PhD Profile Evaluation (Australian to US/UK) - Fall 2021

[mondub]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Australian G8 university (top 50 globally).

Bachelor of Economics (Hons.)/Bachelor of Arts (Political Science)

 

Cumulative GPA: 3.75 out of 4.0 (top 3 in cohort)

 

GRE: 168 Q/162 V/5.5 AWA

 

Math Courses:

Real Analysis (B)

 

Econ (Honours Level) Courses:

Research Project (A+); Industrial Organisation (A+); Public Economics (A+); Public Economics (A+); Macroeconomics (B+); Econometrics (B+); Development Economics (A-). Also 14 undergraduate economics courses, including mathematical economics and 4 semesters of stats.

 

Letters of Recommendation:

1) Honours thesis supervisor. Achieved a 90+ mark (second in cohort). (Strong)

2) Honours course supervisor. (Strong)

3) Professor who I worked on a research project for as part of my work experience. (Super Strong)

 

Research Experience:

Honours thesis; research work in consulting (evaluation of a major national program for the Australian Government)

 

Teaching Experience:

TA’ed 1 semester in introductory microeconomics

 

Work Experience:

Two years in Big 4 government consulting

 

Program skills:

R, Stata, QGIS

 

Other:

Academic awards in 3 units

Strong extra-curriculars – committee member of Economics Students Society and Young Economists Network post-graduation

 

Self-assessment: Lack of maths hurts, but from what I’ve been told Australian honours is more maths intensive than US undergrad econ courses. Our school has sent a couple of people to top 10 in the last 5 years. Talking with my faculty I’ve got a very good shot at top-30 and an outside chance at top 10.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[dogbones]

Hi, thanks for posting! I think the lack of sufficient pure math courses may make you an unorthodox applicant for the top 10-20 schools and put you at a disadvantage in those terms, along with the occasional B+ grades, but there will be schools where your overall experience and success as a budding economist will shine through and you will surely see good results if you apply widely!

[mondub]

Bump for discussion. I understand that Australian profiles can be a little tricky to evaluate. I've converted my GPA to US scale (using Scholaro) if that helps:

 

Undergrad: 3.63

Honours: 4.0

 

Hopefully this makes the evaluation process a little easier.

 

Also as an aside, its common for Australians to be accepted into Top 10 without any formal maths credits (due to the content of our economics courses, it tends to be covered within the economics units). Again, maybe this makes evaluation a little easier.

[metricsandtips]

It definitely happens, as someone with an Australian profile without any formal math but who did honours and is at a top 10 program. I think your relative standing with respect to previous students who have gone to top 10 is probably the best predictor of where you might get in. Your faculty's assessment seems about right, I'd say the biggest setback is the B in an actual real analysis course, although if you did well in honours micro then it may not be too concerning. Thesis research should be a strong point in your profile and letters of recommendation. At any rate, I would apply as widely as you can within the top 20-30 since I think you are right that Australian profiles can be a bit more tricky, and as a result random chance may play a larger role.

[mondub]

It definitely happens, as someone with an Australian profile without any formal math but who did honours and is at a top 10 program. I think your relative standing with respect to previous students who have gone to top 10 is probably the best predictor of where you might get in. Your faculty's assessment seems about right, I'd say the biggest setback is the B in an actual real analysis course, although if you did well in honours micro then it may not be too concerning. Thesis research should be a strong point in your profile and letters of recommendation. At any rate, I would apply as widely as you can within the top 20-30 since I think you are right that Australian profiles can be a bit more tricky, and as a result random chance may play a larger role.

 

Thanks for that feedback, much appreciated.

 

After consulting Scholaro and a couple of other resources it looks like my conversion for Real Analysis is an A, not a B (74 - correct me if this is mistaken). Agree that this isn't ideal, regardless. I'm planning on applying broadly to the top 30. Is there anything that you had on your CV or mentioned in your statement of purpose that you think helped you stand out?

[metricsandtips]

Thanks for that feedback, much appreciated.

 

After consulting Scholaro and a couple of other resources it looks like my conversion for Real Analysis is an A, not a B (74 - correct me if this is mistaken). Agree that this isn't ideal, regardless. I'm planning on applying broadly to the top 30. Is there anything that you had on your CV or mentioned in your statement of purpose that you think helped you stand out?

 

I don't know how that grade would be evaluated by US faculty, since it would depend on which university you went to and how the math dept grades things. Assuming 75 is distinction, a 74 could seem like an B+ or maybe an A-, but there isn't an obvious conversion. If you know your relative rank (and it is good), or you could give some assurance that it is a high grade, then it might be worth mentioning that or better yet getting your LORs to mention it. For me, my honours ranking and thesis research is almost certainly what stood out -- there is not much need to know the details of an Aus profile if they know that your academic rank is strong. From your profile it seems like you would be emphasising the same.. Part of my SOP was contextualising my profile (e.g., mentioning that MWG was used in micro, general integration of math into econ subjects in Aus, indicating specific rank where possible) to be more comparable with US applicants, which I'm sure the LORs also did to some extent. I also went into some detail about my thesis, and then the rest of my SOP was otherwise very standard.

[mondub]

That's all very helpful, thanks. My ranking and the mathematical aspect of the honours course is being covered off by one of my letter writers, which is consistent with what you're saying. Very helpful to have an outsider affirm what I've been told by my faculty - gives me a little more confidence that I'll be accepted somewhere top 30.

 

Thanks again!

[metricsandtips]

That's all very helpful, thanks. My ranking and the mathematical aspect of the honours course is being covered off by one of my letter writers, which is consistent with what you're saying. Very helpful to have an outsider affirm what I've been told by my faculty - gives me a little more confidence that I'll be accepted somewhere top 30.

 

Thanks again!

 

Good luck. P.S., in case it was ambiguous earlier, when I said apply to the top 20-30, I meant that including all schools better ranked than 30, not that you should apply to schools in the range of 20-30.

[mondub]

Good luck. P.S., in case it was ambiguous earlier, when I said apply to the top 20-30, I meant that including all schools better ranked than 30, not that you should apply to schools in the range of 20-30.

 

I see, thanks for that clarification and the advice.