donteatmybacon Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 Hello all! I've only recently (junior year second semester) decided to do PhD so I ended up having to rush all my math courses. Now I'm not really sure what range I should be shooting for :( Here's my profile: PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 20 US News Public University, Top 10 Econ department, Econ Major Undergrad GPA: 3.87/4.00 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: Q 166, V 169, AWA 5.5 - will be retaking this to score at least 168 in Q Math Courses: Calc II (B- freshman year first semester), Calc III (A), Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (A+), Intro to Probability (A), Probability Thoery (A) Econ Courses: Intro to Econ (A), Intermediate Micro(A), Intermediate Macro(A), Econometrics (A), International Trade (A-), Senior Research Seminar (A-), Financial Economics (A), Intermediate Financial Theory (A+), will be taking grad-level Econ Theory and writing honors thesis this fall Other Courses: A bunch of philosophy courses, not worth mentioning Letters of Recommendation: 1. Professor I've been RAing for a year, Harvard PhD, should be decent 2. Honor's Thesis Advisor, RePEc top 5%, should be great 3. Professor I've taken financial economics with and will take another class with next semester, should be standard Research Experience: Research paper for the research seminar Undergraduate Honors Thesis RA for a professor for a year RA for a PhD student Teaching Experience: Will be teaching at the student learning center as an Econ tutor next semester Research Interests: Financial Economics, Macroeconomics SOP: Concerns:I started kind of late so I don't have too many math courses, couldn't really fit real analysis into my schedule, not enough research experience...? Weak application in general I feel Do I have a chance at Top 20/30 programs? I'm kind of clueless right now and am not exactly sure what range of schools I should be shooting for. Any advice or comments will be much appreciated and thanks a lot in advance :D !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donteatmybacon Posted August 17, 2017 Author Share Posted August 17, 2017 Bump bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
startz Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 You have a perfectly good chance at top 20/30 programs, assuming you have strong letters of recommendation. Go ask the professor who you RA'd for for a year. Two things would help. A better quant GRE and taking (and doing well at) a real analysis course. You may want the letter of recommendation to come from the faculty member teaching grad theory, assuming you do well. (It is important to do well.) If you haven't already, check with the grad theory professor as to whether your math is strong enough to do will in the course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donteatmybacon Posted August 17, 2017 Author Share Posted August 17, 2017 Thanks for your advice! I actually found out that I can't take the grad micro sequence without real analysis/the grad math preparory course. I can't fit analysis into my fall schedule since the waitlist is already full. Another option I have is to take the grad math prepatory course for the Econ phd program, but I heard the class is the hardest math camp among top phd programs so I'm not sure at all if I'll do well. Without analysis, would my chance at Top 20 be slim? I could also either... 1. Take analysis in spring 2018 and apply next fall 2. Go to a masters program/ do full-time research for a year or 2 Which of these would be more advisable? If I'm aiming for top 15, currently with my profile I'm assuming I pretty much have no chance at all? Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donteatmybacon Posted August 17, 2017 Author Share Posted August 17, 2017 Oh and I took the GRE today and got 166V and 168Q... I assume this would be enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
startz Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 Thanks for your advice! I actually found out that I can't take the grad micro sequence without real analysis/the grad math preparory course. I can't fit analysis into my fall schedule since the waitlist is already full. Another option I have is to take the grad math prepatory course for the Econ phd program, but I heard the class is the hardest math camp among top phd programs so I'm not sure at all if I'll do well. Without analysis, would my chance at Top 20 be slim? I could also either... 1. Take analysis in spring 2018 and apply next fall 2. Go to a masters program/ do full-time research for a year or 2 Which of these would be more advisable? If I'm aiming for top 15, currently with my profile I'm assuming I pretty much have no chance at all? Thanks a lot! Without analysis the odds for Top 20 are not so good. Think of it this way, if you're at a top 10 department and they won't let you take grad theory other similar departments aren't going to be happy either. Forget a masters. But a year or two as an RA would be very valuable. (But also take analysis in the Spring.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donteatmybacon Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 Thank you! I talked to a professor and he also suggested that I forget about the graduate math preparatory course and take Linear Algebra 2, Real Analysis and another upper-div math course. I'll look into full-time RAship options - I know about the NBER list, but are there any other sources to find information about RAship openings? I'm an international student so Fed isn't really an option for me. I know this is a lot of questions... Thank you so much for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
startz Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 The Board of Governors requires citizenship. I don't think all the regional banks do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathenomics Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 The Board of Governors requires citizenship. I don't think all the regional banks do. This might've been the case in previous recruitment cycles (Boston and Kansas Feds in particular), but now they all require US citizenship or green card. At the very least, this was true in the 2016 recruitment cycle when I applied to every Fed with full time RA openings. The NBER list is probably your best bet, but if you're looking for more, you can also look into think tanks (Brookings, AEI, etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
startz Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 This might've been the case in previous recruitment cycles (Boston and Kansas Feds in particular), but now they all require US citizenship or green card. At the very least, this was true in the 2016 recruitment cycle when I applied to every Fed with full time RA openings. The NBER list is probably your best bet, but if you're looking for more, you can also look into think tanks (Brookings, AEI, etc) Thanks for the update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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