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Economics PhD Admission Chance?


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- Math: Calculus, Intro Stats&Probability, Diffeq, Optimization, Mathematical Statistics, Probability Theory, Topology

- Econ: Everything through intermediate level plus Advanced Micro, Advanced Macro, Applied Econometrics, Mathematical Economics Tutorial (grad textbook).

- GPA: 3.925 (Math), 3.75 (Econ), 3.78 (Overall).

- Quantitative GRE: 800

- Good LORs from 2 econ professors and 1 math professor

- From a not-so-famous liberal arts college, no Master degree.

- No significant research

- No connection whatsoever

 

Applying to:

- For PhD: Harvard, Chicago, MIT, Princeton, Northwestern, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, U Michigan, Brown, Minnesota, Duke, Penn State, Johns Hopkins

- For Master: LSE, Oxford, Toronto, British Columbia.

 

What is my chance of admission?

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What are your grades in advanced micro/macro/metrics?

 

You have a very good shot at all the masters programs. Funding is hard to come by at UBC and LSE (not sure about Oxford), and Toronto you will get a TAship.

 

Not sure about the higher ranked universities: Harvard, Princeton, MIT - most of those successful applicants have research experience. Can you get some

research under your belt?

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All grades in advanced classes are A's, although I did screw up two intermediate-level classes.

 

Does independent study or research with a professor (who hasn't published much significant work) count? I'm an international student, so I can't get an internship at a central bank due to its citizenship requirement.

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I think that at NYU, Columbia, Cornell, U Michigan, Brown, Minnesota, Duke, Penn State, Johns Hopkins you have decent chances. The top schools are long-shots but I guess you already know this.

 

For the masters your chances are way better! I predict that you will get at least 2 offers! :)

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I've heard some people published their works on undergraduate journals? What are some of the (prestigious) undergraduate journals that they talk about?

 

Here's another question: does my research have to be about economics? I also did an independent study in game theory for political science and an independent study for the math major. Should I send any of these along with my application? Which one should I send, the economic one, the most mathematical one (math, of course), or the most interesting/creative one (political science)?

 

One last question, just in case I don't get into any programs with adequate fundings and I will have to reapply next year. Which of the following math classes should I take in my senior year:

- Graph Theory (doesn't have anything to do with Economics but neither does Topology, which is so highly valued).

- Topics in Geometry (axiomatic development of euclidean and non-euclidean geometry).

- Complex Analysis (I took Foundations of Analysis already but I forgot to list it in my first message. Does it improve my chance anyhow?)

- Mathematical Logic (doesn't have anything to do w/ economics, but it's pure math)

- Rings and Fields (modern algebra)

- Groups and symmetry (related to geometric and topological structures)

- Topics in Analysis (chosen from multivariate analysis, Lebesgue measure and integration, Fourier analysis, calculus on manifolds, etc.)

 

Should I just generally go for the "purer" and tougher math or go for the more econ-applicable math?

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On the first couple of questions, I quote Christian Roessler's admissions guide:

A popular myth is that the admission committee rolls out the red carpet for applicants who have published a paper. I suspect that the opposite can be true. Top-school professors think nothing of low-quality journals; those publications are rarely up to the mark of good graduate research. Moreover, a poor-quality publication becomes part of your permanent record as a writer. Your advisors intend to work hard to make you an attractive candidate for the academic placement market and might prefer to start out on a blank page … Of course, if you have a paper in a good journal, your fortune is almost made. But good journals (check the list of journals included in the
econphd.net rankings
) are virtually inaccessible to students, so I ignore the possibility. That said, there’s nothing wrong at all with sending a well-crafted technical paper as evidence that you can do serious research. If you submit anything, it ought to be a short and rigorous piece; qualitative (or even empirical) work is not likely to impress the committee.

As for your last question: Given your math background, I strongly doubt that taking any of those advanced courses will help you in any meaningful way. Taking one is probably a good thing, but with courses this advanced, it really doesn't matter very much which you take. Take something that interests you.

 

Oh, and having taken real analysis is a good thing, especially if you got an A in it. I was going to ask if you had taken it, but just assumed you had, given the rest of your coursework. I've mentioned elsewhere that once you've taken all your calc, linalg, and real analysis, everything else matters much less. At this point, you're just signaling that you can take advanced math and do well in it, which is definitely nice, but less fundamental than showing that you can get As in the aforementioned classes.

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I've heard some people published their works on undergraduate journals? What are some of the (prestigious) undergraduate journals that they talk about?

 

 

No such animal. They're an oxymoron. The only journals that are going to be looked at favorably are ones your profs would publish in, and even then...In all honesty, any journal that is not peer-reviewed really isn't worth the paper that it is printed on. You're going to have pretty limmited access to any worthwhile journal, especially the first tier journals unless you're a co-author. Most undergrads don't do publication quaility work. Add to that the fact that the publication process is somewhat involved and lengthy. Chances are slim to none that even if you had a publishable paper, that it wouldn't be picked up by the time that you apply.

 

Here's another question: does my research have to be about economics? I also did an independent study in game theory for political science and an independent study for the math major. Should I send any of these along with my application? Which one should I send, the economic one, the most mathematical one (math, of course), or the most interesting/creative one (political science)?

 

Unless your profs have been pushing you to run with your ideas and get them published, I doubt what you've got will qualify as "research". It looks ok, don't get me wrong, but I'd only use them as a writing sample. Consult your profs about which one is most appropriate.

 

 

As far as which course...six of one, half-a-dozen of the other. It won't really matter. You've got all the requsite courses anything beyond those are really just icing on the cake. Diminishing marginals, eh?

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possible ways to get published in a top tier journal (just an opinion based on observation) while you're an undergrad:

1. impress and befriend a famous prof who publishes several papers a year

2. send a comment to a top journal (of course this should be a joint work since a familiar name as an author oils the referee process a bit)

3. come up with an earth shattering idea (haha)

4. send a well-written experimental economics paper to JET (be sure to get funding for your research which may cost you some dough!)

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I've heard some people published their works on undergraduate journals? What are some of the (prestigious) undergraduate journals that they talk about?

 

Here's another question: does my research have to be about economics? I also did an independent study in game theory for political science and an independent study for the math major. Should I send any of these along with my application? Which one should I send, the economic one, the most mathematical one (math, of course), or the most interesting/creative one (political science)?

 

One last question, just in case I don't get into any programs with adequate fundings and I will have to reapply next year. Which of the following math classes should I take in my senior year:

- Graph Theory (doesn't have anything to do with Economics but neither does Topology, which is so highly valued).

- Topics in Geometry (axiomatic development of euclidean and non-euclidean geometry).

- Complex Analysis (I took Foundations of Analysis already but I forgot to list it in my first message. Does it improve my chance anyhow?)

- Mathematical Logic (doesn't have anything to do w/ economics, but it's pure math)

- Rings and Fields (modern algebra)

- Groups and symmetry (related to geometric and topological structures)

- Topics in Analysis (chosen from multivariate analysis, Lebesgue measure and integration, Fourier analysis, calculus on manifolds, etc.)

 

Should I just generally go for the "purer" and tougher math or go for the more econ-applicable math?

 

Go with Topics in Analysis since it covers some measure theoritic concepts. Measure theory is the language of modern probability. Complex Analysis may be useful in statistics.

 

Graph Theory has many applications actually. First, game theory uses simple concepts of graphy theory--it helps to have been exposed to basic definitions of grap theory. Some topics in stochastic process rely on graph theory.

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