chenzheng

Hi Alls, I am a freshman with about 3.8 culm grade in a Top5 U.S institution and my target is to break into a top 10 PhD program after graduation. I screwed this semester up... got an A+ in intermediate Micro and B+ in Macro. (I submitted one homework late and lost 6% credits for that...otherwise its a solid A-) I am just wondering whether such a bad grade will hurt me a lot. I am considering to retake the same course next semester and get an A+. Will that compensate a little bit? (Of course I will take advanced Macro and try to ace it) Thanks for your help!

I transferred from Occidental to Columbia last year for better placement in Econ PhD program with 3.93 first-year grade. I have asked one professor at OXY before transfer and he told me that the grade cut-off line for a top PhD program should be around 3.7-3.8.

Hi Alls, I am a current transferred sophomore@Columbia and have great interest in Econ PhD. More interested in Econ PhD, but working for a famous consulting firm would be the top priority. (its hard to find a summer intern or summer research opportunity for international students tho...) I might spend another 4 years at Columbia, double major in Economics-Mathematics and Political Science. (Seems like a triple major lol) Would my courses choice be enough for a T10 program? And since I have already taken 1 year's gap, I might be nearly 24 years old if I spent another 4 years for undergraduate. Would age matter? Here are the Econ/Math courses: Economics-Mathematics + Political Science(4 years): Math: Calculus1, Calculus2, Calculus3, Calculus4, Linear Algebra, Analysis and Optimization, ODE, PDE, Real Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Topology Statistics: Intro to Statistics, Intro to Probability and Statistics, Intro to Statistics Interference Economics: Principle of Economics, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Intro to Econmetrics, Advanced Macro, Advanced Micro, Advanced Econmetrics, Game Theory, Honor Seminar * If these courses are not enough, I could attend a summer school, which means that I could have 5 more courses in Econ/Math.(but also lose one summer's internship/research opportunity tho) Thanks for your help!

Hi Alls, I am a incoming sophomore at Columbia this fall. I want pursue a PhD degree in Econ or Finance. (Both my parents are professors and I took it for granted that I should get a PhD...But I wanna do sth different) After interned in an Investment Bank and a Venture Capital, I found that I prefer a life in buy side of finance system.(VC, PE, HF) Therefore, I might choose to work in industry after PhD. Here are two choices: 1. Econ-Math Joint Degree in 4 years or less (with Summer School) Pros：less time, no need to attend summer school, might be able to intern or apply for summer research, much cheap Cons：less econ course, less finance-related course, less math course (of course I ll be able to finish major requirement and choose some upper-level math course as electives (real analysis or sth) 2. BA in Economics and BS in Applied Mathematics in 5 years Pros：better foundation and preparation for phd degree, might have better connection with professors, better recommendation letter and more RA experience Cons：more expensive ($100,000 for fifth year and summer school or even more), might waste 2 summer on summer school, one more year (I will be 22 years old after graduation) I have no idea which PhD I should choose so far. Therefore I would not major in Financial Economics, but choose some finance-related course instead. Which combination should I choose? And how could I break into some VC or PE firm after PhD? Thanks for your help!

Thanks for your help!

Hi Alls, I am a current freshman at a TOP40 Liberal Arts College and I have applied for transfer. Fortunately, I have been admitted by Wesleyan University, Columbia University, Vanderbilt University, and New York University. My dream is to be a development economist and I really really want to break into a TOP10 PhD program after graduation. Here is the problem: I have been admitted by Columbia university, School of general studies. There are 3 undergraduate schools at Columbia: Columbia College, SEAS(Engineering School), and School of GS. All three schools share the same academic resources and take same classes. Academically speaking, they are the same. Since I have taken one year's gap after graduation from high school, I am not eligible to apply for Columbia College. And I don't want to "waste" too much of my time on physics and chemistry, therefore, I can only apply for SGS if I want to get a Columbia education. I am just wondering, since Top PhD program prefers Top undergraduate program students, will my college, i.e. SGS rather than Columbia College, matters? Thanks for your help!