thuswindburn

Don't get a B+.

I'd suggest the Manhattan 5lb book. Drilling that guy got me up to a 169 the second time around. I had gone through about 2 or 3 others over the course of studying but that book was far and away the best.

I think that there's quite a bit of disagreement on this subject. Assuming you are applying to departments that heavily match your research interests, I can't see tailoring your SOP being terribly necessary. When I was applying this last cycle I was told to be careful name dropping in SOPs due to the fact that: 1. People can leave at anytime (to some degree) 2. Said faculty may no longer be active (although this is more on whether or not you did the appropriate amount of homework before writing the paragraph) 3. The adcom in the department may potentially have a problem with the person you mention. You never know what office politics are like and the adcom may take it out on you. But you can also make arguments as to why you should mention a potential advisor.

As a person who has a MA, and saw many people go to the job market with it, I can safely say you should definitely go for an MBA rather than the MA. Also I'm fairly confident that almost every U.S. MA program will give little to no funding. So, you should definitely count on having to pay for it yourself. While MBA's are expensive, I'm fairly certain you would recoup the cost faster in industry than you would with the MA. The fact of the matter is MBA's are far more valuable in the U.S. for now. If you fully intend to go for a PhD later, then the MA may not be a terrible idea, but I don't see many people going back for PhD's once they've started to make a substantial paycheck in industry. Not in economics anyways.

Geez what a wait! Congrats

The Theory of Industrial Organization by Jean Tirole. Been going through this book this semester. It's not the easiest read, but it's a solid book.

I know Texas does this with med schools. Pretty sure med schools also have a nationwide thing too. Who knows why Ph.D programs haven't gotten with the program

Quite the dilemma. I think you're considering alot of important things, but I wouldn't worry about them filling the slot. I'm sure there are people out there that would still be available to take one. As for fit/standing with the school later... well that's where the hard decision comes in. Good luck

I felt the same last year, but the year will fly by. It sure did for me!

Institution. You never know when a specific person may leave. However, it may be worth contacting thay supervisor to see what their plans are and to show your interest.

I'd be willing to bet math camp is calculus and linear algebra!

I agree with Catrina. Sounds like Vanderbilt is the proper fit for you! No guarantee a master's will wind up making you look much different next season, not to mention the fact that you'll be contending with different applicants. Sounds like vanderbilt is good location wise and I'm a big fan of the sure thing. Good luck!

The search function on here is terrible. I usually dig for whatever information I want anyways, perhaps to avoid potential, "This has been asked before gtfo," responses, but the search function is seriously bad on this website.

When I was in undergrad in engineering I took 18 hours one semester and got overloaded with problem sets. Resultantly dropped a course that I would have earned a B in simply due to the fact that it would have maybe brought other A's down to B's. Wasn't something that could have been even remotely relevant on my applications, but I'm sure others have been in a similar situation. So no one is a bit strong. In other words I think alot of times in these situations things can be explained in a pretty reasonable manner. There are a lot of different reasons people take W's and it sounds like OP will be able to explain the situation pretty well.

My experience at my current university is that you are not a shoe in for having already gone here, so at the end of the day you'll still be competing in an applicant pool for a spot. In other words, I really wouldn't see people considering this as a black mark on your record later on. But maybe my view is too narrow and this is actually a problem