http://www.urch.com/forums/blogs/urch/ Free test prep and admissions forum. GMAT, SAT Prep, GRE, TOEFL. en Sat, 18 May 2013 17:56:50 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.urch.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.urch.com/forums/blogs/urch/ http://www.urch.com/forums/blogs/urch/102-faqs-about-graduate-school-economics-links-useful-threads.html Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:25:45 GMT [QUOTE=asquare;645643]This post is especially intended for new TM posters. Some questions about applying to or attending graduate programs in economics come up frequently on TM. You're welcome to ask questions even though they've been discussed in the past, but there is a lot of useful information in the old posts, and I'd urge you to read through some of those posts to see if they help you out. You can search using the [URL="http://www.urch.com/forums/search.php"]search function[/URL] in the menu at the top of your screen, just below and to the right of the box that says "Welcome [username]."

To get you started, here are some of the most commonly asked questions, and some threads that I think do a good job of addressing them. Please feel free to add more questions and links to other useful threads to this discussion! I'm only listing a few threads of the threads that come up when I search for these topics, and I'm sure there are other excellent threads that people can link to. I'm not trying to replace the search function, just trying to give new posters a sense of what information is already available on the forums :)

1) Here's my profile. Where should I apply?
Start with this year's [URL="http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/92113-roll-call-fall-2009-a.html"]Roll Call thread[/URL]. Note that the Roll Call thread is for reference. Please post your profile there but save any discussion for separate threads.
Other useful threads include the "Profiles and Results" threads from previous years:
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/85985-profiles-results-2008-a.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/66608-profiles-results-2007-a.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/37272-profiles-results-2005-a.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/71470-profiles-results-part-2-non-top-50-programs.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/63510-post-complete-profile-admissions-decisions.html[/URL]

2) Who should I ask for a letter of recommendation? Is it important to have LORs from famous professors? Should all of my letters be from economists?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/83133-true-about-recommendation-letters.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/77148-letters-recommendation-non-economists.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/76909-should-i-ask-professor-write-me-letter.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/76246-drafting-ones-own-letter-recommendation.html[/URL]

3) What does a strong (or weak) LOR sound like?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/86397-gift-future-applicants.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/77092-what-does-lukewarm-letter-recom-usually-mean.html[/URL]

4) How important is math to the application? Is real analysis necessary? What math classes are useful during first year?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/98305-how-important-real-analysis-admission.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/92883-yet-another-real-analysis-thread-sigh.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/73861-must-math-courses-phd.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/56198-how-much-actual-math-phd-programs-once-youre-there-not-get.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/56071-how-much-linear-algebra-do-you-need.html[/URL]

5) Should I get an MA in economics (or math) before I apply to PhD programs?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/80843-why-exactly-m-economics-nyu-not-good-step-towards-top-phd.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/69641-fallback-options-well-qualified-applicant.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/56188-ms-math-econ-phd-prep.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/79874-why-us-econ-ma-not-good.html[/URL]

6) How important are GRE scores? Do I need an 800 on the quant section? Does the verbal score matter?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/96462-gre-scores-required-schools.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/75003-verbal-300-ger.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/58924-whats-point-gre.html[/URL]

7) What matters most in admissions? LOR? GPA? GRE scores?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/60877-weighing-different-factors-admittance.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/93806-degree-importance-among-admission-criteria.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/79348-how-applications-looked-analyzed-first-round-adcoms-any-idea.html[/URL]

8) Can I transfer from a lower ranked school to a higher ranked school after my first year?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/77956-common-students-low-ranked-phd-program-transferring-high-ranked.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/66991-university-transfer.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/65104-transferring-schools.html[/URL]

9) What are placements like from different tiers of schools?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/81306-placements-place-class.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/71484-tenure-sure-after-getting-econ-phd.html[/URL]
(there are tons of threads on this subject; search for "placement" and whatever school you are interested in, and you'll get lots of information)

10) What are attrition rates like? How common is it for students to fail prelims/quals?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/92125-attrition-rates.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/90437-preliminars.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/53478-competitive-culture-grad-school-why-do-econ-students-drop.html[/URL]

11) How does funding work? What should I do if I'm not offered funding at my first choice school? How much does grad school cost?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/83542-faqs-about-funding.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/86272-help-meaning-april-15-a.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/65990-attending-school-without-funding.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/65378-current-phds-how-much-can-we-bargain.html[/URL]
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/65057-can-current-grad-students-give-cost-living-numbers.html[/URL]

12) How should I choose between the schools that admit me?
[URL]http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/63673-questions-ask-current-graduate-students-prospective-schools.html[/URL][/QUOTE] ]]> urch http://www.urch.com/forums/blogs/urch/102-faqs-about-graduate-school-economics-links-useful-threads.html http://www.urch.com/forums/blogs/urch/98-profiles-results-2010.html Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:25:01 GMT [QUOTE=greeneggs;788675][B][U]PROFILE:[/U][/B]
[B]Type of Undergrad:[/B] Triple Major (Econ, Math, Stat - all B.S.) from UMN
[B]Undergrad GPA: [/B]3.75/4
[B]Type of Grad:[/B] N/A
[B]Grad GPA: [/B]N/A
[B]GRE: [/B]800Q, 570V, 4.5AWA
[B]Math Courses: [/B]Calculus I-IV, (HS,HS, B+, B+), Intro to Stat I-II (A,A-), Linear Algebra (A-), Intro to Proofs (A-), Real Analysis I-II (A-,A), Prob & Stat I-II (A,A), Math Modeling (A), Prediction & Filtering (A), Multivariate Stat (A-), Numerical Methods (A-), phd Real Analysis (B,B), phd Time Series (A-), phd Probability & Measure theory (B), phd Commutative and Homological Algebra (A)
[B]Econ Courses: [/B]Principles of Micro (A), Principles of Macro (A), Game Theory (A-), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), Econometrics (A-), International Trade (A), Macro Policy (A), Mathematical Econ (A), phd Micro I-IV (A,B,B,A-), phd Macro (A-,Spring), phd Trade (A,Spring)
[B]Other [/B][B]Courses: [/B]C/C++ (A-), Algorithms & Data Structures (A-)
[B]Letters of Recommendation: [/B]1 amazing letter from a very well known researcher, 1 really good from a newer tenure track prof, and 1 not sure from a decently well known researcher - may change this last one though; I have a lot of options and I haven't talked to him for 2 years...
[B]Research Experience:[/B]
Summer research and honors thesis in international trade (working with the Melitz model)
[B]Teaching Experience: [/B]
None
[B]Research Interests: [/B]Trade, Macro, Growth
[B]SOP: [/B]Standard


[B][U]RESULTS:[/U][/B]
[B]Attending: [/B]University of Minnesota ($20k)
[B]Acceptances:[/B] NYU ($23k+), Princeton ($28.5k), Chicago ($21k), Northwestern ($21k), Stanford ($32k)
[B]Waitlist: [/B]Yale (Accepted - $37.5k), MIT (rejected)
[B]Rejections: [/B]Harvard, Berkeley
[B]What would you have done differently? [/B]
Not sure. People are going to think I'm crazy but I'm confident I made the right decision. Mind you it wasn't easy; I gave up going to a school with a fancy name (my family is taking it surprisingly well), I gave up thousands of dollars in funding, I gave up living with my girlfriend (she's got into a school near Stanford and one near Chicago - and we don't plan on breaking up), and I gave up seeing someplace new; but at the end of the day I know that Minnesota is the place for me. I still think it was important that I visited all of the departments of the schools I got into, so I don't feel like I just wasted my time and money staying where I am.

One thing I would have done differently is I wish I hadn't started slacking off after I got my decisions now that I'm going to take the prelims right away this spring...[/QUOTE] ]]> urch http://www.urch.com/forums/blogs/urch/98-profiles-results-2010.html http://www.urch.com/forums/blogs/urch/97-profiles-results-2008.html Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:22:06 GMT [QUOTE=wednesday;563477][B][U]PROFILE:[/U][/B]
[B]Type of Undergrad: [/B]UC Berkeley
[B]Undergrad GPA: [/B]3.76ish
[B]Type of Grad:[/B]
[B]Grad GPA:[/B]
[B]GRE: [/B]800/680/4.0
[B]Math Courses: [/B]9 upper division undergrad, 5 grad
[B]Econ Courses: [/B]6 upper div undergrad, 11 grad
[B]Other Courses: [/B]misc
[B]Letters of Recommendation: [/B]1 junior guy, 1 senior guy, 1 Nobel laureate
[B]Research Experience: [/B]4 RA gigs, generalizing vNM for my thesis
[B]Teaching Experience: [/B]currently teaching intermediate micro
[B]Research Interests: [/B]micro theory, finance, PF
[B]SOP: [/B]boiler plate
[B]Other:[/B]

[B][U]RESULTS:[/U][/B]
[B]Acceptances: [/B]MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale
[B]Waitlists: [/B]None
[B]Rejections: [/B]None
[B]Pending: [/B]NSF
[B]What would you have done differently? [/B]I'd haveworked harder freshman year and not ruined my GPA.[/QUOTE] ]]> urch http://www.urch.com/forums/blogs/urch/97-profiles-results-2008.html