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Before the PhD · Build your foundation
Your graduate degree: when a master’s helps
A master’s is often more valuable than its reputation suggests, if you choose the right kind and use it well.
A master’s degree before a PhD is common: roughly half of students entering economics PhD programs already hold one. It is often more valuable than its reputation suggests, but only if you choose the right kind for your background and use the time well.
Choose based on your undergraduate degree
Your foundation and your specialization will make you a stronger fit for one kind of PhD than another. Choose the graduate path that builds on what you already have.
| Your undergraduate background | Good next step | Best-fitting PhD |
|---|---|---|
| Math major with an economics minor, or a double major | Apply directly, or do a research-oriented master’s in economics to gain research experience and economist letters | Economics |
| Strong mathematics, drawn to methods | Master’s in statistics or mathematics | Economics (econometrics), statistics or business |
| Economics major with weaker mathematics | Master’s in mathematics or statistics, or a master’s in economics used to fill the gaps | Economics once the gaps are filled; public policy PhDs are a strong fit now |
| Quantitative business background (for example, a math or math-economics degree, then a master’s in data analytics or risk management) | Research experience with business-school faculty | Business (finance, marketing, operations, management science) |
What a master’s can give you
Time to fill the gaps
If your undergraduate degree did not include real analysis, linear algebra or mathematical statistics, a master’s gives you the time and access to take them, along with the advanced econometrics a PhD will assume.
Research experience and a strong letter
A master’s puts you in a department with faculty doing research. Work with one of them, as a research assistant or on a thesis, and you leave with real research experience and a detailed letter from someone who has watched you work. For many students, that letter is the most valuable thing the degree produces.
Maturity
This point is rarely discussed. Many students are intelligent enough for a PhD long before they are mature enough to do research. Excelling at coursework is not the same as working independently for months on a problem with no answer key. That gap catches up with many PhD students, even those with exceptional ability in courses. A master’s gives you time to grow into the researcher a PhD expects you to be.
A second chance at the record
A master’s helps when your undergraduate record is uneven, when your degree comes from a school committees do not know well, and when an international applicant needs grades and letters from a U.S. or European institution.
Which kind of master’s
Research-oriented master’s in economics. Programs with first-year PhD-style theory and econometrics, a thesis and faculty who write PhD letters. The most direct bridge to an economics PhD.
Master’s in statistics or mathematics. An excellent choice if you want to become an econometrician or work on methods, and a strong way to fix a weak math record.
Terminal or professional master’s. Applied economics, analytics or policy programs are designed mainly for jobs. They are still useful for a PhD if you use them deliberately: take the math you are missing, and do research with faculty. On their own, they are a weaker signal.
Costs to weigh
Unlike most PhD programs, most master’s programs are not funded, and in the United States a master’s rarely shortens the PhD that follows. Before you choose a program, ask how many of its graduates go on to PhD programs, and which ones. A program that sends students to strong PhDs will be happy to tell you. If the answer is vague, that tells you something too.
Sources
American Economic Association, Recommended Mathematical Training; J-PAL, Deciding if a PhD is right for you.