nash12

He does actually.. He randomly walks into the theory seminar sometimes.. or can be seen roaming around the campus..!!

I respect all the opinions being expressed here, and I'm sure Chicunomics had a bad experience with the faculty while on the wait-list.. But, having been at Princeton for sometime now, I feel I can write something about the department. I was wait-listed at Princeton the same year as Chicu.. I had plenty of emails exchanged with Faruk and was finally admitted there and was ecstatic that it happened... On Faruk Gul in particular.. He has taught me for one and half semesters since I have been here.. and he is one the nicest guys I have ever come across; very friendly, always open to new ideas and and very welcoming when you go and talk to him in the office.. On fields. Chicu is right in saying that IO is definitely not our strength.. But theory at Princeton is undoubtedly the best amongst all schools.. We have very strong labor, development, political economy and finance groups, a super metrics group and a decent macro group.. Finally Kehoe was made the admissions chair because he wanted to have a greater say in the department affairs and this was one of his conditions in shifting from Minnesota to Princeton.. If anyone has any specific questions, they can msg me.. I'll be happy to provide more information. All the best guys..:)

Pulled out some dates of notification of admissions last year from my email: NYU: Feb 17 Columbia: Feb 25 Yale: Feb 26 (informed about being waitlisted, offers were given out two or three days before that) Penn State: Fe28 Brown: March 3 Cornell: March 4 LSE MRes/Phd: March 6 Princeton: March 12 (informed about being waitlisted, offers were given out two days before that) Chicago: came from postal mail, so I don't recollect. Obviously it will take longer for international students. Admitted from the waitlist- Yale: April 13. Princeton: April 15. Hope it gives you guys some idea and calms your nerves. All the best to all..:)

Mihai Manea from Harvard is a big big star this year on the market. I think he'll come to Princeton. Overall, in comparison to last year the quality is not as good this year. Also, because of the credit crunch university fundings are bound to be hit which means less spots available. And because of lesser jobs outside academia the market will be crowded.

things are pretty cool.. its a beautiful campus.. i have a very diverse class.. haven't really met any of the biggies yet.. around sep 10 the actual session starts... so i guess i'll get to meet them then.. israelecon is doing good too... (sorry for digressing from the topic.)

I think thats spot on. A Harvard grad student who had just finished his third year told me that more than 50 percent of the people change their subject of study from what they had written in their CV or SOP, and that Mankiw told him that the admissions committe fully understands it. As asquare mentioned one is expected to signal that one is creative and willing to experiment with new ideas.

I have a friend who got 430 and made it to NYU and Columbia.. My verbal score wasn't too great either.. Jus forget about the score now and concentrate on the rest of the application. Try and be around 110 in TOEFL. You'll be just fine. All the best..:)

I meant that 31 is on the higher side to be starting a phd in econ, even though its common in business schools. Usually 25-35 is considered to be the peak of a resercher's career. Having said that, the IMHO also has a great record which (if he manages good letters) can turn into good results in the applications..!! That is why I'm encouraging him to be less risk averse and aim higher.

That seems very good. You have a sound math background and all the requisite econ courses. The only problem could be you're a lilttle on the higher side with age! My sincere suggestion is that you're being Very risk averse. With your profile and interests and provided you want to apply to 12 schools I would recommend the following: Harvard/MIT, Princeton, Chicago GSB, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, NYU Stern, UCSD, Cornell, Michigan State and Duke. P.S. Ask both the statistian and maters thesis evaluator for letters and send them alternativley to schools. Your age might not be a deterrent at the business schools. All the Best..:)

I think this link would be interesting for both to-be and current graduate students. Right from the horses mouth as they would say. It really doesn't get bigger than the AEA in Economics. Graduate Studies in Economics P.S. All the best to this year's applicants. Go make TM proud..:)

There are a host of issues that need to be considered here. First, PP schools traditionally have a much lesser intake than the Econ depratments. You haven't posted your profile so I don't really know how strong your case is. I can tell you that it is extremely tough to get into Kennedy School, Wodrow Wilson and similar Phd programs. A Harvard professor whos at the KSG told me that most succesful applicatns to KSG have sound work experiecne in relevant fields. I think you should talk to your referees, They usually know the best. It will also depend upon how high you want to aim. If your case is strong, I would recoomend applying to 5 PP schools and some 5 Econ departments with people actively working in Political Economy and Public Economics.

I think both calculus of variations and optimal control should be learnt if you're interested in serious macro and search theory. It is true they're 'slightly out of fashion' vis-a-vis dynamic programming. But then all of these should simply be treated as tools in thoery, and knowing all the tools can never hurt. You never know, maybe one of your ideas brings them 'back into fashion'. I think a more modern and up-to-date approach to Dynamic Programming and its application to economics is the new book by John Stachurski. The guy is a very good writer. I did a course last semster in which this was the principal textbook. It's unpublished but freely available. It is especially recommended to those who are comfortable in computer programming. He constantly uses codes in the first part of his book. John Stachurski's Web Page

I don't think you should be too worried about your freshman grades now. What has happened has happened. I think you can make it 10-20 range. Heres what I would do: Get a very good GRE score. Nothing less than A in the advanced econ and math courses that you'll be taking, esp Analysis and General Equilibrium Theory. Write a very good thesis, something that can be send to the universitites. Try to get a good research position, Fed would be great. Finally and most importantly- make sure you have very good letters. Be optimistic and positive. If the above criteria are fulfilled, I see no reason why you shouldn't make it to at least one of Maryland, Brown or Cornell. Infact I would put in NYU and Columbia to try my luck. They admit over 70 students. All the best..:)

I think the question being posed is always misunderstood. The contribution of academia, be it economics, physics, history or mathematics cannot be quantified by 'direct' real world applications. Research interacts with society in a complex manner. It is more of a spillover effect. Research stimulates intellectual curiosity of a society without which we would stagnate. One of the main reasons why the US as a nation surged ahead post World War II was its stress on democracy, free thinking and huge investments in education. A testimony of this is all of us applying to the US grad schools.

I concur to the T. And I sincerely believe this should be THE reason for pursuing gradaute study in any subject. Because sometimes in the midst of the quest of acheivement, one tends to forget why he/she got into this in the first palce. Eventually what one ends up doing after a PhD can depend on a lot of factors- 5 years is a long time..!

I would say it is not necessary. My main referee taught me two courses in the fall. He wrote a letter for me even before the final semester exams had taken place. He judged me on the basis of mid-terms, assignments and class interaction. And eventually I didn't end up sending the fall grades. It worked fine for me. I think more important than your fall grades, if you can muster a good letter from Queen's in the three months before the applications are sent out, saying something like you're one of the top students of your batch, it will really boost your application.

I think taking the exam for ECO S500 is mandatory. If you'll be late for some reason I think you can directly take the exam or even take it next year, it won't be a problem. But, then again you'll have to confirm with the staff or faculty. I think it'll be a good idea to email Prof. Gul. He is the DGS and usually very forthcoming.

Its a tough one. I would bring it down to Cambridge vs LSE, unless you get a huge grant from Oxford. Note that in LSE in the first year of the masters you hardly have any interaction with the professors. So, if you're thinking of applying in fall 2009 your letters might be based on two months of interaction which might not be a good idea. It happened to one of my friends this year. However, what you can do is to do well in the masters at LSE, enrole in the their PhD program henceforth, and then apply to the top 10 schools in fall 2010. But, then this will depend on how long you're willing to wait. Cambridge even though is a lesser of a department than LSE, its M.Phil course is more structured. I've said it before as well, their thesis option gives you a great chance of signalling your research bent to the adcoms. And it is the most beautiful campus in the world...:) Also, don't overlook the cost aspect. LSE is bloddy expensive. Unless ofcourse that it not a a parameter for you.

I think you are aiming too low. Your GPA is quite good. You're a double major. Provided you get >=790 in Quant and your letters are strong you should shoot for all the top ten schools. Don't worry too much about not being a 'top' school in your undergrad. Not everybody can a get a letter from a 'famous' guy. And if full professors with PhDs from Stanford and Berkeley write good stuff about you, you will be noticed. Also, make sure the Statistics professor stresses on your math ability and if possible asks adcoms to discount your two Bs in the Cal III and IV. Given your interests, in addition to the top ten, I would recommend- Michigan, Duke, Boston, Cornell, Brown.

I have cognizance of most of the results of PhD applications to top US schools from LSE and Cambridge and I can safely tell you that Cambridge does much better. The only eception to that will be the LSE EME course. If you get a distinction in EME (i.e. 70% and above) you're considered 'hot'. The LSE MSc Econ has become very 'corporate' over the years, and the adcoms know that now. The Cambridge M.Phil is a well rounded course and if you write a good M.Phil thesis it fetches you good letters and more importantly signals a potential for research to adcoms. Moreover, as a campus Cambridge is much better and cheaper.

In the US you have the option of NYU and Boston. In Canada there is Queens, Toronto and UBC. In the UK you have the option of LSE, Cambridge, Oxford and UCL. Also, add in Tolouse in France. Personally I would recommend the Canadian and the British schools. With your GPA and GRE as long as your LORs are decent I don't see any problems in you making it through any of the schools. Probably Israelscon and Caukonomist could advice you better on $$ in Canadian Schools. Getting aid is very tough at LSE. For Oxford you could apply for Rhodes if you are a US citizen. Cambridge has some internal scholarships. Cambridge and LSE are one year courses and Oxford is two year. I would recommend Cambridge > LSE = Oxford.

I think you should talk to some of your B.A. professors and see what they have to say. A good mark in the Advanced Microeconomics course will help you only a bit. First of all the summer school course is less serious than the actual full master's course. Second, the top prfessors don't really teach at the summer school; so if you're thinking it could get a letter from Danny Quah or likes, I don't think that will happen. I don't know much about the CERI. But, if you can learn something there, do some RA work, and there is realistic possibilty of getting a good letter from a known guy then it sounds more tempting to me. Good luck with your decision..:)

Couldn't agree more. LORs are really the ace of the application deck!

Frist of all you cannot give your email address like this in open. It is against the rules of the forum. From whatever you've given here, your profile looks confusing. Is GPA of 3.44 considered good in China? Because for a US undergraduate it would be a problem if he/she wants to apply to the top schools. If most of your scores are above 85, then shouldn't your GPA be higher? In my country we never convert percentages to GPA, only the percentages go down in the transcript, just like they do in LSE. Moreover, you haven't mentioned anything about the LORs you are likely to get. The prizes in the math competitions do sound quite impressive.

I think if your academic performance was good in the past and you manage a good score in quant you'll do fine. The most important part of application is going to be your SOP. They will definately read your SOP to gauge why you want to make a career shift. Trust me if you can put up a convincing argument there is every chance of a top 25 school. Also, in my opinion, since you've worked in the private sector for sometime, it would be a good idea to apply to more business schools. All the Best....:)