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tm_guru · 2009 October 23rd, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gecko

erm... they only grabbed prescott after he won the Nobel~

Yea, Kydland and Prescott were both at CMU...

econgreg09 · 2009 October 26th, 04:21 PM

Thanks for the advice.

My point about the non-top 7 is that I would have only heard of a tiny % of the faculty at just about anywhere else. This isn't really a knock against those people. And, yes, there are some Nobelists elsewhere, but I probably wouldn't write in my statement of purpose: "Hey, I'd love to work with your one or two Nobel Prize winners. Thanks!" Unless of course I actually had the same interests as those Nobelists and had some expectation of maybe working with them someday.

Gecko · 2009 October 26th, 04:28 PM

heh~ your interests could change after your prelims. either way, if not comfortable or unclear, don't insert names~

meiloya · 2009 October 26th, 05:52 PM

Hi Italos.

I am trying to self write my letter of recommendation and want to put myself in the best light possible. I am not applying to US universities, not even a top 100 in the world. I am applying to an institution which gives full scholarship for studies. The institution is in Europe. My undergraduate record is good but not extremely fantastic. So, I need an excellent reference letter which will move the scholarships committee to support my application. I need to present the letter to my referee very soon. Could you please get me an excellent letter of recommendation?

I will be happy to hear from you...

CSE2525 · 2009 October 26th, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by italos

The why xyz university part of the statement of purpose must be only a single strong paragraph.Be aware to write that paragraph before the conclusion paragraph((this is the the after xyz uni program carrier plans)

Italos what does the second part of your statement mean? "Be aware to write that paragraph before the conclusion paragraph((this is the the after xyz uni program carrier plans)"

tm_guru · 2009 October 26th, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by econgreg09

Thanks for the advice.

My point about the non-top 7 is that I would have only heard of a tiny % of the faculty at just about anywhere else. This isn't really a knock against those people. And, yes, there are some Nobelists elsewhere, but I probably wouldn't write in my statement of purpose: "Hey, I'd love to work with your one or two Nobel Prize winners. Thanks!" Unless of course I actually had the same interests as those Nobelists and had some expectation of maybe working with them someday.

Nope, not a joke, the OP completely missed the point.

econgreg09 · 2009 October 27th, 02:29 AM

I don't think I missed the point at all. My point is that as the ranking of the school increases, my odds of knowing many people on the faculty approaches zero. And I'm probably not going to apply to the top few. So, at quite a few of the places I'm applying I'll know few or none of the professors there. You can find some exceptions here and there, but that doesn't change the fact that at several of the places I'll be applying I won't have heard of anyone. Yes, even GMU has two nobelists. That's interesting as trivia, but the original issue still stands: I will be applying to some places where I haven't heard of anyone, or I've heard of some people but don't know much about them or don't want to work with the ones I've heard of.

This says nothing about whether professors outside the top few schools have done something of significance or not. This has more to do with the fact that at my age I have not yet read an enormous amount of economic literature. The economists that I am familiar with tend to be either from very highly ranked schools (e.g. Stiglitz, Sen, Mankiw, Barro, etc.) or from my own not well ranked institution (Notre Dame). If you want to say that I ought to be familiar with more economists, then say that. But no need to question my reading comprehension skills.

Also, the reason I switched from 6 to 7 is that a responder said "Why 6?", and I realized that top 6 would leave out Berkeley or Yale.

walt526 · 2009 October 27th, 02:39 AM

"(e.g. Stiglitz, Sen, Mankiw, Barro, etc.)"

It certainly is true that popular undergrad econ textbooks are written by faculty of more prestigious institutions...

In terms of the literature, it depends a lot on which field you're talking about--particularly if you're talking about a relatively smaller field. For example, Economic History. Anyone with even a passing familiarity of the American Economic History literature has heard of Gavin Wright, Alan Olmstead, and Price Fishback--but only one of those is a faculty member of a super-elite Economics department.

mlkovach · 2009 October 27th, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tm_guru

Yea, Kydland and Prescott were both at CMU...

I know. Just because they weren't at UCSB & ASU at the time of their research, doesn't mean that they aren't there currently to work with/learn from. I know that Kydland teaches 1-2 graduate seminars a year...

italos · 2009 October 27th, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CSE2525

Italos what does the second part of your statement mean? "Be aware to write that paragraph before the conclusion paragraph((this is the the after xyz uni program carrier plans)"

Read my tread.It is all written in a very clear manner.

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2009 October 26th, 04:21 PM	#12 (permalink)
econgreg09 I JUST got here. Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 19	Thanks for the advice. My point about the non-top 7 is that I would have only heard of a tiny % of the faculty at just about anywhere else. This isn't really a knock against those people. And, yes, there are some Nobelists elsewhere, but I probably wouldn't write in my statement of purpose: "Hey, I'd love to work with your one or two Nobel Prize winners. Thanks!" Unless of course I actually had the same interests as those Nobelists and had some expectation of maybe working with them someday.

2009 October 26th, 04:28 PM	#13 (permalink)
Gecko This user's posts are moderated. Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1,081	heh~ your interests could change after your prelims. either way, if not comfortable or unclear, don't insert names~

2009 October 26th, 05:52 PM	#14 (permalink)
meiloya I JUST got here. Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 10	Hi Italos. I am trying to self write my letter of recommendation and want to put myself in the best light possible. I am not applying to US universities, not even a top 100 in the world. I am applying to an institution which gives full scholarship for studies. The institution is in Europe. My undergraduate record is good but not extremely fantastic. So, I need an excellent reference letter which will move the scholarships committee to support my application. I need to present the letter to my referee very soon. Could you please get me an excellent letter of recommendation? I will be happy to hear from you...

2009 October 27th, 02:29 AM	#17 (permalink)
econgreg09 I JUST got here. Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 19	I don't think I missed the point at all. My point is that as the ranking of the school increases, my odds of knowing many people on the faculty approaches zero. And I'm probably not going to apply to the top few. So, at quite a few of the places I'm applying I'll know few or none of the professors there. You can find some exceptions here and there, but that doesn't change the fact that at several of the places I'll be applying I won't have heard of anyone. Yes, even GMU has two nobelists. That's interesting as trivia, but the original issue still stands: I will be applying to some places where I haven't heard of anyone, or I've heard of some people but don't know much about them or don't want to work with the ones I've heard of. This says nothing about whether professors outside the top few schools have done something of significance or not. This has more to do with the fact that at my age I have not yet read an enormous amount of economic literature. The economists that I am familiar with tend to be either from very highly ranked schools (e.g. Stiglitz, Sen, Mankiw, Barro, etc.) or from my own not well ranked institution (Notre Dame). If you want to say that I ought to be familiar with more economists, then say that. But no need to question my reading comprehension skills. Also, the reason I switched from 6 to 7 is that a responder said "Why 6?", and I realized that top 6 would leave out Berkeley or Yale.

2009 October 27th, 02:39 AM	#18 (permalink)
walt526 TestMagic Guru Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1,309	"(e.g. Stiglitz, Sen, Mankiw, Barro, etc.)" It certainly is true that popular undergrad econ textbooks are written by faculty of more prestigious institutions... In terms of the literature, it depends a lot on which field you're talking about--particularly if you're talking about a relatively smaller field. For example, Economic History. Anyone with even a passing familiarity of the American Economic History literature has heard of Gavin Wright, Alan Olmstead, and Price Fishback--but only one of those is a faculty member of a super-elite Economics department.

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