Costard Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Type of Undergrad: Top 25 U.S. regional, affiliated with a top 50 economics program. Undergrad GPA: 4.0 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: 170 / 170 / Still waiting Undergrad Math Courses: Calculus 1-3, Advanced Calculus (e.g. Analysis I), Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Intro to Probability, Math Statistics (Fall) Undergrad Econ Courses: Micro 1-2, Macro 1-2, Business Statistics, Econometrics, Auction Theory, Banking (Fall), Monetary Policy (Fall), Experimental Econ (Fall) Grad Econ courses: Micro 1 (Fall) Letters of Recommendation: Three well-published but non-famous economists. Two I have (or will have) taken courses with, and done limited RA work for; the third is my thesis advisor. I believe they will be strong. Research Experience: Mostly nominal RA work for two professors, plus a fairly ambitious thesis project involving modeling and simulation. Teaching Experience: N/A Research Interests: Macro, Financial, Monetary SOP: Should be decent Applying: 3/8/4 split between schools in the top 10, top 11-25, and top 26-35. Concerns: Where do I begin? I'm a second degree student, who left a career in an unrelated field to study economics; I've had only one year to acquire research experience and build relationships with professors; equally little time to flesh out my coursework; Fall courses and grades will be critical to my profile and I'm worried that some schools will ignore/not accept them; and my undergrad is a feeder school for finance which, despite having a large economics department, is not known for sending students to graduate economics programs. My profile is noisy and I have a hard time judging it. Am I aiming too high? Too narrow? Any advice would be appreciated. Also, a general thank you to the forum members for making this such a useful and informative place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantinity Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I think your strategy is really good. I can't objectively evaluate your profile, but it seems fine, and my best advice is to apply broadly, which you do. When you choose those 3/8/4 schools, I suggest you look very closely at professor profiles for best research fit. I had a very similar plan, but I could have saved some money by not applying to some places and applying to others. Other factors to consider are location, fellowship sizes (can project from thegradcafe), etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Your strategy seems reasonable if we're only taking into account chances of getting in. Same with what I said to a previous poster, I'd suggest a more top ended approach if you're going to apply to 12+ programs. Your marginal chance of getting in a top 10 program is fairly low, but take the product of that and the marginal value of getting in, and it's still worth more than an additional app to the #11-#35. If you maintain your 4.0 in the fall and your professors strongly recommend you, you have a fairly good shot at #5-#15 schools in general. I got into many schools in that range with a profile that's not significantly better - same GPA, similar ranking and research experience, a few more courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Costard Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 Thank you both - these comments are helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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