Chevrox

I once tuned in on a conversation when someone said: "... and he used a dozen instruments." I immediately reacted with incredulity: "A dozen? What are they instruments for?" He was talking about music instruments in a compositional piece.

I skimmed through this thread and had to chuckle at how economists can become immediately threatened by the most innocuous challenge to their preconceptions about the "lesser" social sciences. Not that I've never been guilty myself of engaging in any sociologist-bashing fest as a rapport-building activity among fellow econ PhD students, but I'm willing to admit under anonymity that economists can really benefit from a better understanding of sociology principles - sometimes even the more radical schools such as critical theory. I had been exposed to the texts of Foucault and Bourdieu through some of my more "liberal" friends (they hate that classification) and while I was quick to dismiss their writings, they certainly broadened my perspectives and, upon further reflection, I realized that some of the views I had held as proximate truths were in fact dogmatic of my discipline. As someone who is interested in environmental issues, what we consider "welfare" in the literature is indeed uncritical of the non-market nature of public goods, conformist to the WTP paradigm, and absolutely infuriating, and the fact that people now turn to economics for answers to environmental problems makes it even more problematic with real-world consequences. Humanomics, I hope your desire to bridge the gap between economics and sociology will be fruitful. Given the open hostility so readily displayed by both sides, it'll be a uphill battle, but someone's gotta try it since we can all use it. I have enjoyed your posts on this forum and I have no doubt you will produce a body of work that will be a joy to read as well as capable of reaching a broader audience.

1. some graduate student have outside funding, e.g. home country government, scholarship/fellowship, rich parents, trust fund, etc. 2. if I were accepted into top 5 without funding or prospect of funding, I would still borrow to attend.

University of Colorado - Boulder is very strong in international trade (top 10) while overall it's a top 50 department (in most US rankings), so it's a lot easier to get into than most other top trade departments.

Let me just take this opportunity to complain about how it's Spring Break and I'm still in my office at 9:30pm only halfway through the 500 midterms I'm grading :(

Since atheism is a broad concept that can range from the rejection of organized religions or theistic beliefs (no god/gods/deities) to the rejection of all world views that are not strictly materialistic (none of that juju/mana/chi/spirit/afterlife/etc), perhaps you can clarify what exactly you mean by atheists? As an anecdotal observation, at least a third of my cohort have self-identified as adherents of a Christian denomination, and it is likely there are members of other religions, agnostics, and non-religious subscribers of spiritual world views among the rest. My guess is that among economists, there is perhaps a high percentage of people who are non-religious, but strict atheists are likely a minority. Additionally, I think there may be a higher percentage of highly religious people (of a theistic belief) in economics than in other natural and social sciences, due to economics' appeal to conservatives.

If you're a US citizen or a qualified alien, and your stipend is small enough, you may qualify for food stamp and housing assistance especially if you have to support a family, which may significantly reduce your financial burden. You might want to explore these options if they are available to you.

My school has 3 prelims in August concurrent with 2nd week of math camp, so no summer for me :blue:

Among the funded offers and for your area of interest, I believe WSU is strictly dominated by all other options (the department is the lowest ranked, their research focus is more on ag than env, and their less than ideal location). From the rest: 1. UOregon seems to be a favorite based on school ranking,placement, and location. However, it's important to be aware that there is hardly any environmental people at Oregon. 2. UWyo and OSU are both highly regarded env-econ departments. The question is whether the overall ranking of UWyo and the fact that the OSU offer is not from its pure econ dept are an issue for you, since they both may have an impact on placement. 3. CU-Boulder funding decision is in no way absolute since funding is competitive on a per-semester basis. The school is well represented in env, res, and dev., and it might be worth a second look, granted that uncertainly can be off-putting. Logistics-wise, Boulder, CO and Laramie, WY are only 2.5 hours drive apart (less than a tank of gas roundtrip from Denver airport - Boulder - Laramie - Denver airport). If you plan to visit one of the two and can arrange a ride (with a friend/rental car/bus), it makes sense to visit both. I know some of these points may not exactly help you narrow your options down, but it might be a good idea to ask these questions to make sure you aren't eliminating good options for the wrong reasons.

LOL so true! Now I remember I actually used Photoshop to fill out the form so I could adjust font size for it to fit each box!

I had to do that for UT-Austin. I remember this vividly because not only did I have to find all that information, the prior course form was also separate from the online application and I had to snail mail it to the grad school.

As an unfunded applicant (at the time) having few options to choose from, future funding potential was a major concern, and Colorado has a well known competitive funding policy renewable each semester (while like you noticed, Oregon's policy is not very clearly outlined). Equally important was that Colorado has way more notable env-econ faculty than Oregon, which is my intended primary focus. Marginal factors include overall department rankings and location (though I preferred to live in Eugene, Boulder offers a lot in terms of amenities [that I haven't even enjoyed yet] and convenience that I really appreciate as well.)

I was an admit last year and didn't get a funding decision until the middle of may (and it was a no) :P And I wholeheartedly concur that Eugene was by far my 1st choice for a place to live :)

Not an overstatement considering a place like EJMR even exists.

Thanks all, it does look like a better solution to revisit the fall material after reading your suggestions. I have yet to fully understand some of the real analysis concepts used in micro, and I hate to admit that I got through my 1st semester macro without ever even opening my Ljundqvist & Sargent, so there's those two things I'll do. And I'd like to brush up on my linear algebra as well as understanding math stats theory covered in 1st semester a little better to prep for metrics. That aside I'll be hitting the powder and playing A LOT of video games (please don't judge). Thanks again and happy holidays!

Any recommendation as to the kinds of math I should brush up on and/or learn anew over the winter for the 2nd semester core courses? Since I already have a bunch of math texts on 300 level topics lying around (unread), I'm specifically looking for topics I need to be familiar with (assuming familiarity already with all math topics in the appendix of MWG, something I don't necessarily claim) as opposed to any particular author or edition. My 2nd semester line up is as follows (and shouldn't be too different from most programs): Micro: Topics from Part II - V of MWG. Macro: "Topics include consumption, investment, labor, money, and credit theories. Covers the theory of economic fluctuations and business cycles employing dynamic general equilibrium models." Metrics: "Topics include regression analysis and extensions of the linear regression model to generalized least squares, time series data, and systems of equations." And I know what I REALLY should do is just relax and forget about school since next semester I'll be exhausted from studying for both courses and prelims, but our winter break is fairly long so I'd prefer to be at least a little productive. Thanks in advance and happy holidays!

This may come across as an odd question, but is it customary to have your LOR writers on your holiday card list (if you have one)? If not, would it seem odd if I do? While I already keep in touch with my LOR writers regarding my progress, I'm just wondering if holiday cards are something that's not unusual (or even expected). Thanks!

I remember it took 2 to 3 weeks for my LORs writers to respond to me.

It's definitely necessary to cultivate relationships outside your program, and ideally I'd prefer to have some close friendships outside of the econ circle as well. But probably not until I past my prelims. To illustrate how busy it is as a 1st year, it's right now past 2am on a Sunday morning, and I'm still in my office (grading exams on a tight deadline after a full day of studying, though I admit it's not my normal weekend.)

I'm under the impression the only thing non-majors took away from taking econ classes in college was "laissez faire".

Scored top 1/3 of class, I can't say I didn't feel a little pompous and over-prepared, considering I'm one of the incoming students with the least math background, as the math camp material wasn't even nearly as in depth as my undergrad econ math, though there was a slightly broader breadth. But of course, my smug went away as soon as I got my 1st year texts. Now I feel just as unsure as when I was an applicant waiting for the decisions... Anyway, cheers to everyone starting this fall, may we have many (well, at least 4) more falls semesters to come!

Thanks everyone! I'll definitely contact the seller, but at least my for 1st couple of weeks I won't be bookless.

Thanks for the info! Though I do feel ripped off, I got the book new way below listing price, so I can't complain too much. I do want to make sure that it's the right edition though: the Oxford Student Edition mark is on the bottom of the spine, if you can check whether it's on yours I'd really appreciate it!

Just got my Mas-Colell in the mail, but it's a softbound "Oxford Student Edition" with ISBN of 9780195102680. What I ordered was the US hardcover edition with ISBN of 9780195073409. Before I contact the seller and demand another copy to be expedited (since class starts on 8/22), is there any differences between these two versions? If not, I'll keep the one I have since I prefer softbound anyway. Thanks!

I just took the quant practice test twice to get familiar with the questions, and spend the rest of the time on verbal (which consisted solely of memorizing frequent vocabs). Didn't prepare for AWA at all. V650 Q800 AWA4.0.