plz help! what is the best program fits my profile

[wassal]

i'm an international student, i wanna apply for phd in economics 2011 in USA. could any one suggest a program where i can obtain funding
My profile
GRE: q 790 verbal 520 awa 4.5
Toefl: expect 105
undergrad: B.commerce in economics very good grade with honor ranked 2 over 4500 students from a leading university in my country (Egypt) but NOT ranked in top 500 over world
grad: n/a
econ course: ALOT principle of micro & macro, intermediate micro & macro, advanced micro & macro, econometrics 1& 2, industrial econ, history of econ thought, money &banking, international econ ALL EXCELLENT
labor econ, development, planning all very good
math course:mathematical economics excellent, quantitative methods excellent , math for business 1 & 2 good, stat 1 good, stat 2 excellent, stat for economist very good
other course: alot in business, accounting, finance all grade were either excellent or very good
experience: econ teaching assistant at the same univ may 2010 till now
recommendation :3 professors from my univ but hold their phd (one from LSE, second from Minnesota, third from my univ)

I know that my math grades will hurt my application
could u recommend me a univ fit my profile where i can obtain funding ( prefer fellowship)?
what shall i do next fall before i apply?
THANKS IN ADVANCE

[Charis]

Like most people who respond to these things I support the see your professors and ask them where applicants from your school with a similar background went. This has low marginal cost and very high marginal benefit. It not only increases the odds of you making an informed decision but helps signal to your prof (aka LORs) that you are a serious candidate. Now do take what they say with a grain of salt as I have heard horror stories about being pushed by professors who have been away from the application process for decades and haven't seen how competition has risen. Still, they are by far better positioned to give you advice than most of the hacks on this forum (myself included, of course, and excluding anyone with behind the scenes knowledge of the admissions process).

That said, the make or break question I think you should add to your profile is how many years your undergraduate diploma was meant to take. I know some foreign schools have 3 year programs, and those don't count in the US and you'd definitely need a masters before you'd even be looked at (part of accreditation requires them to accept only students who have completed at least a 4 year bachelors program).

P.S. I have no idea where you should go. Good luck

[wassal]

thanks soooooooo much Charis, my bachelor degree is 4 years program & accredited in US. My professors went to many universities in US like Minnesota, Columbia, Pennsylvania,Vanderbilt, Illinois, and Notre dame. BUT all of them were sponsored by Egyptian government which have an obligation to back to work in Egypt for 5 years upon completing your study

[AREStudentHopeful]

I would second the suggestion for a masters. Students from many countries outside the US (I'm not specifying Egypt in particular) are somewhat expected to have a masters before they apply to US PhD programs. I don't think you should have a problem (disclaimer: ask your professors about this first) getting into top masters programs in Canada, UK, ect. with funding. From what I've heard the Canadian programs will be where the funding is as most of the top programs in the UK require you to pay your own way. With top grades at these masters programs, you shouldn't have a problem doing well in the US PhD application market. While this is all general advise, the best thing to do is, indeed, to ask your professors about past placements.

[wassal]

first, thank you so much for your reply "AREStudentHopeful". second your idea is a good one. I thought about doing master at UK or canada before ,but the problem is funding. it will cost about 30k to do master in uk (tution + expenses), for me that's too much. remember I'm from a developing country

[AREStudentHopeful]

Many Canadian masters programs do fund students, however. While I'm not sure what your chances are for funding (some users here with more Canadian experience can help you on this one), I would say that would be your best bet.

[wassal]

Thank you again "AREStudentHopeful ". I'll browse some Canadian universities.

[Elliephant]

Canadian schools almost always give international MA students a partial tuition waiver that covers the difference between international and domestic tuition. That means you would be paying about $6,000 a year for tuition, plus living expenses ($10,000 should do it). I know that's still a lot for someone coming from Egypt. However, if you plan to stay abroad after you finish your degree as implied by your post above, you'll find that money is paid back very, very quickly. It's a high-return, relatively low-risk investment. If you're super-good you may get a teaching assistant (TA) position, which should be roughly $8,000. The only Canadian school that is stingy about helping international students is Queen's. Rumour has it they avoid admitting non-Canadians to begin with. But that still leaves you with three excellent (UBC, Toronto, Western Ontario) and several decent (SFU, McMaster, McGill) schools that could be great transitions into an American PhD programme.

A class standing of 2/4500 is excellent. You look a little bit short on math, though it is possible that Egyptian courses with the same names are more rigorous. The general wisdom is that to be competitive you need math up through multivariate calculus, matrix algebra, mathematical statistics (using calculus), real analysis (proofs), and preferably (though not necessarily) some of differential equations, number theory, stochastic processes, or topology. If you have covered most that material and have some research experience, then I think with your class standing you'd have no problem getting into a top 30 PhD programme this year. But again, you must speak to your profs to see what they think.

[Charis]

What is your target anyway? I certainly would say the norm for internationals is to get a Masters (partly this may be attributed to foreign universities either having low international reputation or programs to do both bachelors and masters together especially in Europe). Nevertheless, I do believe with your profile you would stand a shot at some low ranked PhD programs (outside top 50 of course) right now. Funding, though, is a definite maybe. If you do want to break the top 30, though, you would definitely need a MA and probably letters attesting to the rigor of your math courses if you don't take more. In any case, in my two cents, you wouldn't need number theory and typology is considered good to have but mostly just extra proof practice (point set typology and metric spaces is usually taught only for a week or two and that's the only applicable stuff). Everything else, the above poster mentioned, though, is definitely needed or almost necessary signals for admission to top 30 or above for those who haven't come from famous schools with famous profs.

[Gecko]

hold on a minute. while it is common for internationals to have Masters, it is not impossible to go directly.

I myself went to a decent school without a masters; what clinches the deal is whether the professor can make a convincing case. Evidence of attempts at independent research is a valuable signal too.