08Applicant

I think most of the anguish over placement and prestige would be assuaged thusly.

Or maybe economists are often pro market because of: Marginal Revolution: The First Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics Not saying the assumptions are always satisfied. Not saying PO allocations are fair. Just saying it's a good theorem.

Did (B). Currently shooting myself in the foot on (A). So far the graduate(PhD) GPA is 3.82. The weather is just too nice to try any harder. Knocking the econometrics series out of the park though. That's the only class I really like. I'm a short-sighted idiot. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get up early to go surfing tomorrow.

Hahahaha. Lengthy responses. How many professors have you emailed in the past? I'm lucky if I coerce one complete sentence from mine.

Easier said than done. Overidentification is a problem we'd all love to have.

30 seconds after submitting, the questions creep into my head. Did I really make sure to attach my resume? I thought I did. How sure am I?

Congratulations to Paul Krugman. He's a little too politically outspoken for my tastes. But Marginal Revolution linked a paper of his that I've never heard of. The Role of Geography in Development http://www.worldbank.org/html/rad/abcde/krugman.pdf I've fooled around with some rudimentary location theory in my own work. I'm happy to hear that Paul is keeping it alive, and perhaps my own research might one day stand on the shoulders of his.

I have it from a reliable source that some deans aren't pleased with the high percentage of international students at UCLA in recent years. I'd like to see some information on the ratio of international students as it relates to the school's prestige. Right now I'm getting an MA at a state school with a econ program ranked in 40-60 range and the incoming PhD class has very few international students, but there are more foreign born that studied at US universities. And I did Econ-Math. I wrote a senior thesis. I got rejected. Now I'm taking grad classes. I might have to commit a few felonies (won't say what or where) if I get rejected a second time.

Newegg.com - ASUS F8 Series F8Sn-C1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T9300(2.50GHz) 14.1" Wide XGA+ 3GB Memory 320GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS - Laptops / Notebooks Call of Duty 4 and Team Fortress 2 here I come. It's also under six pounds.

I only live once, I think, and I'll be on a beautiful college campus this fall anyways. I'm having fun with it. I'm in no huge rush.

I will probably be going somewhere for a 1 year MA. I might not reapply until Fall '09. I want to finish the degree, get all the grades (I'll shoot for a 4.0 this time around), and guarantee great letters. What a depressing thought. But I know a lot of people around that school, I like the climate, more jiu-jitsu, and I'll be postponing adulthood for almost a full decade from now.

I'm sure we all discussed with our letter writers what schools we were applying to. If I say, "I'm applying to Harvard." And my professor says, "I think you have a decent chance, I'll write you a good letter." That should guarantee he/she will only check the first box. I've seen professors write a couple LoRs and ask others to file it electronically for them. His instruction is to "just choose the best one for any of those questions." Who would promise to write a "good" letter for a student applying to the highest schools and torpedo your chances like that? It's disingenuous in my opinion. They know damn well that can ruin an application.

First two reviews were "excellent" in both categories. Final review was "very good" intellectual merit and "good" broader impacts. Thanks for nothing #3.

I got Honorable Mention. It's nice to see my name there since HM seems better than a flat out rejection like all of my school applications. But I really wanted that money.

No irony or sarcasm, although you qualified your question by saying English is not your first language. That's appropriate to the issue. UCLA is a public university. It's hard to lobby for tax payer funding with statistics like that. Using native English speakers as TAs is also a lesser concern.

UCLA fact I recently learned. Don't ask how... 88% of the current graduate students in the Economics Dept. are foreign. Since it's a public university, this has not gone unnoticed.

The school I'm looking at doesn't offer an MS as a terminal degree. If they did you would probably be correct and the MS would look very similiar to the PhD's early coursework. Everyone I know that dropped out of their PhD got an MS when they left. I'm looking at an MA program. The MA has 2 quarters on micro, 2 on econometrics, and 1 on macro. All very rudimentary and not much harder than undergraduate level work. The rest are electives. Mostly in finance and other applied work. It's not a very valuable degree by any means and does not hold a candle to an MS from a PhD program. I still want the diploma that says MA, but those classes are crap. I want the PhD classes wherever possible.

Good enough for the Army OCS I hope. Good but not remarkable. I'm trying to reach the grad advisor at this school to ask him if I can take the PhD micro and econometrics series instead of the masters. All that remains is 1 class in masters level macro and 2 masters electives. Basically I'll be getting an MA for 1 year of application padding. Not a bad way to earn an extra diploma. If I get a 3.9+ and good letters we'll see what happens. I probably won't reapply until fall 2009.

I'm out. Everywhere. Applying right now to an 1-year economics M.A. program starting in the fall. If I get in under the conditions I'm asking for (take PhD courses with instructor consent in lieu of masters courses) I will attend. I'm also considering Army OCS. Why the hell not? Half the reason I chose a PhD is because you only live once. Might as well have an interesting story to tell. I considered enlisting when I was 19, but decided to pursue my B.A. and see if I could compete with others for a Ph.D. That didn't work out so well.

economics ucsd • thegradcafe.com Uh oh...

No, not everyone is like this and yes LORs definitely help to weed this out. I commend all of you on your success. All of you seem fairly well adjusted socially. I've met plenty of geniuses who were outstanding atheletes, drank a pint every friday, and would still embarass me academically. Kudos to those people, they are simply amazing. I want to say I'm envious, but more than that I'm just genuinely impressed. But there are going to be a few of the kids I described at your program in the fall. Just wanted to share one end of the spectrum. And yes, this is obviously laced with my frustration. Who doesn't like to vent? I don't hate that kid or feel cheated because of his success.

Ok, you nerds. I'm now more convinced than ever that economics has lost sight of producing quality researchers AND quality human beings. A story from my boss. I work at a consulting firm in the LA area if you haven't already figured this out. Some years back they were hiring an intern. Interns at my company are usually first or second year graduate students who do part-time work. A lot of email correspondance and Stata work that can be done remotely. A pretty sweet job for a grad student at Caltech, USC, UCLA or UCI. They decided to hire one kid on resume alone. He just graduated from MIT and was enrolled at Caltech for his PhD that fall. The kid attends the Caltech flyout and afterwards he meets with one of my boss' assistants for dinner. This kid brings with him teddy bears named Newton and Einstein. He talks to his teddy bears. Talk may be too vague, he has conversations. During the dinner he gets hammered and throws up on his teddy bears. Next day he meets with the assistant to do some light training...wearing the same clothes and carrying the bears. He was fired after his first day. Really? Is this why I was rejected everywhere, because people like this ace every class? [Don't take that last phrase too literally. It's hyperbole. I'm just ranting a little.] A life lesson was learned and we rarely hire from Caltech and all people are interviewed before being offered a position. That's how they hired my mediocre 3.8 GPA earning self. FOCUS: If you're bitter like me, share your stories about those strange over-achievers you've met along the way. Also talk about the balance between producing good researchers and producing engaging, articulate and sane members of the academic community.

I respect Intl08's position. It's where I'd want to be: accepted by my last school (a great one). I'm really really hoping after this some of you with other better funded offers turn down UCSD. If I were to go get a masters and come back in two years to retry this crap, I'd be worse than an unfunded offer right now. Send me an admit, I can afford it. Please, UCSD. Please?

One thing I'm happy about: With thegradcafe and a dedicated few here waiting on UCSD, someone is bound to get accepted and share it if a second round occurs. At least then I'll know if I'm in or out.

Can we bestow an honorary title of "First Annual 'This Year's Northwestern': 2008" Wear it with shame, UCSD.