resource

Maryland. We have to pay a (subsidized) health insurance premium, too.

~700/semester

Sounds ambitious! But not as ambitious as my summer goals.... 1) Find affordable apartment in the DC area.

First off, I think it's ill-advised to restrict your long-term choice set to one program, especially if it's the most competitive ARE program out there. That's a sure way to set yourself up for disappointment. Berkeley ARE is easily as competitive as top 20 pure econ programs, if not more so. With your current grades, I don't think you have much of a shot. With a master's degree, your chances improve, but I'm not sure how much. OAE is right that Davis ARE MS is probably the modal stepping stone into Berkeley. I think it has to do with the proximity (faculty talk at conferences/workshops) and the rigor of the training. I would suggest master's programs at Montana State, U Montana, U Maine, MSU, Duke (econ). Perhaps ag-type Canadian MA's would help (UBC, Guelph). Occasionally I've seen CV's with interdisciplinary or science-y backgrounds come out of Cal (UCSB Bren, Yale Forestry, Duke Nicholas, etc). Either way, you'll have to be at the top of your master's class and you'll have to develop good rapport with good faculty (with connections), and it's still not a safe bet. I will say that considering the Ph.D. at Davis ARE and UCSB are good, slightly less competitive, options for your preferences. UCSB is less ag/resource, more environmental + other pure econ fields. For the record, I also have a background in econ and English with a better UG GPA (4.0 in econ classes), an MS in econ from a top 50 econ program, great letters from well-connected profs, solid research experience (publishable MS thesis), equivalent GRE scores, and I've been rejected at Berkeley ARE... twice. I don't want to sound too negative, but I think it's healthy to temper your expectations. If you put in a good effort, there'll be a positive probability that you'll get in, but there is really no sure thing in this business.

I think you'll have a better idea of where your thesis is going in November/December when, you know, you have to finalize your SOP. Research certainly evolves and the end product is generally what you expected ex ante. As others have said, though, you won't be held accountable for the anything you discuss, research-wise, in your SOP.

If people care about the topic at hand (and TomRod did take some time to think through his post), I don't think it's necessary to restrict a thread because its original posters aren't here. If it weren't for restraining orders, I'd hang around 6-year old threads more often...

[video=youtube;oabcM9SOF-E]

To get through PhD micro (1st semester, which is usually producer/consumer theory, duality, gen eq), you really only *need* multivariable calc and linear algebra, and a lot of hard work. I'd suggest that you should approach a PhD course as two full classes -- it will eat up that much of your time. LA, intro to proofs, and math stats seem doable concurrently with PhD micro. As for 2, I wouldn't worry about it at all. The intuition from econ courses might help you at the margin, but that is typically not what gets people hung up.

kick, push, coast... What are your research interests? That might better help folks suggest schools. From a quick glance, I'd say your profile would give you a good shot at 20-35 ranked programs if you applied now with a sufficient GRE Q score (162+) -- have you taken it yet? The clear deficiency is, like you said, formal math courses. Real Analysis being the obvious recommendation. I'd say an A in that course would overcome the B+ in Linear Algebra. Gaining research experience would definitely help, too, but mostly in the letters that would result from an RAship (did you do any research in UG?). The third letter writer seems like a risky bet. What is the quality of the letter from the very well-known prof?

I don't think 6 matters whatsoever. I don't think satisfying 1-5 also satisfies 6, either. Someone with tenure and a good publication record will have the requisite connections to place students well regardless of the rank of their PhD institution. If you want, we can fill a pretty long list of examples, but that seems unnecessary. As for "choosing" an advisor, tm_guru makes it seem like class choice and "gravity" are exogenous, but he's right in that relationships will develop organically. You'll end up figuring out your interests through your field courses, which narrows the set of potential advisors down substantially. Then, you'll see who has research money and try to get an RAship, which could lead to dissertation work. Or, in your first 2 years, you'll talk with upper-year students and you'll see who they're working with, you'll see who is placing students well, you'll interact with professors at workshops/seminars, you'll get to know faculty from courses, you'll know whose research interests genuinely overlap with your own, and you'll have a much cleaner signal as to who is *good* to work with than trying to satisfy a list of requirements for a good advisor. It's never as cut and dry as generic advice might seem to imply. Different students have different preferences, too. Some students need to be able to work freely, others need their hand-held. I can give you a lot of examples where 1-6 are satisfied and the student writes a crappy JMP, and gets a crappy job. The marketability of your research should not be underestimated and, sure, it's correlated with advisor choice, but there are not many hard-and-fast rules in this game.

Lol. I've been there -- know exactly what you mean. I agree with TomRod, though -- consulting is a tough nut to crack into, especially at this level.

My advice: Work hard and show dedication to economic research. Make it very clear to the professors you're working with that you intend on applying to Ph.D. programs in the fall (which is sounds like you will be doing, due to visa limitations). I think working throughout the summer and into the fall will be plenty of time for those profs to judge your academic ability and write you strong letters. In terms of RA duties, I would say, take a genuine interest in the project. Odds are, you'll be required to do some mindless data work and lit reviews and things like that, but if you take some initiative and offer some clever insights into the work, it would help make your case for a top Ph.D. program. Being that this research gig is at a top 3, if you really impress these professors and prove that you're a valuable asset to their research projects, your chances at gaining admission to that program will have increased substantially.

...it's a lovely thing.

I'm so in.

Maryland and Wisconsin take the same math camp as econ students. I believe the same will be true for *most* ARE programs.