New Direction

[JAlfredPrufrock]

Hey Guys, So I bombed the LSAT (156) and have pretty much abandoned my JD/PhD plans, so now i'm planning on going into econometrics. Here's my Updated Descriptive Statistics:

School:
US, Public. Poor Math and Economics Departments.
GPA:
Overall: 3.47 (3.539 possible by november)
Math: 3.549 (3.64 possible by november)
Economics: 3.85
Relevant Courses:

Economics
Principles, and intermediate Micro and Macro, all A's. Money and Banking(InAustralia), Financial Economics, Public Finance, Health Care Economics(oddly names, mostly Economics Approach to Law) Econ Stats, Econometrics, International Trade and Finance, Independant Study in Game Theory, and Graduate Advanced Micro and Macro.(Since my School doesn't have a PhD in Economics, it was only a 2nd year Grad class, and a poor one at that)

Math:
Pre-Calc, (A) Calc II(B+) Calc III(B-) Calc III (B+) Differntial Equations(B), Foundations in Math [Proofs, very elementary](A), Mathematical Modeling and Optimization(A-), Mathematical Statistics I(A-) Math. Stats II(A) Math Stats III(A-) Stastical Computing in R (A).
Will be taking: Matrix Theory, Linear Algebra and Advanced Calc (Real Analysis) in the fall quarter, which finishes before thanksgiving, so my grades will be available before I apply.

Research, Etc:
Two Years as Supplemental Instructor for Princ. of Micro/Macro.
1 Year RA for Econ Prof.
1 Summer RA for Small, New, Think Tank created my Econ Prof.
2 Years as a tutor for the MathLab.
Treasurer/Secretary of Omicron Delta Epsilon (Econ Honor Society)

LOR's:
Should be good. I know all of my Professors personally and know they will write glowingrecommendations, however they are relatively obscure.

GRE:
To Be Taken, hopefully Aced, but i'm nervous like everyone else.

I think I have an OK Profile. Some good parts and some bad parts. I'm wondering what schools would be appropriate for me. I had a list based on my plan to do Law and Economics, but they idea has died thanks to my miserable LSAT score. I'm thinking Econometrics is for me. I really enjoyed my Stats classes (all A's) and my Econometrics class (also A's), plus it's robust to alot of different direction. So anyway, what schools do you think I have a chance at where Econometrics is a speciality?

Thank You.

[Nalfien]

Did you consider taking the LSAT again? One test shouldn't ruin your desired career...

[JAlfredPrufrock]

I've thought about it. I just don't have the time, and most likely wouldn't have been able to get into any of the programs even with a stellar LSAT score - they only seems to be offered at top schools that i didn't have a chance at for an econ PhD anyway. Plus, I could always just get my JD after I get my PhD, not concurrently as I had planned. Economics is my passion, law was just an added bonus.

[notacolour]

Have you taken any graduate level econometrics courses? I would caution against committing your life to a field in which you haven't, since graduate econometrics is going to be very different from undergrad courses. Also, keep in mind that focusing on econometrics means primarily, if not exclusively, focusing on econometric theory, which may or may not be what you enjoyed about your previous classes.

[JAlfredPrufrock]

Well, no, but I am working my way through Greene's Econometric Analysis over the summer, and talking with faculty about certain aspects of it. I hear Greene is a pretty standard text for Graduate Econometrics. And with my knowledge from Statistical Computing in R(we did Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Bootstraps, Jackknife, etc) i am atleast partially familiar with looking at the small sample characterists of estimators, and things of that nature. Plus taking three courses in mathematical statistics I think I have a decient background in the theoretical aspects. Also, i've been using Kennedy's book for a less technical approach to applied econometrics, which is interesting.

PS.
I was the only undergraduate in my statistics courses, and according to one of the grad students who got his MA in Economics from my school, (and is currently working on his Masters in Math from my school) the graduate econometrics courses are baby courses, and that these statistics courses are way better.

[asquare]

Well, you might consider UCSD. It has a very good econometrics program and is not as strong in other areas, so you should be pretty sure that you want to do metrics. Also, it may still be a bit of a reach for you. Rochester, Illinois, OSU, and Boston College are all stronger in econometrics than overall, making them good possibilities.

[Starvingecon]

Rochester Isn't that strong in Econometrics right now due to some faculty that left.

[JAlfredPrufrock]

Do you think I would even have a chance at getting into Rochester?

[asquare]

Yes, I think you have a chance -- which is all you can say for any school. One of the hazards of these sort of discussion boards is that even though we all have our own experiences and information to draw upon, the best we can do is speculate and share ideas. Your professors are the best source of advice, since they know the details of your application and other aspects of your profile that are hard to summarize in a quick post here and since they can compare your profile to dozens of other students who have applied to similar programs.

Anyways, sorry to preach. Bottom line is that my guess is that it's worth applying to Rochester, though you need to apply to other "reach" schools as well as some safeties.

[Starvingecon]

Originally Posted by JAlfredPrufrock

Do you think I would even have a chance at getting into Rochester?

Its not likely. However I just wanted to point out that rankings based on old publications etc... sometimes do not express the present situation of a school at all.