Newly Admitted Student Information

Congratulations on your admission to Stanford! 

The Office of Graduate Admissions will provide very useful information about campus housing, health services, grad student expenses, and visas for international students.

For any questions you may have, please contact sburbank [at] stanford.edu (Stephanie Burbank), Assistant Director of Student Services.

An optional Math Review Camp will be held starting in early September. Newly admitted Econ PhD students are encouraged to attend. 

Students arriving early for math camp should contact campus housing to reserve space for the math camp. This does lead to extra charges on your bill that are offset by a relocation stipend the department offers, but is the responsibility of the student to cover. 

A special Programming Camp will be held simultaneously for new Econ PhD students.  

• First-year students receive a department fellowship for the first three quarters of the program. This is a one-time stipend paid at the beginning of each quarter, which must last you through each quarter.
• To receive your fall quarter fellowship stipend check at the start of the quarter, you must enroll in courses in Axess by the posted deadline.
• Grading:
  • You must enroll using the "letter grade" grading option for all lecture courses.
  • In Economics, individual study courses and seminars can be taken CR/NC.
  • Courses not counting for the Economics PhD requirements may also be taken CR/NC.

International Students

New international students must visit the Bechtel International Center in person and show their visa/passport. This is the only way they will remove a hold from your account and allow you to enroll.

• If you do not already have a Social Security card, you may need to obtain either a Social Security card or (more likely) an ITINS (individual taxpayer identification number) to receive your stipend payments. Please contact the Bechtel International Center regarding the process for obtaining an ITINS and/or a social security card prior to future employment as an RA or TA.
• If you are a foreign student (on fellowship) from a country that has a tax treaty with the U.S., please check the Bechtel page on taxes and the Student Services tax information page.

Building Access

To obtain access to the Economics building, please email the Operations Coordinator, smpurdy [at] stanford.edu (Stuart Purdy), as soon as you have physically received your student ID card. 

• Provide the ID number on your card so he can activate it to work on the building's electronic door reader.

Lockers

You will be provided with a locker on the first floor of Landau to keep your personal items for the year. Please see Kaitlyn Lee in room 136 for more information. Please be sure to lock away or carry with you any personal items for safety.

Mailbox

By mid-September, you will have a mailbox with your name on it located on the second floor.

First Year Study Room

There is a study room on the first floor provided for our incoming cohort to work together on problem sets and form a community with fellow students in the cohort. Please keep this clean and do not leave any personal items unattended; this is what your locker is for. 

Departmental Email Lists

Your Stanford email address will be automatically added to the department mail list and a first-year-specific mail list. 

Computer Resource Center

We will arrange dates for the Computer Resource Center to get set up to use the department computers and networked printers. 

Parking Permits

If you have a car on campus, you must buy a parking permit. Parking is enforced year-round.

Academic Accommodations

Should you need to register for academic accommodations, please go to Stanford's Office of Accessible Education website for specifics.