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Before the PhD · Build your research record
Research experience
Grades show you can learn. Research experience shows you can do the job a PhD trains you for. It is one of the biggest differences between applicants.
Students interested in a PhD often focus almost entirely on grades. Strong grades matter, but one of the most important differences between applicants is research experience, together with detailed letters from researchers who supervised that work. A committee is not only asking whether you can pass the first-year courses. It is asking whether, three years later, you will be able to produce independent research.
How different experiences compare
There is no single best experience. Two years as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve and co-authoring a paper with a professor can both be excellent. What follows is a general guide to how committees tend to read each kind of experience.
| Experience | Rating |
|---|---|
| Predoc or Federal Reserve research assistant job (one to two years) with a detailed letter | Excellent |
| Research assistant work with faculty that led to co-authorship | Excellent |
| Research assistant work for faculty during undergraduate or master’s study, with real responsibility (data, coding, analysis) and a specific letter | Good |
| Honors or senior thesis with an economist who writes a strong, detailed letter about it | Good |
| Honors or senior thesis with only a weak or generic letter | Average |
| Summer research program | Average |
| Independent research project without supervision | Average |
| Class research paper only | Weak |
| No research experience | Very weak |
Why co-authorship is different
Some research assistant work becomes co-authorship, when your contribution is substantial enough that the professor makes you an author. That is not the same as having a good letter. It shows you contributed to the ideas and the analysis, not only the tasks, and it gives the committee a piece of work they can read.
How research experience works on an application
It works through two channels. The first is the letters: a supervisor can describe you doing research, how you handled problems, how independent you were and how you compare with other students they have supervised. The second is the statement of purpose: research experience lets you describe real questions you have worked on, which is far more convincing than describing questions you find interesting. That is why the same experience can be worth much more or much less depending on the letter that comes with it.
Getting started
If you are an undergraduate or master’s student, ask professors whose work interests you whether they need research help. Start small and be reliable; responsibility grows with trust. Consider a supervised senior thesis. Look at summer research programs. After graduation, consider a predoc or research assistant position, which is now common among students admitted to the strongest programs.