Please evaluate my profile

[dsge1987]

Could you please evaluate my profile for me.
Type of Undergrad: Top Canadian University 3.0 GPA Mostly good grades but got an F and have a note from the administration saying I was sick before the exam. Low GPA due to awful grades in language courses.
Econ Major(A’s except for bad grade in Macro and Micro theory(C+)) Well econ in my school was terrible and both professors did not like me at all plus I had a lot of personal issues(e.g death’s in family)
Math Minor (A’s in Calculus 1,2,3-Prob-Stats, Linear Algerbra, Advanced Linear Algebra, Advanced Geometry)
T.A for 20 months for advanced Stat’s courses
Type of Grad: Barcelona GSE MSc Macroeconomic Policy 7.6/10
All A-‘s but a bad grade in econometrics, again due to sickness.
Type of Grad: Going to Toulouse for a 2 year Master’s(2010-2012) or other option Msc Math from Kings College London(2011-2012)
If i take the kings option i will intern at the UN this fall and teach for 8 months in Pakistan.
GRE: 800Q 4 AWA 580 V
Math subject test: 800
letter of recommendation’s: One from econometric professor from undergrad,1 from program director(well known), 1 from guy from Rochester(well known) and I am hoping to get 1 more from Toulouse. They are all pretty strong.
Research Experience: Master’s thesis, Undergrad Thesis.
Other: what’s really bothering me are the outliers in my grades. It was due to personal reasons and I can prove that. However given the intense competition for top positions, I am thinking of pursuing another 2 year master’s after already completing one. or atleast an MSc in Math.How will the admissions committee look into my application?
Research Interests: Macro
What schools should i be targeting in the U.S?

[whatdoido]

Are you asking what schools in the U.S. should you apply for PhD or for Masters?

[dsge1987]

Well its for a PhD, given that i will already have 2 masters by the end of 2012.

[whatdoido]

Well, I think you should see how you do in Toulouse and what kinds of recommendations you can get from there. Then you could probably be more sure of what your chances are at certain schools.

[HopefulFutureEcon]

whatdoido is correct. Come back and ask after you have finished your 1st year at Toulouse as your performance there will probably make your application. Try to do really well because your undergraduate grades are checkered, at best, so you need to compensate for that.

[whatdoido]

HopefulFutureEcon is right. You definitely want to try to do well in classes that you did poorly in undergraduate and your first master's. Pay special attention to your micro and macro theory courses, since those are the ones you did poorly in in undergraduate. Try to find an RAship wherever you go, because your research experience is lacking a little bit. I don't know if you are allowed to at Toulouse, but do your best to get into at least one or two PhD courses. Good Luck.

[dsge1987]

Well i did poorly overall in my undergrad especially in the core micro macro courses..but in my masters degree i worked my *** off and got A-'s on both even though my background was considerably weaker than my fellow students..Secondly do you think i need more research experience considering ive done a master's thesis already? Do you think going to Toulouse and doing well there would give me a shot at a good school like Rochester or UT Austin? What would you say regarding McGill's reputation for a PhD?

[_nanashi]

Most of my professors in undergrad and grad professors have said a second masters is generally a neutral or negative signal. The first question they always ask is why do they want a second masters. Even if its in a different, but somewhat related field. That being said I'd go to Toulouse over masters of math. The major reason is that what seems to me the best way to get into schools as an outlier is well written recommendations from known professors.


I think you need to figure out if you want to do empirical or theoretical macro. I think you probably have a shot in the top 30. Your recommendations if they are good are going to count for something. Some schools that you may also want to look at a safety school. Macro, UWashington (Seattle) takes chances on profiles like yours, and I know of students with not as strong profiles all around that got acceptances. Vanderbilt is another Macrooutlier school to my knownedge.


I probably would try Queens in Canada, Washington U st.louis, Boston (one of them is good in Macro, I forget which), and generally schools in the bottomend of the top 20 and top 30. I think your profile says you'd have a reasonable shot at those schools. You may want to try as high as wisconson, or even Minnesotta, if toulouse goes well.


Some safety schools would include SFU, Oregon. Who have one or two very good people in Macro. SFU has Kasa doing empirical international Finance, and David Andolfatto doing theory (Though he's on leave at the Fed for one or two years). George Evans is at Oregon (theory). These schools have pretty good placement w.r.t their rankings. They manage to place a few students consistently into PhD granting Universities, which is what is considered a good placement.

[dsge1987]

What about Georgetown? They are in the 40's in the rankings, do you think i have a decent shot there?

[Gecko]

Both Boston universities (BU and BC) are pretty decent in macro ^_^