WaltWhite

Hello Everyone, I got admissiom of Econ PhD from Iowa State U, Rutgers-NB and Clemson, and I must say I feel really hard to choose one over the other two. Especially between ISU and Rutgers. All these schools have some strengths in my interested fields, such as Ag Econ, Environment Econ in ISU and Financial Econ in Rutgers. And I keep an open mind in go academic or industry after graduation. All schools give me similar stipend, but giving living expense, living in ISU and Clemson will be much easier. I have not been to NJ, but I heard that NJ's environment and safety is not a very decent?? And ISU is pretty like in a big county( Actually I like rural area more than urban) ?? Also I heard that the location doesn't matter much with respect to PhD, so Rutgers's short distance to NY maybe not a big advantage? And I also heard that Clemson is a very great campus? At last, it seems that passing qualify exam in Rutgers will be the most difficult of these 3, but in the aspect of the placement, as far as I can see, Rutgers=>ISU>>Clemson ( I am an international so I focus on intl's placement) Any suggestion and advice will be greatly appreiciated! Thank you guys!!

Hello guys, During app, many schools set word limit to SOP and CV, such as " do not exceed 1000 words". I want to know will there be any negative influence if I slightly exceed the word limit? For example, my SOP is 1150 words when there is a 1000 words limitation. And will Adcom really count the words when they read my files? And I am not talking about the crazy exceed such as 1500 for a 500 limit. Thanks a lot!

Base on your backgroud and target, you should retake GRE if you could, this will increase your chance for top schools. Your math and econ course is competitive, I think you may choose some course this year which can let you do some research with prof. If you do some publication or enhance your connection this year, it is also helpful.

Hello guys, I ask this question for a friend who have worked 3 years and want to apply Econ PhD, any help will be appreciated!! He was an international student and studied Arabic as his major during undergrad, after graduation, he worked in an international communication company (world top 3 in communication field) as a senior sales manager overseas. And he quit his job this year and want to apply for econ phd. He has made his mind for an econ phd, but his math course and econ course during undergrad is obviously not enough. And his advantage is that he has operated several really big project of millions of dollars' value in south America during his job, some of these project are famous in his field so he can get some strong recommendations for ivey alumni, and he wrote many econ research during his job. I think he is more suitable for MBA, but he want to do research in the future. So my question is that in order to get into some PhD program, what should he work hard on during apply? Obviously his academic background is weak, but his professional background is strong. Should he fisrt apply a MA? Thanks!

I agree with chrishacker, strong letter is important. But sometimes the problem is not sure whether the letter is strong. And I think he means " one of the tops" for " top ones"

I agree that you should not concentrate on software strength, but I think it is ok to mention some software like BL in CV. Also most school need sop rather than ps

This is easy, you read the requirement of the program you apply, and the RL requirement too, then you can write a draft for your prof. Good luck

Your should ask about RL to your prof at least one month in advance, giving they are not famaliar with you. And when you add their info in the apply system, talk to them again.

Hi, I am from asian and got an econ master in US. You said your univ are top 30 so I assume it is top 2 in China. Your math is low, Econ course is few and not good enough, but gre is good, and your top 2 rank in china will give you some credit in your transcript and RL. In order to apply master, I think your research experience is enough. In your list, I think USC, UCSB, BU should be safe. as to UW, you mean wustl? Also for master apply, what about your TOEFL? Anyway, good luck!

I think you may try that range, and for safety, maybe top 50-70 should be your safe school.

I think penn state is relatively competitive so maybe not a safe choice for back up

Well, if only report 2nd score, there is not advantage in all V Q and AW; if only report 1st score, V AW is bad but Q is an advantage absolutely. So which means most to Admission Committe?? Apparently Q>V&AW And most important if the GRE score is only average level, [have both Advantage(Q)&disadvantage(V AW)] > [no Advantage] Besides, I have said the best choice is report both score, also she is a member of my discussion group so I already know she is an international

Send both>send 1st one> send 2nd

I don't know canada , but in Us, your should try top 10

Your profile is solid, just try top 10 also choose several safe school