fylgja

As an extension to the OP, what could waitlisted international applicants who are invited to but unable to attend the open house day do to strengthen their chances of admission?

Hi again. Not quite sure if this is the right place to post this question, but since I am applying for Masters programs in Applied Economics (or related fields): As an international student, I wonder whether it will be disadvantageous to my chances of admission to indicate I wish to be considered for merit-based assistantships and scholarships? I will have to submit proof of funding to any US program before a visa can be granted, which implies financial aid is not absolutely necessary, but of course it would be nice to have. I am worried it might be a negative signal to adcoms that I do not need, however. Is there a consensus on this option? Thank you for the input in advance!

Bump? :dispirited:

It was not a research-oriented program. I do not live in North America, and enrolling in normal courses as a non-degree-seeking student does not seem to be possible here. Hence my targeting applied economics programs as a more forgiving, but still-quantitative middle-ground between policy and pure economics, and where my work experience might actually be considered a plus.

Hello again! I am currently finalizing my applications for this cycle and need suggestions as to other Masters in Applied Economics (especially with strength in resources and the environment) I could target, both in the US and outside it, especially in Canada, although European and Australian options are welcome too. At the moment, I plan to try for the PhD afterward, so I feel a two-year program with thesis will give me more time to make up for my weak undergraduate background. Hence, I have not included any one-year MAs in my shortlist, although I would be open to doing so with sufficient reason. PROFILE Type of Undergrad.: Bachelor in Economics (top-15 US university) Undergrad. GPA: Type of Grad.: Master in International Political Economy (qualitative) Grad. GPA: 3.76 / 4.0 GRE: Q 166, V 165, AWA 4.0 Math. Courses: Calculus (A+, described as a "second course in Calculus" so assumed = Calc. II), Multivariable Calculus (B), Differential Equations (C+); all Engineering sequence Econ. Courses (undergrad-level): Intermed. Macro. (B-), Intermed. Micro. (C-), Game Theory (B), Resource (A-), Behavioral (C-), Applied Econometrics (A-), Analysis of the University (B+), Analysis of Politics (B-), Environmental (B-) Letters of Recommendation: 1) Prof. in NR (PhD. Wisconsin), hoping he can mitigate my lack of demonstrable mathematics ability by attesting that I was able to handle the optimization material in his course with some success. 2) Prof. in Economics and Education (PhD. Columbia) for whom I am RAing and am doing a range of quantitative research. 3) A good letter from either of two graduate professors whose classes I performed well in. Research Experience: Current internship working on environmental economics-based policy report for local think-tank and RA for economist specializing in education. Research Interests: Natural Resource and Environmental Economics SOP: Research interests and experience, uneven grades. Provisionally Applying to: - US: Yale F&ES, Cornell AEM, Duke Nicholas School, UC Davis, Maryland, Arizona, Colorado State, Connecticut, Minnesota, Wisconsin (UCSB Bren School?) - Canada: Alberta, Dalhousie, Guelph Concerns: - Undergraduate GPA - Is it worth completing "optional" supplementary statements? - Need more schools; Canada and US preferred.

Anybody? :dispirited:

Another bump, but with new questions! These are still pertinent to the thread title, so I did not feel it necessary to open a new one yet. 1. Apart from Duke, which other universities offer respected preparatory Masters in Econ. in the US, Canada (any outside the Big Four?) and Europe? I understand it is unlikely I will be competitive for these, but would still like a list to look into. 2. There are so many departments affiliated with the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association! Given increasing opportunity cost and diminishing returns, how should I construct my list of programs to apply to? (Although this is a simple question, as far as I can tell it has never been directly addressed here. Most suggestions are given as part of a profile evaluation; before making that request, I would like to try winnowing for candidate schools myself. However, I have no idea what factors I should consider to judge whether a school might be a good fit for me, aside from an interest in environmental and resource over agricultural economics).

Bump! Still looking for advice regarding the above general questions.

Assuming that the train-wreck has settled for the moment, then, let me try to put this thread back on track by recapping and clarifying where I am at so far: My undergraduate degree is in economics. Unfortunately, things messed up. I recognize there is no way my present profile would be considered for an economics PhD. I have been hoping Masters adcoms would consider my generally poor economics and mathematics results in the general context that when they went wrong, so did everything else (in other words, not because I am incapable of higher-level work in economics and mathematics). If I understand the advice here, however, this is unlikely to matter. I need to make up for my poor quantitative undergraduate grades if my ultimate goal is a theoretically-oriented PhD. I realize my qualitative Masters cannot help me in this regard. I am presently looking into taking courses during this gap year as an independent student. I would also like to try applying to research-based Masters for admission in 2015. My thinking is that the technical training will enhance my opportunities for employment and allow me to experience proper academic research, which would also help me decide if I want to continue onwards. To me, these advantages look like they justify the two-year opportunity cost. In economics, I am aware of only one preparatory MA in the US at Duke. Judging from the forums, however, American MAs in economics do not place students into PhDs as well. I am open to studying elsewhere but it seems frequently-mentioned programs such as the Canadian "Big Four", Oxbridge and LSE would be far too competitive for someone in my situation. It appears I should target Masters in less quantitative and more applied fields, during which I should still have the opportunity to retake the core signals of competency. So far, I am now considering agricultural and resource/environmental economics and public policy. Questions If I apply for Masters to improve my quantitative standing, would doing distance learning courses in mathematics (or economics) this year be necessary or worth it, given that the results will not affect the outcome of my Masters applications? I am internationally-based and cannot do so at home, so this will have to be through distance learning. I am strongly leaning towards the University of London's Diplomas for Graduates. Based on previous threads I have also looked at Illinois Netmath and Stanford EPGY, but they require an outside proctor for the final exams which is not necessary for the UoL DipGrad. Also while browsing past posts, I saw one or two cases where students were admitted to Masters conditional on completing preparatory courses in the summer. Would it hurt to inquire about this to Directors of Graduate Studies? Apart from ARE and PP, have I missed any other Masters fields which might serve as preparation for an Economics PhD, should I wish to pursue one on completion, that could be appropriate for me? Any other advice is of course welcome!

Wow, the situation here has really turned into a mess. Being new to these forums, I am ignorant of past history and have therefore refrained from (nor had any appetite to do so) commenting in the argument that has developed here. However, publicaffairsny, I must say this statement rather rudely affirms that what yankeefan and others have said bears repeating: the advice in this thread is not directed at you nor, it seems, your situation. I would like to thank everyone else who has taken the time to write so far. It seems many of your comments address in part apparent misconceptions and deliberate vagueness in my original post. I am feeling a little more comfortable with giving out a little further detail and would be happy to clarify things for better advice, although I am hesitant to do that in this thread given how it has so spectacularly derailed.

Hello, everyone! I am one of those numerous students who did poorly as an undergraduate, but remain interested in pursuing an economics PhD. (1) I would like to try my hand at economics once more by completing a relevant Masters to improve my profile. My position is that my bachelor's results were an aberration due to external factors, and is supported by a much better performance in a one-year (taught and qualitative, unfortunately) Masters program in political economy. How would Masters adcoms assess this argument? (2) From browsing this forum, I am aware that Masters from the Canadian Big 4 (UBC, Toronto, Queens, UWO) and Oxbridge, LSE and UCL in the UK all have good PhD placement records. Are there any such preparatory Masters in the US, excepting one I already know of at Duke? What about on the European continent? (3) I would also be happy to do a similar program in an applied field, like the Master of Environmental Science in Economics at Yale. Again, what other programs would offer good preparation for an economics PhD? Apart from resource and environmental economics, I have research interests in behavioral, economics of education, political economy, and interdisciplinary work. Finally, I am open to any suggestions of related fields whose doctoral programs might be more forgiving of a weak quantitative transcript. For example, the PhDs in political economy at HKS and Stanford are on my radar, as well as that in social science at Caltech discussed in another recent thread. Thank you all for your time in advance!