Where will I get in? [Possibly mixed profile]

[econquestion]

UNDERGRAD
School: Top 30 LAC, 3.98 GPA

Major: Mathematical Economics (Highest Honors), Concentration in Statistics, Phi Beta Kappa

Math Courses: Calculus I (A-), Calculus II (A-), Calculus III (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Probability Theory (A), Mathematical Statistics (A), Mathematical Modeling (A), Advanced Econometrics (A)

Econ courses: I got all As/A- except for in Intermediate Microeconomics, where I got a B+. This is actually very bad because my interest is in micro

Research Experience: Was an econ RA for 2 years as an undergrad, was also a psychology RA, did honors economics thesis (graduated with highest honors), got small grant for independent research, 1 peer-reviewed publication (not econ-related, it was oddly a CS thing)

LORs: 2 of them very very strong, 1 will be good but not mind-blowing. All profs went to Top 10 schools. But they are not super famous in their field.

Research Interests: Behavioral Economics / Applied Micro

POST GRAD
Worked as a data scientist for 1 year. This was not directly related to economics, but I actually did a fair bit of A/B testing, experimental design, and forecasting. So it is somewhat related to econometrics. And the industry that it was in (ad-tech) is somewhat related to behavioral economics, so it fits with my interest


Where should I be looking to apply?
I am applying to a three (3) T10 (just the ones my recommenders knew somebody at, vouched for me) and then three (3) T20 and five (5) T30. Is this too ambitious?

EDIT: Included numerical breakdown of schools in ranges

[Bayes]

This is not a T10 profile by any means. All your Econ courses are at the undergrad level and you lack Advanced Math Courses (i.e Real Analysis Sequence) . I’m assuming all your LORs are from Econ Profs, then I would ask them the range of schools you ought to apply. Based on the profiles and results on this forum, I would apply mainly to T25-35 Programs with few in the T20 range.

[econquestion]

Thank you for the feedback!

Last we spoke, my advisor told to do (3) in T10 (their alma matters), (3) in T20, and (5) in T25-T30.

I had a feeling my record was not T10 material either. Though I feel somewhat obligated to apply to one T10 school because my advisor -- without me requesting this -- set me up to talk with a professor there as we have similar research interests and he's looking for an RA who knows machine learning. That professor said he'd be interested in working together, but re-iterated that ofc it's a whole admission committee decision. Though I can likely forget the other two T10.

So maybe for the other schools a more realistic balance is to shift the T15-T20 to be more in the range of T25-T35?

EDIT: I did take Advanced Econometrics and Macroeconomic Theory actually. But I think your point about not being T10 still stands so that does not change much.

[ahududu]

Thank you for the feedback!

Last we spoke, my advisor told to do (3) in T10 (their alma matters), (3) in T20, and (5) in T25-T30.

I had a feeling my record was not T10 material either. Though I feel somewhat obligated to apply to one T10 school because my advisor -- without me requesting this -- set me up to talk with a professor there as we have similar research interests and he's looking for an RA who knows machine learning. That professor said he'd be interested in working together, but re-iterated that ofc it's a whole admission committee decision. Though I can likely forget the other two T10.

So maybe for the other schools a more realistic balance is to shift the T15-T20 to be more in the range of T25-T35?

EDIT: I did take Advanced Econometrics and Macroeconomic Theory actually. But I think your point about not being T10 still stands so that does not change much.

I agree with Bayes that your application is not a T10 material yet. Your connection though sounds promising. If the connection is looking for a predoc that could help him, I think that is the best thing you can do at this point OR to strengthen your profile, you may think of taking RA sequences OR more ambitiously Grad Micro 1 though I don't recommend that.

[econquestion]

ahududu, I am applying this cycle so no time to take those classes now. Supposing I get rejected basically everywhere and I apply again, I'd definitely take an RA sequence. No doubt, big mistake of mine.

Suppose I get into a schooled ranked 25-30 and I get rejected from this T5 school, but the professor and I have a good relationship. Is it all likely he'd offer the chance for me to be an RA not in the PhD program as a possible stepping stone to a PhD program? And would it be wise to take that?

[startz]

Suppose I get into a schooled ranked 25-30 and I get rejected from this T5 school, but the professor and I have a good relationship. Is it all likely he'd offer the chance for me to be an RA not in the PhD program as a possible stepping stone to a PhD program? And would it be wise to take that?

If you can do a two year pre-doc, it would probably move you up considerably in terms of admission probabilities. How important that is depends in part on your long-term goals.