Carlos A. Vegh
Department of Economics
University of Maryland
Econ 396 (Honors Thesis)
APPLYING
TO GRADUATE SCHOOL
As I mentioned in the first lecture, one of the objectives of the
honors sequence (and one that I personally feel very strongly about) is to help
you maximize your chances of getting into the best graduate school that your
record warrants. The process of applying
to graduate school may prove to be full of anxiety and uncertainty,
particularly because it is not always easy to know how to best proceed. I am here to help you with this process. Please talk to me as often as you need to; I
will always lend a sympathetic ear and help as much as I can. (I was in UCLA’s admissions committee for
most of my 12 years there and I have done admissions at UMD for 5 years so, if
may say so, I do have a pretty good idea of what graduate schools look for!)
When should I apply?
The first decision is when to apply; that is, should you apply in the
Fall of your senior year or perhaps postpone to Fall of your 5th
year? This will of course depend on each
individual’s situation. (In fact, some
of you have already talked to me about this.)
For instance, if you have a weak math background, it may be worth to
beef up your transcript with math courses and apply in the fall of your 5th
year. On the other hand, if your record
looks very strong in most dimensions, delaying may not buy you too much. The only “rule” here is that if you plan to
go to graduate school in economics -- as opposed to, say, an MBA (Master in
Business Administration -- you should not be out of school for more than, say,
2 years. Admissions committees do not
like to see people who have been out of school for too long and job experience
is really of little help. The situation
is, of course, very different if you plan to apply for an MBA. In such a case, job experience is very
important and it is best to work for several years after graduating before
applying.
GRE
The GRE is an extremely important component of your application. So you should take the time to prepare very
carefully. While you can take it several
times, typically all your scores will show up in your application. It is better to prepare thoroughly than to
take it many times.
Math and econometrics
Any good school will look for some basic econometrics background (Econ
422 and 423 in our case) and a good math background (you definitely need to go
beyond the basic 3 semester calculus sequence and ideally go as far as taking
Math 410 (Advanced calculus or real analysis).
Please click here
for more details on the ideal math background.
Of course, the higher you are aiming in terms of graduate schools, the
stronger your background should be.
Where should I apply?
Rankings of graduate schools in economics vary somewhat from source to
source; here is a particular
one. But, generally speaking, there
is wide agreement in where schools fall in.
For instance, whatever the ranking,
Harvard, Chicago, and MIT are typically the three best schools. Schools like Berkeley, Stanford, and
Princeton are typically among the top 8.
Schools like NYU and UCLA are typically between 10th and 15th.
Schools like Maryland are typically between 15th and 20th. The best way to think is to divide schools in
four tiers:
1. First tier: These are the very top schools (Harvard,
Chicago, MIT, Princeton). Obviously,
these are very hard schools to get into.
2. Second tier: These are very good schools typically
ranked between 10th and 20th (NYU, UCLA, Columbia,
Maryland)
3. Third tier: These are good schools (with very solid
programs) typically ranked between 20th and 30th.
4. Fourth tier: Schools outside the top 30. Here you can still find very good programs
(for instance, in the ranking above, Georgetown is ranked 46th and
the University of Southern California (USC) is ranked 50th but they
both have very good programs)
What you want to do is to diversify your portfolio. You should decide (and I will be happy to
help you decide) how high you can realistically aim (this will depend on your
GPA, GRE, math background, and so forth).
Suppose that you decide that you have a shot at second tier schools. Then you should apply to, say, 2-3 second
tier schools, 2-3 third tier schools, and perhaps 2 fourth tier schools (as a
fallback option). In choosing where to
apply, you will of course take into account locational preferences (East Coast,
West Coast, etc.) and other features that you may like or dislike.
Recommendation letters
Recommendation letters are very important and, in some sense, the trickiest aspect of the application process because, by definition, you cannot never tell for sure what the recommender will say or not say! A few rules of thumb:
The most valuable letters are from instructors who have taught you in relatively small classes and that have gotten to know you personally. Letters from people who have not taught you are much less useful.
Try to find out what schools recommenders favor; typically it means that they have better contacts in those schools and you should take advantage of that.
A bad letter can hurt you a lot, so trust your instinct. If you feel that a professor is not going to be fully supportive, try to look for some other professor. Try to get a sense of how supportive they will be. Professors that actively encourage you are likely to be more supportive in their letters.
Self-statement
All schools will ask you for some kind of self-statement. It looks good to have some idea of what
fields you are most interested in and of some specific issues you may be
interested in. In your case, you will
want to mention the question that you are dealing with in your honors
thesis. You also need to highlight
worthy features of your curriculum (tough courses, math background, econometrics
background). If you do not highlight
your strengths, some information may be missed by the admissions
committee. A little bit of your personal
history may also be interesting (for instance, what drew you to
economics?) While self-statements should
not be too long, you need to make good use of the opportunity to tell the
committee about yourself. But keep it
focused and easy to read (i.e., do not go into long and convoluted explanations
of why you got a B in some given course!).
While you should not sound arrogant, you do want to take credit for your
accomplishments, so work on achieving the right tone. Ask somebody to read your statement; see how
he/she reacts; revise the essay accordingly.
Fellowships
Financial help varies considerably from school to school; go to
schools’ websites and find out as much as you can. If you are a minority student, make sure that
you check for fellowships specifically aimed at minority students.
Talk to people!
Don't be shy! Talk to as many
people as you can, the more information you have, the better off you will
be. Talk to me, talk to your main
advisor, talk to professors you have been close to (or done well in their
courses), talk to other students who may be applying to graduate school, talk
to graduate students in the department.
The internet is also an amazing source of information; do spend some
time checking out websites of schools that interest you; you will learn a lot.
Useful links
Econphd.net: Lots of information and tips on applying to
graduate school
Advice
on applying to grad school: Good
tips from a Stanford professor