What Do Top Economics PhD Programs Require?
Over the past two years, I’ve seen a number of Twitter debates about the ever-inflating math requirements for prospective economics PhD applicants. While everyone seems to agree that economists need a strong math background, there appears to be some disagreement about how much formal undergraduate (or even graduate) math constitutes a “strong math background”… and how much of the pile of prerequisites is actually about signaling (that you are smart enough to handle a PhD, that you are from the “right” background to do a PhD at a top school, or something else.) Unfortunately, the advice for prospective students that I see most often from all sides of this debate is if you don’t agree with the requirements, you should look outside the top economics programs.
While this advice may help students think critically about what a PhD entails, it doesn’t help anyone interested in actually applying for a PhD in Economics at a top program. Whether we agree with it or not, the pile of prerequisites does exist.
So, what exactly is in the pile?
What Do Top Economics PhD Programs Require?
(A lot of) Math
In every Twitter thread, post, article and school website I’ve read discussing requirements for prospective economics PhD applicants, a strong math background is emphasized. Generally, these sources mention multivariable calculus (aka Calculus 3), Linear Algebra and Differential Equations as the minimum requirements. Lately, I’ve seen more advanced math mentioned as a “basic” requirement for a PhD at a top program, including Real Analysis.
Economics and Econometrics
Ironically, I’ve seen the importance of a strong math background mentioned more often than an undergraduate economics background in resources for prospective PhD applicants. However, if you haven’t proven you can do (or even like doing) economics by majoring in the subject, you may need to think about how you can prove your aptitude for economics in some less direct way. Top programs may take very strong math backgrounds/GRE quant scores as de facto evidence of economics aptitude, but if you are in this situation I would recommend you do more research on this. When I have seen economics mentioned, the resources generally suggest that you should earn good grades in Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro and Econometrics.
Stats and Data Science / Programming Languages
So far, I haven’t seen programming languages mentioned directly as a requirement for a PhD in Economics. However, every pre-doc research job description I’ve reviewed mentions familiarity with Python, R, Stata, or another programming language as a basic requirement. If a pre-doc role is your plan to obtain research experience (see below), you may have to learn these to apply. Statistics courses are generally mentioned in the PhD prerequisites I’ve reviewed, although some schools classify them as recommended courses instead of non-negotiable requirements like the other math courses mentioned above. See the Resources section at the bottom of this post for links to some specific school requirements, and also research the schools you are interested in individually for more specific information.
Economics Electives and Adjacent Subjects
Even if you structured a double or triple major to meet all the requirements listed above, you may still leave undergrad not knowing much about the different fields within and adjacent to economics. Learning something about fields like development economics, behavioral economics, international political economy, and others may help you decide where to do your PhD and where to focus your research. Although I’ve never seen this mentioned in a formal list of prerequisites, I also think that everyone studying economics could benefit from a solid grounding in philosophy and ethics. As an economist, you will be responsible for thinking through the ethical implications of how your research is conducted, how it might be used, who it might be used by, and what policies it might be used to advance or promote.
Research Experience
Resources for prospective PhD candidates at the top economics programs typically also stress the importance of research experience. If you weren’t able to obtain research experience while you were an undergraduate, obtaining this experience may require a pre-doctoral research role or a job at an institution where you could do economics research (think tanks, government, some NGOs and nonprofits, some private sector roles, etc.) The NBER has a running list of pre-doc research roles. Even if you aren’t ready to apply, it’s worth reviewing the job descriptions to see what skill gaps you may need to fill on your application (for example, the programming languages mentioned above).
The GRE
I’ve seen some recent discussions on social media and forums recommending a minimum 167 quant score for top economics PhD applicants. In other resources for prospective applicants, stated quant score minimums are generally 165+. I hardly ever see the verbal or writing score mentioned anywhere in relation to an economics PhD, which seems ironic coming from a profession that highly values writing and publishing papers. Although there may not be formal minimums for the verbal or writing sections of the GRE, I would guess that a terrible score in these sections may require some additional explanation in your application.
Excellent Reference Letters
Even if you successfully comply with the entire pile of prerequisites above, who you know may still be an important part of a successful application to a top economics PhD program. Although many of the posts I’ve read vaguely refer to the importance of letters, some posts directly state that the letters are the most important component of the application. Based on my research, it seems that the top economics programs are looking for candidates with letters from top economists. If you did not go to an Ivy for your undergraduate work, I’m frankly not sure how you could obtain the type of letters you need. While you could (hopefully) obtain a letter through a pre-doc research role, many top economics programs require two or three reference letters (research the schools you are interested in for specific requirements).
Personal Statement
If you’ve met all the requirements listed above, you’re ready to explain why you want to do this (and pitch yourself to the top programs) in your personal statement. Many of the resources I’ve read indicate that the other items on this list are more important than the personal statement. However, if you are applying to a top economics PhD program, you’ll be competing against people with very similar qualifications for a very limited number of spots. Just in case an admissions decision comes down to personal statements, make sure yours is excellent.
What If You Don’t Meet These Requirements?
Honestly, a lot of things would have to fall into place perfectly for someone to meet all the requirements listed above during undergrad (while maintaining excellent grades). If you didn’t meet all these requirements before graduating with your bachelor’s degree, you’re definitely not alone… because I didn’t either. In a future post, I’ll share some of the ideas I have for meeting these requirements in a non-traditional or alternative way. Unfortunately, I still haven’t come up with any alternative options for obtaining the “right” type of reference letters. (If you have any ideas about the reference letter problem, please let me know.)
Resources
What are the top programs?
The AEA’s roundup of different rankings can be found here. I’m a bit skeptical of any ranking calling itself “global” if it only includes American schools. This ranking and this ranking show some diversity in the top 20, but do your own research and compare ranking methodologies based on your own priorities.
Additional Reading
- A Beginner’s Guide to Econ Twitter from Matt Clancy
- That Atlantic article
- There is apparently a book about getting a PhD in Economics (I have not read this yet)
- Susan Athey’s Advice for Applying to Graduate School in Economics
- Links to many resources from Jennifer Doleac, specifically including accounts to follow on Twitter
- Links to many resources from Williams
