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Economics Beyond Middlebury

Here you’ll find ongoing updates of Economics Beyond Middlebury information and resources.

While the Center for Careers and Internships is the place to begin your search for information on internships, PhD programs, and job opportunities following graduation, the Economics Department also receives many requests from businesses and grad schools to share information directly with our majors. 

We have decided to post those requests here in one easy accessible location.

These postings are listed as a courtesy for the businesses, programs, and students. Questions regarding any of the information provided should be directed to the contact person in each listing.

Please use the links below to view opportunities shared directly with the Economics Department:

For an extensive list of opportunities personalized to your specific career interests, please use HandShake.

Research and Policy Opportunities

There is an abundance of demand for economics research assistants and analysts in government agencies, think tanks, nonprofits, and multinational organizations. 

Think tanks in the United States are predominantly located in Washington, D.C., although there is a smaller cluster in New York City and a handful in other cities. Smaller regional policy shops can also be found around the country (often linked to a D.C.-based think tank). Most think tanks specialize in certain areas of policy work or advocacy, e.g., tax and budget policy, labor markets, inequality, the social safety net, urban economics, and international economics and trade, etc. Some larger think tanks do work in almost all of these areas, e.g., the American Enterprise Institute, Brookings, or the Center for American Progress. Think tanks advocate for various policy agendas, some of which might be described as left-of-center, centrist, right-of-center, or more of a libertarian bent. If you are interested in working for a think tank, take a look at their areas of policy work and think about how your values align with their policy agendas. Here are a number of institutions likely to hire economics research assistants/analysts or policy interns (not a comprehensive list of all think tanks):

D.C.-based think tanks

NYC-based think tanks

National networks of policy shops across the country

The Federal Reserve System

Congress and the Executive

NGOs/Multinational orgs

Academic research

Additional year-specific opportunities that come to the Department’s attention will be posted here on a rolling basis starting in September of each year. Year-specific opportunities for 2022-2023 received so far are:

  • Research assistant with Professors Chen Lian and Dmitry Taubinsky of UC Berkeley and Luigi Butera of Copenhagen Business (link)
  • Research data analyst at the Penn Wharton Budget Model (link)
  • Database administrator / research analyst at the Penn Wharton Real Estate Center (link)
  • Pre-doctoral fellow with Professor Robert Metcalfe at USC (link)
  • Research coordinator at the Penn Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative (link)
  • Research fellow with Professors Yu Ding and Szu-chi Huang at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (link)
  • Research assistant at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (link)
  • Pre-doctoral Research Fellowship, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) (link)
  • International economist, Department of the Treasury (link)

 

Internships and Summer Opportunities

The following organizations and institutions are among those regularly offering internship and/or summer opportunities for current students:

Additional year-specific opportunities that come to the Department’s attention will be posted here on a rolling basis starting in September of each year. Year-specific opportunities for 2022-2023 received so far are:

 

Graduate School

There are many graduate school programs that our Economics Major prepares you for – masters and PhD programs in Economics, Applied Economics, Public Policy, and related fields, as well as professional degrees (MBA, MPA, and MPP), among several others.

How should one prepare for a PhD in Economics or Applied Economics? Graduate training in economics requires additional mathematical preparation – multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and real analysis are often considered a must for many programs. Other quantitative courses (math, statistics, computer science, GIS) may also offer useful preparation for certain fields in economics. Good grades in these quantitative courses at Middlebury will not only signal your skills, they will also help you once you are in graduate school. Since the PhD programs are focused on training professional researchers, we strongly suggest you consider writing a senior honors thesis and/or getting involved in supporting a professor’s research while at Middlebury to decide if research is for you (and to get to know a faculty member who will be able to write you a letter of recommendation). Information about the thesis workshops can be found here and research opportunities with Middlebury faculty can be found here.

Where to apply? There are several rankings found online that will give you an idea about reputations of various departments and universities. Learning about these reputations can be daunting, so we suggest you talk to your faculty at Middlebury and our alumni who are currently in graduate school.

The American Economic Association offers many useful resources here.  

    Department of Economics

    Middlebury College
    Middlebury, VT 05753

    Amy Holbrook, Coordinator

    Warner 103

    (802) 443-5327

    holbrook@middlebury.edu

    Jeff Carpenter, Chair

    Warner 305

    (802) 443-3241

    chairecon@middlebury.edu

    Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:00 AM- 9:30 AM and by appointment