Murphy235

Institution: Duke University Program: PhD Economics Decision: Accepted (Previously Wait-listed) Funding: Yes Notification date: 4/4/14 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: No, but will Comments: Accepting offer. Much excite!

Thanks for the reassurement, twy. I think that seems like the most reasonable way to feel. The last ~5 years were what I was focusing on most, where it didn't seem like many people had been placed in the FTC/DoJ/PhD granting programs, which would be my preference, but I did see a few. I think I will do well at Ohio State (I doubt that it will be well enough to get somewhere like NYU, but that's alright.)

My advisors believe I underplaced, but that I don't know how true that is. I'm guessing a 20-ish rank is about where I belong based on my record, so a bit higher, but not much. The visit went well aside from how young their faculty were. I liked them quite a bit, even though they seemed a bit inexperienced in dealing with students. I was hoping to meet with their IO/econometrics faculty member, but he was unavailable. I've spoken with him via email and it seems promising, so I'm leaning towards accepting. I still have a pending WL from Duke, too, which could turn the tides. That is sound advice, Catrina. My advisors suggested I accept if I'm ok with teaching at a liberal arts college, rather than a research institution.

Hi all, Ohio State is the only program I received an acceptance from and I'm unsure what to do. Their IO faculty are quite young, mostly still in their 2nd year out of PhD, which leaves me wondering what sort of experience I will have there. Because of that, I'm hesitant to accept their offer if Duke doesn't turn to an acceptance, but still undecided. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I would agree with Catrina with one caveat: if you visited and absolutely hated the faculty/students/academic atmosphere, then I would advise declining. It doesn't sound like you've visited there, so I would suggest accepting. Sure it seems isolated, but Twin Cities is rather sizable, so you won't be stranded in the middle of nowhere. (I totally get weather though. Dat cold :( ) Otherwise, the changes you suggest wouldn't really help you. It would just be a matter of trying to find a school who's department you fit better with, which is a total gamble. I doubt you'd get into a program which strictly dominates Minnesota. As far as publishing, I doubt you'd get it done in time. Average time at top journals from submission to publication is something like 2.5-3 years, I was told by a professor. It's probably lower and lesser journals, but still more than the ~8 months until applications are due for Fall 2015.

Are RA's at the Richmond Fed able to take courses at PhD institutions? I know the Boston/NY/Chicago/DC ones allow you to, but I'm not sure what PhD programs are near there.

Is anyone here going to the Ohio State open house this week?

To add to this, 1) is really all personal preference. For me, 30 would probably be too old, but there have been many successful candidates at that age. It's really just whether you feel comfortable still working on getting your tenure when you're ~40. I met a professor who just got tenure a few weeks ago who is ~45, so age is only a limiting factor if you make it one. 2) I agree with PCH. Getting an MA could also show you're serious about pursuing further studies. MA's in the US tend to not be as rigorous as international ones, so YMMV. 3) If you go back for a Bachelor's, yes. Many MA programs introduce you to faculty and you should talk to them as much as possible to find out what you're interested in and if you can help them. Bonus points: the better they know you, the better their letters will be. 4) Unsure, but most people try to take only funded (tuition + living stipend) offers, so you should be fine. If you have a non-working spouse or comparatively high expenses (health issues insurance wouldn't cover, children) you should adjust accordingly. 5) Letters of recommendation, math grades, and research experience seem to be the biggest factors. Having a LoR from a faculty in a big name school seems to be a bigger deal than I would have thought when I started.

Welcome agramon! Has anyone heard back regarding these? I'm assuming not, since they probably don't know which students are leaving for grad programs yet. I'm guessing after April 1 is when the majority will come out.

Don't lose faith yet! I have quite a similar profile and got an acceptance at Ohio State (ranked higher than some of your choices.), so I think you are definitely still in the running. I would actually say you're probably a slightly stronger candidate than me. Like you, I didn't apply to many schools, but I think it would be wise to do so in the future, if you re-apply. I think Catrina is right, that you should submit to more schools if you get shut-out and decide to re-apply (to the extent your letter writers are willing to submit more.) Seeking out an RA position could help, as that would bolster your lack of research experience and ideally give you a LoR from someone the adcoms would recognize for a future application (again, if you want to re-apply.)

PROFILE: Murphy235 Type of Undergrad: Top 30 US public school, well respected econ department. No PhD program. Mathematics and Quantitative Economics double major. Undergrad GPA: 3.90 (4.0 in econ, 3.8 in math) Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: 163V/170Q/5.0W Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A+), Discrete Math (A+), Abstract Algebra I&II (A/B), Real Analysis (A+), Diff eq (A), Mathematical finance (A), Set Theory (B+), Probability (A-), Inferential statistics (A), Regression analysis (B+), Time series (A), Calc III (A+) Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Theory (A/A), Industrial Org (A), econometrics (A+), Health Economics (A+), history of economics (A), Growth (A), Game Theory (A+) Other Courses: Letters of Recommendation: IO prof from a top 10 program, thesis advisor, and department chair. Know all well, so should be strong. Research Experience: senior honors thesis Teaching Experience: tutored macro for a year. Research Interests: IO, game theory, econometrics SOP: Explain why I studied math and how I came to my interest in economist. Pretty standard. Concerns: two B's in math, limited research experience. Hoping the ad comms see my "bad" grades were all in one semester. Other: Phi Beta Kappa member and magna cum laude, for what they're worth. :p Applying to: Ohio State, Northwestern, Yale, Chicago, Madison, Duke, Michigan RESULTS Accepted: Ohio State, UW-Madison MS Wait List: Duke Rejections: Michigan, UW-Madison, Northwestern, Yale, Chicago Attending: Duke, if that becomes an acceptance. Unsure otherwise. Comments: I'm hesitant about Ohio State due to how young their applied IO faculty are, but it could end up being a good fit. I won't know until my visit for sure. If I don't, I'm not sure if I'll re-apply, seek out an MA or RA opportunity, or something else entirely. In any case, i'm getting married this summer and don't have time to waste being upset. :D What would you have done differently? I think i aimed too high, based on my record. I wish I'd done more research and realized how important certain things were earlier, but I can't change it now. I also would have taken graduate real analysis and grad level regression. P.S. Sorry about the boldface. My webpage won't let me un-click the bold font option. Mod Note - Fixed Boldface

I, too, was admitted to the PhD track M.S. That said, I declined due to lack of funding.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll try to respond to everyone but I'm a bit limited on time at the moment. 1. I have only been out of school for one year, so I would hope that would not affect my results. 2. It is possible my letters are not as strong as I believe. One of the writers did not express any reservations when I asked if he had any, but I do not know him as well as the others. 3. My SOP is likely a little weak, now that I reread it. 4. All my letter writers have stated they believe that (should Duke and Michigan be rejections), I would have underplaced. Our department chair said he believes I'm a stronger candidate than students we've placed at 10-20 institutions in the past. We've placed students in top 10 institutions in the past, but I know for a fact they were stronger candidates than I. 5. I'll look into the RA option for sure. That seems like the most promising route in the event of a shut-out. Edit: 6. I think something I hadn't considered is my resume. I used a similar resume as when I was searching for jobs. I think it's a distinct possibility this signaled a lack of seriousness. it seems my results may be a culmination if small dings against me. Thanks everybody for for your feedback, especially for being so detailed.

Hi all, Given the current state of my applications, I'm believing it's a definite possibility I'll get shut out of any funded offers this application season. I'm wondering if anyone here could offer some feedback. My profile is in the roll call thread, but I'll repost it here for simplicity. PROFILE: Murphy235 Type of Undergrad: Top 30 US public school, well respected econ department. No PhD program. Mathematics and Quantitative Economics double major. Undergrad GPA: 3.90 (4.0 in econ, 3.8 in math) Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: 164V/170Q/5.0W Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A+), Discrete Math (A+), Abstract Algebra I&II (A/B), Real Analysis (A+), Diff eq (A), Mathematical finance (A), Set Theory (B+), Probability (A-), Inferential statistics (A), Regression analysis (B+), Time series (A), Calc III (A+) Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Theory (A/A), Industrial Org (A), econometrics (A+), Health Economics (A+), history of economics (A), Growth (A), Game Theory (A+) Other Courses: Letters of Recommendation: IO prof from a top 10 program, thesis advisor, and department chair. Know all well, so should be strong. Research Experience: senior honors thesis Teaching Experience: tutored macro for a year Research Interests: empirial IO, game theory, econometrics SOP: Explain why I didn't follow through more research, since I thought I wanted to be an actuary and why I studied math. Concerns: two B's in math, limited research experience. Hoping the ad comms see my "bad" grades were all in one semester. Other: Phi Beta Kappa member and magna cum laude Accepted: Ohio State (unfunded so far) Rejected: Chicago, Yale, UW-Madison, Northwestern, Assuming Michigan as well WL: Duke I've been accepted to Ohio State, but I am a little skeptical of research prospects there, as I'm principally interested in applied micro (specifically IO) and their empirical IO folks seem very young. I'm not sure whether spending 5 years with professors who aren't tenured would be a wise decision, especially given my funding situation currently. I'm not sure how to feel about my prospects at Duke, but I figure it's wise to start thinking about hedging opportunities. My advisors seemed very confident in my application, so I was as well. It turns out, be it noise or simply aiming too high, I ended up with a lack of choices. As I mention, I have three B-B+'s in some important math/stat classes along with limited research experience outside my senior honors thesis, which I believe are the two things holding me back at other programs. Should I not end up at a program this fall, I've considered a few options and was hoping someone could provide feedback on them. 1. Find an RA position to strengthen my research background. I applied to one at the Fed through a contact of one of my professors, which I feel confident about, but I'd obviously apply to others. They're highly competitive positions, so confidence at this point means little to nothing aside from it not keeping me up at night. 2. Apply for MA programs this coming fall, with the intent of lessening the impact of those few B's in my math classes. My concern here is that I am guessing my research background is likely a bigger ding on my record than my few B's, but a strong showing in an MA could demonstrate ability for success in a PhD program. 3. Reapply in the fall for PhD programs with lower expectations. I'd feel more comfortable spending some time strengthening my application, rather than just spending the money again to re-apply. Any advice would be very appreciated. Thanks all!

Heard someone else say they were "still under review" when they contacted. Perhaps they sent out rejects/admits, but those of us left waiting are wait lists? I'm hopeful, but not that optimistic. Duke is my most promising offer so far, since I found out Ohio State's IO professors are almost all theoretical after I paid my application fee.