General rules for recommendation letters (graduate school or internships/jobs at top institutions).
If you have any questions, please email me. If you have not received a response, email me again one week later. Please do not take a lack of response as a negative sign. It is likely that I received a lot of emails if I do not reply quickly.
Please give me at least three weeks' notice to request a recommendation letter for graduate school (M.A., J.D, M.P.P., or Ph.D.) or internships in reputable institutions (federal agencies, pre-docs at Economics labs, investment banking, development banks, think tanks, etc.).
If I have not submitted the letter, you can send a reminder via email 2 weeks before, 1 week before, and each day during the three days before the deadline. If I agree to write a letter, you are not spamming me; you are helping me. I will not be upset by the reminders. I will be thankful for the reminders.
Who do I give recommendation letters to?
Students who obtained an A in my class.
Getting an A is a requisite, but it is not enough. As you already know, I only give a grade of A in exceptional cases, but I also consider your drive, intellectual ambition (via class participation, class attendance, and office hours attendance), maturity, communication skills, if you are respectful with your classmates, attitude toward teamwork, grit, and interpersonal skills in general. The last element is of vital importance to me.
I make exceptions if you had a difficult midterm exam and showed an impressive performance in both the final and the final project (when applicable). In such cases, you should have been to my office hours frequently, participated in class, and constantly received feedback from me. Usually, students in this category obtained an A- in my class.
Research students. This includes three types of students
Research assistants who worked with me for more than one semester.
Students who completed a thesis.
Students who completed an Independent Study and I encourage them to convert the study into a full paper.
Major advisees. Those mentees or advisees whom I have known for at least 1.5 years and who have followed my guidelines can get a recommendation letter. Nevertheless, they must take one of my classes and do well. Why? Because I can only write a good recommendation letter if I know you well.
Things to take into account
Students applying to Ph.D. programs must talk with me extensively. My bar for these letters is exceptionally high, and I do not make exceptions under any circumstances. Getting an A in my courses is not enough. You should have written a thesis or an independent study under my direct supervision, or worked as my research assistant. I make exceptions for students who worked with other faculty and not with me, but whom I mentored extensively throughout their undergraduate studies. We must discuss mathematics and economics courses, thesis, research jobs, coding, and interpersonal skills. The last element is crucial to me.
What to do if you need a letter of recommendation?
You must email me to set up the first meeting. We will discuss the following things: professional objectives, a list of schools, what to do and what not to do, and how to write a successful application. You should come well-prepared to the meeting to discuss the list of schools and the reasons that drive you to apply to graduate school/internships at top institutions.
Why does a letter require so much preparation? I want to make sure you succeed in your applications. I do not write "just good", "very good" or "ok" letters. If I write a letter to support your application, I will make sure it is "excellent" or "exceptional".
You must provide me with the following items:
Unofficial transcript.
Two paragraphs describing why you are applying to graduate school.
Resume
Writing sample (your policy memo from the International Trade Theory class, your thesis, or your independent study final document). You can edit the sample again before emailing it to me.
A list of schools with deadlines in an Excel spreadsheet. Such a list must include only the schools that we discussed in the first meeting. Please do not add schools that we did not discuss in our first meeting.
Your best work reference (for graduate school letters).