fidinho

My two cents here, I think your grades in your Junior and Senior year shows promise. You've taking a good amount of math, and the fact that you got high scores in the advanced math when compared to Calc I-III, also signals progress. You have TA and research experience, which adds to your application. I won't say you can get into into the top 30, but if you ace your GRE, you can shoot for top 30-60. Taking grad level econ classes if possible can help too. As for the masters, I'm not sure how much it would help. Most people use it as a chance to make up for math or econ deficiencies. But a 4.0 GPA in that maybe could boost your profile a little bit but not enough to make up for the costs (if you are paying for it).

Yeah you are right. As an international student with no dependents, the opportunity cost differs greatly.

honestly, if you do drop out, is it that big a deal? Obviously I'm ignorant as I ask this, but you do end up with a masters, or is the masters meaningless? I'm one of those people who may not be 100% sure if a PhD is right for me, but if I do enroll, I'll be going in thinking that the worst that could happen is I drop out and get a masters. Is that a dangerous way to think?

A general observation is that the lower the reputation of the program, the more the funding for masters students. Many Canadian Universities offer some form of funding for Masters students, but not as generous as PhD students. In the United states it's less but still available. One of the posters mentioned he got full funding at Illinois State program. There are probably many more, but not as prestigious as say the Duke or NYU MA program. But you should be able to get some, you just need to look more. That being said, I think if you end up with a 3.6 from a competitive institution like yours, I think you should still try your luck at PhD programs. As for your question for math preparation for MA program, it is usually less than a PhD. Maybe Calc 1, Calc 2 and an intro stats class. There are threads that talk about the pros and cons of an MA program, you should definitely check them out. Goodluck

I think you make a great point, a lot of people (myself included) have no real work experience and lack exposure to the real world, to be able to consider (with adequate information) their options.

I'm not from India, but I think some posters had that problem, in that they know the math but they can't prove it to the admission committee. I think if time allows you should try taking as much formal math classes as you can take. Basically some schools ranked 50-100 only require a calc 1, calc 2 and maybe linear algebra. Then again, that's the bare minimum, so you will be better off taking more than that. I remember one of the forum members, 'Akmandal', got in at Wyoming and other decent programs with only calc 1 and 2. I think there are some American universities that offer math courses online for anybody including internationals. That's just my opinion, hopefully others can offer more help.

I'm still learning about the process, so forgive me if this is common knowledge. This is just a general question as to what happens if you drop out of an econ program. Does it show on your record when you apply for a job, what kind of jobs do you get, and can you come back to continue? Also does it make a difference what stage you dropped out. For instance, failing prelims, passing prelims but decide you can't take it, after your second year, etc. I'm from a family of academics, none from econ, so I know I can't get an unbiased answer from them.

Sorry I did not explain myself fully. I stumbled upon a consultancy firm that performs marketing research for firms. I got to look at the behavioral lab and I was fascinated by it. I looked further and read up about it. So when I said I want to work in the private sector, I did not mean normal corporate world, I mean private research facilities, but I'm very much open to academia, as that's the most likely route.

Thanks for the info. I probably do have to read more journals and see how my interest align and which schools fit my interests as you suggested. I do want to work in the private sector, but I am not against teaching. But that being said, based on my profile, do I have a chance to get into any program.

I'm interested in the behavioral side. I like consumer based surveys, predicting consumer behavior using models. It's something that fascinates me to be honest, Hence my interest is also in behavioral economics and social policy.

Hi, I'm new to this forum, for a week I've been hanging out at the econ forum but I have an interest in marketing and marketing research. So I was wondering if people can evaluate if I have a chance of getting accepted into any marketing PhD program. If I do have a chance, what schools do you think I should apply to. If you think I don't have a chance, feel free to let me know and what can I do to improve my profile. Thanks in advance Undergrad Record BA in Economics at Public University in the Midwest (Top 50 business programs): GPA-3.3 (was a double major in marketing but dropped it when I realized I could graduate in 3 years...I was lazy then). I did take managerial and financial accounting (B in both), business law (B) and information Systems Management (B+). Math classes taken: Calc 1 (B+), Calc 2 (A), Linear Algebra (A+), Business Statistics (C+), Quantitative Methods I (B+), II ©, and III (A+). Economics courses: The usual economics undergrad classes including econometrics. Masters in Public Policy at same school - GPA-3.38 Research Experience: very little, worked on developing a model for joint procurement system for the state my school is in, presented it to the state agency. May take an independent study class in economics or public policy this fall, doing survey research for the Policy research center on campus. All in all, I'm sure they don't mean much to adcoms. Work Experience: None, except a data entry job on campus. GRE:Q 790 V 510 W 5 (May take the GMAT) Concerns: Average grades, no work experience

I'm similar to you in that I realized I wanted to get a PhD very late, so I did not take my GPA seriously. However for your case, if you can do research, have solid LORs, as well as an excellent GRE, I won't say top 20, but 30-50 range. But, your field of interest may be ranked in the top 10, while the overall economics program may be ranked 30-50, so you still have a chance of going to a good program in your field. Looking at the profiles and results thread may help you gain insight into what kind of schools to apply to. But you can still do it. As for Canadian schools, from the schools I looked at, except you were a 5 star undergrad, a masters in economics is usually required for admission into the PhD program. But a 3.6 GPA would be good enough to get you in a good masters program in Canada.

I think MSU has a strong econometrics program. They are are 30-50 school overall, but top 15 (worldwide) in econometrics, so they may be ideal for you. Texas A&M and Rice University also have good econometric programs, depending on what field in econometrics. Here's a link of top econometric programs depending on what area (qualitative, statistics or time series) Rankings: Econometrics you could look for some of the top ranking programs in econometrics but mid-tier ranking overall.

thanks for the input. This was really helpful

Thanks for the feedback. I just figured that I could take them concurrently, apparently my school (MSU) is one of the few that doesn't allow you take linear algebra before calc 3, while most allow you after calc 2. Since time is of the essence, I was wondering which math weighs more for an applicant or which math is more important in understanding coursework, Calc 3 (Multivariable/Vector Calculus) or Differential equations.