Once I was applying to the schools I thought that if I get admitted even to the poorest school on my list I would jump from joy. I got admitted to a few good ones, but instead I am miserable trying to decide whether I should proceed.
I applied to ~15 schools last fall and got almost all results by now:
Admitted: UMinnesota Twin Cities ($$), John Hopkins ($$$), UTAustin ($$), UCDavis ($).
Rejected: Northwestern, NYU, Stern, UMichigan - Ann Arbor, CalTech, UWMadison, Brown, UCLA Anderson.
Pending, but probably unlikely: Carnegie Mellon, UToronto, Rotman (UToronto Business School).
My specialization is empirical IO and UMN seems like the best option, since Petrin is there and Bajari might return from Amazon. Waldfogel is in the UMN business school and does some nice internet economics. Other profs are probably good, but I am not familiar with their work. I have to TA there and do get some funding (around 16K).
I have second thoughts though, since 1) I have misplanned my application process which was a bit clumsy and I feel I can improve on it; 2) UMN is objectively a good school, but it is not ideal either (weather; somewhat isolated in Midwest); 3) I would not mind one more year free out of school as I have a good research job in an econ think-tank and could try a few more things.
During the application process this year I have completely overexhausted myself by applying to many schools. Plus, I had to work full-time at a new job while finishing my MSc thesis and going through some personal stuff (first serious breakup, anyone?). Here are the things I think I could improve:
1) Apply as early as possible and polish the crap out of the applications;
2) Write perfect SoP's and any optional essays they want (mine was quite good, but not the absolute best);
3) Publish my Master thesis in a mid-tier (?) journal. I got an A+ and all my profs were encouraging me to submit it for publication. It is on empirical IO and is very technical and brings some improvements to current models, but is not exactly ground-breaking. I submitted it as a writing sample, but could imagine many did not even read it. (A publication in CV probably looks much better). If I try really hard, could probably even turn it in 2 papers (one more general, another in application to specific policies).
4) Participate in more conferences and present my thesis?
5) Get out a few pieces through my think-tank. While it is well-ranked, it is very policy oriented, so it is not very "academic", but still.
6) Take the damn TOEFL. I come from Europe and my TOEFL ran out a few months before I applied and I could not re-take it on time, so I had to write every school and persuade them consider my application (I have plenty of English experience). Only Boston University declined outright, but I can imagine it did not add me points.
*) Also as said, I would probably enjoy one more year out of school anyway, as I was flirting with an idea of trying some consulting work.
So far the opinions of my friends and profs were as follows:
1) Ask for deferral, take another gap year to clear my head, do PhD at UMN;
2) Ask for deferral, apply elsewhere, go to the best school (morally grey, unless they specifically allow for it/give me a release);
3) Go to UMN as I was lucky to get in there considering my profile and that some relatively lower-ranked schools rejected me (might be well true!), so I might miss even this opportunity next year (said by one of the LoR writers).
My profile is here: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/151427-profiles-results-2014-a-3.html#post975410
I am not sure what to do. On one hand the year after PhD will probably be more useful and the potential for improvement of outcomes is uncertain. But on the other hand maybe I am just not grateful for what I have enough..