econphd07

Actually, it is quite common for students from Argentina and Brazil to get into top 10 and even top 5. This year, considering only EPGE and PUC-Rio, the best brazilian schools, there are 3 students going to NYU, 2 going to MIT, 1 going to Harvard, 1 going to Berkeley, 1 going to Chicago. And I know that a similar pattern is true for Argentina. Does it sound bad?

I have no time to post my complete profile now but... Basically I did 800 on the quantitative GRE (that is important), 4.0 on the GRE essay (doesn´t matter much), 280 on TOEFL (in the old methodology, but I was required to do only 250, doing more than the minimum improve just marginally your chances). The crucial thing is that my school usually puts many students into top 10, so the professors have ways to compare the applicants with actual students. I have a master´s degree (almost finished by now), I am second of my class, and had good LORs of well know professors. Obviously, the GPA and the rankings matter, but the most important thing is the LORs. If there are know professors willing to say that you´re very good, everything else is secondary. Answering a previous question about the guy who got into Harvard and I. We are both from Latin America. Besides, I think that the verbal GRE may be more important if English is your first language, but I don´t have much information about it. Finally, I forgot to say that I believe that the verbal GRE (and even the TOEFL) are important for Princeton too. THat´s it, Princeton and Yale value the verbal GRE. The other top 10 schools don´t care much about it. Hope that it helps. Feel free to PM if you need so. Good luck with your application

Well, I got into many top schools with 370 in the verbal GRE. And I know a guy that got into Harvard with 210. But he was rejected by Yale because of that. I´d say, unless Yale is your dream school, screw the verbal GRE. The quantitative part and your LORs are a lot more important.

Do you guys use last.fm? It´s a great place to know new bands (and to know other´s taste) www.last.fm

Muse, The killers, Linkin Park, franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, etc.

You´re right. It is a subjective matter. But most people think that bigger places are better to live, otherwise Princeton Review wouldn´t rate NYU "dream school" for 4 years in a role, don´t you agree?

It´s good to see that a future colleague is happy wirh NYU. "NYU rocks". i totally agree with you... I really think that NYU is better than Penn and Northwestern, but even if I considered these schools a little better, I would still choose NYU over them, or even over Yale or Berkeley. Come on, New York City is the coolest place, cool enough to justify one to choose NYU over many "better" schools. Therefore my point is: Many people actually think like me and NYU ends up with better students than many other similar ranked schools. And the quality of the students is a very significant factor of a program, one factor that it is not even considered by the traditional rankings. Many seemmed surprised with NYU entering in the top 10. My surprise was different. I think that NYU deserves more than the 10th place.

I filled the Statement of intent last friday and got the reply Monday, so I think that it will not take long for you to receive yours. And feel free to ask me anything you want. Good luck with the process!

Now I´m getting more familiar with the housing process. I´ll send my stuff tomorow and I´m already looking for a roommate...

I understand how you feel. I had a similar experience (and I know how cruel it is to decide this). Well, I couldn´t back out my word, but let me give an advice in case you´re planning to do so: Be careful with Stony Brook. You may have real losses depending on the way you do this. If I were you, I would contact Riverside and explain the situation to them, ask their advice about backing out your word and so on. Maybe Riverside could talk with Stony Brook and help to minimize your losses during the process. I wouldn´t contact Stony Brook right now. If you tell them what you´re planning to do, they may understand that you don´t want to study with them... Anyway, good luck with your decision.

Does anybody already checked the details about housing? From what I understood, the dealine is May 4 and you have to pay a 1000 dollars fee (and it can´t be done by credit card, which may be a complication).

I don´t know much about the schools either, but about the last part. I don´t think you should lose much by backing out your word, but it just doesn´t seem right to me. Come on, if you are indifferent as you say, keep your word. This is important!

You certainly did not meet me or Mobil (since both of us did not go to the fly-outs), but I don´t know about Prometheus... Anyway, feel free to contact me.

NYU. Macro/Micro Theory, Monetary Economics, Development.

To be honest, I don´t know the details. I never heard a rumour about terrible flunking rates at BU (as I did about Wisconsin). But, yes, you´re right, the problem should be easier if BU have significant attrition rates (maybe it is a good idea to ask them about it). Anyway, I would not consider too much attrition in my decision, so I would obviously go to Wisconsin over BU. However, I tried to give whitewinghk the best possible advice... whitewinghk: congratulations!! (Sorry for not telling that before). I agree with ecomchump. Specially about Wisconsin, I made it into 3 top 10 schools and yet I did not get funding from Wisconsin. Therefore, I´m sure you must be very proud of it. Good luck with your decision.