interview

I found two (relatively) reasonably-priced apartments, one in Framingham and the other in North Leominster. How much will it cost me to take public transportation into Cambridge one way?

Thanks but my budget is rather limited as I have only $1500 saved up. At most $1800. :(

Correction - it looks like I will need to stay for at least 28 to 30 days, so I need something for a month.

I am on a super-limited budget and I need to spend 10 days in Boston with my mother. The visit has two purposes. I will be interviewing for a job at MIT in the Econ department - which will pay my tuition for graduate courses in Economics at MIT. And my mother will also be undergoing chemotherapy at Mass General. We will have to rely on the T for transportation. Any suggestions on where I need to stay for those 10 days? When I looked on hotels.com, the prices made me faint. Please help!

Red Tape - Govt. agencies, colleges demand applicants' Facebook passwords

I will be happy in any discipline that uses math/quantification.

- Actually I have barely started my BS degree. - I suppose I am pining for the lifestyle of my parents. Both are scientists. I want their lifestyle, flexible hours, and other benefits that come with being researchers. I could probably achieve this in a number of disciplines.

Thanks. I am going to try some of your ideas!

I am not so sure about this. I enrolled for 7 classes at a university in my state and then decided to join a community college closer to home. I got a refund of my tuition from the state university but I didn't know I had to formally withdraw from all classes. The result: I have 7 F's, not really my fault. I thought getting a refund of my tuition implies automatic withdrawal. Which is severe transcript damage. I will have to report these grades otherwise the PhD program will learn of these 7 Fs from the National Student Clearing House. Those 7 Fs are going to horribly bring down my GPA and PhD programs will notice my low GPA. That's one reason (why) I need a plan-B.

That may be an inference from the biased and limited sample on Urch or Test Magic. But I have a feeling that many people get derailed along the way for reasons not of their own choosing.

Thank you. I would not like to work for IMF, Rand, World Bank, or other companies even in research. I hate 9 to 5 jobs. It puzzles me why many professors work 9 to 5 like secretaries. I like the flexibility of an academic career where you choose your own hours. I see physicists working after midnight. About going for Plan-A with everything I have, ummm, I am not so sure of that. There are so many landmines along the path. Any of which could derail me.

I went the GED route then took some basic Calculus and Stat but other than that I haven't taken any other math classes formally. As to my research interests, I studied the Oz Shy book and the Tirole book on my own, so I like that kind of IO type modeling.

Thank you - that gives me hope.

Thanks.

Thanks - I am not applying this cycle though. After reading through a post by Mankiw, I still need to take classes like Calculus Linear Algebra Multivariable Calculus Real Analysis Probability Theory Mathematical Statistics Game Theory Differential Equations Most of these classes are not offered at my community college, so I am taking them through the outreach program of a good university.

I like research, not teaching.

I am surprised people don't like academia. I love academia. I am not *that* tied to Economics because I know it is research that will make me happy. I can see myself being happy in an Econ department or even in a Physics department, in a Finance department or even in a Math department, etc. etc. I doubt my ability to get into a PhD Econ program because I have a GED instead of a high school and I will be graduating with a degree from a local community college where I can attend free although I will have taken advanced Math and Econ classes at a good university through their outreach program. However, will a PhD Econ program take someone with a BS degree from NoName Community College? (And yeah, many community colleges offer BS degrees these days).

What is ARE?

Even before I begin the PhD Econ process, I need a plan-B if I don't get accepted into a PhD Econ program. - I know I want to go into academia for sure. - I know I don't want to do a PhD in Accounting or Marketing or Management. - If I don't get into PhD Economics, I probably won't be accepted by a PhD Finance program, otherwise a PhD Finance would be my next choice. - I want a PhD in a field where the ratio of open faculty positions to applicants is favorable. What would you suggest to me - if I don't get into a PhD Econ program, what PhD should I shoot for? Thank you guys!

I came across this thread on EJMR and would like to know the answer to this question myself. I am shooting for an Econ PhD but I also want a Plan-B: "A few years ago for every fresh PhD graduate in MIS, there were three open faculty positions. Then the ratio of graduates to positions dwindled to 1: 2, then to 1:1.5, later to 4:1. Finally MIS departments all over started shutting down or being merged into Management, Operations or other departments and today hardly any schools offer a PhD in MIS.It is possible that there are still many fields where for every PhD graduate there are 2, 3 or more open faculty positions. Are there any areas with faculty shortages these days? Animal Sciences? Genetics? Psychology? Sociology? Wildlife Sciences? Mechanical Engineering? Computer Science? Any field at all?"