Plan B

[lycinsg]

here is my profile again

Type of Undergrad: Top 30ish in econ. Top 20ish in math
Undergrad GPA: 3.78 average. 3.79 for econ 3.4ish for math
GRE/TOEFL: 780Q/500V/4.5 AWA.
Math Courses: Multivariable calc, differential, matrix algebra, real analysis, probability
Econ Courses Advanced micro, macro, international trade, international macro, public finance, monetary, econometrics 2 of them, game theory
Grad courses: None.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 well known, 1 worked a long time in the Fed, 1 ok i guess. All knows me fairly well
Research Experience: None.Some papers for class. Honors thesis (completed prior to sending my apps)
Teaching Experience: None.
Research Interests: public, international trade/macro, behavioral
Statement of Purpose: Pretty generic, how i prepared for grad school. talked about my honors thesisConcerns: weak profile. rejected by all the schools i applied so far
Applying to: Rejected: columbia, Penn state, minnesota, michigan. Implicitly rejected: Maryland, brown, nyu, Wharton. Waiting but no hope : UW, Stanford, UCSD

[Pedxs]

Here is why I think working outside academia (even a year) will hurt an application, especially since the OP is aiming for an 'elite' school

Basically taking a normal job does nothing to the application, but you become older.

An applicant straight out of college with the same profile would be preferred by grad schools simply because he/she achieved the same in a less amount of time.

I am sure any of us could achieve a stronger profile if we take a few years out of school. If the school does not penalized for that, then it would be unfair to recent grad.

What would be more impressive? Publishing your first paper while doing research in college, or one during grad school?

[kimbanator]

lycinsg -- I think you have a decent shot at schools outside the top 15; a school like UC Davis would be a good match. I just think you need to aim lower, frankly (as I will next year).

[lycinsg]

lycinsg -- I think you have a decent shot at schools outside the top 15; a school like UC Davis would be a good match. I just think you need to aim lower, frankly (as I will next year).

Indeed, I applied after i found out about this forum and so had no idea where i stand. Therefore, i will make sure to have tons of safeties next year

[Gecko]

lycsing: the stint at the federal reserve seems to hint that research experience may not be the clincher in itself. Try considering graduate courses As for the math GPA, at 3.4 ish most of your courses are around the B+ range, so maybe can take upper level versions and try for an A- .

[lycinsg]

lycsing: the stint at the federal reserve seems to hint that research experience may not be the clincher in itself. Try considering graduate courses As for the math GPA, at 3.4 ish most of your courses are around the B+ range, so maybe can take upper level versions and try for an A- .

I see. Well, for the math part, most of them are A- and a few A+ but I do have an outlier which caused my math gpa to be so low. I'm not sure how I can make it better. Should I retake that one class which made everything look bad? Also, are you suggesting that grad courses > RA? does it matter if it is the Fed or in my school?

[Gecko]

Erm, I would think taking classes in school sends a stronger signal. If that one single module which was an outlier is a non-essential math mod, then forget about my previous comment.

Grad courses do send a tentative signal that the person won't pass out when seeing Mas Collel, or some other variant of it

As for the Fed Reserve thing, I read wrongly ^^|| I thought you had worked for some time in the Fed Reserve, haha. Not sure if its relevant, but all my letters are from pure academics

[mlkovach]

I second grad courses being important. I didn't think my profile was particularly strong, but I did well (near top of class) in PhD Micro and got a letter from the prof (who is also well known). I'm pretty sure that's what made the difference.

[dsdoodle]

Since we go to the same school, I would suggest doing an RA over taking a grad course. The reason being if you graduate this spring, you won't actually be in school for the grad classes to be on your transcript if you take it next fall. Also, you're taking classes but not making any money to pay for rent or living... if you parents are paying, then it's fine but at least an RA job pays something, plus you get research experience (what grad schools ultimately care about, although taking grad courses and doing well in them will let them know that you can pass their cores), plus a better recommendation letter than just an okay one.

However, if no RA jobs are available, then grad school classes definitely will help you a lot as well, granted that you do well. I think getting a B (3.0) in my first grad micro class probably did a lot in keeping me out of a lot of schools. I probably should have explained it in my SOP as well... alas.

[good_tea]

Why do you have no hope for UW and UCSD? Both of them are easier to get into then all the programs you have gotten rejected from till now (except UCSD should be harder than PennState based on my estimations from last year, though that was a different year). UW in particular should be significantly easier.

My profile is quite similar to yours (but will only post it later): top 30 department, similar math classes (I did very well on the later ones and ok on some of the early ones) and my GREQ was less than yours, 760. I wonder if your recommendation letters may be too weak for a top 20 admit and perhaps one of them is lukewarm or something (in that case, you might want to think about which one). I think you should have applied to more top 30s given your profile, too.