safety school

[biswonath]

which of the following could be the safe options if you are planning to apply top 10 econ and top 5 business school(finance phd), and not sure one of them will take you.

 

1. Harvard JFK Political Economy PhD

2. Princeton WWS

3. Berkeley ARE

4. Brown Econ

5. Texas Austin Econ

 

just curious!!

[jahizbarlas]

do you mean to say which one of them would be a safety for econ grad out of your list?

im confused as some of these programs arent even econ.

[biswonath]

yes.

 

They are not econ, but related. For exam, JFK etc offer Political Economy in public policy which is like econ. ARE is also like Econ. So, if you are aiming for top ten school, but not sure you can get there, what would be a good safety school?

[angelbaby_uci]

Would UCSD be a good safety school. Would you happen to know if they are still accepting applications for the fall?

[jahizbarlas]

ucsd is an awesome school in econometrics, esp time series. i know two friends who started there.

it has a very high attrition rate though and is stingent with money.

personally, i dont think you should consider it a safety school unless you have very good credentials.

[apropos]

which of the following could be the safe options if you are planning to apply top 10 econ and top 5 business school(finance phd), and not sure one of them will take you.

 

1. Harvard JFK Political Economy PhD

2. Princeton WWS

3. Berkeley ARE

4. Brown Econ

5. Texas Austin Econ

 

just curious!!

 

It seems strange that you have such different Ph.D. programs on your list. If you are indeed choosing among them, then you still have no idea what you really want to do. If that is the case, then why even bother applying to programs with narrow specialization fields? I mean, you have Finance, Political Economy, ARE, and traditional Economics programs on your list. The first three are all basically economics programs that restrict you to a narrow specialization area from the beginning. If you're not sure what fields interest you, then you should apply only to traditional Economics programs (ideally in large departments where you can explore any of the major subjects). So, first, you should make up your mind and decide what you want to study.

 

Next, you need figure out what kind of applicant you are, that is, where you stand in the applicant pool. Once you know that, you will be able to tell what is a safety for you and what's a long shot. I mean, it is often possible to glance at one's profile and say that "you're a solid applicant for top 10-20 programs like UCLA or Michigan but getting into top-10 will be very difficult (of course, this is not always easy to do without knowing who writes your LoR and how good it is)". Ideally, you should find a professor who had worked on a graduate admissions committee and ask him what he thinks about your profile. Send bulk of your applications to places that you think are in your league, a few to long shots, and a few to safety schools.

 

For some applicants (like me :_) Brown or Texas are hardly a safety (more like a long shot). Of course, if you think you are a solid applicant for a top-10 Economics Ph.D. program, then Brown and Texas indeed may be good safety schools for you.

[biswonath]

apropos:

 

I see your point. I have a strange situation. I think I am a top ten econ school material, but I have one bad grade (C in Real Analysis II by a really nasty professor who rarely gives good grade) that is introducing uncertainty.

 

I also personally prefer to go to schools that people in my country are very familiar with (i.e. harvard, princeton, berkeley etc rather than texas austin or maryland). And of course, I don't want to apply to 40 universities.(but 20 is ok).

 

The problem is I don't know how competitive those programs I listed are: i.e. how tough is it to get into harvard KSG or Berkeley ARE is, whether it is tougher to get into virginia econ or into princeton woodrow wilson school, assuming they all draw from econ undergraduate/MS students. I would like to know if any of you have any idea.

 

And yes, I don't really know what I want to do in econ PhD. I just want to get PhD for now, because that is more salable than undergrad degree, and that I know I can get into at least some of the top phd program. (my undergrad degree is from a top econ program) I am interested in micro, but somehow I fear I might not be able to ace it due to bad experience with real analysis II, I am also interested in macro, environmental economics and political economy. I talked to a PhD student at Harvard, who was a superstar at the time, and he told me that he too had no idea what he wanted to do when he joined the program. "you try a few things, and by the end of the second year, you kind of figure it out." was what he said.

 

Well, a long story it has been!

[biswonath]

UCSD is a top ten econ school, acc to US News ranking. It is not a safe school for anyone.

[apropos]

apropos:

 

I also personally prefer to go to schools that people in my country are very familiar with (i.e. harvard, princeton, berkeley etc rather than texas austin or maryland). And of course, I don't want to apply to 40 universities.(but 20 is ok).

 

I have heard this kind argument before on this forum, and I don't fully buy it. It is natural to have a preference of very known school names, but don't underestimate the lower-ranked departments or the bureaucrats who will be hiring you. People who will be hiring you in your country will probably be aware what a Ph.D. from Texas is worth relatively to other universities. Even if they're not, they still realize that an Economics Ph.D. from a major American university, be it Harvard or Iowa State University, is a very scarce commodity in much of the world outside of North America and Europe.

 

I talked to a PhD student at Harvard, who was a superstar at the time, and he told me that he too had no idea what he wanted to do when he joined the program. "you try a few things, and by the end of the second year, you kind of figure it out." was what he said.

And therefore, you should be applying to traditional Economics Ph.D. programs too so you can choose your area specialization some time during the second year. If you're from a developing country, then ARE is also a viable degree for getting government job. You can study industrial organization (in commodity markets), economic development, trade, and environmental economics under the umbrella of an ARE Ph.D. program. However, if your interests range so widely that you're considering ARE _and_ Finance programs, then you should probably apply to traditional economics Ph.D. programs, ideally at universities with renowned ARE and Business departments (most econ programs allow you to pursue a specialization in a related department).

 

So if I was you, I would be considering large mid-ranked departments as candidates for safety schools, like Cornell, UCLA, Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland (which has one of the best ARE programs), University of Virginia, University of Texas, Duke, Brown, etc.

[betahat]

The Harvard Political Economy and Government is really hard to get into and very quirky. they only admit a handful each year - it's not a good safety.

 

Given what your concerns Berkeley ARE might be a good choice - it's much broader than it sounds, they'll be more forgiving of the math than a traditional econ dept would be and there's a huge amount of overlap with the econ dept (overlapping classes etc). Brown would also be good.

 

However, given how quirky admissions are, I wouldn't ever consider a particular school a sure thing - you probably want a few safeties.

[biswonath]

I think you are probably right. My question originated from the assumption that people applying to the schools I listed above all tend to have econ or math as background, and perhaps they are the same people competing with each other. So, they are comparable. But can I truly regard those schools as a safety school? And also, which is more competitive Harvard JFK Govt school or Brown Economics or Berkeley ARE or Texas Austin econ?