thegunners

Yes. That's my impression too. I wouldn't go to a place for one guy to be honest. It's like putting all the eggs in one basket.

I don't wish to be pessimistic here but last year I was waitlisted for funding at penn. They told me I was "very high" and did not bother telling anything later on. That was the case with everyone "very high" I think. I hope things work out for you guys though. :)

This is something I have heard too before. But frankly I can't see how and why. Mailath is for sure terrific and would be a great guy to work with. But when someone cites that as a reason to choose Penn over NYU don't they implicitly imply that there isn't anyone of that kind at NYU? And do you think that's true?

I meant I would rule out Penn and Caltech having the choice of NYU and Kellogg.

I think we're sort of hijacking the thread here but I hope nobody has a real problem with that. So yeah, Kellogg is indeed an enviable option to have. In your place, I would safely rule out Penn and Caltech over NYU. Kellogg is a great place. But I didn't apply to Kellogg because I wanted to keep the macro option open. Now, after doing 3 quarters or macro I have no doubt whatsoever that I will be doing micro but still, it was nice to have that option in the beginning. Kellogg is very decision theory centric to the best of my knowledge. If you want to do that stuff then there's Efe Ok at NYU and he rocks to say the least. Plus, here there's a very strong experiment group. So maybe you would be interested in that. And lastly, if at all there is any chance of you doing macro then from what people say, NYU is where the action is. Do pm me your details so that we can catch up during the open house.

As much as I would love to agree with you there's one problem that I see with this approach. If they are able to put their students at top places it's very hard to say (from what I can see) that it was their success. And also, if their students didn't get stellar placements then that need not be really looked at as their failure right? A large determinant of a job market outcome is the ability of the candidate himself and that's largely unobservable. Isn't it?

Glad to have been of help. So what's your plan? :)

Hi, I am a NYU first year with interests in game theory and stuff just like you. So, if you have any specific questions about NYU I'd love to answer those. Are you coming for the open day? In the mean time, in support of NYU I can tell you that it's an excellent place with guys like Staccheti, Pearce, Rubinstein teaching you in first year. I can't imagine anything bigger than this to be honest. Moreover, it's a very friendly department. And then, it's NYC and howsoever a nerd you might be (I used to think to myself that it wouldn't matter whether I am in NYC or elsewhere) I think it's a really nice feeling to live in a city where you can completely disconnect from the thoughts of economics, problem sets and all those things and watch a standup or a drama or take a walk along the river.

I too had heard this thing before. And while it almost certainly is very common I do think that it depends on how interested you are. For example, in my class, I don't think there's even one theory guy who's thinking of doing anything else but theory and we're towards the end of first year. The same holds for macro too. Isn't it kipfilet?

I am a theory guy and I can assure you that NYU almost stochastically dominates Penn. Mailath is a big attraction no doubt but then so are Pearce and Stacchetti. Plus Efe is a genius. And in Penn you'll have to go through econometrics qualifier unlike in NYU. So, as a theory inclined person, that's a factor you should consider in my opinion.

Ditto. They liked me but not enough I guess. Didn't get funds for 1st year eventually. Had I got them then it would have been a tough choice between NYU and Penn.

No MIT, Harvard people on the forum yet. And any more NYU people?

Nice to hear this. I also feel that I will get a lot of attention at NYU.

They called me about an hour and a half ago asking me to make up my mind in one hour. Since I had already accepted NYU, I turned it down. Feels weird to have turned down my top choice. But the way NYU people have behaved in the emails, I am quite hopeful that I won't regret my decision.

Yes. I got the same email. But I don't think its of much use as I have already accepted NYU.

If we're finding funding correlation then aren't I the source? I rejected the funding at LSE and kipfilet got it after that. Anyways, really glad that it helped someone, whether or not correlated.

Wow!! Nice to see this. See, my good wishes came in handy. So I have met two classmates here. I had been breaking my head over NYU vs UPenn should an offer come my way. Glad to be reassured that NYU is indeed a wonderful place. Really looking forward to meeting you people in person.

Great stuff. Congrats buddy. :) Btw, have you shared your profile somewhere?

Of course I do understand that they have a lot of stuff going on. But when a person drops an email asking the likelihood of hearing a positive news on April 13 and tells about the other offers that he/she has at hand where he/she probably needs to make up mind quickly I think they could drop a reply of a couple of lines. That shows that someone there is actually listening to what we're saying and waitlist isn't for expository purpose.

Why so? In fact I kinda feel satisfied in turning funded offers down well in time. It might have just benefited someone.

Yeah, I was astonished to see the similarity myself. More than the Penn 1st yr funding waitlisted, it's the correspondence with them that also matches exactly. Even I figured out that I could at best hope to get a tuition waiver for 1st yr from them. Even I was waitlisted at NYU initially. And then I was not prepared to wait till the very end. So accepted the offer.

Haha! So finally I meet some classmate of mine. Hope kipfilet joins us. (Assuming he/she does want to that is ;) ) Btw, what were your other offers?

I had called them up and they informed me that they made about 60 offers and 15 waitlist offers. So, for us to hear from them we need about 45 odd rejections. Last couple of years in fact were the two years when nobody heard from the waitlist. 3 years ago though, I know someone who heard from them. That said, I am kinda appalled by their behaviour. I have mailed them thrice over the course of last month and a half with various concrete things and not the typical "thank yous". They did not respond to a single email. I wonder what attention will a PhD student get there if that's the attitude they're showing to the potential entering students.

Congrats. No funds for 1st year eh?

What are your interests like? Are you considering the LSE offer? Hope NYU works out. The more I get to know about the dept the better it seems. Good luck. :)