KGkhan23

The major is certainly fine. You should have a leg up in places like NYU especially, that stress methods. But apply where your professors know people and where you feel you'll fit. Just make sure you know some stuff about political science. As an econ major/polisci minor, I've noticed that political scientists are very aware of the disdain some economists hold for their field.

I feel bad because I haven't posted in a while, but so it goes. Hope all of you are well.

Yes, I like how you put it much better. A medical doctor is a professional working in an applied field, whereas an economist, even with all the flaws in our discipline, is a scientist. The former is akin to an engineer, while the latter is more like a wannabe physicist. Though I'm a big fan people like Al Roth, who have taken economics in an engineering direction.

faster, stronger. This attitude is actually pretty common amongst economists I know, but I hope my post didn't give the impression that I share it.

I don't have any friends in econ programs, but the past and present med students I know complain a lot more than I would expect, given their workload. Including classes, they seem to put in roughly 60 hours a week or so studying, with fluctuations depending on the time of year of course. Is that really all that much for a graduate degree? I get the feeling that they're trained to complain about having a hard time, so they do. The same way you hear people at "harder" schools complain during undergrad, even when they're majoring in management or something. I mean the stuff doctors learn largely requires rote memorization, in contrast to economics which requires you to really have an understanding of complex material. Frankly, most med students (that I know) are not that smart either, at least not as smart I would expect for people studying for what is possibly The Most Prestigious Degree In The World. Sorry I'm ranting, and you can tell I'm obviously biased. Like ramshackled, I am also coming from a family with a lot of doctors. My grandparents actually thought (assumed) for a couple of years that I was pre-med... they were really heartbroken/ashamed when I told them I was studying economics of all things (not medicine or engineering!?). I've just become really impatient with doctors and people who want to be come doctors, because I haven't witnessed much introspection on their part as to why they are doing what they're doing. It's a generalization, but most just seem to have been pre-med since elementary school, without any thought as to why. Who knows though, maybe this is just with us brown people... Anyway, comparing medical doctors to my econ professors (or professors in a lot of academic fields), I get the feeling that really insightful people tend towards research. Or rather, people who care about knowledge tend towards careers where they can focus on acquiring and expanding knowledge. Rant over. Oh also, to YoungEconomist - I can't comment on attrition rates as a whole, but I know that Boalt Hall is known for having very high graduation rates - they make a point of it. But I think they're also supposed to be one of the tougher schools, they would just rather graduate you than not.

double post!

Really?? What channel were you watching it on? Is it the same all over the world? I've been looking forward to this as well.

Thanks for posting! I'm sure I don't need to tell you how valuable input from professors is to this forum -- it is the most reliable information we can get. Please feel free to drop by any time!

Jacob K. Javits Fellowships Program

If I were you, I would definitely apply to some RA positions as well. The application period for JPAL and IPA is a bit after grad school application season, so neither should interfere with the other. I think you have a really solid profile, and if your profs are telling you to aim for top-5 that means something. My advice is just to apply to any school you would be happy to attend... there shouldn't be more than a dozen or so of them, given your profile. If you get in somewhere you're happy with, go. If not, it doesn't hurt to have a backup. The important thing is that you go to a school that feeds students into top PhD programs, so your professors can give you reliable advice, and their LORs carry some weight.

I think you're absolutely right. Your statement just sounded funny to me.

I can respect that.

I do.

Congrats! I'll be there in a year or two...

What about a bunch of empirical studies? I'm not trying to be snarky... this stuff is new to me.