gatorgrrl

Well since we all know the "real" fight doesn't begin until you've actually begun a program, here's a look at what else is ahead: whether to pronounce the letter Z "zed" or "zee." Confusion abounds!

From UBC MA - I think there is a lot of personal variation, and a lot of perception variation. I made it successfully through midterms while also spending a significant amount of time on a sport, even leaving the country for a few days to do it, and while TA-ing an undergrad course. It sucked, and yeah some days I had both a working lunch and a working dinner, but a lot of the pressure that I had was self-imposed so that I could make room for my extracurriculars. Perception - I think the main source of my frustration stems from my reliance on my study group. There are a lot of little things that I just don't understand, and it's much more effective for me to do problem sets and things in a group. However, the times the group likes to work are far from ideal from me, so I have to trade off between working with them, and having my fun in my extracurriculars. So it's not a constrain of number of hours, but of scheduling. I also really strongly believe that having an extracurricular activity makes me focus much more when I actually am working, and so has very little effect on the overall amount of work I accomplish.

As far as I'm concerned, they're both utterly and completely different than anything I did in undergrad. Maybe I don't remember undergrad so well (I skipped approximately 1/2 of my Intermediate Micro classes, but got an A), but other than a few words being the same (utility, consumption, preferences) nothing is the same. And they keep reminding us, this is just a Masters level class, so we're not even worrying about x,y,z other things...so I shudder to imagine how different PhD Macro/Micro would be.

Even though I'm in a MA and not a PhD, I think I'll comment. I don't know about people joining clubs specifically, but then I've never known those people at any level of university. But UBC also has an Econ department soccer team, and I think at least one other intramural sports team, and as far as other clubs - nobody knows you're a grad student until you tell them, right? As far as time, I think if you make it a priority, you can fit in an activity or two. I know people who are making sure they have time for their long bike rides, for their dance, me for my martial arts. I think the reason it's a bit less common in grad school is that it's harder to find the time (unless you were an extremely busy undergrad). It's easy to just say, oh look! A spare 2 hours! I should spend it sleeping/watching TV/drinking! Basically, just because others aren't doing it doesn't mean that you can't/shouldn't.

4 years working for the government...aka brain rotting out of my skull. However, I'm just in an MA, not a PhD. Right now it's really painful, and I'll need a break after this year, but ultimately I do see myself continuing to the PhD because I don't want to get stuck trapped by my degree. I could work for a few years with my MA, but mostly I'd be qualified for the same jobs as with my BA, and eventually I'd get bored. And as much as I hate working a ton, I hate being bored - especially mentally bored - even more.

I haven't really met many aspiring econ grad students, but now that I'm in the MA program, I've obviously met current grads. Not that I post all that often (though I lurk when I'm procrastinating), but I'd hesitate to recommend this forum more because I'd be embarrassed to be found than out of any competitive reasons. But really, at this point in the semester, everybody wants to just survive, nobody will admit to wanting to do 2 more years of this kind of coursework. I'd recommend this site to the undergrad econ majors in a heartbeat, though.

I always imagined Stata as Stat - ah. Like the first part of the word "statistics." Why would I have imagined it to be any different? And until a week ago, I thought LaTeX was pronounced like latex gloves. Gah. At least there are a few things other than math that I've learned recently...

I knew New York City was an evil place :P

Oh, for sure. I was answering the follow-up question only, because I thought you answered the OP's question very well. I think if you "stand out" purely to appeal to adcoms, you're doing yourself a disservice. If you're not *actually* that curious and devoted but just somehow fabulously "faking" your way into a program, you may not actually belong there and will eventually grow weary of the game, and be a bit unhappy. I'm just saying what you naturally have will likely be obvious to others - you won't have to work to get it across. It just shows.

With your LORs. If you're this insatiably curious and interested, presumably you've had discussions with faculty at your university, or asked interesting questions in class, and they have noticed such a thing. Or you've sat in this upper level math class just for fun and talked to the prof about some question, and he was surprised to hear you weren't even officially in his class. These are the people that will write you LORs saying, this person is obsessively interested in math and economics etc, and will make an excellent researcher because of it, etc etc.

Well I don't have any experience with the PhD (yet), but I just began an MA program at UBC. Depending on your questions maybe I could help, though I imagine there are people who've begun PhD programs who might have a little more to say. Do you have any slightly more specific questions?

So true. I realized this as I was walking around the campus of my new school today...You get what you pay for, at least in the extras

I'm so glad I'm not the only one cutting it close with my arrival date. I'm currently in the east coast of the US, going to Asia for a vacation, and arriving directly from the Philippines to Vancouver on a Friday evening, classes start the following Tuesday. I won't have any idea what time it is, what continent I'm on, why its below 80 degrees, or what kind of currency to use...but at least I found a one-month furnished sublet, so I have somewhere to sleep off the jetlag! Oh and UBC math camp is online...homework due the Wednesday after I arrive. I kept telling myself I'd do it this week, but that's looking less and less likely. Bah

I was in a similar situation last year. I applied to several MAs - Tufts, U San Fran (the Jesuit one), UC-Denver, U Brit Columbia, Simon Fraser, Barcelona GSE, CEMFI. I'd been out of undergrad for over 3 years at that point. I never went to office hours, never spoke to any of the professors in undergrad. I sent out emails to 3 or 4 professors from undergrad that I'd done well in their class, hoping to remind them of who I was, and explaining how I needed LoRs. Two didn't reply. One said he didn't remember who I was, and it would be "awkward" for him to write me a letter without knowing more about me. The last one said, oh that's awesome that you're going for a Master's and then a PhD, so as long as you promise that you got an A in my class, send over your CV and a little info about yourself, and I'll write you a letter. My other letters came from my boss (an Economist for the government, but with an MBA as his highest ed. I'm not even sure if he's done with that degree yet), and a joint letter from my math teachers from a community college (one MA, one PhD, both in Ops Research). The letters from my boss and math teachers were surely very enthusiastic. Who knows what the letter from the econ prof said. He couldn't possibly have had more to say than, "this chick claims she got an A in my class a few years ago." Results - funded offers including both scholarships and TA positions from Tufts, San Fran, and Simon Fraser. Admit from UBC (where I'm headed, they'd initially said they'd try to find me a TA position, but have not...but tuition is cheap), and from BGSE (I think they save their TA/RAs for native Spanish speakers). Reject from Cemfi, which was not really aligned with my interests, and I think Denver pretended to lose most of my application, they denied receiving anything other than my check. So - I think you'll be fine.

I think the difference is the depth and specialization of the letter. Nobody is asking for a letter from a professor whose final they blew off and who gave them a C. But not everyone has a set of professors who can give a detailed, in-depth evaluation of the student, either from a small, intimate class in which connections were made, outside class interactions, RA or TA experience, etc. Just getting an "A" in someone's class isn't going to guarantee a good LoR, or all you'd need is your transcript. Reputation is an added bonus, that's not all of it.