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Phd Profile Evaluation: Fall 2019


economist94

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Undergrad: Large state Uni ranked top3 nationally (Greece)

GPA: 7.2/10 (top 10% of the graduate class of 250 students)

Major: Econ

GRE : NA

 

Graduate: Barcelona Graduate School of Economics

GPA: 6.81/10

Major: Econ

 

Grad Classes: Micro I,II (C,C), Macro I,II, III (C, B+, A+), Metrics I,II,III (B,B-,B-), Asset Pricing (A+), Master Thesis (A)

 

Currently: I have enrolled to a Phd at the top uni in my country with the intention to take advanced classes in micro/macro/metrics and work as RA to gain some experience, in order to apply in the next round to more reputable Phd's.

 

LORs: One super strong from my professor of Math in the undergrad, and one other strong enough from a professor that knows me very well. The third one will be from one of my professors at the Phd i am enrolled

 

Target Schools: UAB, IIES, SSE, Goethe, Bonn, Bocconi, EUI, LSE

 

Provided that my GRE is high enough (>166) and i do great in the courses at the Phd i am enrolled, do you think that i stand a chance at any of the schools above?

 

I would like to have an honest assessment from you guys. Thanks in advance

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In general, the advice we give is that transferring between PhD programs is both costly and difficult. BGSE is very reputable; if you got a master's in econ from there but didn't get into one of your target schools, I have some skepticism that your next 1-2 year of grades at your Greek PhD program will substantially change your chances. People might still rely on the BGSE grades as their main criterion, because they can directly compare you with other applicants they're considering from BGSE.

 

This advice might not apply consistently in Europe because some PhD programs only last 3 years, so they might be willing to take chances on a student with good research fit . Maybe some European forum members can chime in if they know of any such cases of transferring between European PhDs. In any case, for your transfer to be taken seriously, you should try to get a very strong letter from the professor at your own PhD institution, hopefully with an explanation that focuses on research interests rather than ranking. For this purpose, it may be good to focus on RA work with a well-connected member over your classes (it's difficult to excel in both things at the same time); but you'll need to figure out the balance yourself.

 

I think it's unlikely you'll get more specific advice from this forum. I only remember one Greek member, and it's very hard for us to give accurate advice without related experience.

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Thank you very much for your advice. The truth is that i didn't apply to any of the aforementioned Phd programs, i am just planning to apply there in the future and i would like to get an idea about the likelihood to get admitted.

 

Also, i am sure i don't want to continue to my home university and i was very clear during the interview with the committee that i will apply to other European schools and they didn't seem to have a problem

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Thank you very much for your advice. The truth is that i didn't apply to any of the aforementioned Phd programs, i am just planning to apply there in the future and i would like to get an idea about the likelihood to get admitted.

 

Also, i am sure i don't want to continue to my home university and i was very clear during the interview with the committee that i will apply to other European schools and they didn't seem to have a problem

 

Then it seems okay to try. Hopefully other posters will have a better idea of your chances.

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In Europe it's not very uncommon to change programs. Better ranked programs (such as the ones you are targeting) will usually require you to re-do all the coursework though. I suggest to add a few more to the list though, to make sure that the idiosyncrasies in your profile don't hurt you. One place that I can particularly recommend is Tilburg, as I work there. Happy to chat, if you're interested to hear more.
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