Dannyb19

In some cases, PhD students from the Econ department teach in the program. For example, I will be teaching the Math Methods for Economists course during the summer and most likely next fall and spring. Another student will be teaching the intro to metrics course as well this summer. Not sure this is helpful information, but I thought I would share.

There is a girl in the first year here at Hopkins who has a Masters in Fine Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon or somewhere like that, and was a music major or something as an undergrad. She is doing well in the program, and I think got a decent funding package too.

As I had mentioned before, only 11 initial offers were made, and more will be made as people decline the outstanding offers (hence the waitlist). Also, 8-9 is right, as Ive heard they dept. wants no more than 10 for sure. Also, I am a second-year and my incoming class size was 9, and we lost 1 due to comps. I have personally never felt this to be detrimental in any way. Not that it couldn't be at some point, but it hasn't been an issue for me up 'til now at least.

As far as funding goes, everyone gets a stipend in the second year which comes with TA or RA responsibilities. Most first years are usually funded with stipends as well, but again, given the budget crunch, maybe that won't be the case this year. I guess I would still be surprised though if NO first years had stipends, but anything is possible.

Hey guys, As I mentioned last week, Hopkins had a huge incoming class last year. That, combined with the budget crunch hitting means this will be the first year that Hopkins has a waitlist. This means that only a select few offers were made initially, and as people decline the initial offers more offers will be made. It used to be that we would admit about 40 students each year, and however many showed up was our incoming class. That will not be the case this year. That also means that if you accept an offer from Hopkins, you can expect to be in first year cohort of no more than 10 or 11 students, since the dept. is terrified of taking any more than that. For anyone who has an offer from Hopkins, feel free to PM me and I would be happy to chat with you about the program. Good luck to the rest of you!

The admission committee hasn't met yet at Hopkins, and they will be doing so either the end of this week or next. Decisions should be out in early March I would guess, but I don't know for sure. Also, you guys should be warned that last year Hopkins had an incoming class of 27 students, which is a huge yield for us. This year, to compensate, they plan on having a much smaller class size, no more than 10 students is the number I've heard tossed around. That means it will probably be REALLY competitive here this year, so try to keep that in mind when you get your decision letter (or email rather). Good luck on the rest of your decisions!:tup:

OME, How is it you have time to post here but not respond to my email or read my I.O. proposal? Hmmmmm? Maybe you should spend less time watching UFC fight for the troops and more time responding to emails sent by friends who just this september loaned out their couch to you so you didn't have to be homeless. Some people!

Only in the crazy world of TM is an admit to Berkeley Law considered a contingency plan! Ha! Congrats Jeeves, truly a wonderful accomplishment!

The development of Game Theory has a fascinating history. In the foreword of the sixtieth-anniversary addition of Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, Harold Kuhn has a nice summary which would be a good start. I also think Von Neumann's response to Nash's PhD thesis is a neat story too - I think the book A Beautiful Mind has a nice description of Von Neumann's, say, lack of enthusiasm for Nash's work (I believe Von Neumann referred to Nash's paper as a trivial application of Kakutani's fixed point theorem). Note: Game theory was at first developed at the math department at Princeton, not the econ department, and it seems the econ field was quite resistant to game theory (and the mathematizing of economics in general) for a number of years.

Hey All, Just thought I would update everyone, I had mentiond Hopkins would be most likely adding 4 new faculty members this fall, and it is now confirmed: Jonathan Wright - From the Fed Board of Governors Greg Duffee - From Haas School of Business at Berkeley Hulya Eraslan - From Wharton Olivier Jeanne - Fom the IMF JHU Department of Economics : News & Events

Congrats everyone on your decisions, TM really cleaned up this year! Now, go enjoy your summer!!!!!!

Hey guys, I am still quite confident that if you have not received word yet, you will not be offered admission. Again, this year's crop of applicants was VERY strong, and the department is quite excited about the interest Hopkins garnered this year. Further, it is my (biased) impression that the visit day went well, and I already know of a number of people who have accepted Hopkin's offer. I would say right now it is EXTREMELY unlikely that anyone not yet offered admission will be admitted. Generally, Hopkins does not have a waitlist, and again a number of people have already accepted their offers, so even if there were a waitlist I do not think it would utilized this year. Sorry to be the deliverer of bad news, I will try to keep everyone posted if I hear otherwise. Good luck to anyone waiting to get off of waitlists, and enjoy your summer! Danny

Unfortunately, it appears that anyone who hasn't heard yet will be rejected. Rejections will hopefully be coming out today or tomorrow, but if not I would imagine by next week. I do not believe Hopkins has a waitlist. Also, seeing as the flyout is tomorrow, it is further evidence that anyone who hasn't heard yet will be very unlikely to receive good news. Also, in speaking with people in the department, I've been told that in the last couple of years the quality of applicant has been markedly higher than in years past. Prior to last year, around 60 students were offered admission. Last year, as well as this, has seen this number cut to just over 40, due to the increase in applicant quality and subsequent funding offers. So if you did not receive an offer for admission, please believe that it is absolutely true that many GOOD and qualified applicants had to be turned away. I know this is not much of a consolation, but it is the truth and should make the sting at least marginally less severe. Good luck to everyone still waiting to get off wailists and the like, and have fun at your flyouts! Danny

Yup, feel free to PM me, and if you are one of the people who has emailed me in the last few days I am working on writing back, I promise!!!!

I am actually studying right now for a metrics midterm as we speak, so let me answer briefly about living arrangements and I will address the culture and other things a little more thoroughly after I (hopefully) pass the metrics midterm. There is no on campus housing for graduate students. I would advise living nearby campus in the first year, and as you get more comfortable with Baltimore you can expand your potential living areas. As for me, I love the Roland Park area. It is north and northwest of campus. This is the "wealthy" area of Baltimore, but you can find some decent housing. There are plenty of apartments along University Parkway, but some may be a bit overpriced. I would highly advise looking online (craigslist is pretty good) in may or june for good deals. The Hampden area, which is directly west of campus, is also pretty good for living, although some areas can get sketchy. I would advise against living anywhere southeast of campus, I tried this and although I was only a mile from campus, was in a VERY BAD neighborhood, and had to move out immediately. Again, there are some good areas if you go far enough south of campus, but it would be very hard to figure out if you are in a good area or not if you are not familiar with Baltimore. To be on the safe side, try to stay north and west of campus. Again, I hope to see all of you at the flyouts, and PM me for any specific questions!

PS: It seems TM only has those who received 100% tuition waivers, has anybody on here received a named or departmental fellowship? The T. Rowe Price Fellowship is the big one, only one of those a year. Just curious I guess.

OME is right, I don't know anything about whether or not all the admissions are completed. But as OME noted, they usually come in bulk, and the rejections usually come a few days after. As far as those who received the 100% tuition waiver, that was my package coming in as well. However, I was offerd a TA-ship (7.5K or 8K or 7K or something like that) for the second term. I was offered this in the first term, however, so I have been receiving a stipdend the entire year. However, this is obviously not enough to live on, so I took out some loans (guilt free I might add - I believe in consumption smoothing). If you accept the offer you can ask for additional funding - ie. grading duties worth around 4K a year or TA duties. I know we had a shortage of TAs this year, so there is a chance you will have the same opportunity for additional funding next year, as I did this year. Oh, and the tuition waiver should include a for waiver for health insurance as well. Hope this helps, congrats on the admit and good luck to those still waiting on other schools!

FYI to admitted students, you should be hearing shortly but the flyout will be on March 28th. So if you plan to attend, which I hope you do, please keep the date open. I will also be aiding in the planning of this year's flyout, so if there are any suggestions you would like to voice, please PM me. Again, you should be getting some updated information in the next few days. Also, for any admitted students with questions, please feel free to PM me, I am happy to answer any and all! And Congrats! Hope to see you at the flyout and in the fall! Danny

Wow, a Kralcar sighting! This must be a good omen for those still waiting to hear from schools! I would describe Antichron as the Keyser Sose of TM..... or maybe he uses pencils carved from a tree struck by lightning....

I thought they got postponed (again) until like August or something. I think they have been delayed over 18 months by now, hence my comment about sometime in the next half century - just thought I would be safe ;)

Let me jump to the rescue of JHU a little bit here. First, our placements are skewed towards policy institutes and the like, but most of our candidates taking these jobs had academic offers and chose to go to a Fed Bank, or IMF, or WB, ect. I do agree that if you want to be at a policy institute, JHU is a good place for you, but if you want to be in academia (I do) JHU does not deter you from this path. This year we had 4 students on the market, all took academic jobs. One of them received a top-10 placement, I don't know if this is "public" info yet, so I will hold off on the name of the university until a future date. We were all very excited about it though - definitely the best placement we've had in 25 years. Aside from placement, we also fund every student at a minimum of 80% tuition waiver. While it is not "full" funding, ther are plenty of programs that do not offer students any funding, so this is something to consider. Edit for additional info: Our current full-time faculty number 16 (13 of which have tenure) and we are adding upwards of 4 new full-time faculty (I believe 3 at the tenure level) next year. We are also looking to add a few more over the next few years as well, which will mean we are growing by about 30% over the next 3 years or so. We will still be small though, but for a program with entering classes of only 10-15 students, 22 full-time faculty members is probably about right. Finally I will say that I do not believe Hopkins is top 20, but do believe it is top 25. If not, certainly top 30. It will be interesting to see where we end up in the NRC rankings that should come out sometime in the next half-century.

Macroeconomicus: I respectfully disagree. While certainly a school taking in 30 and graduating 6 was an exageration, the point remains that it is important to look at attrition. I am not saying attrition should conern everyone, or by the same degree, but I do think it should be factored into the decision at some level. Also, I think variance in placement is not as consistent as you think. I am not advising people to look at the top or bottom placement, rather the middle two quartiles. How does the average student from a program do on the market? Lets face it, the chance you are not the bottom student is the same as the chance you are not the top student. Some schools put students on the market who don't end up even getting jobs! We may disagree, but I think these are major issues one should consider when electing a program, especially since there are really no second chances when it comes to econ phd's.

There is some disagreeement between OME and I over how the TA at Hopkins works (I believe I can provide a counter-example to his claim). Make sure if you consider Hopkins to ask on the visit how the funding and TA stuff works. And then tell me so I can either rub it in OME's face if he's wrong or not tell him if he is right. OME: you'll notice I did not mention anything about armbars, that is called taking the high road.

At Hopkins, first years do not TA unless they want additional funding, in which case they are usually offered grading duties. For example, I TA the undergrad labor course, but am the only first year who TA's for a class, and I don't believe any first years TA'd last year either. Two other first years are "graders," meaning they just grade the homeworks and exams but do not teach a section. Second years and beyond all TA, but you are only expected to teach 1-2 sections per week and hold office hours for 2 hours per week. Most people only have one section to teach. My TA this term does not even require a section, sweet for me!

Just a quick note to everyone who is about to have multiple offers. Attend the flyouts and ask about a COMPLETE list of placements. I have said this before. Flyouts are important because you can get a feel for the lifestyle of the graduate students, the city, living arrangements, faculty interaction, etc. Many people will have different impressions of the same program, so it is important to find a place that you personally feel comfortable. A complete list of recent placements is also important, some schools websites only publish there top placements - but the variance in placements is also important. So is attrition. If a school has 30 incoming students, and only graduates 6, how much does it matter that those 6 get great placements? That is for you to decide, but it is all information you should consider. Good luck to all, and congrats to those who have received great admits from Berkeley, Caltech, Wisconsin, NYU, and the other fantastic successes TMer's have had this cycle!