Molan

Just to add another point. Given you're so close to the assistant professor, it is not a bad idea to ask for her advice on whose letter you should use.

voble says the full professor's publication history is much better. If it is better in the modern sense, then it would mean a better reputation. Beside this, you may also want to consider the marginal informativeness of the third letter. If one of them can write about some aspects of your research potential and/or provide evidence that the other two letter writers don't mention, it would be good. If both of the letters are very strong and don't overlap very much, it's not a bad idea to submit 4 letters, as most schools allow.

Your profile is impressive. Top 10 is a reasonable goal, though it would be wiser to cast your net wider. Your "young professor"'s opinion would be much more valuable than ours.

I agree with Zubrus completely. To add a point, you may also take the marginal informativeness of a letter into account. If your professors know you extremely well, but what they can say is identical, you may want to consider an opinion from a different perspective/based on different evidence.

In terms of schools, I highly recommend applying to almost all top 10 schools and add some top 10~20 schools that match your interest and location preference. NYC and Chicago are not bad places at all and you would really feel much better with more offers in hand; after all, news may come and your preference may change. The marginal cost of adding one school is negligible. In terms of preparation, if it's feasible, take or sit in some grad Econ courses. Your profile is between good and outstanding, so adding a good grade of, say, advanced micro or grad game theory will increase your chance of getting in top 10 by a nontrivial amount.

Quick answer. Do go to some professors of the graduate Econ courses. I know that if they allow you to take their courses, then you can probably side step the rule of your department. Even if you can't, audit them and talk to the professors about class material and research. It helps you get good letters. RA could be very helpful, especially with prestigious professors. But you should calculate the importance of the courses you will miss because of the absence.

It depends. What adcom really looks for is your research potential. If your thesis is of decent quality and your advisor can say good things about you, you don't have to worry about lack of RA work.

Totally agree. That's what happened to me, with micro. For macro, I believe adcom would care even less because intermediate macro is totally different from advanced macro.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BA Economics+Double major in Math, Top university in East Asian country; One quarter exchange program at Top 15 US Econ Department Undergrad GPA: 3.70~3.75 Type of Grad: NA Grad GPA: NA GRE: 170 (Q), 159 (V), 3.5 (AW) Math Courses: Calculus A+, Linear Algebra A, Probability Theory A, Statistics B+, Analysis A, Advanced Algebra A, Ordinary Differential Equations (Exchange) A+, Functions of Real Variables A, Abstract Algebra A, Complex Analysis A, Stochastic Processes B-, Dynamic Optimization A+ Undergraduate Econ Courses: Principles A+, Intermediate Micro B, Econometrics A+, IO A+, Public Finance A-, Growth (Exchange) A+, Economic History A, Public Choice A+ Graduate Econ Courses: Contract Theory (Exchange) A+, Game Theory (Exchange) A+, Dynamic Finance Theory A, Topics of Micro Theory (summer course) A+ Letters of Recommendation: 1. Well-known Associate Professor at exchange university, very strong and detailed 2. Well-known Associate Professor at a Top 10 US Econ Department, very strong 3. Assistant Professor at another top university in my country, known in subfield, very strong and very detailed 4. Professor at my university, great record of student placement, may be strong and detailed but not sure Research Experience: 1. Undergraduate thesis on applied contract theory, presented at conference 2. Term paper for a graduate course 3. RA for Professor 3. Programming and small proofs. Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Applied micro theory SOP: One page about my two papers, one page about how I utilized all resources I could get for my research and study Other: RESULTS: Acceptances: Stanford GSB, Stanford Econ, Yale, NWU, Columbia, Chicago Waitlists: MIT (declined before they make a decision) Rejections: Harvard, Princeton Withdrawn: Berkeley, NYU, Chicago (clearly they didn't read my email for withdrawal), Upenn and the university where I did my exchange Attending: Stanford GSB Comments: The most important factor for my good results is my letter writers' endorsement. For most schools, I used Professor 1, 2 and 3's letters, and it turned out really well. I think it's important to have well-known professors to write a strong letter which sets a benchmark for you, and also professors who know you extremely well to fill in the details that support the benchmark. Also, don't lose heart if you bomb some important courses like Intermediate Micro. For me, since I scored high in graduate micro courses, no one cared about Intermediate Micro.

Hi! Does anyone know when is the campus visit of Harvard Econ?

Institution: Stanford GSB Program: PhD Economics Analysis and Policy Decision: Admitted Funding: Not mentioned Notification date: 2/13/2015 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: no

No, the econ program did not have interviews in the previous years. Reliable info from current student.

Thanks! Do you mean Harvard Econ Department? What's the point of interviewing after decision having been made?

That's strange. All of my peers admitted by Yale in previous years were interviewed. Maybe they change the policy. Anyway, thank you for the information.

I think it may be helpful if we have a list of programs that have interviews. I'll start with what I know. Econ programs with interview: Yale

Ask your professor to explain that away for you in his/her LOR. A more likely possibility is that his letter is strong enough that no one will care about that grade.

I guess your chance of getting into top 7 is pretty small because they look for exceptional profiles but yours is standard. Also, why choose Caltech given your interests?

Hi. I see on both Northwestern graduate school's and Kellogg's websites that students could only apply to one program a year. Is this restriction strict? Has anyone applied to both? Thanks.

There were successful MBA applicants. Check out Prof. Venky Venkateswaran at nyu stern. But you should bear in mind not every MBA can be like him.

I checked the website of Stanford econ. It says "Most of our successful applicants score in the 94th percentile or above on the quantitative section of the GRE, and at least a 4.5 on the analytical section. If you do not score in at least the 92nd percentile on the quantitative section and a 3.5 on the analytical section, we recommend that you re-take the exam and try to improve your score. In the admission process, the verbal section of the test is not as heavily weighted." So I assume if you are outstanding in other dimensions, the bar on awa could be lowered.

Why do you exclude Caltech, Stanford and CMU? I think they are THE best matches for your interest.

Hi! I have experience at your institution so I may offer some useful thoughts. My experience with UCLA faculty was extremely positive. All 4 profs I had contact with were very helpful. When you ask for research opportunity, you should demonstrate your ability as well as motivation. I heard not very few profs, especially US citizens, work with students in summer. In terms of grad courses, you do not have to enroll. Audit some and ask relevant questions, discuss with the instructor after class. If you can impress them then it helps to some degrees.

There are generally two reasons for keeping in touch: to update her belief about your ability, work ethics, etc. UPWARD and to generate experiences that she can use as solid evidence to support her letter. If you can do these, keep in touch; otherwise, do not bother her because her time is precious.

I think these two options are complementary. I'm not sure whether you mean theoretical IO or empirical IO, but both would require deep understanding about graduate level economics, micro and metrics respectively. So I suggest you do both.

As I am almost 100% sure which school and professor you mentioned and I took several courses there, I think I can provide some relevant advice. Math is certainly important. Take as much as you can. This may not be as painful as you think, because the undergraduate econ courses in your school is really really easy so you can devote more time to math. I would suggest that you take some grad courses, but maybe it means that you have to enroll in the departmental scholar program. Research experience is more important if 1)you want to go to very good program and/or 2) you want to do applied research. You don't have to be ra for faculty; directed research and honor thesis also count. You can message me if you want to know more.