mayflwers472

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 40 Econ USNWR, Large State School Undergrad GPA: 3.9 GRE: 800q, 600v, 4.0aw Math Courses: Calc I-III (AP, A, A), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations I-II, Honors (A-, B+), Real Analysis I-II (A-, A) Math Stats (A), Probability (A), Time Series (A), Grad Real Analysis (B) Econ Courses (grad-level): Grad Micro Theory I-II (A-, A-), Math Camp (Pass- must be taken P/F only) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro/Macro (A, A+), Intro Devo (A-, Taken in French), Intro Money & Banking (A), Inter Micro/Macro/Metrics (A+,A-, A), Inter Game Theory (A), Adv Experimental Seminar (A), Adv Devo Seminar (A) Other Courses: Lots of French and African Studies- studied abroad for 2 semesters in Europe and West Africa Letters of Recommendation: Undergrad thesis adviser and prof, tenured; My PIs from JPAL RA job wrote a joint letter, one is very well known in devo & other is a junior top 5 prof; Current boss, who is very well known & a top 5 senior prof Research Experience: Senior Thesis/Summer Fellowship, Worked 1.5 years in a developing country as a field RA for JPAL/IPA, Will finish out 1.5 years RA at a top 5 school before starting grad school Teaching Experience: 1 semester Intermediate Micro RA at my UG, 2 years Athletic Dept tutor for math and econ Research Interests: Applied Micro SOP: Generic body with short tailored paragraph at the end. Concerns: It was just really hard for me to predict how I would do ex ante-- I hadn't heard of anyone with a similar application (lots of research and good coursework but at a not at a top 10 university and not perfect grades). I was also waffling about doing a PhD in general-- there were certain aspects about grad school and economics that I encountered while working around professors/phd students that were not appealing to me. However, in the end I decided to apply because I really enjoy doing research and want the flexibility and intellectual stimulation of the types of jobs that will be available to me. Applying to: NSF, Harvard, Harvard Health Policy Econ, MIT, Princeton, Berkeley ARE, Chicago Booth, Stanford, Yale, Northwestern, NYU, Columbia, Brown RESULTS: Acceptances: NSF, MIT (WL $), Berkeley ARE, Yale, Princeton, Harvard Health Policy, Northwestern (WL $), Columbia, Brown Rejections: Harvard, Chicago Booth, Stanford, NYU Comments: I'm very grateful to have had so many wonderful options. I think my application's success was definitely due to the time I took to work as a research assistant (twice) after undergraduate. The recommendation letters were without a doubt part of this, though I think at least for the NSF it was also clear from my application that I know what I'm getting myself into and how economic research is actually conducted. This would not have been true had I come straight from undergrad-- now I feel prepared and ready to jump into my own projects. I'm very happy with my results, and think I'll do well both personally and professionally at the program I've decided to attend. I am co-locating with my significant other who also applied to Econ programs, and we were very lucky to have a couple of great options that would allow us to be in the same place. It's been a stressful last couple of months, but I'm excited first to relax a bit and then to jump back into coursework in August. Hooray for not spending another second of my life obsessively checking grad cafe (or this site). Things I would have done differently: Nothing really. I may not have taken one or both of the difficult/not required math classes (that I got B's in) because they were very stressful. However, it doesn't seem like the B's hurt me, and perhaps it was a good signal that even though I am more of an applied person, I have a rigorous math background and am likely to be successful in the required theory classes. I do agree with Catrina that one should be careful taking honors or graduate math (especially if you had a hard time at all in easier classes)- there are much less risky ways to make yourself stand out, and it's definitely possible to be hurt by grades in classes that you didn't need to take. Oh also, I would have tried not to worry so much. The obsession in economics (and I'm sure a lot of other fields/professions) with rankings, prestige, who got in where, who is getting tenure, how many publications you have etc is just distracting. I was lucky enough to work for some wonderful people who seem to avoid wasting their time on that stuff, and focus on doing good research that people care about. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to create that kind of environment for myself as well. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to be at a program that will train you well and allow you to write a good job market paper, and that is almost certainly correlated with whatever department rankings people have come up with. However, at the end of 5 years, it's your paper that is being evaluated. I'll probably freak out about that too when the time comes, but hopefully it will be a brief period surrounded by plenty of time enjoying life and my research. Best of luck to everyone!

I'm going to disagree with some others here- I don't think working at the Fed for 2 years is any way "risky". I think it's highly unlikely BU would turn you down in 2 years if you have the same application plus time at the Fed-- just make sure your letter writer communicates that you took time off because you wanted to get experience and focus your interests (and not because BU is not "good enough"). Even with identical admissions I think taking time off is valuable because you will learn skills like Stata and what relevant research questions in your field look like. You also get a break from studying and start grad school feeling refreshed. Additionally, I think it is highly likely that your results will be significantly better after 2 years at the Boston Fed especially if you take advantage of all of the opportunities there. Here is what I would do: 1) Show your boss that you are hard working, independent, and creative (which will get you another good letter) 2) Take PhD micro at BU for credit during the spring semester (after you have settled in a bit at the Fed but with enough time for the grade to show up on your transcripts next time you apply)- do well in it 3) Improve your GRE math score. Of course, there is a bit of luck in all of this- whether and how much your results change will depend on whether the person you happen to end up working with happens to be well connected at top ten schools. Also, his/her opinion of you is not necessarily perfectly correlated with your abilities and effort. However, as I said, even if you don't end up getting into a "better" school, you will start grad school with a leg up on everyone else, which will make you more confident and most likely more successful. Just for a benchmark, I actually applied to work at the Boston Fed after undergrad and didn't even get an interview (though I was offered a position at another regional Fed). I spent 3 years RAing somewhere else (1.5 in a developing country for jpal and 1.5 at a top 5 after that). I had pretty solid admissions results this cycle including a couple in the top 5, and there is absolutely no way I would have done as well if I hadn't taken that time. More importantly, I'm so much more prepared than I was right after undergrad, and have a better sense of what I'm getting myself into. There are a lot of people on this forum who ask about RAing and I think in almost every case I would recommend it. In my opinion, it is way way more helpful to admissions (and to your ability as a researcher) than taking some crazy hard math class.

Institution: Chicago Booth Program: Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 3/4/14 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: Yes Comments:

Institution: Stanford Program: PhD Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 2/28/14 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: Institution: Columbia Program: PhD Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Full Notification Date: 2/27/14 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Just declined this one.

Mine too. Congrats from another Princeton undergrad reject :)

Institution: Princeton University Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Full, with teaching in years 3-5 Notification date: 02/26/2014 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: will Comments: They rejected me from undergraduate. Doubtful that I'll attend, but wish I could send this to my 18 year old self.

nevermind, just read the Ag thread-- no flyouts. I wonder if it would be weird to visit anyways?

Berkeley ARE doesn't have a flyout? I didn't realize that... do you mean they don't have a visit day at all or just don't pay for you to go out?

Ha, let's just say it is possible they are going alphabetically. It's also possible they are going in backwards order of application submission-- I think I sent that one in an hour or so before the deadline.

I just got an email from NW saying I'm accepted but WL for funding... my online status hasn't been updated yet. It does seem like they are going through them individually.

Institution: Northwestern Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Guarenteed 2-5, Waitlisted for year 1 Notification date: 02/24/14 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: will Comments:

Institution: MIT Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TBD Notification date: 02/21/14 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Not yet Comments: In shock.

Institution: Yale Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: no info yet Notification date: 02/21/14 Notified through: email to check website Posted on GC: will Comments:

Institution: University of California Berkeley Program: Agricultural and Resource Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 1st year Notification date: 02/21/14 Notified through: personal email Posted on GC: Yes Comments:

I just called northwestern. The admit person said that they release decisions in batches and statuses take a while to post to the system. She said they will most likely upload the next batch early next week (Monday), and to start checking the online status again from Tuesday on. She was really nice about it.

Institution: Harvard Program: Health Policy- Economics Track PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Info to come Notification date: 02/21/14 Notified through: Phone call Posted on GC: I will Comments: Exciting!

One terrible/hilarious thought on the Yale interviews (credit goes to my boyfriend for thinking of this): it's an RCT to look at the effect of interviews on something like matriculation rates. I still can't imagine what information they got by talking to me for 3 minutes (assuming that they already knew that I am a native English speaker), so perhaps the emphasis was on the opposite effect...

@bocc Hmmm... I guess that is possible, though I'm clearly American and attended a US state school for undergrad. I guess they could just do it for everyone as a policy, just to be fair.

The Yale interview was sort of odd-- they just asked me generally about my research ideas. I talked for about 4 minutes and then they said thanks, my research sounds interesting (no questions), and that that they were sorry but they had to go. SO's interview was the same. They said they hoped we would "talk again soon", but no explanation of the interview or date to expect to hear back. I was too nervous to ask. We were postulating that the interview was either because we are borderline candidates (which wouldn't be surprising given our profiles) and they wanted to get a quick sense of whether we "get" the research thing, or something to do with funding allocations. The people who interviewed me were aligned w my stated research interests but not really my SO's (same 2 people for both interviews) - unless there were other researchers doing interviews, there is no way they could have interviewed all candidates being considered for the program in the hour and a half time frame. Also strange that they said they wouldn't reschedule (with only 12 hours notice!) if it was really something that was make or break for admissions. In short, I wouldn't worry if you haven't heard. I really hope this means they are making decisions soon though. I would like to avoid torturing myself over the long weekend.

I got an email from Yale as well (addressed"Dear Applicant" also for an optional interview 8am-9:30am). My SO got exactly the same email, so I'm assuming they sent a form letter to multiple people. Neither of us are international. Good luck mfxuus!

Institution: Brown Program: PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TBD Notification Date: 2/6/14 Posted on GradCafe: Yes Comments: Wasn't expecting this to be so early!

Definitely take a year and work as an RA. I was in a similar boat in terms of UG ranking, and think that the letters I got from people I RAd for drastically improved my chances of doing well (we'll see though!) and my general understanding of how to do research. I did a senior thesis and read lots of papers as an undergrad, but didn't really understand what the open questions are in my sub-field and the potential methods for answering them until I started RAing full time. Plus it is fun, and depending on where you work, a much-needed time to de-stress and make a reasonable income for a year or two (way better than paying for a masters). Try to get one with a top 5 prof if you can-- NY Fed also has a really good placement record I think. I agree that you should take Grad Micro if you can, possibly instead of ODEs or Real Analyis II. Once you get beyond the "required" math classes (linear algebra, multivariate calculus, Prob/Stats, real analysis), the tiny extra boost you would get is not really worth the risk of getting less than an A IMHO, unless you know you will definitely do well.

I'd suggest taking a year off before grad school and trying to RA at the Fed or for a professor full time-- a summer RA job isn't typically enough for a really good letter or real research experience. This will 1) get you another good letter from a potentially well know econ person assuming you do well (the unknown math prof is most likely a waste of a recommendation spot) 2) allow you to spread your challenging courses out over your senior year so you can do better in them. I definitely made the mistake of taking too many hard math courses in one semester that were not really necessary for an econ PhD, and only did ok in them. I'd ere on the side of only taking Real Analysis, Advanced Econometrics and maybe 1 of the other challenging math classes you listed and just ensuring that you do awesome in them, rather than taking a ton of hard/unnecessary classes and not getting As (which won't help you at all). Also if grad micro I is at a top 15, the B+ shouldn't really hurt you (I think schools in the 10+ range would probably see that as a mild positive or neutral). Can you take Grad Micro II at the same school and try to get at least an A-? Regardless I don't think your screwed-- as NBZ says it is really too early to tell.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 40 Econ USNWR, Large State School Undergrad GPA: 3.9 GRE: 800q, 600v, 4.5aw Math Courses: Calc I-III (AP, A, A), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations I-II (A-, B+), Real Analysis I-II (A-, A) Math Stats (A), Probability (A), Time Series (A), Grad Real Analysis (B) Econ Courses (grad-level): Grad Micro Theory I-II (A-, A-), Math Camp (Pass- must be taken P/F only) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro/Macro (A, A+), Intro Devo (A-, Taken in French), Intro Money & Banking (A), Inter Micro/Macro/Metrics (A+,A-, A), Inter Game Theory (A), Adv Experimental Seminar (A), Adv Devo Seminar (A) Other Courses: Lots of French and African Studies- studied abroad for 2 semesters in Europe and West Africa Letters of Recommendation: Undergrad thesis adviser and prof, tenured (should be very strong); My PIs from JPAL RA job writing a joint letter, one is very well known in devo & other is a junior top 5 prof (should be very strong); Current boss, who is famous & a top 5 prof (should be positive, unsure on strength) Research Experience: Senior Thesis/Summer Fellowship, Worked 1.5 years in a developing country as a field RA for JPAL/IPA, Will finish out 1.5 years RA at a top 5 school before starting grad school Teaching Experience: 1 semester Intermediate Micro RA at my UG, 2 years Athletic Dept tutor for math and econ Research Interests: Applied Micro (mostly health and devo) SOP: Generic body with short tailored paragraph at the end... sure it will be fine Concerns: I haven't been able to find many past applicant profiles who are *very* similar to me (non-top UG with good but not perfect grades, lots of research), so it's hard for me to gauge exactly how I'll do. I didn't apply to many safeties, but am mentally prepared to jump the econ ship if things don't turn out. Other: Coordinating with SO who is also applying to top econ PhDs Applying to: Harvard, Harvard Health Policy Econ, MIT, Princeton, Berkeley ARE, Chicago Booth, Stanford, Yale, Northwestern, NYU, Columbia, Brown (in retrospect very unlikely I would go to any of the last 3 for geographic reasons)

On hearing back from interviews- I would say a good rule of thumb is to wait two weeks (less if you have another job offer) and if you don't hear back, send a quick note to inquire on your status. Sometimes they do have legitimate reasons for not getting back (it took my current PIs like 3 weeks), but sometimes, unfortunately, they have decided not to hire you and forgot to let you know. I think this is fairly rude if you have already been interviewed. Everyone here- when you are PIs, DON'T do that.