dksecon

I am a recent graduate taking a year off of school and working in research at a think tank. I am in the process of applying to economics Ph.D programs and I want to apply to some fellowships. I have done some research but I was just wondering if anyone has any resources or suggestions on which fellowships are worth applying for? Thanks!

I did but I was hoping for more advice and hoping someone would give me an honest opinion on what my odds of getting into a program are.

I have my degree from the US, top 150 school

I need someone with considerable experience (preferably already admitted in an econ PhD program) to privately evaluate my profile. Any takers?

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone has an idea of what the average GRE score to get into Rochester is. I have been looking but can't really find anything. Thanks!

I would say retake it. If your GRE score is your only weakness then maybe you don't have to! But if you are applying for 2015 then you have time and should definitely retake it if you can. Top 20-50 means you should aim for 167-169

That's exactly what my professors and advisor told me. I just wish I had started a while ago on my paper but the past is the past. If I do end up submitting my paper it will solely be for the sake of getting experience and having someone anonymously review my paper. But I realize that especially at this point, publishing will not help me at all, I was saying that if I had started research earlier in the game and published I am sure it would have made up a little but for my C's and B. I am talking pure signaling here, because I know that adcoms don't always read letters of recommendation and when they do it is when you are in the maybe pile. But thanks for sending me to that thread :)

Also, I feel that although publishing as an undergrad is not necessary and is not usual, it would help me compensate for the deficiency in my GPA.

I was hoping to get something on that but they did help with the fourth letter of recommendation question :) If anyone can "chance" me for Rochester that would be great!

Thank you all for the helpful responses!

I posted my profile before and got good advice but I have some more questions. A) I have been considering whether or not I should apply for 2015 or take time to work and strengthen my application for 2016 B) What are my odds at getting into Rochester C) Is it harmful to have 4 letters of recommendation? Because I believe I can get another one from a math professor who could explain my bad grades in math and highlight the fact that I actually do very well in theoretical math and more complex mathematics. I think it will be necessary for me to highlight the fact that the 2 C's and the B were a result of complicated family issues and they do not reflect my actual academic ability. The math professor I am considering asking is the former chair of the department, has published mathematics textbooks, and I know him very well and he invited me to sit in on his classes because I expressed interest. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: B.S Economics , Math minor. Top 100 Public university, offers strong PhD program, several notable faculty members Undergrad GPA: Overall 3.56, Economics 3.55, Math 3.52 (still taking two classes, expecting A+'s so they might slightly boost my GPA) Type of Grad: None (applied for grad level courses non degree) Grad GPA: None GRE: Not yet, but aiming for 167-169Q Math Courses: Calc I ©/Calc II (A)/ Calc III (B+), Differential Equations (A-), Linear Algebra ( c), Discrete Math (A), Advanced Math (Proof writing) (A), Real Analysis (A-) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): intro micro ( c), intro macro (A+), inter micro(A+), macro (A), Econometrics (B+), Game Theory (A-), Labor Economics (A), Austrian Economics (A+), several other (public choice, development, econ history,…) Other Courses: Stat I and Stat II (B+ and A+ respectively) and SAS programming Letters of Recommendation: -1 from the chair of the mathematics department (had him for my proofs class and did very well, also knows me well), -1 from Thesis Advisor (worked closely on empirical paper for a year and a half, although he hasn't published very much and isn't very active in publishing), -1 tenured professor teaching at PhD level very renowned in the field of economics (wrote several books, very famous, but hasn't been publishing in a traditional sense for a while) Research Experience: Conducted undergraduate research, Honors thesis, technical paper Teaching Experience: taught K-12 mathematics Research Interests: Labor Economics, Education Economics SOP: not yet written Other: Would like to know what my odds of even being considered are, based on the 2 C's and B+ that I have in my math minor. Also, I have A LOT of experience with STATA. Applying to: I would love to get into a top 30 school, my top choice would be Michigan, but that is probably not possible. Second choice is Rochester. The rest has yet to be solidly determined, I will finalize my list after getting my GRE score this month. Concerns: Very concerned about the lousy grades, I tend to do better in theoretical and proofs based classes. I am also concerned about not having taken graduate level economics and not publishing as an undergrad. Thanks!

I read this article last week and I had mixed feelings. I think the findings are very interesting though. So they are basically saying don't dismiss lower ranked schools, Econ PhD != successful academic or research position, have a plan B? I wonder what is driving these results. It would be very interesting to study this further, I would like to know if investing my time and money into these programs is actually worth it especially if my only goal is academia

Hi All, I am thinking of taking some graduate level classes such as microeconomic theory and mathematical economics and more math courses as a non degree student because I graduated this year. My profile is a little weak and I was wondering if taking classes as a non degree student would help. Or should I go for and MA? I plan on applying to PhD programs for 2016 and I believe most of the classes I would take for an MA probably won't transfer to some of the schools I am interested in, so I was wondering if doing an MA is worth it? Or would non degree classes do the trick?

Thanks for the advice! I have been thinking about whether or not I should go for it at this point. I think I would rather wait and take graduate level math and econ and do some RA work to get into a top 30 school than rush an apply now and risk not getting into any programs or getting into a mediocre program..I guess I have to seriously consider applying for 2016 rather than 2015.

I thought so too. I guess I was just hoping it would be enough. Maybe I should rethink my application timeline and postpone graduate school for another year. Thanks for all the responses! they've been helpful

We are very unorthodox. I would say I am above average, graduating with departmental honors. I do also have orthodox interests. I am mostly interested in labor economics and education economics. So I am hoping that and the letter of recommendation from one of our most renowned faculty members will carry some weight. I am aiming for mostly top 30 schools. Any recommendations as to how to improve my profile? Or other schools I can look into?

Thank you!

Hi All, I was enrolled at a community college for the first two years of undergrad before transferring to a 4 year school. I did well and all, but because I will be sending all transcripts from all institutions I attended, I was wondering if this is something that might hurt my odds of getting into a PhD program? I mainly took general education courses there, one calculus and one intro economics but everything else was general elective requirements.

George Mason University

I should also also add that the tenured professor writing me the letter has an undergrad from UC Berkely and PhD from Princeton, has published 3 NYTimes bestseller books, runs a very successful blog and has published A LOT of papers. He knows me pretty well, has given me a lot of advice on the graduate school admissions process, I took a class with him and got an A, he reviewed my thesis and was impressed. As for the advice, please point out anything that I can do to improve my profile. I am applying this winter to start Fall 2015, I don't have a lot of time but I think I still have enough time to make some improvements.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: B.S Economics + Math minor Undergrad GPA: Overall 3.56, Economics 3.55, Math 3.52 Type of Grad: None Grad GPA: None GRE: Not yet, but aiming for 167/170Q Math Courses: Calc I ©/Calc II (A)/ Calc III (B+), Differential Equations (A-), Linear Algebra ( c), Discrete Math (A), Advanced Math (Proof writing) (A), Real Analysis (A-) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): intro micro ( c), intro macro (A+), inter micro(A+), macro (A), econometrics (B+), Game Theory (A-), Labor Economics (A), Austrian Economics (A+), several other (public choice, development, econ history,…) Other Courses: Stat I and Stat II (B+ and A+ respectively) and SAS programming Letters of Recommendation: 1 from the chair of the mathematics department (had him for my proofs class and did very well, also knows me well), Thesis Advisor (worked closely on empirical paper for a year and a half), 1 tenured professor teaching at PhD level very renowned in the field of economics Research Experience: Conducted undergraduate research, Honors thesis, technical paper Teaching Experience: taught K-12 math Research Interests: Labor Economics, Education Economics SOP: not yet written Concerns: Very concerned about the lousy grades, I tend to do better in theoretical and proofs based classes. I am also concerned about not having taken graduate level economics and not publishing as an undergrad. Other: Would like to know what my odds of even being considered are, based on the 2 C's and B+ that I have in my math minor Applying to: going for 1 school in the top 10, 2 or 3 schools in top 20, and 6 or 7 schools in top 30.