set more off Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I just finished my second year of undergrad, I'm fairly certain that I want to apply to PhD programs after Undergrad. I am interested in Micro, and while I haven't formed any specific areas of research, I've been reading a lot of journal articles. From that, I've gained interest in Auction Theory and Design, Econometrics, IO, Labor (ordered somewhat by interest level). I have also been looking into a lot of schools and trying to find professors that do research that interests me so I know where to apply. I've run into a problem that there are a lot of poorly designed sites to search through, and a lot of the professors' pages don't have good listings of their research (and sometimes I'll hit a paywall). I was hoping that people could look at my current profile and interests and recommend a few professors or programs that would be a good jumping off point for researching where I might want to apply. Thanks for any suggestions! PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Math/Econ at Top 15 US (Public) Undergrad GPA: 3.95 Econ, 3.85 Math GRE: Haven't taken, 160+ Q in practice Math Courses: Calc I (A), Calc II (A+), Calc III (A-), Linear Algebra (A-), Probability (A-) ; Will take Abstract, Real, Diff Eq, Grad Prob, Stochastic Processes, hopefully Topology Econ Courses: Intro Micro (A+), Intro Macro (A), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A-), Law and Econ (A+); Will take Econometrics I, II, hopefully Time Series, Game Theory, Thesis Course Other Courses: Two courses of programming Research Experience: 1 year RA (will continue), current Fed internship, Thesis Course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm_member Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I just finished my second year of undergrad, I'm fairly certain that I want to apply to PhD programs after Undergrad. I am interested in Micro, and while I haven't formed any specific areas of research, I've been reading a lot of journal articles. From that, I've gained interest in Auction Theory and Design, Econometrics, IO, Labor (ordered somewhat by interest level). I have also been looking into a lot of schools and trying to find professors that do research that interests me so I know where to apply. I've run into a problem that there are a lot of poorly designed sites to search through, and a lot of the professors' pages don't have good listings of their research (and sometimes I'll hit a paywall). I was hoping that people could look at my current profile and interests and recommend a few professors or programs that would be a good jumping off point for researching where I might want to apply. Thanks for any suggestions! PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Math/Econ at Top 15 US (Public) Undergrad GPA: 3.95 Econ, 3.85 Math GRE: Haven't taken, 160+ Q in practice Math Courses: Calc I (A), Calc II (A+), Calc III (A-), Linear Algebra (A-), Probability (A-) ; Will take Abstract, Real, Diff Eq, Grad Prob, Stochastic Processes, hopefully Topology Econ Courses: Intro Micro (A+), Intro Macro (A), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A-), Law and Econ (A+); Will take Econometrics I, II, hopefully Time Series, Game Theory, Thesis Course Other Courses: Two courses of programming Research Experience: 1 year RA (will continue), current Fed internship, Thesis Course Get strong LORs and you can just focus on the top20 or maybe even top10 schools. They all have people who can do the kind of work you are currently interested in, some are better than others but with your record so far and time to make it even better, you should be aiming very high. Unless you are 100% focused on a particular topic, you should go to the best ranked school you can get into, as interests often change dramatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmnod Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Don't worry now about finding particular fields of interest, finding professors and reading journals. You don't need to be committed to a particular topic before you enter the PhD program. Even the 1st year PhD students often change their mind during their 1st year. You mentioned that you are interested in IO, Metrics and Labor (it seems to me that auction theory is a subfield of IO), and this is enough for the PhD application. As we often apply to 10~20 schools, you don't need to take a close look at the schools. Being a student from a T15 school, you can even apply to all of T20 schools without any research. In any case, after you are admitted to a few programs among 10~20 schools, you start taking a close look at the schools. If you do want to clarify your research interest, take a field course in IO and Labor this fall and spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm_member Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Don't worry now about finding particular fields of interest, finding professors and reading journals. You don't need to be committed to a particular topic before you enter the PhD program. Even the 1st year PhD students often change their mind during their 1st year. You mentioned that you are interested in IO, Metrics and Labor (it seems to me that auction theory is a subfield of IO), and this is enough for the PhD application. As we often apply to 10~20 schools, you don't need to take a close look at the schools. Being a student from a T15 school, you can even apply to all of T20 schools without any research. In any case, after you are admitted to a few programs among 10~20 schools, you start taking a close look at the schools. If you do want to clarify your research interest, take a field course in IO and Labor this fall and spring. Many change their focus as late as the third year. :dejected: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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