ick Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Mid-Small State School on the East Coast Major: Math & Econ Undergrad GPA:3.0-3.4/4.00 Type of Grad:N/A Grad GPA:N/A GRE: Haven't taken yet Math Courses: Calc I-III, Probability & Stat I&II, Linear Algebra, Ordinary Differential Equations, Discrete Math, Intro to Proof, Real Analysis, Optimization, 2 Grad Level Analysis Courses. Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Econometrics I&2, Labor Economics, Public Finance, Game Theory, Forecasting, Economics of Financial Markets, Gov't Regulation of Business, Economics of Information and Uncertainty Other Courses: Intro Finance, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, several computer science/management information systems courses Letters of Recommendation: Work in progress, tied to research experience. No clue who to ask, really, but I've still got some time left. Research Experience: Working on an assistantship with a prof who is a Chicago PhD, some local economic history stuff. Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Labor, Environmental, Behavioral SOP: I don't know what that means Concerns: Will be a fifth year senior, GPA, Letters, no TA experience, strength of Undergrad program I'd like to apply to several tier 2 PhD's, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Columbia, Duke, Syracuse, Cornell, UDel Are these schools considered tier 2? Other than UDel. Should I try a Master's first? My school offers a minor in essentially business computing that offers a very well paid internship with one of several large national organizations, and I plan on taking that for the money and saving for grad school, which is why I'll be a fifth year senior. Will being here five years be looked down on by adcoms? Are there any courses I should/could cut out? Mostly the higher level stuff, some is required for major. Is/will my GPA good enough at ~ 3.25 to get into a tier 2? I'm a Junior right now, so I've got two years left. I didn't post grades because half of those courses have yet to be taken. Also intend on trying to do a thesis, but I haven't really "bonded" with any of my professors to have one of them be a thesis advisor. I'd rather not have the professor I'm doing research with (hopefully) be my thesis advisor because I need more letters. Thanks for any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Food4Thought Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Why do you give a range on your gpa? Do you not know it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insti Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Why do you give a range on your gpa? Do you not know it? I think it is an interval estimate. OP, what do you mean by tier 2 phd? I cannot think of a criterion where you would place Columbia Syracuse and U of Delaware in the same group. Your classes seem to be solid but what were the grades in them? This would be key as well as your LoRs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 What would be the percentiles for a 3.25 at your school? In general students who get into PhD econ programs (of a roughly equivalent rank as their undergrad) are at least 95th percentile in terms of their overall course performance in their last degree (grades+difficulty of coursework), which for American undergrads usually translates to a 3.9+ GPA in private institutions and 3.8+ in public institutions. If you're aiming above your undergrad rank, it'd be even tougher. Your choice of coursework is rigorous, but I've very very rarely seen such a (predicted) GPA in any profile unless there's extreme grade deflation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ick Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 It it is a projected range. UDel is kinda like my safety because I like the campus and I know a few professors (home state.) right now I'm at 3.0 on the money, and given the rigor of my next two years I think it's realistic to anticipate being on the low end, close to 3.4. If I get straight A's for the rest of my UG I can swing a 3.7, which would be nice but idk if it's plausible. 3.7 is at least cum laude. Would a masters with a good GPA remedy a weak undergrad GPA? Should I go Econ or Math if so? I had a really rough semester Fall of last year, and I'm still kind of reeling from it. I also didn't really have much direction in terms of what I wanted to do until last March or so, and I've been reading this forum a lot. It looks like most of the prospective PhDs are looking at MIT and Harvard with Cornell as a backup, and I was hoping that coursework+research might get me into a good school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 The guy aiming at MIT+Harvard with Cornell as backup was aiming extremely high (I should be more explicit about this in his thread, so new readers don't get the wrong impression). His more natural range are the tier 2 programs you're aiming at, and he most likely won't get into most of them. His GPA is 3.88 from a top school. You'll probably need to do a master's en route to a PhD program, but unless your grades improve significantly for the second half of your undergrad I honestly don't see you getting into a funded PhD program either way. I think you have very unrealistic expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ick Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 The guy aiming at MIT+Harvard with Cornell as backup was aiming extremely high (I should be more explicit about this in his thread, so new readers don't get the wrong impression). His more natural range are the tier 2 programs you're aiming at, and he most likely won't get into most of them. His GPA is 3.88 from a top school. You'll probably need to do a master's en route to a PhD program, but unless your grades improve significantly for the second half of your undergrad I honestly don't see you getting into a funded PhD program either way. I think you have very unrealistic expectations. I appreciate your input. I don't have any expectations, I posted for assistance in knowing what to expect. I'm a junior trying to find out what the best path to grad school is, I didn't post this as someone who had applied to these schools anticipating a yes. You mean you don't see me getting into a funded program with a masters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Unless you were screwing around for the first two years of undergrad - I mean, even more so than most of us - I don't see why doing an extra degree will send a significantly better signal. You should anticipate for the possibility that your grades will stay roughly the same in the next few years, in which case there's little chance of getting into a ranked PhD in economics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ick Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 I see. When I'm closer to applying I'll post an update with a full profile, hopefully my odds will look a little better then. One of my big initial questions is still unanswered though: do adcoms look down on super seniors? As an aside, major GPA is closer to 3.6, if it's relevant. Can an unranked program lead to academia? Or are they just letters on a resume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sulebrahim Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 If you don't have time, you can foucs on only page 3 of this thread http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/140634-it-really-worth-it-going-non-top-50-program-3.html And you can also read the PDF of the Emory Grad's job market memoir here http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~hfoad/memoirs.pdf Bottom line is that it depends on what you want out of academia. There is some value even in unranked programs. My definition of unranked programs are the programs US news didn't rank (After ranking 76 programs). Some of these programs have good placements. Let me qualify that, by good placements I mean tenure track AP positions, for other people that may not be enough. I think if your grades stay the same, say a 3.25, and you have accrued all that math as well as your research experience, I have to assume you will be funded somewhere. Probably not top 60, but definitely one of those 'unranked' schools where you can be placed in academia. If you look at the profiles and results section from 2011 and the years before that, you would find profiles like yours. Alternatively, if you do achieve the 3.7 GPA, then even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ick Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 Thanks a lot. I had been using econphd and kind of picked schools that I had previously been interested in (Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Columbia). In retrospect they seem kind of random. The Emory memoir was interesting, and I think I'll definitely send PhD applications to unranked, and maybe only two or three masters apps in the top 50. Again, hopefully I'll be better off in two years in terms of options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
economaster Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 If I'm being honest, it's going to be hard for you to crack the top 50. Competition is really tough. (American) Masters are generally not set up to get you above that bar either. Take a look are their placements and you'll see what I mean. Maybe one or two make it into the top 50 out of an American masters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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