exengineer

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: very large public state school, BS in engineering Undergrad GPA: 3.3/4 (4.0 econ, 3.4 math) Type of Grad: MA Econ at a medium-sized US private school with no PhD program Grad GPA: 3.95/4 GRE: 166Q, 162V, 4.5AW Math Courses: Calc I, II, III (A, B, A), Diff EQ (B), Linear Algebra (A), Discrete math ©, Stat I (A) Econ Courses (MA): Micro/Macro theory (A’s), 3 semesters of econometrics (A-, 2 A’s), field courses/electives (mix of A-/A/A+) Econ Courses (undergrad): principles & intermediate micro/macro, econometrics I (A’s) Other Courses: engineering courses with mediocre grades (~3.0) Letters of Recommendation: Prof at top 25, 2 from MA. All three can discuss my research experience and the latter two my coursework. Research Experience: currently in the 2nd of 2 years as a full-time RA for prof at top 25, 6 months of field work in a developing country, master’s thesis, co-authoring paper with advisor that builds on my thesis. Teaching Experience: TA for a couple undergrad econ classes during my MA Research Interests: development, labor, public SOP: Spent a lot of time on this discussing my research experience and customized a paragraph discussing how my experiences fit well with specific professors’ current research at each school. RESULTS: Acceptances: Brown (no $), Boston University ($$), UT Austin ($$) Waitlists: Harris Public Policy, Maryland Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Columbia, Duke, HKS Public Policy, MIT, Northwestern, NYU, Stanford, UCSD, Wharton Applied Economics Attending: BU What would you have done differently? Probably should have taken a math class or two since graduating from my BS, maybe re-taken the GRE, and obviously focused more on my getting A's in my math classes during my BS. This was my second cycle, I applied previously 4 years ago straight out of undergrad, and my best unfunded admission then was UC Davis, and only funded one was UC Riverside, with half a dozen other unfunded admissions ranked between those two, and another half dozen rejections ranked above or around the same as Davis. I should also mention I was on the waitlist for a fellowship at Brown, but withdrew from it as well as the admissions waitlists at Harris and Maryland for BU. However, I was contacted by Maryland on April 16th asking if I had committed to another program, so maybe I would have gotten an offer if I wanted it. Overall, I'm psyched to finally be starting a PhD at a program (and location) that is a great fit for me!

Hilary Hoynes will be moving: Goldman School Welcomes Hilary Hoynes | News Center | News Center | Goldman School of Public Policy | University of California, Berkeley

If staying in southern California is really important to you, you may as well apply to all the programs in the area: UCLA, UCSD, USC, UCI, UCSB, UCR, Claremont, and maybe RAND Pardee. You could also try Caltech, but if you're interested in applied micro it probably wouldn't be a good fit. I really have no idea of your chances at UCR or Claremont, but I would imagine you'd be a long shot at the rest of them given your current profile. Without grades in those math classes, updated GRE scores, more specific research interests and more information about how strict your geographical preferences are, I think it would be near impossible to give you good suggestions for other schools to consider. I think Chateauheart gives good advice for how you stand now.

Dec 15: Economics | Graduate School

Well, thanks for the debate on Ann Arbor...but it just wouldn't be a good fit for me and my significant other for a variety of reasons. Anyway, what I'm really looking for is opinions on which schools in my others list to include, as I'm looking to finalize my total number of applications at 12-15. I've put a lot of time and care into compiling this list of 19 programs through my own research and discussions with my professors, and I have good personal reasons for excluding programs that may on the surface look like obviously good fits. I don't feel it is necessary to go into the specifics of these reasons in an online forum. And just to clarify, I'm not a co-author on the paper that's r&r'd at a top journal, I was just an RA for that one, although the companion working paper I am a co-author on is cited prominently. Thanks!

I'm working on finalizing my list of school and would appreciate thoughts on my chances, and what schools (if any) from my others considering list I should apply to. For personal reasons (my significant other’s job prospects as well as both of our happiness), I would strongly prefer to be in or near a sizeable metropolitan area, thus programs such as Cornell, Michigan, Rochester, and Wisconsin were eliminated from my consideration. Thank you in advance! PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: large public state school, Top 50 econ, BS Civil Engineering w/ Econ minor Undergrad GPA: 3.3 overall, 4.0 econ, 3.4 math (/4.0, no +/-) Type of Grad: MA Econ at a barely tier 1 private uni with no PhD program Grad GPA: 3.95/4.0, (A & A+ both count as 4.0) GRE: 166Q, 162V, 4.5 AW Math Courses: Calc I, II, III (A, B, A), Diff EQ (B), Linear Algebra (A), Discrete math ©, Stat I (A) Econ Courses (MA-level): Micro/Macro theory (A’s), 3 semesters of econometrics (A-, 2 A’s), several field courses/electives (one A-, rest mix of A’s and A+’s) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): principles & intermediate micro/macro, metrics (A’s) Other Courses: A whole major’s worth of engineering courses with mostly mediocre grades (~3.0) Letters of Recommendation: One tenured at top 20, 2 from my MA Research Experience: Currently in the second of 2 years as a full-time RA for prof at top 20. Master’s thesis, co-authoring paper with more well known prof from MA that builds on my master’s thesis. The co-authored paper is a “companion” paper to one that was recently R&R’d at a top 4 journal. 2 summers of field work in a developing country. Teaching Experience: 1 semester principles of micro, 2 semester of upper-level undergrad field electives Research Interests: Broadly: applied micro; specifically: development, education, labor, and public SOP: Spending a lot of time on this as the two letter writers that know me best seem to think it could have a larger impact on my success then for most since my main selling point is my research experience. Concerns: Poor undergrad grades, no real analysis, weaker third letter Other: placements of previous RA’s from the last few years that worked full-time for same prof are at top 15 programs, but while that prof keeps emphasizing the randomness of the process and encourages me to apply broadly, thinks I should get into at least 1 or 2 from my definite list. Applying to: Definite: Stanford, Columbia, NYU, Berkeley ARE, Duke, Brown, UCSD, UT Austin, BU Others Considering: MIT, Northwestern, Wharton, Harvard KSG Public Policy, Chicago Harris Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon Econ & Public Policy, Boston College, UCLA, Maryland, Johns Hopkins

Have you looked into the Linear Algebra and Real Analysis sequence at Harvard Extension (Mathematics Courses)? Classes there are only $995 a semester. I'll let someone else speak to whether or not it would qualify as the "correct" Real Analysis or not.

You go to another (usually lower-ranked) school that will offer you tenure based on what you've already done or is willing to push back your tenure clock a couple years and then you try again.

I'm planning to re-take the GRE this summer. I took it 4 years ago and went to a master's program, but now I'm going to apply for a PhD and although some schools will accept my old score, others require a score no less than 2 years old. I previously scored a 800/550/4.0 Q/V/AW score with about a week's worth of daily 3-4 hour studying, 90% of which was spent on the quant section. I'm applying to programs that value the quantitative section most highly, and since 800 =176 on the new scale, I'll be shooting for a 176+ on the quant. Ideally, I'd like to improve my verbal to above the 85th percentile and AW to 5.0 as well. I think for the quant I just mostly need lots of (harder) practice problems, but for the verbal/AW I'll need more help with strategies, etc. I know the new GRE changed some things, so I don't know which books would be best for my goals. I had previously used Barron's, but what worries me is that the practice books haven't had time to work out the kinks with the new exam. What books are best for practice for someone with scores like me? Would I be better off waiting to take it sometime in the fall once all of the newer editions of the study books have come out? Any advice appreciated!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't one major difference between RePEc/Tilbrug and US News that the former rank the quality of faculty research publications, while the latter ranks the quality of the PhD program? While the difference may be subtle, the two aren't necessarily the same thing.

Blattman is moving to Columbia, joint appointment in Polisci & SIPA This blogger will be moving | Chris Blattman

It does seem steep but that's basically equivalent to losing 10% in the first year before prelims, 20% of what's left failing prelims, and another 20% of what's left after that leaving before completing the degree for whatever reason. I'm not basing this on any hard data, but my impression would be that that scenario is not unlikely. For example, Northwestern (Admissions FAQs - Department of Economics -- Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University) had 8%, 8%, and about 17% attrition at each of those stages for an overall attrition of 30%. You would generally expect the numbers at each stage to go up as you go down in the rankings, though there are bound to be exceptions.

That's fine, I would prefer that people don't speculate. I was hoping to hear from people that have actually tried doing something like this and how it turned out. However since no one else has replied I guess no one has tried it :)

Has anyone here audited a class and then attached a letter from the professor with your grade to your application? I'm currently a full-time RA and I was planning on taking real analysis this spring, but I just found out that I don't qualify for education reimbursement as a university employee until next semester. There's a 6 month waiting period from employment start date to start of semester date to qualify, and my 6 months is 5 days after the semester starts. It's not offered in the fall or summer and I'm applying to PhD programs next cycle so next spring would be too late. Since paying for the class costs a lot more money than I currently have available, what I was going to do instead was audit the course (for about 1/5 of the cost) and then ask the professor to write up something official (just 2 or 3 sentences on university letterhead) that I could attach to my application that says I would have made an A (knock on wood) if I took it for a grade. It would show up on my transcript that I audited, I'd mention the situation and grade I would have gotten in my SOP and I'd ask the prof I RA for to mention it in their LOR. I already have 3 solid LOR's from economists, so I wouldn't want to use the analysis prof as a LOR, but I'm worried that I either won't be able to attach a letter like that everywhere or that adcoms at some places may not see it since it's not officially part of the application or that I may get rejected based solely on my transcript/GRE before it even reaches a stage where they might see my SOP/letters. Has anyone done something like this before?