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You guys are all dorks.

I am really surprised at how dismal Michigan's placement is. I thought it was way better than that given how well the department is regarded.. thoughts anyone?

I want to clarify something. There is a reason that people talk about rankings, or rather clusters of ranks so much.. Top 5 vs. top 10 and so on. I dont want to belabor this point too much, but my understanding is that faculty leave places and hop around so much that going to a place for a couple of faculty isnt the greatest idea unless you're talking the top 5-7. Departments that have historically been very strong will probably continue to be strong. And that is why reputation of a place matters so much. Even if they lose people they will attract more people. Stanford will always attract very good faculty. Same goes for Columbia. Michigan, though an excellent department, will just not be in Stanford's league in the near future.. If you were a junior star where would you go? Stanford or Michigan. Probably, barring personal considerations most people would go to Stanford. I am sure geography has much to do with it. After all, Northern Cali has Berekely and Stanford both.. not to mention UCLA, UCSD down south. Ann-Arbor on the other hand is a midwest school..sort of isolated. I personally am considering Michigan, but that's because I dont have the higher-league options. If I did it wouldnt have been a question for me.

Getting a C always looks bad no matter which class. Can you bump it to a B at least?

I would think that Stanford would be a clear choice. The other universities arent even in the same league.

No offense YoungEconomist, but for someone who is going to do a PhD for "love for the field" you sure are interested in salaries.. To date every single thread you have started has been about salaries. I am not posting this to offend you in any way.. please dont take it otherwise.. but I am curious.. if you are truly passionate about economics and would study it regardless of the pay then why do you post so many threads asking about salaries? What difference does it make.. how much consultants make or research Uni profs make or LAC profs make? Your posts lead me to believe that you are more interested in the pay than actual schools... Is that true?

Oh I totally agree!! We're all on a freaking waiting list that's like 600 people long! Give me a break. They dont seem to realize that we need to make some decisions soon, and we need as much information as we can get. I am certainly not deciding on something, only to change it on the spur of the moment on April 15! Why on earth can't they even just tell us "yes, you're waitlisted high" or "low" or whatever. Then we can move on and get on with our lives.

Okay this is what she wrote to me: please decipher if you can. I am totally confused with official or unofficial lists and grad secretaries speaking in riddles. "As you know, applicants have until April 15 to make their final decisions. The policy of GSAS is to wait for a certain number of declines before permitting departments to make additional offers. Thus, there is no way the Committee can make any additional offers until we have heard from the people on our first list. Most are taking their time and considering all their options. I am happy to give you as much information as I can; however, I understand that at some point you will want to make a decision so that you can start making your arrangements for your future. If you want us to withdraw your file at any time, please let me know and I will inform the Committee. Due to the fact that we have so few slots and so many excellent applicants, I do not have any idea of your chances of acceptance at this point. However, the Committee is still considering your file." I think that we are all on the waitlist!

Didnt you say that they sent you some sort of email saying that it was "unlikely" you'd be admitted? Or was that someone else... ? Marjorie said that anyone who recieved that sort of email has been effectively rejected. I can't understand why they wont spell it out though! They wont use the word "rejected" but any "form" email that was sent to many people was effectively a rejection. And if you havent gotten that then you're not rejected. To my email she wrote "still under consideration". Apparently the adcom still has the file.

I heard from NYU and it seems that I am indeed on some sort of waitlist, but I wasnt told what position or what my chances are like. Anyone else waiting to hear from them?

I've been told by my advisors that if there is even a tiny chance that you might be swayed from your current field of interest, then you should always pick the department that is overall stronger. There are numerous stories of people starting off as a macro person and coming out as a resource econ person or labor economist. If you are absolutely convinced that macro is your thing then Columbia is clearly better.. but if you have a slight fondness for applied micro/development/etc. and could see yourself switching then maybe Berekely is a better place. Although I have to say that Columbia seems to be on the upward track with the new recruitments and may actually be almost as strong in applied stuff.

I spoke to Marjorie Lesser last week and she said that some rejections have already been sent out. If you havent recieved a postal letter or email yet then it means that you're on some sort of waitlist and they are still "looking at" your application. I couldnt get a straight answer from her about what these "waitlists" are about and when we could expect to hear. It seems to me that they dont want to lose anyone in case they can't fill the 20/25 seats, so they have to keep all of us hanging by a thread even if there is a very tiny possibility of that happening. And the reason for that is probably because they fund everyone, and therefore can't give out more than the 20-30 offers. Btw I keep hearing different number of applications from them.. first it was 700, then she said they got 800 applications and now it's like 1000.. Whatever.

I completely agree. There are plenty of accomplished female economists who are successfully building a career and family. Dora Costa comes to mind.. I'm sure that there are many more.

This is really amusing. I actually believed you and trusted you, but after this I can safely say that I won't be trusing anything you say. Primarily because a person who is mature enough to have the credentials to say (2 AER publications!!! :eek:) would never be insecure enough to say all this on a messageboard. You show an utter lack of maturity and self-confidence, and that my friend, is a give-away. Nevertheless I do appreciate all the time you took in giving us advice. So thank you. Good luck!

I'm in too. No money for the first year.