Profile Evaluation : Economics Ph.D. Admissions, Fall 2021

[indu2210]

Hi all, I am looking for profile evaluation it. Any advice/feedback would be highly appreciated.

Type of Undergrad: B.A. (Hons.) Economics from the top University in India

Undergrad GPA:4

Type of Grad :M.A. Econometrics from a state university in India.

Grad GPA: 4

GRE: Q156 ,V 154, AWA 3.5

Math Courses Undergrad: Linear Algebra(A), Calculus(A),Discrete Maths (A)

Econ Courses Undergrad: Microeconomics(B+), Macroeconomics(B+), Mathematical Methods in Economics(A), Statistical Methods in Economics(A), Development Theory and Experience(B+), Money and Financial Markets(A), International Economics(A)

Econ Courses Grad :Advanced Microeconomics(A), Econometric Theory(A), Time Series Econometrics(A), Applied Econometric Methods(A), Panel Data and Non-parametric Econometrics(A), Econometric Applications(A)

PhD level courses :Microeconomics(B-), Statistics(B).

Letters of Recommendation:

 

• Associate Professor(in Marketing) who I RAed for 2 years(has U.S PhD)
  
• Assistant Professor from under grad
  
• Associate Professor from Grad
  

Research Experience: Two years RA at a top business school working on projects related to Marketing and Development economics.

Teaching Experience: Teaching instructor for Statistics workshop for MBA students(conducted over two days)

Research Interests: Econometrics, Development economics

Concerns :

 

• Lack of publications
  
• Poor GRE scores
  
• My work experience is under a Marketing prof.
  
• Fewer math courses
  
• Not so reputed letter writers(2) and not so reputed Grad college
  

Notes: My colleagues(RAs) from the business school, where I RAed got offers from State University of New York, Auburn University, University of Connecticut, Rice University, University of California, George Washington University to study Econ(RAs here usually aim to pursue PhD).

Students from my college went on to pursue Grad from U.K and the U.S and none from my Grad college are pursuing PhD.

 

Since GRE is waived off/ optional for most of the programs, I plan to omit it from my applications. Does it harm a lot? Should I retake GRE to make my application more viable? Will applying for Economics program after RAing with Marketing Prof. adversely affect my applications? Depending on my current profile, what sort of schools should I target? What ranking range should I consider? Is my profile even worth applying?

 

Thank you for your time :)

Edited October 11, 2020 by indu2210

[dogbones]

Since the GRE is optional and your score was well below the mean of what many schools look for, I would suggest you don't waste your money and time retaking it, and rather spend your efforts finding programs online that have faculty in the #20-25 rank and below schools with whom you would like to do research with, and possibly send them an email asking more about their research (and that you would like to apply). Some schools actually invite people to contact their faculty prior to admissions, but that's the exception rather than the rule. I think what would really help your profile is if you can find some very specific research topics you'd like to pursue and write about that in depth to show that you are going to be a capable economics researcher, and I would tailor this into your SOP for each department you apply to.

[startz]

... faculty in the #20-25 rank and below schools with whom you would like to do research with, and possibly send them an email asking more about their research

 

Never do this. If you can't learn about their research from looking at their web site, you shouldn't be pursuing a PhD.

[laborsabre]

Never do this. If you can't learn about their research from looking at their web site, you shouldn't be pursuing a PhD.

 

I'd go even further: some programs actually explicitly say not to email professors during the application process.

[ahududu]

I'd go even further: some programs actually explicitly say not to email professors during the application process.

Can't argue with them since it almost sounds like as an applicant, you're trying to manipulate them.