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Thanks for coming back and bumping your thread so people can see how you got on. It would be great if more people did this. Has your profile changed at all from the original post, and if so can you post another one? I would guess that you're LoRs and Research Experience was a big advantage when applying. Finally, any tips or advice or those yet to apply?

Based on what you've said you are at Oxford. As a non-American I can't accurately say what the reputation of Oxford is in American industry, however I'd be confident in saying that it is good, which will be of help to you. How many years of your DPhil do you have left? I have no experience of working at economic consulting firms, but I'd recommend in your dissertation focusing on econometrics and topics in applied micro. As you've said you're interested in litigation and so on, IO would be your ideal field. I've also seen advice (not sure if here or elsewhere) to be a teaching assistant, so you can demonstrate your communication skills, and you can also say you're good at explaining complex economic ideas in more concise terms, which will be relevant for industry. Out of interest, why are you interested in litigation and antitrust? As I say, I have no experience of such economic consultancy firms, but the work appears to be rather repetitive and uninteresting (could be down to heterogeneous preferences!). Have you done any previous internships in this area before, and if so can you comment on what it was like? Thanks

Unless I am mistaken, you haven't actually posted your profile in the usual format (see the profile and results thread), thus making it difficult for members of the forum to comment on your chances. Considering your MBA/masters/masters thesis, are you really sure you want a degree focused on economics? Your thesis looks marketing focused, not economics. If you wished to gain admission to an economics program within a business school, you will probably need at least a couple of years of part time coursework in economics and maths. Letters of recommendation are very important in the admission process. Do you have a good relationship with at least 3 economics professors (ideally, who regularly publish and have recommended students for economics graduate programs before)? If not, then this will mean that you need even longer before applying to programs. Considering the time required and lost income through preparing for economics admission, I would recommend applying for a management/strategy/marketing degree within a business school, as your MBA/masters degree/ work experience may be of more use. MBAs are not helpful for economics graduate admissions, while your masters degree and work experience are not relevant either.

I think that chateauheart is not negative about people's profile, but (s)he is honest. Considering (s)he is currently in a PhD program, and I believe that program is Harvard, more fool you for ignoring his/her opinion and comments. I've re-read the post above by chateauheart and it is very detailed to help you, so don't shout down other people's well-informed and time-consuming posts so easily in future. If you are interested in research and economics, you can have a career in this area without doing a PhD program. AFAIK many think tanks that work around economics/public policy hire people without PhDs. I hope your anxiety and nervousness continues to get better, but it is unlikely that a PhD will do you any favors in overcoming these hurdles, nor will seriously worrying about every grade. I think your best bet is to find a good study/life balance so that you are not endlessly studying, try to not worry about every grade (I'm sure this is easier said than done), get some research experience after UG, and continue to overcome said hurdles. I think you should only apply for PhD programs if your anxiety is completely under control and the research experience you get means that you definitely want a PhD. Who knows, you many enjoy working for a Fed/think tank so much after UG you may pack in the idea of a PhD after all, and I do not think that this would be a bad outcome for you considering you circumstances. Good luck.

contextual, Although using the search function is good and it can be very useful, crwu was last active on the 15th April 2011, and so I think it is virtually guaranteed that you will not get an answer. If you wish to compare your profile to others to see where you stand, go through all the 'Profile and Results' threads, and keep a look out for profiles that are very similar to yours and where they were accepted/declined. It's worth remembering the most useful profiles will be the most recent ones, as admissions are competitive and the required standard to be accepted can (and does) change over time.

Speak to Professors at your current university and find out where former students went to study. Also use the search function and see if that brings up any useful threads.

Thanks for the reply senorfluffy, but I won't be applying for PhD programs for at least a couple of years, I was just curious. @tm_member If economics students tend not to live with each other in the first year, do they just rent a flat on their own (assuming no partner). Is that not a bit lonely for when people aren't studying, as well as more expensive? Is it common for students to post up on a Facebook page for incoming graduate students (of all subjects) at a particular school to try and group together for housing, meaning that engineers could be living with economics and so on? Apologies for all the questions, but as a non-American who hasn't been through grad school 1st year I am interested as to how it all works!

If I may add to the original question, out of those who do live with fellow 1st year students, how do you meet and arrange the accommodation? Of course if one does not attend the open day then the only obvious way of organising it is through Facebook. Does this happen frequently and is it successful - do the housemates get on?! Thanks

Post a full Profile like those in the 'Roll Call' thread, as any deficiencies in your profile may affect which masters degree is best for you.

Have a look at the LSE job market page. There is a candidate with a LSE PhD (currently a post doc elsewhere) who did the BSc in Economics and Econometrics from Nottingham, and got into LSE MSc economics. I don't see why you would be at any disadvantage coming from the MSc at Notts. I believe that I have also read on this forum (from 2012?) of a student getting into UCSD for PhD with a masters from Notts. For the OP, if you already have decent LoRs sorted from undergrad/your current masters, take the Notts MSc offer and during your year at Notts apply to PhD programs, and you should get into UCL for MRes/PhD. A word of warning on UK PhD admissions though. They tend to be conditional on your masters grade, which is different to US PhD offers. Whether you choose Notts or UCL, work your socks off during the masters to get a distinction.

Based on my limited knowledge they were at their worst period around the Millennium, but they do seem to be improving with some decent hires (e.g. Munshi, Matt Elliott, Carvalho, Linton). Their placement looks OK as long as you don't want to work academically in the US. One thing that I do find confusing is that they only have a 1 year masters, whereas Oxford and Warwick have two year masters degrees and LSE and UCL both require a MSc and then a MRes and a MPhil respectively. Could anyone on here shed any light is to how good the masters preparation is for research? How well it compares to the US and other PhD programs (such as those already mentioned)?

This needs to be in the 'FAQ about Grad School and Useful Links' thread alongside similar posts. Thanks for the great post.

You need to post a complete profile for users to give you some advice. Look a the Roll Call 2015 thread for examples. For modules like 'Mathematical economics', state in detail what is covered, as this can vary a lot from university to university.

My personal view is that the start date of the RA job may be a factor in how strong the letters can be (if the OP is applying to PhDs in Autumn 2015). If the job starts in the summer (Let's saying beginning of July) that will be two or so extra months of full time work RAing compared to a autumn start (eg mid September). That extra two months in the summer means that the potential letter writer will be able to write a stronger letter. Anyway, regardless of the start date, I think you should take the RA job. Duke is your dream school and you like development. The job is RAing in development topics at Duke. The job couldn't really be a better fit for you.

See link below: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/154609-worth-visiting-when-wait-listed.html

I believe that I have previously read that Brown's cohorts tend to be smaller than most other cohorts. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, that will be good for interaction between students and Profs.

I am sorry if I am being naive, but how does meeting some of the potential incoming cohort matter?

Personally I think that the OP can easily get into LSE with a masters from BGSE. I haven't heard of LSE being 'excessively selective' before regarding where a student obtained their MSc from, but UPF/BGSE is one of the best department's in Europe.

If you don't mind me asking, when you say BGSE is funded, is that tuition fees at well as a stipend for living costs, or funding just for the tuition fees? For BGSE the most funding I've seen is tuition only.

AFAIK BGSE and Bocconi offer tuition fee waivers, but they do not offer any support for living costs. Whilst CEMFI, UC3M and UAB do all offer support for tuition fees as well as living costs, I think two years in a masters and then 5 or 6 years in a PhD is too much for the OP (my personal opinion). And from a more practical view, would your wife and child be happy to move to Europe for a year to then go back the the US (presumably)? If you really do not want to go to this school and you wish to go somewhere higher ranked, get RAing to get better letters and also take grad econ (not maths) classes. You already have a joint honours in pure maths, so the grad maths classes are probably of little benefit.

Assuming that the offer from this school is funded and the funding is of a decent standard, I would accept this offer. You say that you don't want to be an impoverished student for 5 years, but you also say that you are happy to study abroad, however you may have to pay tuition and living costs abroad for a year, compared to getting funding from this school. Do you see how this financially doesn't make sense? (This isn't a dig at all)

I also think it looks an excellent profile. While RAing I would take PhD micro/metri.cs, and if possible maybe a PhD field module related to your interests. Also, when RAing or taking more economics modules, it may be worth trying to get two LoRs from people with better connections than the 'no-name' LAC professors. Rather than solo author papers into C journals, it would be better to wait, keep trying to improve them and get them into better journals. I have read on here before that papers in journals that aren't highly ranked may actually go against you, and there's no point in rushing to publish average papers so that you can include than in a PhD application. Apart from that, your profile looks near faultless to me.

Based on the information in the original post, the two main issues are LoR reputations and the GRE quant score. I think some schools screen applicants based on their GRE quant score, so this may have put you into the automatic reject pile at various places. If your LoRs have a lack of connections at top schools (eg. PhD, coauthors, visiting positions, AP) this may also be a reason for you being rejected by most schools. Assuming most of the econ/maths grades are As, I don't see a masters being much use, but you need to get a full time RA position to get better LoRs, and retake the GRE to get a better quant score. Also I don't see the point in take grad maths modules either, as they are unlikely to help much with economics PhD admissions. PhD micro/metrics would be far more useful modules to take, ideally at a well-known school.

Disclaimer: I could be well off the mark with my views. I think that an empirical RA job is easily your best bet, even though you wish to research in theory. With research interests in theory but experience in empirical, I think you'll look well rounded. While RAing you could also take a grad module. A couple of years back Outofgame (a former user on here) was rejected by the top 20, got a RA job for two years (I think Fed?) and took a grad course (I believe PhD micro?), and when he reapplied he was accepted by everywhere, and decided to go to MIT. The power of LoRs and research experience.

What I find interesting about PEG at Harvard is that a lot of the research is in fact outside of political economy. Many current students are researching applied micro areas, but there is also research in finance as well as international, macro and macro labour for example. AFAIK one of the JMCs researching in finance is getting lots of flyouts in B-Schools, despite being in a program that sounds more like a public policy or politics program.