Admission To Graduate Study
Introduction
With the addition of leading researchers in economic theory, econometrics, economic development, and macroeconomics, the Economics Department at Penn State has improved dramatically in the last few years. A consequence is that students who receive a Ph.D. from Penn State and whose doctoral research is outstanding have access to positions at leading academic and research institutions. Our recent placement record confirms this. In the past few years, some of our Ph.D. students have obtained tenure track positions in the economics departments at Harvard, MIT, NYU and Cornell. Some have obtained positions in government agencies like the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Trade Commission. Others have joined well-known consulting firms. Our recent placements may be found here. A recent assessment of departments that places great weight on student placements ranked our department very favorably. See here for details.
Although most top-20 departments have good placement records, there are some special reasons you should consider Penn State. The program is small--about 15-19 new Ph.D. students enter the program each year--and the faculty is very accessible to graduate students. Students who are making good progress get a lot of attention from the faculty.
Penn State is located in a pleasant rural setting in the geographic center of Pennsylvania. Although it is in a small town, it is not isolated intellectually. There is an active program of visiting speakers in 5 separate workshops. In addition, the department hosts conferences. There is a twice yearly joint Penn State-Cornell conference at which graduate students make about half the presentations. In recent years, Penn State has hosted the Midwest Math Econ and International Trade Conference, and several conferences on special topics.
Should You Apply to Penn State?
Last year (for admission in fall 2008), the program received approximately 400 applications. We granted admission to 70 applicants and offered full financial aid to all applicants. Most financial aid is in the form of graduate assistantships, which require that the recipient carry out duties helping the faculty in their teaching or research. In Fall 2008, 17 students enrolled.
Without knowing where you stand among applicants, the above acceptance rates mean very little to you. We judge applicants by course grades and the kinds of courses taken, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, the answers to the questions on the application, and other written work submitted.
1. Grades and Courses.
Economics is unique among fields in the degree to which graduate programs at the top departments differ from undergraduate programs. The main difference involves the extent to which abstract mathematics is used. Therefore, good grades in undergraduate courses in Economics do not guarantee success in graduate school. Applicants should have taken a considerable amount of mathematics, up through advanced calculus at least, and should have done well in it.
2. GRE scores.
We require that applicants take the 3-part general aptitude GRE. The average scores of the entering class in Fall 2007 were: Verbal = 580, Quantitative = 790, Analytical = 4.0. In judging applicants, we try to take into account that different applicants expend different amounts of effort in preparing for the GRE and that there are systematic differences among applicants from different countries
3. TOEFL Scores.
All international students whose native language is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). We require a score of at least 550 on the paper/pencil TOEFL, a score of at least 213 on the computer-based TOEFL, or a score of at least 80 on the Web-based TOEFL.
4. Letters of recommendation.
We place considerable weight on letters of recommendation. Letters should be from people who know you well and who are familiar with graduate programs in Economics at leading universities. The most valuable letters are from people who can credibly compare you to others who have succeeded in such programs.
5. Your answers to the application questions and other written work.
Highly successful Ph.D. students in Economics display a wide variety of research skills, including creativity. The questions we ask on the application are intended to elicit information about those skills. Also, if you have completed a paper that displays such skills, then send us a hard copy. (We cannot take the time to deal with computer files containing papers.)
How and When to Apply
An application has 2 components: a department application package and a graduate school application package. If you are applying for financial aid, then your completed application should reach us by January 15. If you are not applying for financial aid, then the deadline is April 30.
The department application package:
- Department Application
- 3 letters of recommendation
- 2 official copies of transcripts
- Official GRE General Test scores (Institution code: 2660; Department code: 1801)
- TOEFL score (for international applicants) (Institution code: 2660; Department code: 84)
- Application for Visa Document (for International Applicants)
The Graduate School Admissions and Program Information Portal:
Please Note: The receipt of applications for Fall 2009 will be acknowledged in early 2009.