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Fall 2019 Econ PhD Evaluation - With a Twist


EXP

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Type of Undergrad: Non-PhD-granting State School

 

Undergrad GPA: 3.91 / 4.00 (4.00 Econ, 3.97 Math)

 

GRE: 161V / 170Q / 5.0AW

 

Math Courses: Intro to Stats (A), Calculus I (AP credit), Calculus II (A), Calculus III (A), Intro to Higher Math (A), Intro to Linear Algebra (A), Intro to Numerical Methods (A), Intro to ODEs (A), Intermediate Probability / Stats (A+), Intro to Analysis (A-), Intro to Topology (A-), Intro to Real Analysis I (A), Probability Theory (A+), Intro to Real Analysis II (A), Elementary Stochastic Processes (A)

 

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro Theory (A), Intermediate Macro Theory (A), Money and Banking (A), Mathematical Economics (A), Open Economy Macro (A), Graduate Micro Theory (A), Graduate Macro Theory (A), Graduate Econometrics II (A)

 

Other Courses: Some CS courses in Python, Java. I will have completed a BBA with Finance and Accounting courses.

 

Letters of Recommendation: Two very good letters from economists at my school (one was my advisor through the applications process and helped me pick schools); One great letter from the Math department head with whom I have had five classes.

 

Research Experience: None.

 

Teaching Experience: None.

 

Research Interests: Experimental Economics, Behavioral Economics, Econometrics, Micro Theory

 

SOP: General. Explains that I challenged UG and first-semester Econometrics to take the one I have credit for.

 

Other: Obviously my lack of research experience is suboptimal. I started taking math/econ courses late.

 

 

I have finished my grad school applications. I am interested to see where people would place me based on what I wrote here.

The schools I applied to are weighted heavily toward programs strong in Experimental Economics and Econometrics.

If there is sufficient interest, I will post results in the spring, or link this thread to my Profiles/Results post.

 

I am curious to see how accurate people on this forum are in predicting placements; hopefully people hop on board!

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I think this is one profile that could massively benefit from a year or two of RAing: strong math/econ grades and no research experience at an unranked school. I think that the range of school you can get into after working for 2 years at a Fed or for an economist will be much higher than the range of school you can expect to get into now.
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Type of Undergrad: Non-PhD-granting State School

 

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro Theory (A), Intermediate Macro Theory (A), Money and Banking (A), Mathematical Economics (A), Open Economy Macro (A), Graduate Micro Theory (A), Graduate Macro Theory (A), Graduate Econometrics II (A)

 

 

How did you take Grad micro/macro/metrics at a Non-PhD granting school..? Is this through a masters program at your school?

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I think this is one profile that could massively benefit from a year or two of RAing: strong math/econ grades and no research experience at an unranked school. I think that the range of school you can get into after working for 2 years at a Fed or for an economist will be much higher than the range of school you can expect to get into now.

 

Thank you for the input! I agree that RAing would help; I will have to look into it. Dr. Startz's recently posted paper on the matter seems to significantly strengthen that fact.

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My school offers a master's in Econ, as well as a professional (non-PhD) doctorate related to Econ. I was able to petition to take the grad classes en lieu of undergraduate electives.

 

Seems a bit odd. Just to clarify, what reference textbooks did your Grad Micro/Macro/Metrics use? Is it MWG/Ljungqvist & Sargent/ Hayshi/Hamilton(since you're taking Metrics II, which would mean it's time series)?

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Seems a bit odd. Just to clarify, what reference textbooks did your Grad Micro/Macro/Metrics use? Is it MWG/Ljungqvist & Sargent/ Hayshi/Hamilton(since you're taking Metrics II, which would mean it's time series)?

 

You give my school too much credit.

 

Nicholson & Snyder for Micro,

Romer for Macro,

Gujarati & Porter for Metrics, though I've been studying Greene.

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You give my school too much credit.

 

Nicholson & Snyder for Micro,

Romer for Macro,

Gujarati & Porter for Metrics, though I've been studying Greene.

 

That's what I was afraid. Your Grad coursework is essentially just final year undergrad/advanced micro/macro/metrics, if I were to just base it off of the reference textbooks. Most people on here refer to Grad coursework as PhD-level material. That's why mathenomics was puzzled as to how you could take Grad coursework in a non-PhD granting institution.

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That's what I was afraid. Your Grad coursework is essentially just final year undergrad/advanced micro/macro/metrics, if I were to just base it off of the reference textbooks. Most people on here refer to Grad coursework as PhD-level material. That's why mathenomics was puzzled as to how you could take Grad coursework in a non-PhD granting institution.

 

Ah, okay! Thank you for the clarification. I was previously aware that the courses I was taking were not particularly rigorous, but I did not know the extent. Luckily my mathematics education does not suffer the same fate. I am hoping my econ degree is enough to signal sufficient interest, and I will be able to make up the ground I have missed.

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I think getting an A in all those master's-level courses is impressive enough; the competition should be tougher than a typical undergrad class - given that most of his classmates will have finished bachelor's degrees - even if the material overlaps with some honors/advanced econ classes at top-ranked institutions.

 

As others have pointed out, though, the lack of research experience is a big liability in admissions. Regardless of admissions results this year, I encourage OP to seek out a full time RA position and re-apply; you'll likely get much better offers, and the RA experience will also generate significant benefits during your PhD years.

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