<p>Hi everybody,</p>
<p>Freshman at Princeton here. I was wondering what one has to do in order to get into a top-20 graduate program in economics or psychology (behavioral if anything). I will eventually write a senior thesis, as is required, but I want to prepare myself now so that if I decided that I absolutely want to go to grad school, then I can. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>For a doctorate? Research experience. Let your professors know that you are interested in grad school early on. Get as much research experience as you can, and keep your grades high. Get to know your professors outside of class so you have strong letter writers. </p>
<p>If you’re looking at a masters, it depends on the program, but of course you’ll still want to keep your grades up. If you’re looking at masters in clinical or counseling psych, then internships.</p>
<p>I’m currently an econ PhD student at Princeton so I can tell you that you’re in a good place! Get to know some faculty, particularly in a field that interests you (Benabou does behavioral but he’s probably not too accessible for freshmen). Make sure you write a good junior paper and senior thesis and get an RA position. Also make sure you take the calc sequence, linear algebra, differential equations, probability, and real analysis at a minimum. As a junior or senior, consider taking some of the first-year Ph.D. courses (which I can promise you are much, much harder than their undergrad counterparts).</p>
<p>Thanks YanksDolphins. Is that what you did?</p>
<p>I was a math major and added economics later so the math courses came naturally. I did a senior thesis but I didn’t have any other research experience. I also took a few graduate Econ courses. Going to Princeton is sort of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the resources are amazing. On the other, it’s going to be harder to leave an impression and no matter what people say, the top student at a slightly lower-ranked school will typically beat a mediocre student from Harvard or Princeton.</p>