PolEcon

You are welcome... yes the big book is by ETS but it is available online... if you search for rapidshare... i also got it online and then took out printouts... keep a tab on gre books blogs... search using "blogspot" with GRE Prep and GRE Books... or directly type GRE Big Book Rapidshare and google

Lol!!!! I would have done better than that!..

I never knew that misspelling leads to "pulling the chain" - what an interesting causal relationship... !!!

its a he... and i am not that bad at writing... i am currently running distinction in all my essays and formative coursework... it was a bad day...i was getting good grades during test prep!

Nope...no academic research...mostly surveys and report writing...it was NOT academic research

Sorry for the misspelling... it was a typo in a quick fast mode

Lol its past history... have to think for the future...

Thanks for the detailed reply... my GRE scores arent that good for Management Sciences...and i am not that much interested in management sciences since i can only teach in a business school...i plan to work for policy think tanks and research centers... and also teach...i am more interested in issues of public finance / policy analysis that lead to poverty, inequality and social exclusion... i find public policy a cross between Political Science and Economics... which is interesting...

I have seen people with 4.0 / 4.0 GpA struggle in their jobs badly... My friends who have GPA of 2.9 have become Head of marketing at Toyota, P&G, Shell etc... i have seen people who have scored 800Q / 790V in GRE not being able to speak english even properly and doing bad even in TOEFL.. GRE and GMAT are though necessary because there has to be some threshold to draw a line between the thousands of applications...you cant review them all... so it has to be one of the criteria... One thing i could never understand was why Grad Schools want us to send our GRE scores directly to them when they have online access especially the top unis... i called a couple of unis and their administrator said that it is not necessary that you send the score, we can access it from here also!

Arco Barrons Kaplan Nova Big Book Most of these books are available online... you can download them through deposit files or rapidshare...do a quick search of blogs...

Yes...this is correct... i was sort of confused with the second equation...forgot to add seven to S

Hi There! Just wanted to make a long comeback...my semester has been difficult at LSE... anyways i am thinking of applying for a Phd in Public Policy with a specialization in Public Finance (if available)...so having said that i want to share my profile which is not that good... Degrees MSc in Development Studies - LSE UK (Underway) MBA BBA (HOns) GRE Q = 770 V = 540 AWA = 5 I had a very bad day at GRE..i was shot and robbed 2 days earlier and was traumatized...even worse was when i got fever during GRE test...all my sections were messed up... i was getting 800 in Q and 700 in V when i was practicing... i studied hard for GRE for 2 months day and night with around 10 books...but it does not matter now TOEFL 116 / 120 Mathcourses No i have not done two years of college algebra, real analysis, multivariate calculus, stoichastic, linear algebra etc... it is simple maths and statistics....but i am strong with numbers Achievements British Chevening Scholarship NUFFIC Research Fellowship All is based on my research experience and nothing more... Work Experience Probably my greatest strength... Over 8 Years of Work Experience World Bank ILO Ernst & Young Arthur Anderson Gallup Research Have worked on issues like Public health, education and a lot of field work research and report writing...but i have not published any articles because the data from these studies is for clients and i am not authorized to use it for personal publishing purposes... My current course work at LSE revolves around issues of education, asset-poverty traps, social exclusion, post colonial politics and institutional development.. Phd Interests Public Policy, Public Finance & Budgeting, Public Institution Performance Management, Public Health and Public Education Policy Management Future Plans Work extensively in issues of poverty and social exclusion within the ambit of public policy in a think tank and also be part of academia... Advice Needed I initially wanted to go for a Phd In Economics or a Phd Finance but since i dont have the required math courses in my undergrad and also in my MBA and neither do i have acceptable GRE scores i thought that Public Policy would be a good fit...and within that Public Finance / Economics... I want to request you people to help me identify some good schools.... since my profile is not stellar i dont plan to apply to Woodrow Wilson or Harvard or Stanford etc... But coming from LSE i was thinking that maybe i have a shot at Columbia though it will be a remote one... I want to know which schools can i target with my profile....suggestions are welcome!!! I do not plan to do MPAID or MPP or any other Masters...i have passed 30 and am too old for a third Master! Another Question Oh Yes! I forgot... i was thinking that apart from top 10 or top 15 institutions other institutions are also very good in terms of research...so is it true that it depends more on the individual rather than the university... true that the top 10 or top 15 have an edge but one can accomplish good results even in mediocre universities.... I was talking to my professor of sociology at LSE who was the Head of Department at Yale and also the Head of Institute of African Studies and he was telling me that he had a PhD from Sheffield University...yet he was supposed to be recognized due to his research work... probably his profile made me thinking that why disappoint oneself by targeting top 15 univs when one can get a good research opportunity and it depends on the individual... Thanks

I was actually looking forward to something like Public Finance...which has some overlap with my MBA...any ideas of good schools for PhD?

I didnt know where to start this thread so i guessed that probably the economics section would be the best as it involves majority of the members that are into research. I, like many others, am actively looking for applying ESRC funding for 2009 term probably for my PhD. I have gone through the Funding Guidelines and Research Notes on the ESRC websites but i am sure that experienced people on this forum would be able to guide us in a better way. My question is simple - what are the tips, tricks and strategies for winning the funding?

Hi I just wanted to know if anyone can inform me about good PhD Programs in Public Policy with a special emphasis of Public Finance & Budgeting and Policy Analysis. I have heard that the US News Rankings arent that reliable for Public Affairs so i would appreciate if any other source of rankings can be found. Thanks

Applied theorist...you got a very interesting background...i am a business major with a pure MBA in Finance...only done basic math courses... and now enrolled for a MSc in Dev Studies at LSE... was wondering if you could help me in pursuing a PhD in Dev Eco or Int Dev at a good univ... i have over 8 years of experience in research, dev consulting etc. thanks

I went through the blog and some of the observations were related to the personal experiences of people.... so with a MPA / ID you are bound to add up at a monitoring and evaluation level at a donor agency....or maybe some basic research work (not real time policy analysis)...i have already gone through this phase of M&E working on projects related to devolution and impact assessments etc... but if MPA / ID can guarantee some good foothold in PhD economics like Blattman...i might be willing to take a go at it Some interesting Comments that i would like to refer to and another one One of the MPAID Student wrote Something which i already said earlier about brand but is now being emphasized again From the above most of the comments imply that the most you can start with with an MPA / ID is an RA job at WB which i am not inclined to do so...secondly those who had a chance to move upwards within their organizations were told to get a PHD...hence this validates my experience to an extent that without PhD you will be fighting with other PhDs for a senior management position... Regards

I was going through Cornell's Applied Economics and i got a profile of their existing student http://aem.cornell.edu/grad/vitae/green_cv.doc who has done an IR Degree for Masters... i am thinking of writing to him and asking about the course requirements...he might have taken quantitative subjects as optionals during his master!!! What do you think?

Oh Sorry! I didnt know:blush:

Well he is in cambridge...

Thanks...well first of all i would be a little optimistic...its not that bad with an LSE degree and probably a good US program can take me in... i give you an example of the civil services in our country from which everyone goes to harvard kennedy school just for a masters in PA... their mathematic skills are zilch and they are going there just because the government is paying harvard the full fee....after the completion they come back and join the government department and serve for 5 years! that is about it... Yes i know that the optional courses are more of theory and concepts and there is nothing applicative in this...however i have decided not to pursue an econ phd....i think that the best way is to wait :sleepy: and ask the professors at LSE about what they think of future possibilities Yes to an extent you are right but i will continue exploring other opportunities...there is no harm in that... LSE's ranking is okay...nothing much but still it is manageable... Thanks

Btw Asian Economist? Is it really true about the Atkinson Faternity at work? I have heard many stories about the lobbying that Atkinson Students enjoy... all they need is an Atkinson Recommendation instead of a cover letter? because the one responsible for hiring is also an atkinson graduate? Any ideas???

Thanks for the reply...well i am doing a Masters degree which has got quite an ample amount of research theories and teaches students to carryout research in social sciences... Ok..one thing is for sure... i an NOT doing a PhD in economics because i dont expect to get through the minimum criteria... there is certain leeway in Applied and Agriculture Economics... but let me make things clear that i have been working with a research organization and we pitch in for projects announced by various donor agencies.... if your team is full of PhDs (including those in academia) you get more marks as compared to practitioners who have done masters only.... there is a rating gap which masters cannot simply fill... and this is where the PhD comes... so whether it is a PhD in Public Policy or maybe ID or Sustainable Dev or Political Economics...what counts is that it is a PhD as it will give you an edge of 5-7 points for each team member... Most of the responses that i have received are quite good however having some field experience and the political gameplaying in development area (which is a lot in donor agencies) PhD does matter in terms of giving you the required boost... That is quite true however i cannot take my chances and only focus on them... there might be a chance that i am not able to make through to these universities for a Phd...i need a back up plan.... This may sound extremely silly but in my country there is no such difference of Programs being geared towards academia or practitioners...no one looks deeply into what it is all about...as long as you have a good school name behind your back every body will be giving you a thumbs up for a job, research position or academic vacancy... i have worked with Kenndey Graduates who are teaching, working as practioners, working in government departments, working in IMF, WB and at the same time heading think tanks...one of the Kennedy graduates is an information advisor and the other security advisor though their MPA has got nothing to do with these field... only because they are from Harvard...this might be difficult for people to understand who live in developed economies and where people look in detail at the school strengths before hiring...since i hope to come back to my country i need a PhD and a good school name...it should be in a related field and that is all it matters... I have already gone through the MPA ID Program and find it quite useful but i am 31 at the moment will be completing my MSC when i get 32 and i dont expect to enrol myself for a third masters and come out again as a Masters at 35... it doesnt work like this... over here things are looked differently, the maximum number of degrees and higher level of degrees in the shortest possible time... As for the 2nd part regarding placements i doubt that it is that good... even on the blogs it says that placements are not that much in WB / IMF... I do care! I dont have time on my side...i need to get this PhD as soon as possible...it is very difficult to do PhD in later stages of life when you have a family to raise and all other related matters to take care of... Got it thanks...will go over it to see what it is all about..

Rohan! Thanks for your reply...yes SOAS is a good place....and i would be exploring opportunities further within LSE... Regards

Thanks... I will see what i can do...one thing that i wanted to discuss with you asianeconomist is that i was looking at the options that i would have for my MSc in Development Studies at LSE and i thought that apart from the core courses i would take the following optional course Global Political Economy of Development 1 Global Political Economy of Development II and any one from the following Development Economics Development & Growth Economic Development Policy The worst part is that the best and most famous course Poverty has been suspended for this year...it was my main preference... I just want to ask that with this above courses would i stand a chance to at least strenghthen my application for Political Economy? You can view the courses at MSc Development Studies I have gone through Woodrow Wilson's Website as they offer PhD in Public Affairs with a concentration in 4 clusters i might choose the Political Economy Cluster. The details of this program are on: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs | Ph.D. Requirements In continuation of the above through the WWC i can also apply to the Doctoral Program in Public Policy at Princeton Program in Political Economy There are three streams Economics, Political Science and WWC. I would be taking the WWC. However i believe that i would be needing a couple of publications to strengthen my application before i apply. What do you think of this? Regards