clairelb Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Hi all, I am interested in applying for a Phd Economics at a midrange school in the USA (top 50) or an Applied Econ at a higher range school (UC Berkeley (ARE) , Minnesota (AE), etc) with the idea to specialize in development. I just finished my Master's in international development with a specialization in global economic policy and quantitative methods at Sciences Po (well-ranked european school). I took 3 development econs (macro and micro), stats and advanced stats, intro to econometrics, public finance, impact evaluation and a couple development courses. I did a quantitative development economics thesis under a known (non-academic) economist and received honours for it. I did my undergrad in development at a top (1) Canadian school where i only took micro 1, macro 1 and 2 intermediate development econs. I have 2 relevant 6 month internships, one with a competitive scholarship. I speak 4 languages (3 fluently). I am considering taking January 2015 - December 2015 off next year to work parttime and brush up on math (calculus I and II, linear, multivariate, real analysis) (some of which i took in pre-university, where I did very well in linear and probability, but less well in calculus, over 8 years ago so I'd like to re-do them). My GPA was 3.62 in undergrad and at least A- in masters. My question is: With this profile plus the maths I would like to take, do I have a chance at a decent econ or applied econ program? If my exams for a couple classes are in December and I apply in December- will this be a problem? Does anyone have suggestions to increase my chances? Or are there any universities or programs that would fit my profile? I am also considering Duke's Public Policy program, focused on Econ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanket Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Hi all, I am interested in applying for a Phd Economics at a midrange school in the USA (top 50) or an Applied Econ at a higher range school (UC Berkeley (ARE) , Minnesota (AE), etc) with the idea to specialize in development. I just finished my Master's in international development with a specialization in global economic policy and quantitative methods at Sciences Po (well-ranked european school). I took 3 development econs (macro and micro), stats and advanced stats, intro to econometrics, public finance, impact evaluation and a couple development courses. I did a quantitative development economics thesis under a known (non-academic) economist and received honours for it. I did my undergrad in development at a top (1) Canadian school where i only took micro 1, macro 1 and 2 intermediate development econs. I have 2 relevant 6 month internships, one with a competitive scholarship. I speak 4 languages (3 fluently). I am considering taking January 2015 - December 2015 off next year to work parttime and brush up on math (calculus I and II, linear, multivariate, real analysis) (some of which i took in pre-university, where I did very well in linear and probability, but less well in calculus, over 8 years ago so I'd like to re-do them). My GPA was 3.62 in undergrad and at least A- in masters. My question is: With this profile plus the maths I would like to take, do I have a chance at a decent econ or applied econ program? If my exams for a couple classes are in December and I apply in December- will this be a problem? Does anyone have suggestions to increase my chances? Or are there any universities or programs that would fit my profile? I am also considering Duke's Public Policy program, focused on Econ. Are three professors willing to write you letters? Letter writing is of paramount importance. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clairelb Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Yes, my Masters thesis adviser and I have grown close, and he holds a PhD from a top 5 school in econ and is a retired chief economist from a large econ international organization. Another Econ researcher (who was a visiting lecturer) is familiar with my work and has helped me prepare for exams and paper submissions, so I assume he would write me a strong letter. I could get a third letter from my undergrad thesis adviser (Poli Sci in development) or another economist who gave me a very high grade in public finance and would certainly remember my work. Most are kind of "professional economists" with the exception of my last letter, but in development/international econ, I think this is quite common? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clairelb Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Does anyone have advice on potential range of schools and other advice for preparing my application? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atush Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Please be in touch..I am also planning to apply for PhD next year...in Canada/USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insti Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 If I were you I would try my best to get letters from economists in academia. Also you mentioned you did some internships, were those research oriented like in a policy institute, RA for a prof, or at a think tank? If not, I dont think schools will see it as a plus (not as a negative signal either) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clairelb Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Good point for the letters from academia comment- I'll see what I can do. I have several internships, but the two relevant I mentioned ones are econ-related. One in a well-known economics and econometrics research institute, and one at a big international organization in the department I wrote my Masters thesis on, and what would like to specialize in development economics (social security/safety nets and pensions). What do you think about potential (range of) schools I could aim for? I was thinking Georgetown and Notre-Dame (so, top 50ish), as they seem less math and more development focused? Could top 30 like Brown or UT Austin be within reach for someone with my profile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insti Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Be careful about schools you apply to. I mad a mistake when I was applying to only look at rankings but people in the US look at location as well. So schools like Georgetown which are in great locations are hubs for people from great schools who could not get into better programs. So even though it might be ranked 50ish, getting in is much harder than other departments which are ranked similarly but are at worse locations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clairelb Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 Good advice for the school location - I had also seen DC as an attractive location. Do you know anything about the timing of application? What if I don't have my grades for my fall math courses (like RA/multivariate) when I apply for schools in december? Can I send them in in January, or will this be an issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insti Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Yes, you can send them the grades and they will probably attach them to your file. There is no guarantee but if they have not yet made a decision there is no reason for them to not look at the grades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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