<p>I know the US News has rankings for econ GRAD programs, but where are the rankings for undergraduate studies, if they exist?</p>
<p>Or is there any other well-known sources with a list of distinguished economics programs. I want to stumble on some names I haven't heard already and that could matches/targets instead of the typical reaches (HYPS, UChi, etc.)</p>
<p>tHanks!</p>
<p>There are no rankings for undergrad economics departments.</p>
<p>In any case, you should apply to an undergrad school on the basis of its overall quality, affordability, your potential for admission, and its personal fit for you. As an undergrad, you’re applying to a school, not to one specific department.</p>
<p>That said, you might ask yourself what considerations should decide the best economics departments for you at the undergrad level. If your major consideration is to find the departments where you might have courses with top economists (in terms of their research or their influence on policy-makers), then the graduate rankings should be your guide. Of course, the quality of a department’s research tells you little about the quality of its teaching. So, if your major consideration is to find the departments where the best undergrad teaching occurs, then your best bet is to look for schools that have an overall reputation for emphasizing undergrad teaching. Once you identify such schools, you can ask current and former students specifically about the quality of teaching (and, advising/mentoring) in the economics department. If your major consideration is to obtain recommendations for grad school from top economists, then use the grad rankings. Recommendations, however, will not count nearly as much for grad admissions in economics as your GPA, test scores, and having a very strong math background. If your major consideration is to publish some research as an undergrad under a top economist in order to enhance a grad school application, that’s a longshot. If you do publish something, it better be darn good to impress an admissions committee and it better be in a top journal, though few students ever publish in the top economics journals. If your major consideration is to find departments, which have a higher proportion of students who successfully enter top graduate programs, then you probably should look at some of the liberal arts colleges, e.g., Macalester, Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Claremont McKenna (and, for reaches, Pomona, Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore). Also, if you’re interested in going to grad school in economics, consider that you should get a strong background in math, so look for schools that have good math and statistics departments or that offer a joint math-economics major. If your major consideration is to impress a future employer, the department will count much less than the overall prestige and reputation of your school and your GPA, internships, leadership positions, etc. If your major consideration is to get the best preparation for a career, first, focus on the overall quality of the school, with some emphasis on the quality of teaching, and second, focus on your specific career interests. If you’re interested in policy, you might consider schools that also have a public policy program or a political economy track. If you’re interested in business, consider schools that offer a program in business economics (usually in the business school) or that make it easy for students non-business students to take courses in the business school. If you’re interested in finance (other than investment banking), consider schools that also offer programs in personal financial planning and consumer economics (often in schools of human ecology). If you’re interested in resource economics or international trade/development or commodities, consider schools that also have an ag econ department. If you’re interested in international economics, consider schools that also have good programs in international studies (preferably with a track in economics) and area studies.</p>
<p>If you intend to go on to a PhD program in economics, look in the course catalog for:</p>
<ul>
<li>Intermediate microeconomics and econometrics courses with math prerequisites higher than frosh calculus.</li>
<li>Advanced mathematical economics courses.</li>
<li>Good offerings in math and statistics.</li>
</ul>