Info on the second year

In the second year, you can do one of two things

1. You may pass three "fields."
2. Or, you may pass two "fields" and satisfy three "breadth requrements," one of them an economic history course.

Naturally everyone does the second, though some, such as Chan, make overtures toward the first before giving in to the inevitable.

To complete a field you must take its course requirements. These vary by working group. For instance, the macro group offers three classes for its field and requires all of them. Some groups offer more and some offer less. The trade/international group offers five courses and requires four, of which at least is a trade class and at least one an international class. The history field offers two classes, requires both, and sets its comp early.

The breadth requirement is a class not belonging to any of your fields. Certain noneconomics classes may satisfy the requirement; talk to the graduate chair. However, one of your breadth requirements must be the department's American or European economic history course.

In addition, to pass a field you may have to pass a field comp or to turn in a field paper. The requirements vary by field; currently, not every field requires a comp.

Fields have been known to suddenly switch their requirements, so stay on your toes.

Field papers

I don't actually know much about this. Someone?

Comps

Second-year comps are administered in late June and early July. Just as in the first year, comps last four hours. Second-year comps are supposed to be super-cumulative, by which I mean questions from the first-year comps and classes are fair game. For instance, the macro comp might have you solve Hansen's indivisible labor model. However, I do not know of any recent case in which this has happened.

Grades

You might receive the marks for your comp or field paper in your mail sometime in June, but it will probably be July. The grades are

H Honors pass
P PhD-level pass
M Masters-level pass
F Fantastic

Dates

The department generally announces the comp dates and field paper due dates sometime late the third quarter. They keep you guessing to provide an opportunity for young econometricians to practice forecasting the new comp dates. Here are the field requirements and comp dates for the past few years:

XXXXX

 

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Through the student's blood shall run,
No power function dominates
by any criterion.
Does there exist an infinitum
of the feeble strength of one?
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