Profile Evaluation for fall 2020 - thanks in advance!!

[openbook]

Hey all!

I am an undergraduate student graduating in 2021, and applying for programs in fall 2020. I am from the US, but am studying in the UK. I’m just having trouble trying to gauge what schools to apply to, and where exactly I have a chance at getting in. I want to aim as high as possible, but of course I want to be reasonable and not overestimate!

Thanks in advance!

Undergraduate Degree: BA in Economics and Political Science (double major, from top 20 global university in the UK)

Undergraduate GPA: First Class Honors predicted (I think roughly equates to 3.8+/4.0)

GRE: Q 167, V 166, AW 5.5

Math Courses: (this is a bit difficult to show, because a lot of math is integrated into the Economics courses themselves, but I’ll try to explain here) Economics 1 (A, included single and multivariable calculus, some linear algebra, differential equations, partial differentiation, optimization), Economics 2 (A+, constrained optimization, Lagrangians, matrix algebra, hessians etc.), Statistics for Economics (A+, probability theory, general statistics and applications), Advanced Mathematical Economics (A, set theory, real analysis, metric spaces, dynamic programming)

Economics Courses: Economics 1 (A), Economics 2 (A+), Topics in Microeconomics (A-), Topics in Macroeconomics (A-), Development Economics (A), Essentials of Econometrics (A), Applications of Econometrics (A)

Related Experience: Summer Research Intern for Federal Reserve Board of Governors (got lots of experience with R, Stata, SQL, python); Going into my senior year now I will be doing research for my undergraduate dissertation

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from my academic advisor, 1 from my dissertation advisor, 1 from my maths professor, and 1 from an economist I worked with at the FED

Research Interest: I need to work on narrowing this down, everything seems interesting to me! I think development/transition economics, applied econometrics, political economy/international relations in economics

 

Thanks again everyone!

[tutonic]

Just a couple things to note. This is a Fall '21 profile, since you'll be entering in the Fall of 2021, to avoid any confusion. The Fall 20 cohort has already begun their classes.

 

Anyway, given the university that you're from, your best bet would be to see where past students have gotten into. I presume that there shouldn't be any asymmetry of information if you're from somewhere like Oxbridge or UCL/LSE, since you won't be the first from there to arrive in the school's applicant pool, and they'll most likely know how to assess you.

 

Is there any particular reason why you're getting a letter from a maths professor?

 

As it stands, if you are from the abovementioned schools, Top 30 is definitely possible (as a very conservative estimate), but you should see where students in the past have gone on to.

 

Do note that this coming cycle will be arguably more competitive since a number of schools would have students (from the Fall 20 cohort) who deferred entry due to the virus situation. Therefore, they might take in fewer students.

 

Lastly, I don't know if this needs mentioning, but given what you state as interests, you might want to look into Public Policy PhD programmes in the top schools too. They are quite econ-centric, in terms of the coursework preparation so you should consider applying to a couple of those too.

[openbook]

Just a couple things to note. This is a Fall '21 profile, since you'll be entering in the Fall of 2021, to avoid any confusion. The Fall 20 cohort has already begun their classes.

 

Anyway, given the university that you're from, your best bet would be to see where past students have gotten into. I presume that there shouldn't be any asymmetry of information if you're from somewhere like Oxbridge or UCL/LSE, since you won't be the first from there to arrive in the school's applicant pool, and they'll most likely know how to assess you.

 

Is there any particular reason why you're getting a letter from a maths professor?

 

As it stands, if you are from the abovementioned schools, Top 30 is definitely possible (as a very conservative estimate), but you should see where students in the past have gone on to.

 

Do note that this coming cycle will be arguably more competitive since a number of schools would have students (from the Fall 20 cohort) who deferred entry due to the virus situation. Therefore, they might take in fewer students.

 

Lastly, I don't know if this needs mentioning, but given what you state as interests, you might want to look into Public Policy PhD programmes in the top schools too. They are quite econ-centric, in terms of the coursework preparation so you should consider applying to a couple of those too.

 

Hi, thanks for the reply!

 

Good idea on asking around to see what past students have done, this is something I definitely should do.

 

Regarding the maths professor, I should have been more specific - my apologies. He was the professor for my "Advanced Mathematical Economics" course. He is phd economics I believe.

 

Interesting idea with the Public Policy phd, I'll have a look into it!