SOP help

[thehurricane]

Originally Posted by econgreg09

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.

Most professors link to their research through the school website. You could take a look at those. You are training to be a researcher after all!

[tm_guru]

Originally Posted by econgreg09

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.

Yes, you have missed the point... the poster was not saying 'why 6?' for you to turn around and say 'sorry, i meant top 7'...

[econgreg09]

OK, OK, I see. Basically I ignored his main point at first and chose to focus on the smaller point of 6 vs. 7.

Why ignore that point? Because it didn't really affect the practical question I had. My main question was: What do I do when I don't have a specific professor in mind I want to work with? So, a response is something of a non sequitur if it says: But look at all these wonderful people at non-top universities!

Anyway, sorry for beating a dead horse. Thanks for the advice everone!

[applicant12]

well, Vernon Smith is at Chapman U, a university without a PhD program in econ.

Nobel laureates do not necessarily teach at one of the top 6, 10, or even 50 depts

[tm_guru]

Originally Posted by applicant12

well, Vernon Smith is at Chapman U, a university without a PhD program in econ.

Nobel laureates do not necessarily teach at one of the top 6, 10, or even 50 depts

Hypothesis proved.

QED

[Harvarddreamer]

I think we digresses completely from the original question...

It will be good to get som tips on statement of purpose - in general - I don't think rank of a school matters in your statement of purpose.

Pardon my ignoaracne - but would love to leanr what a succesful statement of purpose is like

[walt526]

Originally Posted by Harvarddreamer

Pardon my ignoaracne - but would love to leanr what a succesful statement of purpose is like

What a great original idea for a thread topic! I'm surprised no one has ever thought to discuss SOPs here. A threads containing threads on commonly asked/discussed topics that details what makes a strong statement of purpose should really be a sticky, dontcha think?

[Zomb1]

Originally Posted by econgreg09

OK, OK, I see. Basically I ignored his main point at first and chose to focus on the smaller point of 6 vs. 7.

Why ignore that point? Because it didn't really affect the practical question I had. My main question was: What do I do when I don't have a specific professor in mind I want to work with? So, a response is something of a non sequitur if it says: But look at all these wonderful people at non-top universities!

Anyway, sorry for beating a dead horse. Thanks for the advice everone!

Guys, no need to be so sensitive. We're just trying to help each other here. Econgreg, sorry if I didn't answer your question. I wanted to say that there are well-known economist down the ranking, so in case you were familiar with their work and you wanted to mention the fact that you would like to work with them, it would be OK to do so. On the other hand, if you are not familiar with any of the professors, it is OK not to mention anybody by name. I will also be applying to a number of schools where I am not familiar with any of the professors... My two cents anyway, I am just an applicant as well...