comparably, the almost 120% increase in pay in the Middle East, Central Asia & North Africa region is an increase from an average Master’s degree salary of $17,321 to almost $40,000. In percentage terms, this is obviously enormous, but in cash terms less than the difference in North America.

Additionally, however, the high percentage premium for PhD economists in lower-paying regions may suggest that in these regions (i.e., South Asia, Middle East) there are more opportunities for economists without a PhD to find meaningful employment, so fewer individuals elect to study for a PhD. If this is true, those who do complete a PhD enjoy a high pay premium over their economist peers since economics PhDs are more rare in those regions.

Academic economists need a PhD

Economics students should keep in mind that academic jobs will almost certainly require a PhD in economics. Economics students interested in a career in academia should therefore be strongly encouraged to pursue an economics PhD, regardless of differences in pay. The following Figure 2 shows the pay premium for economists employed at universities, by region:

Figure 2: Regional Premiums in economics PhD pay compared to a Master’s (Academic only)

The pay premiums for economics PhDs tells the story quite clearly: across the board, in every world region, economics PhDs in academia earn much more than their counterparts without a PhD.

Readers might note that this graph is likely skewed because economics PhDs are probably more senior economists than economists without a PhD in academic settings, and likely hold higher-level positions; but this skewness supports the point. Economists interested in a serious career in academia must strongly consider getting a PhD, or have a specific reason to not need one. It is very difficult to earn a Professor of Economics position without a PhD in most of the world. Figure 3 below provides evidence to support this point.

Figure 3: % of Master’s degree economists in Professor roles by region

Figure 3 shows very clearly that burgeoning economists should expect to earn a PhD if they wish to work as a Professor of Economics in the future. Every world region has very few Professors with just a Master’s degree. Even in South Asia, which has by far the largest representation for Professors with a Master’s degree in our data, only 20% of Professors have a Master’s while 80% have a PhD.

Industry economist roles

It’s clear that academic economists usually need a PhD, but this isn’t necessarily the case in industry. However, readers may be curious to repeat the above breakdowns in industry roles, which can be instructive. Figure 4 thus shows the pay premium for PhD economists in industry roles by region:

Figure 4: Regional Premiums in economics PhD pay compared to a Master’s (Industry only)

Figure 4 shows that PhD economists out-earn Master’s-holding economists in industry jobs by a substantial amount in most regions. The lower industry PhD economist pay compared to Master’s degree economists was already discussed above for Africa and the Caribbean. In summary, Master’s degree holding economists outnumber PhD economists in Government, Central & International Bank, and private business roles in these two regions. Since these three categories of employer tend to pay more highly than others, it may slightly skew the graph in favor of Master’s degree holders. However, this suggests that in these two regions, acquiring a PhD may not be necessary to have a well-compensated industry career.

In North America, part of the reason for a lower than expected premium is likely the fact that in this high-paying region, high base salaries mean that salary increases will be lower percentage-wise. This was discussed above as well. Average years of experience are quite comparable for industry economists in North America (about 12 for Master’s degree holders and 15 for PhD holders), and the employer distribution is relatively balanced.

Figure 4 suggests that industry economists with a Master’s degree in North America ought to consider their career path and whether a PhD is right for them before going back to school. A PhD opens up some employment opportunities in the private sector that aren’t available to Master’s degree holders, and will increase pay, but whether or not that is necessary or desired is likely up to the individual.

Keep in mind that specific non-academic employers – especially governments, central banks like the Federal Reserve, institutions seeking economics researchers, NGOs like the World Bank, and even increasingly consulting firms – are likely to require an econ PhD for some higher-level positions. Be sure to check job listings for economics jobs that you’re interested in to see if a PhD might help you reach them in your career.

Comparing previous years: PhD earnings on the rise again

Using past years of INOMICS survey data, we can examine how the benefit to doing an economics PhD has changed over time. It appears that the premium in pay that economics PhDs enjoy is recovering after a slight dip during the pandemic years. See below Figure 5 below:

Figure 5: How much more PhD economists earn vs. Master’s economists by year, INOMICS data

Figure 5 shows that earnings for economics PhDs are once again rising relative to pay for economists without a PhD. It’s worth noting that pay for economists with both degree types has increased this year. According to the latest INOMICS Salary Report, economists with a Master’s as their highest degree experienced a 3.2% increase in pay on average since 2022, while those with a PhD have experienced a 35.9% increase. This has widened the earnings premium between the two categories from 80% in 2022 to 91% in 2023.

The dip in pay that economists experienced in 2022 may be partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And PhD pay is not the only factor that appears to be improving since COVID. The post-pandemic recovery of the economics jobs market has already been discussed by INOMICS, showing that earnings for economists with Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees recovered sharply after the first waves of the pandemic.

So, is doing a PhD in economics right for you? According to the data, in most cases it will be. However, you must weigh the tradeoffs yourself. You may not need a PhD to have a fulfilling career in economics, particularly if you plan to work in a non-governmental and non-central bank role in industry, and particularly in certain countries and regions.

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The complete guide to getting into an economics PhD program

Back in May, Noah wrote about the amazingly good deal that is the PhD in economics. Why? Because:

• You get a job.
• You get autonomy.
• You get intellectual fulfillment.
• The risk is low.
• Unlike an MBA, law, or medical degree, you don’t have to worry about paying the sticker price for an econ PhD:  After the first year, most schools will give you teaching assistant positions that will pay for the next several years of graduate study, and some schools will take care of your tuition and expenses even in the first year. (See Miles’s companion post  for more about costs of graduate study and how econ PhD’s future earnings makes it worthwhile, even if you can’t get a full ride.)

Of course, such a good deal won’t last long now that the story is out, so you need to act fast! Since he wrote his post , Noah has received a large number of emails asking the obvious follow-up question: “How do I get into an econ PhD program?” And Miles has been asked the same thing many times by undergraduates and other students at the University of Michigan. So here, we present together our guide for how to break into the academic Elysium called Econ PhD Land:

(Note: This guide is mainly directed toward native English speakers, or those from countries whose graduate students are typically fluent in English, such as India and most European countries. Almost all highly-ranked graduate programs teach economics in English, and we find that students learn the subtle non-mathematical skills in economics better if English is second nature. If your nationality will make admissions committees wonder about your English skills, you can either get your bachelor’s degree at a—possibly foreign—college or university where almost all classes are taught in English, or you will have to compensate by being better on other dimensions. On the bright side, if you are a native English speaker, or from a country whose graduate students are typically fluent in English, you are already ahead in your quest to get into an economics PhD.)

Here is the not-very-surprising list of things that will help you get into a good econ PhD program:

• good grades, especially in whatever math and economics classes you take,
• a good score on the math GRE,
• some math classes and a statistics class on your transcript,
• research experience, and definitely at least one letter of recommendation from a researcher,
• a demonstrable interest in the field of economics.

Chances are, if you’re asking for advice, you probably feel unprepared in one of two ways. Either you don’t have a sterling math background, or you have quantitative skills but are new to the field of econ. Fortunately, we have advice for both types of applicant.

If you’re weak in math…

Fortunately, if you’re weak in math, we have good news:  Math is something you can learn . That may sound like a crazy claim to most Americans, who are raised to believe that math ability is in the genes. It may even sound like arrogance coming from two people who have never had to struggle with math. But we’ve both taught people math for many years, and we really believe that it’s true. Genes help a bit, but math is like a foreign language or a sport: effort will result in skill.

Here are the math classes you absolutely should take to get into a good econ program:

• Linear algebra
• Multivariable calculus

Here are the classes you should take, but can probably get away with studying on your own:

• Ordinary differential equations
• Real analysis

Linear algebra (matrices, vectors, and all that) is something that you’ll use all the time in econ, especially when doing work on a computer. Multivariable calculus also will be used a lot. And stats of course is absolutely key to almost everything economists do. Differential equations are something you will use once in a while. And real analysis—by far the hardest subject of the five—is something that you will probably never use in real econ research, but which the economics field has decided to use as a sort of general intelligence signaling device.

If you took some math classes but didn’t do very well, don’t worry.  Retake the classes . If you are worried about how that will look on your transcript, take the class the first time “off the books” at a different college (many community colleges have calculus classes) or online. Or if you have already gotten a bad grade, take it a second time off the books and then a third time for your transcript. If you work hard, every time you take the class you’ll do better. You will learn the math and be able to prove it by the grade you get. Not only will this help you get into an econ PhD program, once you get in, you’ll breeze through parts of grad school that would otherwise be agony.

Here’s another useful tip:  Get a book and study math on your own before taking the corresponding class for a grade. Reading math on your own is something you’re going to have to get used to doing in grad school anyway (especially during your dissertation!), so it’s good to get used to it now. Beyond course-related books, you can either pick up a subject-specific book (Miles learned much of his math from studying books in the Schaum’s outline series ), or get a “math for economists” book; regarding the latter, Miles recommends Mathematics for Economists  by Simon and Blume, while Noah swears by Mathematical Methods and Models for Economists  by de la Fuente. When you study on your own, the most important thing is to  work through a bunch of problems . That will give you practice for test-taking, and will be more interesting than just reading through derivations.

This will take some time, of course. That’s OK. That’s what summer is for (right?). If you’re late in your college career, you can always take a fifth year, do a gap year, etc.

When you get to grad school, you will have to take an intensive math course called “math camp” that will take up a good part of your summer. For how to get through math camp itself, see this guide by Jérémie Cohen-Setton .

One more piece of advice for the math-challenged:  Be a research assistant on something non-mathy . There are lots of economists doing relatively simple empirical work that requires only some basic statistics knowledge and the ability to use software like Stata. There are more and more experimental economists around, who are always looking for research assistants. Go find a prof and get involved! (If you are still in high school or otherwise haven’t yet chosen a college, you might want to choose one where some of the professors do experiments and so need research assistants—something that is easy to figure out by studying professors’ websites carefully, or by asking about it when you visit the college.)

If you’re new to econ…

If you’re a disillusioned physicist, a bored biostatistician, or a neuroscientist looking to escape that evil  Principal Investigator, don’t worry:  An econ background is not necessary . A lot of the best economists started out in other fields, while a lot of undergrad econ majors are headed for MBAs or jobs in banks. Econ PhD programs know this. They will probably not mind if you have never taken an econ class.

That said, you may still want to  take an econ class , just to verify that you actually like the subject, to start thinking about econ, and to prepare yourself for the concepts you’ll encounter. If you feel like doing this, you can probably skip Econ 101 and 102, and head straight for an Intermediate Micro or Intermediate Macro class.

Another good thing is to  read through an econ textbook . Although economics at the PhD level is mostly about the math and statistics and computer modeling (hopefully getting back to the real world somewhere along the way when you do your own research), you may also want to get the flavor of the less mathy parts of economics from one of the well-written lower-level textbooks (either one by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells , Greg Mankiw , or Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok ) and maybe one at a bit higher level as well, such as David Weil’s excellent book on economic growth ) or Varian’s Intermediate Microeconomics .

Remember to take a statistics class , if you haven’t already. Some technical fields don’t require statistics, so you may have missed this one. But to econ PhD programs, this will be a gaping hole in your resume. Go take stats!

One more thing you can do is research with an economist . Fortunately, economists are generally extremely welcoming to undergrad RAs from outside econ, who often bring extra skills. You’ll get great experience working with data if you don’t have it already. It’ll help you come up with some research ideas to put in your application essays. And of course you’ll get another all-important letter of recommendation.

And now for…

General tips for everyone

Here is the most important tip for everyone:  Don’t just apply to “top” schools . For some degrees—an MBA for example—people question whether it’s worthwhile to go to a non-top school. But for econ departments, there’s no question. Both Miles and Noah have marveled at the number of smart people working at non-top schools. That includes some well-known bloggers, by the way—Tyler Cowen teaches at George Mason University (ranked 64th ), Mark Thoma teaches at the University of Oregon (ranked 56th ), and Scott Sumner teaches at Bentley, for example. Additionally, a flood of new international students is expanding the supply of quality students. That means that the number of high-quality schools is increasing; tomorrow’s top 20 will be like today’s top 10, and tomorrow’s top 100 will be like today’s top 50.

Apply to schools outside of the top 20—any school in the top 100 is worth considering, especially if it is strong in areas you are interested in. If your classmates aren’t as elite as you would like, that just means that you will get more attention from the professors, who almost all came out of top programs themselves. When Noah said in his earlier post that econ PhD students are virtually guaranteed to get jobs in an econ-related field, that applied to schools far down in the ranking. Everyone participates in the legendary centrally managed econ job market . Very few people ever fall through the cracks.

Next—and this should go without saying— don’t be afraid to retake the GRE . If you want to get into a top 10 school, you probably need a perfect or near-perfect score on the math portion of the GRE. For schools lower down the rankings, a good GRE math score is still important. Fortunately, the GRE math section is relatively simple to study for—there are only a finite number of topics covered, and with a little work you can “overlearn” all of them, so you can do them even under time pressure and when you are nervous. In any case, you can keep retaking the test until you get a good score (especially if the early tries are practice tests from the GRE prep books and prep software), and then you’re OK!

Here’s one thing that may surprise you: Getting an econ master’s degree alone won’t help . Although master’s degrees in economics are common among international students who apply to econ PhD programs, American applicants do just fine without a master’s degree on their record. If you want that extra diploma, realize that once you are in a PhD program, you will get a master’s degree automatically after two years. And if you end up dropping out of the PhD program, that master’s degree will be worth more than a stand-alone master’s would. The one reason to get a master’s degree is if it can help you remedy a big deficiency in your record, say not having taken enough math or stats classes, not having taken any econ classes, or not having been able to get anyone whose name admissions committees would recognize to write you a letter of recommendation.

For getting into grad school, much more valuable than a master’s is a stint as a research assistant in the Federal Reserve System or at a think tank —though these days, such positions can often be as hard to get into as a PhD program!

Finally—and if you’re reading this, chances are you’re already doing this— read some econ blogs . (See Miles’s speculations about the future of the econ blogosphere here .) Econ blogs are no substitute for econ classes, but they’re a great complement. Blogs are good for picking up the lingo of academic economists, and learning to think like an economist. Don’t be afraid to  write  a blog either, even if no one ever reads it (you don’t have to be writing at the same level as Evan Soltas or Yichuan Wang );  you can still put it on your CV, or just practice writing down your thoughts. And when you write your dissertation, and do research later on in your career, you are going to have to think for yourself outside the context of a class . One way to practice thinking critically is by critiquing others’ blog posts, at least in your head.

Anyway, if you want to have intellectual stimulation and good work-life balance, and a near-guarantee of a well-paying job in your field of interest, an econ PhD could be just the thing for you. Don’t be scared of the math and the jargon. We’d love to have you.

Update:  Miles’s colleague Jeff Smith at the University of Michigan amplifies many of the things we say on his blog.  For a  complete  guide, be sure to see what Jeff has to say, too.

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LINK nky: Kentucky cities consider medical marijuana regulations

Uc blue ash economics professor says existing state laws seek to protect children.

With medical marijuana set to become legal in Kentucky in 2025, cities in Kenton County have to decide whether they’ll allow medical cannabis businesses to operate in their jurisdictions, LINK nky reported .

Keshar Ghimire, PhD, associate professor of economics at UC Blue Ash

While medical cannabis will become legal next year, local governments can pass zoning restrictions on cannabis cultivation, processing, production and dispensaries to go along with existing statewide regulations.

“Kentucky has passed a pretty comprehensive medical cannabis law,” said Keshar Ghimire , PhD, an associate professor of economics at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College. “They have a long list of qualifying conditions.”

Among the state requirements already in place is a 1,000-foot separation between a cannabis business and an “existing school or daycare.”

“This requirement addresses the concern that [cannabis] dispensaries, when nearby, have the potential to influence minors’ attitude and/or access to marijuana,” Ghimire said. “The distance also ensures that whatever criminal and other unwanted activities that may happen near dispensaries don’t affect the school environment.”

See more from LINK nky.

Featured image at top: Marijuana in a cannabis dispensary. Photo/Budding via Unsplash

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