PhD in Economics/Economic History*

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello, I just finished my sophomore year at UC Berkeley.
I am fairly certain that I would like to study economic history-- preferably as a separate discipline at LSE (because apparently they offer it as a separate field?); but I would not mind studying it as an economics student or history student in the US.
It seems to be protocol to list our stats so here they are: </p>

<p>I am a Statistics, Political Economy and Chinese major. If my plan works out, I should finish all three majors in nine semesters.<br>
My GPA has been going up; right now it is about 3.6.
I am going to study abroad in Beijing in the fall and summer this year; and I am going to the UK in the spring. I am hoping to be fairly competent in Mandarin by the end of the fall.
I have also studied German, Persian and French. </p>

<p>Now, I am very worried because I have not done any internships or research apprenticeships yet. I am planning to apply when I get back next year; but I feel like I will at most get in maybe one semester of interning and one semester of research.
If possible I will try to get into the honors program of my political economy major and write a dissertation. </p>

<p>So, questions:
Does language acquisition increase my marketability to graduate schools-- despite that economic history might have little to do with the language?</p>

<p>Will taking five years rather than four to graduate affect my marketability?</p>

<p>Does being a political economy major rather than a economics major affect my chances?-- within the Statistics major my area of focus is Econ, so I am taking quantitative Econ classes.
However the political economy major is by definition less quantitative than an econ major.<br>
Does being a stats major balance it out? </p>

<p>What are my chances of getting into say: LSE, Berkeley (again), or Chicago, if everything goes according to plan? Are there other schools that are very worth considering in this field?</p>

<p>What careers can one expect with a degree in economic history?</p>

<p>Thank You.</p>

2

<p>i can only speak to history programs…</p>

<p>history degrees always require proficiency in languages other than english, even economic history. most schools ask for at least two “research tools.” for many students, both are languages, for some one is a language and the other is stats (which you have covered).</p>

<p>i have to ask, though… economic history of what? china? england? the british occupation of china? or something else entirely? you’ll find with american schools’ history programs, you’ll have to specify your geographical interests as well as your interest in economic history. this will shorten your list of potential schools quite a bit, but that’s probably a good thing, since you don’t want to apply to more than 10 places at the most. you’ll have to find a professor who studies the economic history of whatever country/region you’re interested in and then seek him or her out as your advisor.</p>

<p>your language acquisition will definitely increase your appeal in history departments, especially since you have experience with german and french as well as a good deal of mandarin. the persian’s an added bonus, but expanding on that knowledge isn’t too necessary right now unless you want to study the economic history of iran, for example.</p>

<p>also, some schools may not allow you to use stats as one of your two required “languages,” which means you’ll have to pass translation exams for chinese and for one of the other languages you know. basically, if you can translate a single page from an academic article written in ____ language with the use of a dictionary in two hours, and you don’t make too many mistakes and you get the gist of the piece, then your language prep is sufficient. if you’d have trouble translating german, french, or persian, i’d suggest taking more classes in one of these languages eventually. standard procedure (though it differs between departments) is that you need to do your first translation exam within the first semester of your first year in an MA/PhD program, and the translation exam for the second language can happen in your second or third year (really, any time before you’re all but dissertation). so you won’t need the extra language classes right now, but you may have to take them in addition to your masters courses once you’re enrolled in a program.</p>

<p>taking 5 years to graduate is perfectly fine, especially if you’re leaving with more than one major.</p>

<p>it’s hard to know right now what your chances are. your GPA is sufficient but you will be competing amongst many students with higher grades. if you want to study history, your verbal GRE score will be important. if you want to study economics, your quantitative GRE score will be important. for economic history, i’d imagine that both numbers have to be quite high.</p>

<p>as for careers with a degree in economic history… professor of economic history. professor of economics. professor of history. may be able to secure something in the government, with an NGO or policy group, that sort of thing. if you don’t work as a professor in academia, a PhD may even be seen as a liability when people are hiring because they’ll think they have to pay you more than someone with a masters or a BA and lots of work experience, but essentially, you’ll be qualified for any job that requires a lot of research and data analysis.</p>

<p>your chances are probably pretty good. berkeley’s a great school, your GPA is good, and we don’t know your GRE scores yet. i will caution you, though. it is not highly regarded to get your BA, MA, and PhD all from the same institution. two of three is fine, but all three is frowned upon, so i’d say to look to berkeley only for an MA and then move onto another school for your PhD.</p>

3

<p>I’m a historical economics researcher at Chicago right now, and I also plan on applying to PhD programs in Chinese history in the next year or two, so maybe we can give each other some insights…</p>

<p>First of all, historical economics, in most places, is very solidly in the economics department, and that means math math math. I think economics is currently one of the most competitive fields to get into (and out of), and they will generally use math to weed out as many people as they can in the first few years of graduate study.</p>

<p>Although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Because historical economists work with historical data that is often pretty broken, people who want to work with these data need some pretty hot econometric chops. So I think your statistics background is going to be one of your best assets in applying to programs. Also, English is the lingua franca in economics departments around the world, so your knowledge of the Chinese language isn’t as an important of a factor compared to the History department.</p>

<p>That said, I don’t know anything about Chinese historical economics, but you should not apply to Chicago. We have great Chinese history, but I don’t think there are a lot of people using quantitative methods there. And our economic history department is dead, and probably won’t revive any time soon, at least until Galenson leaves.</p>

<p>So if you know any good Chinese historical economists and where they teach I’d like to hear about them. Off the top of my head I would think that UCLA - which has top programs in both fields - might be a good place to start looking for joining the two interests. Other than that I would think that you have to look at Chinese universities. There are lots of good programs</p>

<p>Also I don’t think the outlook for economic historians is so grim as StrangeLight seems to think. He’s right that the primary jobs would be in academia, but depending on where your research takes you, you would certainly have plenty of analytical skills that the private sector could put to use.</p>

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<p>Curious-- I realize this is quite a few years after your post, but what chinese programs would you recommend? I’m interested in Fudan University in Shanghai…any others? Best, K</p>