» Essay Types
    » Timeline
    » Advisors List
    » Summary of Faculty Research & Teaching Interests
    » Essay Prospectus Form

The senior essay for economics majors is optional. If a senior wishes to be considered for distinction in the major, however, the senior essay is required. Most students who do a senior essay find it immensely rewarding and consider it one of their best experiences at Yale. We hope you will feel the same.

Senior Essay Types

Senior essays can be 1-term or 2-term essays. The difference between a 1-term and a 2-term essay is the 2-term essay is broader in scope. Grading of the essay takes into account whether the essays are 1-term or 2-term. Most economics majors do 2-term essays.

Senior essays can be done in one of several ways:

     1-term essays:

• Enroll in Econ 491a in the fall of your senior year.
• Expand a term paper from a fall-term seminar in your senior year
• *Please note that a 1-term essay cannot be done in the spring term of your senior year.

     2-term essays:

• Enroll in Econ 491a and Econ 492b
• Expand a term paper from a fall-term seminar and enroll in Econ 492b (depends on availability of seminar instructor; with permission of instructor and DUS only)

Timeline

     Fall Term of Senior Year:

• Attend a senior essay meeting in the first weeks of classes (see bluebook for days and times).
• Choose an advisor and a topic. You should refer to the Undergraduate Website http://www.econ.yale.edu/undergrad/ugrad.htm for help finding and advisor who is available and is appropriate for your topic. If you have difficulty with finding an advisor, see the DUS for suggestions. There are many economics faculty members who may be ideal advisors for your topic. If you are doing a 1-term essay out of a fall seminar, the instructor becomes your advisor..
• Enroll in Econ 491a (not necessary if you are doing a senior essay out of a fall seminar).
• Submit a "Senior Essay Prospectus" by Monday, October 3, 2011. The prospectus must be signed by your advisor. All students submitting a senior essay must hand in a prospectus at this time.
• Meet with your advisor regularly. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that these regular meeting occur.
• A student who wishes to change a 1-term essay to a 2-term essay must get permission from the advisor and the DUS prior to the Thanksgiving break. To convert, a student must have made satisfactory progress on the essay by that time. No conversions will be allowed after Thanksgiving.
• Students enrolled in a two-term essay must submit a written progress report to their advisor on Wednesday, November 16, 2011.
• 1-term senior essays are due Monday, December 5, 2011.
• Two term senior essays must be submitted on Monday, April 2, 2012 to be eligible for prizes.

     1-Term Senior Essays Fall Deadline

For students doing a 1-term essay by enrolling in Econ 491a, essays are due to your advisor on the last day of reading week (Friday, December 9, 2011) in the fall term. The advisor will evaluate and grade the paper, which will be your grade for the course.

For students doing a 1-term essay out of a seminar, essays are also due to seminar instructors by Friday, December 9, 2011 in the fall term. The advisor will evaluate and grade the paper, but the essay grade will not appear on your transcript.  The grade and evaluation will be used to determine if your essay should go to prize committee in April.

(Note: Students doing the 1-term essay may continue to make additional revisions beyond the fall term before submitting the 1-term essay on the April due date for grading by the outside anonymous reader.  Please bear in mind however, that advisors of 1-term essays may have other commitments and are not obligated to advise you beyond the fall term.)

2-term Essay Fall Deadline

Progress Report for Two-Term Senior Essays due Wednesday, November 16, 2011

For those writing two-term senior essays, a progress report is due to your advisor on Wednesday, November 16. This report should describe the work that has been done on the senior essay during the fall semester and as such will serve as the basis for the grade of satisfactory or unsatisfactory that the advisor must submit to the Registrar at the end of the fall semester.

While the exact nature of the progress report is left up to students and their advisors, the report should demonstrate that substantial progress has been made on the essay. It is expected that the nature of the progress report will vary considerably from individual to individual depending on the nature of the senior essay itself. For essays involving substantial data collection and statistical analysis, a description of the research question and the data that has been gathered for analysis may be appropriate. For others, a portion of the essay itself or a detailed outline describing the thesis question, existing literature, and planned method of analysis is suitable.

For students doing 2-term essays, your advisor will be asked to give you a temporary grade of satisfactory or not satisfactory for the fall term. This temporary grade for Econ 491a will be replaced by the final grade on your senior essay in April.

Spring Term of Senior Year

1. For students doing 2-term essays, enroll in Econ 492b.
2. Submit copies of your essay to the Economics Undergraduate Registrar, on Monday, April 2, 2012. If you are doing a 2-term essay, submit 3 copies. If you did a 1-term essay, submit 2 copies (your advisor will have already evaluated and graded your essay in the fall).
3. Advisor’s Reports with grades and comments and Reader’s Reports with grades and comments are usually available by reading week in the Economics Undergraduate Registrar’s Office.

Converting from a 1-term Senior Essay to a 2-term Senior Essay

Prior to the Thanksgiving break, with the permission of the advisor and the DUS, a student may convert a 1-term essay to a 2-term essay. No conversions will be permitted after Thanksgiving.

Content of the Senior Essay

Senior essays are not intended to be reviews of the literature, rather they are an examination of a particular issue using the tools of economics. In particular, the essay must contain original research or/and analysis. They can be theoretical, empirical or computational. The senior essays that receive A’s and are awarded prizes are typically those that use economics tools (and, where appropriate, data) to offer fresh insights on questions. Topics are as diverse as recording and analyzing the behavior of black jack players, the effect of charter schools on student performance, the effect of China’s development on trade, the effect of the Fed on the stock market…. Examples of past essays are available in the Undergraduate Registrar’s office.

There are no page requirements or formatting requirements for senior essays in economics. Advice regarding bibliographies, graphs, etc. should be given by your advisor. Generally essays run about 30 pages. Essays do not have to be bound.

Econ 491a and Econ 492b count as 1 course credit each. For the requirements of the economics major, one term of the senior essay can substitute for a seminar. The second term of the senior essay counts as an advanced economics course.

Grading

Your senior essay will be graded by your advisor and by an anonymous economics faculty reader. The advisor grade will appear on your transcript if you enrolled in Econ 491a or 491a/492b. For students who are doing a 1-term essay out of a fall seminar, the advisor grade will not appear on your transcript (you will have received a course grade for the seminar). The reader grade does not appear on your transcript but is used as the basis to calculate distinction. We also ask the advisors and the readers if they recommend the essay for prize committee. Both must agree before the essay will be considered for a prize.

Calculation of Distinction:

Students are eligible for distinction if they receive an average grade of A- or above from the adviser and reader, and neither grade is below a B. Borderline cases (for example, average grades between A- and B+) will be reviewed by the DUS. To obtain distinction, students must have 3/4 of their economics grades be A’s or A-‘s, excluding the introductory economics courses, the math requirement and courses taken outside of Yale, but including related course credit.

Senior Essay Prizes

Two or more prizes for outstanding senior essays are awarded each year by the economics undergraduate prize committee. The Charles Heber Dickerman Memorial Prize is awarded to the best senior essay; the Ronald Meltzer/Cornelia Awdziewicz Economic Award is awarded to one or more outstanding senior essays and the Ellington Prize is awarded to one or more seniors who have presented the best departmental essay in the field of finance.

At Commencement, students receiving these prizes are given a certificate and a monetary gift.