MathEcon12

Just one of the consequences of first year.

I went to West Virginia University for undergrad and copied this from one of my old professor's Facebook just in case anyone is interested. WVU isn't a school that gets very much publicity but it might be a good fit for some people on the forum. If anyone has any questions about the program feel free to send me a DM.

Best of luck to all of you.. not only on your results but also in handling the insanity that will burden you for the next couple months.

Talk to mostly anyone who has went through a PhD program in economics and they'll tell you how hellacious the first year can be. Since I am now a first-year PhD student at Michigan, I thought it would be a good idea to keep a "diary" to chronicle this infamous experience. I put diary in quotes because I really only want to focus on things that future grad students and potential applicants are interested in, for example, how many hours a day are spent studying. My purpose in doing this is to give future grad students and potential applicants an idea of really what to expect, that is, a better approximation than "it's soo hard" and "you'll have no time to do anything" and etc. So to help me help the community, I'd like to ask all of you what sort of (reasonable) things you are interested in finding out about first-year grad student life; what information would it be beneficial for me to keep track of?

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One you never heard of I, push it hard to further the, grind might feel like murder but, econ you saved my life.

Ahhh Plan B, eh? I think you can still get it at CVS and Walgreens.

fiat money train gang ... represent

For many of us, the summer brings a welcomed, refreshing opportunity to venture outside of the often desolate study rooms we call 'home' and return to a more healthy lifestyle equipped with a another year's worth of experience and a new-found sense of focus and perspective. In void of the perpetual responsibilities and stress that too frequently define our lives as students, what are you hoping to accomplish this summer? My goals/plans: 1. Move to and get acclimated with Ann Arbor before math camp. 2. Read a bunch of books--most of which will not be directly related to economics. 3. Gain invaluable experience by backpacking Europe. 4. Review my first-year micro, metrics, and math econ notes/problem sets before August 16th. 5. Play a lot of basketball. 6. Read/re-read each of these articles: http://economics.mit.edu/files/6349 7. Write.

One shining moment: UG: "I don't care about money..." Grad Student: "What a great attitude for an economist!"

I'd say take real analysis; it gives you options. If you want to do a PhD, this a great course to have--you know this already. Furthermore, I think the benefits of real analysis transcend the obvious. It teaches you to think in a unique way: creatively and rigorously. Even if you don't go on to do a PhD, these skills will be useful.

I'd be more than happy to serve as a moderator, and I appreciate the nominations!

I thoroughly enjoy the work of Al Roth and of Justin Wolfers.

Imagine someone you just met asked you this question, and assume further that this person has no background in economics--I admit this may be an unrealistic assumption lol. I think each of us have a different, yet related answer to "what does an economist do?". I'm interested in reading how you all would answer this question. (Please abstain from the trite, "I study the economy," unless that's how you would honestly answer the question.)

What are your interests? WVU's placements this year were strong relative to their rank. The graduate students who are here are very happy. I think the department is kind of in a transition phase. Some professors have left or are leaving, but the dean of the College of Bus. & Economics is very adamant about moving up in the rankings. If you have any specific questions shoot me a PM.

I vote for MathEcon....

Yeah, Sobel left (unfortunate for the department).

If you have any questions about WVU, PM me.

Also, I'm gonna try to start an Official Predictions 2013 thread next year in December/January for more accurate results.

Yeah, I typed mine into my phone the first day of classes this semester: January 9. Untitled, what helped me out the most in my predictions was "Profiles and Results," hands down. I thought this was more helpful because there's a lot of information that is missing when you look only at GRE and GPA. For me, most important, was undergrad institution. Also, what helped me make my predictions was looking for schools that seemed to take a chance on students. From looking at last year's "Profiles and Results," I thought NYU was one of those places: they accepted a few students that some lower ranked school rejected.

Now, that makes a lot more sense!

In my opinion, APs can sometime write stronger letters because they were more recently in grad school and may be more likely to know just how challenging it is.

Are you a current student or were you just admitted? I'm planning on moving up in the middle of May and trying to find a 1br.

Remove yourself to a corner and learn to not be irresponsible! Just kidding, we've all been there at some point. Hopefully this will at least get you started: For the discrete random variable: look in your book/notes for how to define a rv (the example is probably something like flipping coins); this should help. Probability, distribution, and expected value: use the information given about alpha, the relationship between alpha and price, and discrete rvs (from your notes or textbook).

If the rest of you are like me, then you predicted your results long before the admissions season began. I think it would be interesting and perhaps helpful to future applicants to see what you thought your results would be versus what they actually are. This thread was motivated by the recurring theme I've observed in "advice to future applicants" threads this season: temper your expectations. Also, I'm posting because my predictions turned out to be fairly good ;) . With that said, my experience also suggests the need to temper your expectations. Predictions (verbatim): Acceptances: Duke, BU (poor funding), Minnesota, Michigan (maybe from waitlist), UCLA (poor funding). Rejections: Harvard, HBS, MIT, Stanford, GSB, Princeton, Berkeley, Yale, Booth, NWU (maybe from waitlist), Columbia Waitlists: Chicago (rejected or no funding), Penn (rejected), NYU (accepted) Actual Results: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/139568-profiles-results-2012-a-5.html