<p>Dartmouth and W&M do not have graduate programs in Economics. For all intensive purposes, their Econ programs are focused primarily on instruction of undergraduate students. Of course, nowadays, even LAC profs engage in research, but that's not the primary function of departments that do not have graduate programs.</p>
<p>
Dartmouth and W&M do not have graduate programs in Economics. For all intensive purposes, their Econ programs are focused primarily on instruction of undergraduate students. Of course, nowadays, even LAC profs engage in research, but that's not the primary function of departments that do not have graduate programs.
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<p>Wow,that's so interesting and so strange to me.</p>
<p>chicago and princeton - great undergrad economics</p>
<p>
chicago and princeton - great undergrad economics
How did you find that?</p>
<p>Duke and UChicago.</p>
<p>
Duke and UChicago.
</p>
<p>What made you think so?</p>
<p>
There's a difference between the best econ departments and the best place to study econ undergrad
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<p>What would the best econ department mean if the collge were not the best place to study econ undergrad? :D</p>
<p>This is grad, but those schools with a small student/faculty ratio are better for undergrad. I am obviously biased with Chicago (4:1 student:faculty), but all of them are great. I pointed out princeton because I just know their department from reputation.</p>
<p>This is also an old post but relevant: <a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?4/36283%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?4/36283</a></p>
<p>I hear that universities do not care much for the undergraduate program,is that right?For example,the professors seem too busy to really 'teach' their undergrad students.</p>
<p>Again, it depends on the school. Chicago had great econ professors. I cant speak for the others</p>
<p>Hiline, Chicago is like any other elite research university. It will be graduate school and research focused. But Chicagograd is quite right, the Econ program at Chicago is amazing and its professors are incredible researchers and instructors. For a student who is primarily interested in Economics (or physics, math and a couple of other fields of study) and little else, Chicago should be on one's very short list.</p>
<p>Thank you,I will notice that school :)
Is it common that Unis have better (or more advanced) economics professors than LACs?</p>
<p>chicago has a VERY strong econs program for undergrads.</p>
<p>Your absolute best bets for undergrad econ these days would be Williams, Wellesley, Swarthmore, Reed, UChicago, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth or (surprisingly enough) Caltech. </p>
<p>Penn, MIT, Northwestern, Harvard, University of Rochester, and other top LACs (particularly Smith, Carleton) are also good but I'd personally place them a notch below the first list.</p>
<p>In general, look for smaller schools that aren't overrun by econ majors. The prestige of a Ph.D. program isn't nearly as important as the quality of undergrad education, access to profs and class sizes.</p>
<p>Among state universities, UW-Madison has an unusually strong undergraduate econ program, from what I've seen. From what I've heard, NYU and Berkeley are to be avoided because of the immense class sizes and lack of any meaningful interaction with professors. But, do your due diligence, talk to as many professors and students as possible before you make your final pick... good luck!!!</p>
<p>How about Harvard and MIT, posterX?They have excellent grad economics programs,don't they?</p>
<p>Yes, they have great programs too. You'll see I've listed them above in my post.</p>
<p>Hiline, there is a very helpful tool on CC, and you'll find it by clicking on the Search button and trying the advanced search. </p>
<p>Your question comes up with great regularity on CC and the answers are quite predictable. After everyone posts their short list of favorites, you will be none the wiser. You'll find as many dubious opinions as well founded ones. Some posters will speak with great authority and hide the fact they are simply speculating or rattling a list that has no rhyme reason. For isntance, this is an absolute gem of a post: "Your absolute best bets for undergrad econ these days would be Williams, Wellesley, Swarthmore, Reed, UChicago, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth or (surprisingly enough) Caltech." While it lists a number of solid choices, it also lists Reed as tops in Economics. When is the last time that Poster read ANYTHING about Reed or visited the school or its website? The poster must have picked up on the much circulated list of PhD production and jumped to the immediate conclusion that Reed MUSt be good at Economics. Well, they may be good, but they fall quite short in comparison to most of the schools discussed in this thread. So much for an absolute best bet! </p>
<p>This is the ENTIRE faculty: </p>
<p>Kimberly Clausing, Associate Professor of Economics
Denise Hare, Associate Professor of Economics
Noelwah Netusil, Associate Professor of Economics
Jeffrey Parker, George Hay Professor of Economics
Jim Stewart, Thormund A. Miller and Walter Mintz Assistant Professor of Economic History </p>
<p>Here's a link to the school Dept for Economics. <a href="http://academic.reed.edu/economics/courses/descriptions.html#Elective%20Courses%5B/url%5D">http://academic.reed.edu/economics/courses/descriptions.html#Elective%20Courses</a> </p>
<p>In the end, you would save yourself a lot of time by simply visiting the websites of all the selective schools. In the end, you'll find out that the Ivies, the best ranked universities, and the most selective LACs offer the best choices for Economics. It is, however, up to you to define your reasons to study Economics as the programs' flavor may vary from one school to another. With your own criteria established, check the faculty and check the classes they teach. This will help you decide which school represents a good fit for YOU.</p>
<p>PoseterX, I agree with much of what you say. You neglected to mention some of the top programs in your second list. Programs like CMU, Claremont McKenna, Columbia, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Michigan and Wisconsin. </p>
<p>And I do not think you can put Dartmouth and Caltech in the same bracket as Chicago and Princeton...not for Economics. </p>
<p>Finally, Cal does indeed have large classes, but the professors I have spoken to at Chicago and Harvard have told me that consistantly, some of their best graduate students completed their undergraduate studies at Cal. So obviously, Cal is doing something right.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins's econ major is really a joke...All the Hopkin's students would 100% agree. As to Dartmouth, it has such an undergrad focused faculty absolutely on par with Princeton.</p>
<p>I don't know any Johns Hopksins Econ major who wasn't satsfied with the program. You obviously met the exceptions. And Dartmouth can be as undergrad-focused as it wants, it will not be quite as good as Princeton and Chicago. Nor can any LAC econ programs. Don't get me wrong, I think Dartmouth's Econ programs is amazing at the undergraduate level...certainly one of the top 25 and as good as programs like Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Michigan, Penn etc... But to compare it to Chicago and Princeton is excessive.</p>