Profile Evaluation 2015

[teddyb]

Type of Undergrad: Physics (Top 5 Engineering School)

Undergrad GPA: 3.83 (3.97 in Physics, 3.92 in math)

Type of Grad: Master in Economics and Master in Mathematics

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 167 (will retake for 170)

Math Courses: Calc 3 (A), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (B), Set Theory and Topology (A), Vector and Tensor Analysis (A+), Complex Analysis (A+), Abstract Algebra 1 (A+), Differential Equations 1 (A+), Differential Equations 2 (A), Partial Differential Equations (A), Number Theory (A-), Statistics and Probability 1 and 2 (A+, A+), Applied Statistics (A+)

Math Courses (grad-level during undergrad): Mathematical Statistics (A)

Math Courses (during master): Advanced Probability, Mathematics of Operations Research, Advanced Financial Models, etc [currently taking]

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Macro Principles (A), Intermediate Micro (A+), International Economics (A),

Econ Courses (grad-level during undergrad): Mathematical Economics (A-), Econometrics (B+), Microeconomic Theory (B+)

Econ Courses (during master): Advanced Microeconomics (68), Advanced Econometrics (70), Behavioral Economics (70), Financial Economics (79) [uK System]

Other Courses: Physics both undergrad and grad level (mostly As)

Letters of Recommendation: one very good from thesis supervisor (Harvard PhD), one very good from micro theory professor (Berkeley PhD), one good from undergrad math professor (PhD CUNY)

Research Experience: Master thesis on Voting, Game and Social Networks - 20000 words (can be classified as work in OR)

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Mathematical Economics, Game, Voting, Social Networks

SOP: multiple interests and broad background knowledge, not sure if it's + or -

Concerns: courses in variety of fields and already have two masters - might seem uncommitted to do a PhD in Economics, no empirical experience, no RA, low grad econ grades, not a top student in master program

Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Northwestern, Yale, Chicago, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Penn, Caltech, Cambridge, Oxford

 

Do I have a chance at top 10 US PhDs? I know it's a long shot.

Edited October 16, 2014 by teddyb

[teddyb]

[update]

 

Type of Undergrad: Physics (US Top 5 Engineering School)

Undergrad GPA: 3.83 (3.97 in Physics, 3.92 in math)

Type of Grad: Master in Economics and Master in Applied Mathematics

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: Q167 V158 AW4.0

Math Courses: Calc 3 (A), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (B), Set Theory and Topology (A), Vector and Tensor Analysis (A+), Complex Analysis (A+), Abstract Algebra 1 (A+), Differential Equations 1 (A+), Differential Equations 2 (A), Partial Differential Equations (A), Number Theory (A-), Statistics and Probability 1 and 2 (A+, A+), Applied Statistics (A+)

Math Courses (grad-level during undergrad): Mathematical Statistics (A)

Math Courses (during master): Advanced Probability, Stochastic Calculus, Mathematics of Operations Research, Financial Mathematics, Contest Theory

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Macro Principles (A), Intermediate Micro (A+), International Economics (A),

Econ Courses (grad-level during undergrad): Mathematical Economics (A-), Econometrics (B+), Microeconomic Theory (B+)

Econ Courses (during master): Advanced Microeconomics (68), Advanced Econometrics (70), Behavioral Economics (70), Financial Economics (79) [uK System]

Other Courses: Physics both undergrad and grad level (mostly As)

Letters of Recommendation: one very good from thesis supervisor (Harvard PhD), one good from micro theory professor (Berkeley PhD), one good from undergrad math professor (PhD CUNY)

Research Experience: Master thesis on Voting, Game and Social Networks - 20000 words (can be classified as work in OR)

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Mathematical Economics, Game, Voting, Social Networks

SOP: multiple interests and broad background, not sure if it's + or -

Concerns: courses in variety of fields and already have two masters - might seem uncommitted to do a PhD in Economics, no empirical experience, no RA, not a top student in master program

Applying to: MIT, MIT Sloan (OM), Harvard, Northwestern, Yale, Chicago, Chicago Booth (Econ), Princeton, Stanford, Stanford GSB (OIT), Berkeley, Wharton (OPIM), UPenn, UCSD, Cornell, Duke, Caltech, Cambridge, Oxford

Edit: Found out the hard (and expensive) way ---- all long shot, wayyy wayyyy too long.

[TCAZN]

Hey, thanks for updating your post. Sorry about your results.

 

Your profile is better than mine and I am interested in a subset of the schools you applied to.

 

Now I think I know my odds. I think I'll give up on doing a PhD then.

[chateauheart]

Hey, thanks for updating your post. Sorry about your results.

 

Your profile is better than mine and I am interested in a subset of the schools you applied to.

 

Now I think I know my odds. I think I'll give up on doing a PhD then.

 

Why not apply to a wider range of schools? I think the biggest part of the mis-estimation comes from misunderstanding how competitive top programs are (compared to undergrad, or every other discipline), but that has nothing to do with your intrinsic ability (or comp. advantage) to do well in academia. You can get a very, very nice job from a T20 program, all things considered.

 

Edit: And OP seems to have gotten into Cornell with full funding in the end, which is not bad at all. The T20 programs are less different in terms of input quality than most people intuitively think, as the classes are much smaller. If you extrapolate it to an undergrad level class size (in economics), all T30 phd programs are equivalent to harvard/yale.

[TCAZN]

Why not apply to a wider range of schools? I think the biggest part of the mis-estimation comes from misunderstanding how competitive top programs are (compared to undergrad, or every other discipline), but that has nothing to do with your intrinsic ability (or comp. advantage) to do well in academia. You can get a very, very nice job from a T20 program, all things considered.

 

Edit: And OP seems to have gotten into Cornell with full funding in the end, which is not bad at all. The T20 programs are less different in terms of input quality than most people intuitively think, as the classes are much smaller. If you extrapolate it to an undergrad level class size (in economics), all T30 phd programs are equivalent to harvard/yale.

 

Hey thanks. I didn't know the OP got into Cornell. I was interested in UCSD, UCLA and Caltech. I guess I will apply to schools above them instead.

 

Edit: Would you mind taking a look at my profile and tell me if I have a shot with any of the the programs from T15 to T30? If you have time of course?

 

Here's my updated profile: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/155432-phd-profile-evaluation.html

 

Thanks.

Edited June 14, 2015 by TCAZN