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

I find It funny how much this thread has slowed down since last month :) I hope everyone's decision making isn't too stressful!

PROFILE: thuswindburn Type of Undergrad: Unranked Large State School Undergrad GPA: 3.814 overall, 4.0 econ. BS in economics Type of Grad: MA at top 30 econ phd program Grad GPA: 3.714 GRE: 169 Q, 158 V, 4.0 AW Math Courses: Calc I (A), Calc II (B), Calc III (B), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (A), Real Analysis (A), Probability/Statistics (B+), Econ Courses: Principles Micro/Macro (A/A), Intermediate Micro/Macro(A/A), Environmental (A), Econometrics (A), Crime(A), European Economic History(A), Money and Banking (A), Mathematics for Economists(A) Other Courses(Grad Econ): Macro Theory (A-), Micro Theory(B+), Econometric Theory(A), Game Theory(A-) Letters of Recommendation: 2 from my MA program: 1 top 5 econ PhD, the other top 20. 1 from undergrad, top 25 PhD, this one will have known me the best. Research Experience: Minimal research experience, worked on masters thesis at my undergrad institution before changing programs Teaching Experience: Grading/TAing, so no real teaching experience Research Interests: Environmental and IO SOP: Talked about how I went from an engineering student to wanting to pursue a PhD in economics. Talked about my interests and influences along the way. Other: RESULTS: Acceptances: University of Arizona, UNC-CH Waitlists: N/A Rejections: Penn State, WUSTL, JHU, U Pitt, ASU, Boston College, UVA Pending: Vanderbilt Attending: University of Arizona Comments: Really happy with this program, feel like I couldn't have found a better research fit. What would you have done differently? I could have gone to a much better undergrad. I simply didn't put much effort into it at the time. So outside of jumping back 5 years not a whole lot else! Probably would have paid a bit more attention in Calc III :P

Hey! My pleasure on the info. I wasn't funded initially but received an offer last week. In my initial offer I was told that if I remained in good academic standing after first year I'd receive funding. If that isn't clear in your letter I'd try to clarify it, which it sounds like you've already been trying to do.

I told them I was still interested, as I have yet to make any decisions and am still waiting on a school. I think funding decisions will be coming soon, as for end of the week, no idea. If you want to get funding there I'd recommend telling them you're still interested :P.

Hey cz7. I know nothing about Tilburg, so I can't tell you anything about them (although that seems to be the only other information in this thread). However, I'm also in at Arizona and attended visit day. The class size for the last several classes has been roughly 10-12. They said they expect this entering cohort to be 12-14, but I think 10 is just as likely to happen again. Attrition is not bad at Arizona. They told us prelims aren't used to weed people out, they're simply there to make sure you are understanding the material the way you should. If I recall correctly the second years only had 1 or 2 people fail, and everyone seemed to be under the impression that most of the 1st years would pass as well. Also, to my knowledge, if you pass prelims and are in good academic standing, you're basically guaranteed funding for years 2-5. There's also a large emphasis on writing many papers while in the program. There is a second year paper and third year paper. You will also need your job market paper and dissertation. I think coauthoring with professors is certainly a possibility. They are also very big on people getting good teaching experience before graduating. I believe you are required to teach 2 courses at the bare minimum. Lastly, a lot of the 4th and 5th years I met were doing experimental and behavioral. I think the department used to be huge in it but some of the faculty left. They said they're looking to hire more behavioral/experimental people, though. I also think that a handful of the people that aren't necessarily experimental by name do experimental work from time to time. The program has very strong IO and environmental people if that matters to you at all. As for placements, I believe Arizona has been placing people quite well relative to other schools of similar rank in the US. Overall it seemed like a very friendly environment. The professors all seem to get along with one another and the students. I think that's about all of the information I have! Hope it helps.

I received a similar email yesterday. I think they're still figuring out funding so they're trying to see who has accepted offers already.

I'm only waiting on Vanderbilt at this point. But I'm 99% sure I'll be accepting my offer at University of Arizona.

UNC hasn't funded anyone yet so don't lose hope! They told me they do admissions in one wave and funding in another. ASU tends to just roll some out over time. No clue on UofW.

Good post? http://www.www.urch.com/forums/images/buttons/ha_plus.png | http://www.www.urch.com/forums/images/buttons/ha_minus.png Institution: Penn State Program: PhD Economics Decision: Rejected Notification Date: 3/18/2014 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: ​No big!

They're mostly about environmental and IO it seems. If you're into labor, I seemed to be getting the impression that current grad students wouldn't recommend the program.