Econ PhD applicant profile

[econphd123]

Hi, can anyone give me advice on which schools to apply to for Econ Phd in the US.

Profile:
International Student
GRE waiting for results
Graduate GPA should be around 4+ out of 4.33 (doing PhD-stream courses in MA program)
Undergrad GPA total 3.8/4.33
Undergrad GPA econ and math classes 3.93/4.33
+good recos.
+1 year TA experience

Math/Stat classes: Intro to Stats (for Stats majors), Lin. Algebra, Calculus I,II,III, Diff. equations II, and numerical analysis class.

Also, is it worth it to take a year or two off and work?

[Econ]

I think that your profile is very strong.
GRE scores and espec Q are very important so try to score as high as you can (or if you have taken the paper based exam I wish you best luck).
Also, if your dream is to become an economist then working in the market prior to applying should not help much; actually it may lower the chances since you will have a two-year gap between MSc and PhD in US. Generally, in our field working experience (RA and TA are very desirable) is not very helpful for admissions (except if you find a job in the World Bank or something like this )

So, conditional on nearly perfect Q in GRE, I would advise you to apply in a range of schools including some top like Har, MIT, Yale, Chic etc and going down the rankings-however it depends on how many schools you want to apply. For many advises, decision tables and rankings try econphd.net (it is a wonderful site).

P.S. Out of curiosity: how come the best GPA can be 4.33? Is it out of 13 and you have divided it by 3? I mean, I have seen gpas in the 0-10 scale, a %, in a 0-4 scale, in a 1-5 scale (with 1 the best), in a 0-5 scale with 5 the best, even in Chile in the 0-7 scale, but never in the 0-4.33 scale!

[econphd123]

Hi Econ, thanks for your reply. The grading system at my school is

A+ 4.33
A 4.00
A- 3.67 and so on until D 1.00 and F 0.00

The job I am considering is at a central bank (economist position).

What schools are you applying/applied to?

[Econ]

Oh I got it!

Well the job you are considering seems quite promising indeed; it depends on your preferences, I guess. I am applying in most top-20 schools, say from Har-MIT until Boston, Brown. Maybe you could try to apply and then reconsider the job vs phd dillema when you have the final offers from the universities.

[econphd123]

That won't work because I have to reply about the job by Feb. or so. But I'll see what else I can do about it.


Are you writing separate SOPs for each school? They seem to ask slightly different questions...

Do you mind sharing your profile?

[neokeynesian]

Hi econphd123,

i would advise u just take up the offer first. don't have to worry abt anything else.
from my experience usually they will put u in probation period, say about 3, 6 or more mths before u will be confirmed as a permanent staff. take things easy man!
which central is offering a job for u? which country r u from?

[econphd123]

Hi neokeynesian,

It's Canada's central. ... any comments on my profile? which schools would you suggest?

have you heard any good things about pompeu fabra?

[Econ]

Hi econphd123: Your job offer is tempting but I would apply in econ phd as well so as to have more flexibility. The question I would pose is whether you want the job so as to make some money or because you thinK that this will help you in the econ phd admissions (in this case I wouldn't be so sure about it - your profile is already very good). My profile: international student, BA: 7.7/10, MSc 9.8+/10 (best for all times in my department), MSc Thesis: Quantitative Macroeconomics, many maths (mainly dynamics and numerical methods), TOEFL 260, GRE: V660, Q800, AWA:awaited. About the SOPs I will write a general pattern to have in mind and adjust it specifically for every school. Pompeu Fabra is a very good school (on of the top non-US school), I think espec in macros - it has some very famous people (I can remember Canova right now, maybe Marimor and Scott are also there-not sure) espec in numerical methods and estimation/solution methods of SDGE models.

[neokeynesian]

hi Econ,
it seems to me that your MSc thesis is quite impressive, involved mainly mathmetical method.
I did my MA econs, & my thesis research is more on macroeconomic policy, forecasting & simulations.

[econphd123]

Hi Neokeynesian,

hmm, my thesis is not math. involved at all ... (sadly) , i am trying to come up with something more mathematical, but doubt i will do it in time. we'll see...

it's strange how you got that impression though. (i hope grad. admissions will do the same