Profile Evaluation, Fall 2019

[requisiton1984]

Profile Evaluation, Fall 2019

 

Hello to fellow posters. I'm applying sometimes this year, so I'm hoping to receive some thoughtful responses to help narrow down my application list. I plan to apply for Fall 2019 to test the waters, but understand that my profile will likely benefit from another year of math classes / that I may need to reapply for 2020. I am especially unsure about my choices for mathematics courses, as I had limited slots for elective courses and chose instead to self-study a lot and take a series of classes I thought would be suitable to show my mathematics skills (especially notable are the complete absence of the Calculus series and Linear Algebra).

 

I welcome feedback on what would have been better for me to do to apply for PhD programmes, specifically because I have a first-year friend in my university who also wishes to apply to PhD schools.

 

PROFILE:

 

 

Type of Undergrad:

Top 5 UK

 

 

Undergrad GPA (Social Sciences with Statistics):

First Class Honours

 

 

GRE:

170Q/170V

 

 

Math/Stats Courses:

- Undergrad-level: Mathematical Analysis (A-), Measure Theory (A+), Algebraic Topology (A-)

- Grad-level: Advanced Mathematical Modelling (A+), Probability (A+)

 

Econ Courses:

Intro to Economics I & II (A+), Economics of Public Policy (A+), Economics of Education (A-), Economics of Children and Families (A-), Social Inequality and Mobility (A+)

 

Statistics Courses:

Intro to Quantitative Research Methods (A-), Principles of Social Science Research (A-), Data Analysis (A-), Causal Analysis (A-), Advanced Topics in Quantitative Data Analysis (A-)

 

Courses taken in Harvard Summer School:

Microeconomic Theory (A+), Macroeconomic Theory (A-), Intro to Econometrics (A+)

 

Other Courses Taken:

lots of Sociology and Social Policy courses, all As and one B

 

Other Academic Stuff:

skilled with mathematical modelling and programming in Python, Java, and Bash, sat-in on Mathematical Methods 1 and 2, Experimental Economics, Logic, Game Theory, and Behavioural Economics

 

 

Letters of Recommendation:

1 econ professor that I RA'ed for (will be excellent), 1 econ lecturer (will be very good), 1 grad maths professor (should be strong).

 

 

Research Experience:

Published 2 papers on game theory in mid-level journals and co-authored a paper on environmental economics with another econ undergraduate, RAed for two different professors on game theory and microeconomic theory

 

Teaching Experience:

nothing formal

 

Work Experience:

nothing formal

 

 

Research Interests:

Game theory, market design, microeconomic theory

 

Concerns:

- Not much formal math classes, lacking especially in basic maths

- Only intro-level econometrics

- No serious internships

- Perception of math grades, especially the lack of Multivariable Calc. and Linear Algebra

- Not a ton of research done in internships; all research published independently

- Non-degree seeking programme (Harvard Summer) figures too prominently into my resume, maybe degree resume is too weak independently

 

 

 

Schools I'm looking at:

Top 10 PhD programmes with particular focus on Stanford

 

 

 

Thank you!

Edited October 8, 2018 by requisiton1984
Edits for Clarification, forgot to add Stats classes

[tm_member]

170Q, 175V? Isn't the max 170 on each? What am I missing?

 

You aren't lacking in math(s), I'm guessing you did Calc II (integral calculus) for A-levels (or even GCSEs). Your Mathematical Analysis class likely covered Calc III and Intro to Real Analysis, anyways. Your other math classes indicate Lin Alg would be no problem.

 

I don't know if top 10 is feasible, but with strong letters, Top 20 is surely possible.

[startz]

Profile Evaluation, Fall 2019

Hello to fellow posters. I'm applying sometimes this year, so I'm hoping to receive some thoughtful responses to help narrow down my application list. I plan to apply for Fall 2019 to test the waters, but understand that my profile will likely benefit from another year of math classes / that I may need to reapply for 2020. I am especially unsure about my choices for mathematics courses, as I had limited slots for elective courses and chose instead to self-study a lot and take a series of classes I thought would be suitable to show my mathematics skills (especially notable are the complete absence of the Calculus series and Linear Algebra).

 

I welcome feedback on what would have been better for me to do to apply for PhD programmes, specifically because I have a first-year friend in my university who also wishes to apply to PhD schools.

 

PROFILE:

 

 

Type of Undergrad:

Top 5 UK

 

 

Undergrad GPA (Social Sciences with Statistics):

First Class Honours

 

 

GRE:

170Q/175V

(retaking in Nov. to hopefully improve Q)

 

 

Math/Stats Courses:

- Undergrad: Mathematical Analysis (A-), Measure Theory (A+), Algebraic Topology (A-)

- Grad: Advanced Mathematical Modelling (A+), Probability (A+)

 

Econ Courses:

Intro to Economics I & II (A+), Economics of Public Policy (A+), Economics of Education (A-), Economics of Children and Families (A-), Social Inequality and Mobility (A+)

 

Courses taken in Harvard Summer School:

Microeconomic Theory (A+), Macroeconomic Theory (A-), Intro to Econometrics (A+)

 

Other Academic Stuff:

skilled with mathematical modelling and programming in Python, Java, and Bash, sat-in on Mathematical Methods 1 and 2, Experimental Economics, Logic, Game Theory, and Behavioural Economics

 

 

Letters of Recommendation:

1 econ professor that I RA'ed for (will be excellent), 1 econ lecturer (will be very good), 1 grad maths professor (should be strong).

 

 

Research Experience:

Published 2 papers on game theory in mid-level journals and co-authored a paper on environmental economics with another econ undergraduate, RAed for two different professors on game theory and microeconomic theory

 

Teaching Experience:

nothing formal

 

Work Experience:

nothing formal

 

 

Research Interests:

Game theory, market design, microeconomic theory

 

Concerns:

- Not much formal math classes, lacking especially in basic maths

- No econometrics

- No serious internships

- Perception of math grades, which came later in life from non degree seeking courses

- Not a ton of research

 

 

 

Schools I'm looking at:

Top 10 PhD programmes with particular focus on Stanford

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

This post doesn't make any sense. As tm_member notes, the max grade on the gre is 170. And you say you have an A+ in Intro to Econometrics and you are also concerned because you have had no econometrics.

 

And if you've published two papers in actual mid-level journals then you're ahead of most new PhD graduates.

[therealslimkt]

More things that confuse;

 

- you say "grad" math courses, but don't say where you did grad. Very few people apply for a PhD straight out of UK undergrad, so I'm assuming you did grad somewhere.

 

- if you did an econ degree undergrad, how did you take only 6 econ courses?

 

- math classes from "non degree seeking courses"? Your Harvard summer school courses are not math so you must be talking about something else. What is that?

 

You should probably clarify all the confusions pointed out in the replies.

[chateauheart]

Apart from what above mentioned, there are other aspects of the profile that strike me as fishy/possibly bullshit. I would heavily recommend that nobody comments on this profile any further because you may be falling for a bait and unintentionally helping someone point out the holes in a fabricated profile. If OP is somehow legit, then good luck, you're strong enough that you don't need any advice anyway.

[requisiton1984]

Sorry about all the confusion. I didn't post at a very coherent hour (late at night), and I posted partially out of an outbreak of worry about my prospects. Just to clarify:

 

On the GRE scores: Both are 170, mistyped. Really sorry about that.

On No Econometrics: I took Intro to Econometrics in Harvard Summer School, but I didn't think Intro to Econometrics would really count seriously in adcom for the same reason an Intro to Econ probably wouldn't count as serious exposure to economics.

On Grad Math Courses: When I said grad, I meant graduate-level. I see the confusion in my language and I apologize.

On non-degree seeking courses: That's what I called Harvard Summer School. I'm a bit concerned about the weakness of my profile without the summer school.

On only six economics classes: I didn't do Economics, I did Social Sciences, which splits degree cores between economics, sociology, and some psychology.

 

Sorry for the confusion. As a side note, @tm_member, is there anyway I can boost my profile to make top 10 feasible? Also, for the sake of the first-year undergraduate I mentioned, is there I could have done or classes I could have taken? Thanks.

[requisiton1984]

So sorry, I didn't write this coherently. its 170/170. Apologies for the confusion.

 

Also, why is Top 10 not feasible? Sorry, my adviser said that it might be possible, so I want to see what new insight you can give me.

[chateauheart]

I don't understand what the heck you're trying to accomplish. It's clear as day that you're still lying about at least some parts of your profile; tell us where and why, apologize, and we might be inclined to give you a serious profile evaluation. Or continue lying and risk being blacklisted by the adcoms lurking in this site who can easily see your story doesn't hold up.