Chances for Heterodox Grad Programs?

[marketforces]

Just graduating from a state school and thinking of applying to grad programs in the fall.

Dual Degree: B.A. in Economics, B.A. in International and Area Studies

Minors in Math and Poli Sci

Graduated with Honors, 3.54 GPA

Econ Courses: Game Theory and Mathematical Econ are the classes that stand out from a grad admissions perspective.

Math Courses: 4 semesters Calculus, Diff EQ (got a D the first time, but retook it and got an A), Linear Algebra, two statistics classes cross-listed at the grad level, Discrete Math

Teaching Experience: Two Semesters as a T.A. for a large intro-level poli sci class. One semester as a T.A. for Honors Intermediate Micro, 3 years with part time job tutoring poli sci and econ for 20 hours a week.

Research Experience: Honors thesis (Marxian analysis of the financial crisis, interesting but not particularly quantitative), summer as a research assistant for a Political Scientist researching state higher education budgeting.

Letters: Expect a great one from a stanford PHD (political science) who is the dean of our honors college, another from a political scientist (econ undergrad) for whom I served as a T.A., who supervised my thesis and who is now at Harvard on a research fellowship, and a third okay letter from my labor economics professor who I served as a T.A. for Intermediate Micro.

I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I am historically good at standardized tests and have plenty of time to prepare.

I will likely apply to schools such as UMass-Amherst, New School, Utah, American, Colorado State, maybe the Denver master's program and Winnepeg

Concerns: My biggest concern, besides my GPA being on the lower side, is that two of my letters will come from outside of the econ department. I hope to explain this as a result of the poor fit between my interests and those of the extremely orthodox department where I did my undergrad. How will I do?

[Humanomics]

I think letters signal your prospective quality as a researcher more than your grasp of your field research interests. As long as one or more of your recommenders can attest that you're capable of graduate level coursework in economics, people from poly sci etc should be able to attest work ethic, orignality, creativity, etc -- which are more important to the dissertation and long-term career prospects.