Yet Another Profile Evaluation: Good Research, Mediocre Math Grades.

[SBenzell]

Sorry to add as well to the flood of requests for help. But as a rising senior starting to think about what schools to apply to, I'd really appreciate your honest assessment.

Type of Undergrad: Top Southern Private University

Major: Triple major in ECON, MATH, and Physics. Minor in Political Science

Undergrad GPA: 3.7 overall. 3.85ish in ECON, 3.33 in MATH, 3.4 in Physics

GRE: Will take in August, and am confident in my ability to get a 780+

Math Courses: Calc I,II,III, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Intro Probability, Differential Equations, Intro Cryptography, Topology

Econ Courses: Intro/Intermediate Micro/Macro, Game Theory, International Economic Issues, Money and Banking, Math Econ, Economic Thought in the Cambridge Tradition, Government and the Economy, Next Fall: Econ Stat, PhD Level Labor, and PhD Level Price Theory

Other Less Relevant: A slew of Pol Econ, Pol Sci, and tough Physics classes

Research Experience: Summer research assistant two years running doing applied micro at an NSF funded program. By the end of this summer I will have submitted a paper based on some of this research to a Law and Economics journal. I will also write a senior thesis in econ.

Study Abroad and Work Experience: Spring Junior year I studied abroad at Cambridge through the INSTEP program doing Econ and Pol Sci. I have worked a bunch of econ related jobs, including working at a Law Firm which did a lot of hedge fund work and helping to set up a manufacturing investment conference.

Other: Not sure if these matter at all but, I am president of my school's model un team/global affairs club, and last year was selected to go to Washington with a very well known political strategist to help present some survey data. Excellent at STATA (from the summer research), good at Java and Oracle/SQL, ok at SAS and MATLAB.

Letters of Recommendation: Will get an excellent recommendation from the professor I worked with in NSF program (UCSD). Will also get one or two good recommendations from Professors at Cambridge who like me and who consistently publish in good journals.

Research Interests: Macro theory, Monetary Policy, Economics and Law/Institutions

So I suppose my question is what sort of schools I should be targeting. I have some strengths in terms of my research background, and some weaknesses in terms of a mediocre math GPA. I am mostly considering schools with strong Macro programs in the Northeast. NYU and Columbia would be my dream schools: But which others should I be looking at?

I really appreciate you taking the time to read my profile, and thank you in advance for your responses. Please let me know if you want any additional information.

[econoecon]

BU seems to meet your criteria, and it is a solid program that isn't quiet as difficult to get into as NYU/Columbia. Caveat: BU funds only a limited # of first-year students.

[SBenzell]

Thanks for the reply econoecon.

That's odd that you mention BU though, as US NEWS puts Industrial Organization and Development as BU's strengths. Is US NEWS not to be trusted for this sort of thing?

Also, would it be worth while to send applications over to NYU/Columbia as reaches, or are they totally out of my league?

[whatdoido]

Please provide specific grades, that will probably help give you a better idea (although any advice given here should be taken with a grain of salt). Also, have you been approved to take those two graduate courses? I don't know much about grad. courses, but I was under the impression that you needed the core theory courses before taking any field courses.

[SBenzell]

Yeah, after bugging my department chair for a bit I've been allowed into the PhD courses. I should also note that Math Econ I also took at a graduate level.

Specific Grades:

Math Courses: Calc I,II,III, (AP, AP, A) Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (B+), Intro Probability (C), Differential Equations (B), Intro Cryptography (B), Topology (A-)

Econ Courses: Intro/Intermediate Micro/Macro (A, A-, A-, A), Game Theory (A-), International Economic Issues (A), Money and Banking (A), Graduate Math Econ (A), Economic Thought in the Cambridge Tradition (A), Government and the Economy (B+), Next Fall: Econ Stat, PhD Level Labor, and PhD Level Price Theory

Although I should note that I could take Complex Analysis (unfortunately the only advanced math course being offered up my alley next semester) instead of the PhD Labor class.

[ggoofer]

How about Minnesota? Your math grades will make it extremely difficult to land NYU or Columbia in my opinion.

[econoecon]

Thanks for the reply econoecon.

That's odd that you mention BU though, as US NEWS puts Industrial Organization and Development as BU's strengths. Is US NEWS not to be trusted for this sort of thing?

Also, would it be worth while to send applications over to NYU/Columbia as reaches, or are they totally out of my league?

Hmm I could be wrong but I think they have a number of people in macro.

Add UCLA to the Macro list, as well as Penn State.

[seacucumber]

Rochester has a good macro program and isn't as tough to get into as NYU/Columbia. Don't do too badly in the GRE, or a combination of that and your math grades might kill your application.

[2Iron]

I have heard that Vanderbilt is solid in macro...

[kt253]

I have heard that Vanderbilt is solid in macro...

Vanderbilt did seem pretty strong in macro and monetary when I visited. They're also very strong in law and econ, as well as econ history. Definitely a good option to look into.