chuisle

Transfer and make sue you take at least 1, if not more, PhD level classes with the PhD level students (not a special 'phd' level for MA students).

Happened to check in and glad I did. I got the NSF last year writing a development economics research proposal. I think they might actually like 'pie in the sky' concepts (within reason). I think since no one expects you to do the proposal the more important part is to show creativity and original thought in approaching a problem. If you are thinking a lot about data collection I might be concerned...the data side should be a line or two in my mind to explain what you would collect and why it would help test your ideas. Most any researcher could great new papers with great new data so just make sure the research design offers something original, in my opinion, originality would be MORE important than feasibility. This is not the proposal to play it safe on.

I tend to think so but it is a fun mental exercise regardless. Could such a transaction be successful? Under what circumstances?

Thought would be a fun one for discussion: Markets in Everything: AER Publication

Not sure why I keep checking here myself. I must have come to actually like yall.

I feel like OP's lack of LORs is the biggest issue. From what is here it's not clear there will be a single economist in the mix and if there is then the letter will likely at best be luke warm (since it was only one class a few years ago). We've discussed many times how important LORs are and how LORs from noneconomists are discounted vis a vis an economist. The OP's grades are impeccable but without any solid econ recs it would seem to me that the lack of high level math will be a final nail. My personal take is that the OP is very capable (as shown by current coursework) but either through an econ masters or RA positions needs to show he or she is capable in the context of economics and that an economist thinks so.

I think it will be very difficult for any of us to tell you how much it will or will not hurt you. Your advisers/professors you are working with are probably the best source. Since they are amenable to it it seems the question is a personal one. Here are some of the questions I would sit down and try to write out answers to. Will not spending at home and with your significant other affect your happiness to the point it will affect productivity? Conversely, will being away allow you to be sufficiently productive? Whether or not it affects productivity, will it shift your work-life balance two far towards work? What IS your ideal work life balance? It seems clear there are draw back from being away, but maybe they are well worth it. Is your ideal work-life balance different now in your graduate years than it will be later? (ie, is personal unhappiness worth it for 3 years but not for 10?) What are your goals? Do you want/need to be the best at _______? (feeds into your ideal work-life balance) You're clearly an excellent student given your institution. I think you will be just fine either way. You just need to decide for yourself what the most important things. As I've said on here before, I think valuing things outside of academia is very important. Your significant other (potentially a husband...one need not look far into the popular press to see a of lot of discussion on the importance of this choice for a career minded woman), your family life, time at home-these things matter.

...I do. And I think other people do too. At least, I was pretty sure until you said that.

Also, SSRN is good to post.

Glad to hear it worked out for you!

I google most coding errors (In STATA or otherwise) Frequently StackOverflow is helpful, and they have a STATA tag. Newest 'stata' Questions - Stack Overflow

It crossed my mind a long time ago when I saw the pay off for women with certain test scores. Then I realized I would be effectually mothering a child and I personally was not so okay with that. Ethics are the worst.

More analysis will help you-the question is how much (MC, MB yo). In the very least the more practice (at higher levels of difficulty) you have at doing this kind of mathematical work the easier first will be (so I have been told).

Keep in mind, you may not be looking at GWU. (I didn't get any funding at GWU.) GWU has good private/institutional placements due to location, perhaps less true of equivalent schools. You may be at say, KU: KU: Department of Economics. And you shouldn't look at top placements, as others have said, but median placements. It's not about scaling down salary or prestige it's about an entirely different kind of career (as others have mentioned in academic posts little researchs vs. heavy teaching something you could arguably do with a masters). Here the benefit of a PhD, especially compared to 5 years without salary or career advancement, is debatable. That said, you know yourself better than a lot of anonymous posters. What is your ideal job? What are the qualifications of the people who do it? I think what we are trying to say is that if you want to be in a research heavy job it will unlikely be in the academic sector. If you want to be in the private sector do they require a PhD?

If I were to guess, I would say no. Perhaps I am not seeing what you are seeing but from a quick look I'm not aware of any applicants with overall and math GPAs in the mid 2.0s and and that many C's/D's in math to boot who had success in the top 50 or even 60. You can make an important point when you say 'as long as you know what you are getting yourself into' at which point this may become a discussion of the utility of spending 5 years to become an economics teacher (something already/best discussed in other threads).

Respectfully, I disagree with some of this advice and tend towards the other posters here after reading the OPs profile. At hedgequant said, wanting just isn't quite enough. Eonra, I have said very similar things to what you said (that I'm not a math genius and I may struggle with the challenge of PhD level work) but that said I never got below a B+ with immaculate grades in every other course (never below A- with an overall of almost 3.9). That wasn't good enough for the top 30 generally. There is also the further point that liking economics/math and doing a PhD are deceptively different things. Bobbyp, your academic background is very mixed. This is a warning sign that a PhD may not be the best course for you. It doesn't mean you can't. Or that you won't prove us all wrong and be a great economist. But you would need to bet on being an outlier for this to be true. As rational people, we should not bet that we are outliers. People on this board do it all the time and hope for luck in applications (I have!) but usually it means you wasted a $90 application fee to MIT and will instead end up a lower ranked schools. I would be afraid you would be struggling for a top 50 admit and potentially wasting much more time and money. Furthermore, if you want to be an academic at a research institutions your battle is tilted much further uphill. I don't say any of this to be harsh but if I were you I would want someone to tell me. Potentially you could consider careers in economics that don't involve a doctorate or academic post.

It will inhibit you at higher schools (I think my math B+s did) but you still have a shot outside the top 30.

Ditto for me. Especially if you should find yourself near Durham! (Tikal and I are already facebook friends now :))

Just wondering if anyone else from this board will be starting at Duke this fall (PM me!) or if any current students have advice/insight. Specifically wondering about... Math camp (start, logistics, prep for it [oh and hedgequant I have asked the program and am just impatient :)]) Housing Durham neighborhoods

Accepted my Duke offer...oh it feels good. You'll notice from my join date I went through this cycle first in Fall 2009 and have been in a perpetual state of getting ready to apply/applying for about 4 years...almost as long as I'll spend in a PhD program. Good luck and MUCH thanks to this board.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Private university, not well known, no grad program in econ Undergrad GPA: 3.89 Type of Grad: 1 math course Grad GPA: 3.3 GRE: 161Q, 170V, 5.5 AWA Math Courses: Calc I-III (B+, A, B+), Intro to Stats (A), Linear Algebra (A), Intro to Proofs (B+), Diff EQ (A-), Math Stats (A), Real Analysis I, II (B+, B+), Graduate Measure Theory (B+) Econ Courses: Intro (A), Int. Micro (A), Int Macro (A), Trade (A), Econometrics (A-), Migration (A), Public Finance (A), Independent Study Senior Thesis, 2 semester, (A, A) Other Courses: French, Poli Sci. Letters of Recommendation: Econometrics professor/thesis advisor, not well known but knew me very well, Supervisor at RA job who is well known, Another supervisor at RA job who is well known generally [both for role in policy work/for organization instead of for publications] Research Experience: Extensive senior thesis, several years of RA work publishing white papers/some journal level work (not econ, not published at time of applications) Teaching Experience: none Research Interests: economic development, applied micro, IO (development specific) SOP: Standard Other: python, STATA experience, lots of exposure to academia/conferences/connections (helped with NSF I think) RESULTS: Acceptances: NSF ($), Notre Dame ($), Vanderbilt ($) after NSF, Duke ($) after NSF, George Washington Waitlists: Vanderbilt Rejections: MIT, HBS, SGBS, Brown, BU, BC, UC Berkeley, Duke, NYU, Northwestern Kellogg, Yale Pending: None Attending: Duke Comments: Top 20? Heck yeah. Thanks, NSF. But really, it was a tough choice because I was/am enamoured with the program ND is trying to build. What would you have done differently? So clearly we need to talk about two different profiles. One with the NSF, one without. Without the NSF I was looking at the 30-50 range realistically and think I would have done very well there. With the NSF I was boosted up to top 20 but not 5 (reasonably so). This is because the NSF allowed me to signal less tangible qualities of my profile that weren’t apparent in the traditional apps. These are things I would have differently that I realistically could have done differently (ie, NOT: realizing I wanted to do econ earlier, going to a undergrad with a grad program, etc.) Taken even more math and gotten As. Well, this maybe falls in the above category because it’s not like I didn’t work very hard to get As but often I was time constrained with work and other factors. I think my math background hurt me the most. Applied to more lower ranked schools. My application strategy was to apply to a few ‘safeties’ I knew I would be happy to attends then sprinkle in the top 5-35 knowing that my acceptance rate would not be high. I’m not sure I would do that again. I would concentrate more in the 25-50 with a few top 20s.

I was told by a first year friend that he wished he would have just worked through calc problems to remind himself of how to, you know, do things with actual numbers and all the small tips/tricks. I am thinking I might get a calc workbook and just go through it, something not super stressful or intense but helpful.

Thanks...that's about what I was thinking. The incorporated idea is intriguing and may be worth it. I know some tax attorneys so I will inquire with them.

Huge question: Taxes. So I know that I have to pay taxes on the NSF money and most of you will need to pay taxes on your stipend but how much do I put back? I don't want to be blinded sided come tax season. Plus, there are probably another billion tax related complications I don't know enough about to even ask. Qualification: I realize that any information given here is not certified financial advice and the poster is not liable. (So people who have experience please post and help us)

I just heard about that...so terrible