Profile Evaluation and School Recommendation Request

[TennisShoe]

Hello, I’m looking to go back to school. For the past 5 to 10 years I’ve been doing bis strategy at a top tech company (think Apple, Microsoft, Google) for one of their major products. I’m finding myself increasingly drawn to ‘academic’ questions about industry & firm structure rather than the more execution focused ones on how my firm specifically needs to compete. Econ seems like a good fit for my interests but I’m not sure how realistic it is given my profile.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Finance and Computer Science dual degree, Ivy League
Undergrad GPA: 3.55/4
Type of Grad: Specialized policy masters program with focus on economics, small European school
Grad GPA: 4/4 equivalent
GRE: Need to retake but 5+ years ago got 800 math, 700+ verbal
Math Courses: Calc III (4), Abstract Algebra (3), Linear Algebra (4), Probability & Stats (3), signed up for differential equations part time this fall at a local university
Econ Courses: Basic: Micro (4), macro (4)
Other Courses: Lot of finance courses and comp sci courses
Letters of Recommendation: 1 econ prof from masters program is a definite, need to reach out for others. Been a long time so not sure folks will remember me. Backup includes ex-operations research professor at CalTech, whom I worked for in industry.
Research Experience: Masters thesis on game theory / cartel behavior was published in ‘B’ level econ journal
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Industrial Organization, Micro
Worries: Lack of math strength, wondering if I should hold off a year and do a part time diff equations, matrix algebra + lin analysis sequence in the meantime. RA is not available at my local university to non-matriculated students. Waiting a year might also yield a rec from a math professor. Another concern is that I’m not interested in going back to industry after the PhD; I want to do research. That probably limits me to applying to schools with solid placement records where my chances of getting in will be small. Looking for advice on what programs might be a good fit.

[TennisShoe]

Hmm... is it so hopeless as to not warrant a response?

[anonecon]

When you say `B' level, what do you mean? Can you give the journal name? Or, at the least, an equivalent journal? Having a paper in a pretty good journal when you apply might be quite a good asset.

Recommendation: when you "reach out" to some of the people from your undergrad or grad, I'd recommend putting in a bit of a description about what you remember about them/your interaction with them and maybe even a picture.

I don't think that it's that anyone believes its hopeless. I suspect others (like me) don't really know what to say. You're 5-10 years out of your masters degree, did a public policy masters, published a B-level game theory paper, and majored in something not economics in undegrad. You're different from the general applicant in so many ways that it's hard [for me at least] to feel confident that anything I have to say is remotely accurate.

[Humanomics]

You published your MA paper. Very few MA's publish their papers, or even do a paper substantive enough to warrant a submit. I just talked to a girl tonight who studied Mas Colell at the undergrad level (outside US), did UBC's MA last semester, and just submitted her MA paper. She seemed 80-90% confident it would get her her diploma -- not a lick of mention about publishing. Keep in mind most people opt out of whatever thesis option exists in an MA, much less try to or succeed in getting it submitted.

The board can be slow. 5 people a week post individual profile/advice threads, and lots of the Q's are basic stuff that gets tiring-ish to repeat (basic for people who know a lot about admissions, which nobody does until they spend unhealthy amounts of time researching and obsessing over it).

You have a mature outlook, compelling research interests, good (if a touch old) signals, and dedication to the career. Hopeless doesn't begin to describe your situation. Math recs mean very little, I think, unless your a UG math star that's going to Karate Kid micro theory or something. You sound empirically motivated (gasp -- an economic scientist instead of a mathematical philosopher?!?!). And when I say "empirically motivated," I don't mean regression monkey-seeking. If you think a year of math would help you freshen up your credentials and boost your confidence, go for it -- but I would use all that time to do some research with someone else in econ to bolster the twinkling MA rec you already have.

The more I'm on this board, and the more I talk to people in person, the more it seems to me that there just really is no "traditional" or "standard" candidate, as huge numbers of older and international students make up cohorts, coming from variegated backgrounds (senior TM-ers know more than me on this point). I don't think age an industry experience earn you street-cred or whatever in programs, but bolstered by other signals can suggest you have mature interests and work ethic. Adcoms have to figure you're far less likely to be a mere course monkey if you're making huge life changes to get credentials and switch careers in mid/late twenties+ (would like to hear some opinions here).

[TennisShoe]

Thanks anonecon and humanonics for the replies. The feedback is much appreciated. Based on your thoughts and the conversations I’ve had with other economists I am probably going to apply to a wide breath of schools in the top 30. My understanding is that by limiting myself to the top 30 I’ll have a decent chance landing a position at a research institution rather than back in industry or a teaching college. I don’t think going back to grad school would be worth it otherwise. It sounds like my non-standard background makes it difficult to gauge exactly where I belong in that ranking, but it’s still worth applying since there are aspects of my profile that might be appealing to some adcoms.
The MA paper was published in Metroeconomica. My thesis advisor agreed to provide edits to shorten the paper and handle the submission process in return for being listed as the second author.
My company has a couple econ PhD’s on staff that focus on academic publications rather than product work. Up until now I have been hesitant to reach out to them because I’m not sure what I could meaningfully accomplish before grad school applications are due. I will definitely start a conversation though to see what my options are; math is something I can always do later in the spring to brush up. Any suggestions on what type of working relationship I should suggest?

[anonecon]

That's not quite a good enough journal to be super-super impressive :-(. The real value there is that your prof can brag about how awesome you are and how you basically wrote a paper for him.

If i were you, I'd "reach out" to the PhDs on staff. Grab coffee and go from there: maybe they have work for you that would sound good in your application, maybe they don't. Maybe they have contacts at XYZ department. Maybe they don't. Point is, get networking.

[Humanomics]

Point is, get networking.

I think anon has a great point -- you really can't get any worse off by at least forming connections here. Any information or opportunities you get from these people is better than none, and most people are glad to help.

Oh, and even though the journal isn't "super super impressive," it's still a pub, and it's not the Real World Economics Review (nothing against journals that publish disproofs of Ricardian comparative advantage . . . ok, something against journals that publish disproofs of Ricardian comparative advantage). The number of applicants with 1st or 2nd tier journal pubs is vanishingly small, so you may still have a relatively strong "I got published" signal there, even though it doesn't make you Doogie Howser. Derno.

[anonecon]

Yea. Don't get me wrong. I have a pub, and it sucks nuts. It's a hundred rankings below the journal you pubbed in. But I'll proudly put it on my CV and hope nobody googles it (because if they read it, I'm not getting in anywhere above Phoenix Online University). It is a positive signal that you have research interest and the mindset of a researcher.

P.S. I'm pretty sure when people say "B-tier journal" they mean a good field journal or something like AEJ: Micro.

[Humanomics]

I suspect nobody's going to even glance at an abstract of a pub or attached thesis on an app package until the package is already very far along in the decision process. And since admissions don't seem to work like other departments, where one or another professor "takes students" during one cycle or another, nobody is going to read it for depth of match. At such a late stage in the admissions decision, your other signals which you have much more control over and under which there is much more variance (grades, GRE, RA or not) will have carried huge weight. And they will probably request and interview rather than skim past your litany of citations for content. I don't think cavetzing over quality of research is necessary unless you're a strong post-MA candidate who will be expected to have substantial, professional research background already.

[TennisShoe]

Wanted to let you know that I'll be attending Sloan this fall. I'm very excited about the program; I think its a great fit.

Thanks again for your guidance through the application process.