jonthawk

I'm sorry you got downvoted for that (I suppose it was because this thread is strictly for admissions decisions.) I'm super pumped about Yale, and it might have been my top choice anyway (they're great at metrics and empirical IO), but getting rejected from comparably/lower ranked programs is a bit of a blow to my ego haha.

Institution: NYU Program: Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: I've been rejected everywhere but Yale, which is starting to make that feel like an accident...

Institution: Northwestern Program: Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 3/6/15 Notified Through: Email Comments: In: Yale - Out: MIT, Harvard, Northwestern

Institution: MIT Program: Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 2/21/15 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: "We believe you will have excellent offers from other schools"

Institution: Yale Program: PhD Economics Decision: Admitted Funding: 36k Notification date: 02/20/2015 Notified through: email Posted on GC: - Comments:

I just received a relatively prestigious university award (given to one senior from the econ department or the business school.) Should I write to the (pending) Econ PhD programs I applied to to inform them?

From the NYU website: "Do not be concerned about getting letters from "important" academics or researchers. We can tell a lot about your letter writers from the letters they have written before, and from the way they write. These things matter a lot more than whether your recommender has won the Nobel Prize in economics (often, the so-called "important" people don't have the time to write a serious letter) My impression is that unless you've worked closely with these professors and they have done research in your field, their citation count isn't important. A good letter from a less-well-known professor is going to be better than some boilerplate from a famous one. I've heard that personal relationships between recommenders and people on the adcoms can be super helpful though. And ceteris paribus having important recommenders can't hurt you!

I know it's close to the deadline, but Northwestern's grad school application has an optional "diversity statement." How important is this statement, and (since I'm not "diverse" in any clear way) what kinds of things could I say?

I've been heavily involved in financial literacy education and helped start a community loan fund at my university. Should I / How do I work this into my SoP? I'm interested in bounded rationality and development, so these activities sort of connect to my research interests, but will Adcoms care? More generally, what's the best way to talk about non-academic involvement in a statement of purpose?

I'm currently started freaking out about my plans for next year! I have a sense that I'm a relatively strong candidate, but I'm really not sure where I fit in terms of schools that might accept me. Is top 10 too high? Maybe I should aim more for the 10-20 range? Lower? Also I have this crazy plan about getting a masters in Europe and trying again. I'd love to get some feedback on whether or not that makes sense! PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: T 40 Public - Big state school. Undergrad GPA: 3.98/4.0 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: V170/Q167/5 Math Courses: Hon Calc 2-4, HOn Linear Algebra I & II, Hon Modern Algebra, Hon Intro ODEs, Intro Prob & Stats, Probability Theory I (hon) & II, Numerical Analysis, Real Analysis (Hon intro and graduate level), Hon Intro Complex Analysis Econ Courses (grad-level): 1st year Micro sequence, Game Theory, Growth - next semester IO, Network Games Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro, Intro Macro, Micro Theory, Macro Theory, Poverty and Wealth, Econometrics I, Game Theory, plus Advanced Econometrics and Development Economics (B+) at LSE. (all As or A+s except for the one B+) Other Courses: Computer Science BA, French minor Letters of Recommendation: 1) My Prof for game theory and the graduate micro sequence 2) Prof that I took honors intro micro with, was his TA for two semesters. Close relationship. 3) Prof who I took micro theory, poverty and wealth, and grad growth with, current adviser for honors thesis. Research Experience: Honors thesis on measuring poverty with Engel curves, work on empirical pricing dynamics with informatics prof (game theory+machine learning+some information theory.) Nothing concrete but enough to talk about. Teaching Experience: Three semesters of Micro Theory, one of intro macro, one of Data Structures (CS) Research Interests: Game theory, behavioral models, dynamics and disequilibrium. Maybe IO? SOP: Standard. I found a couple of people at each school whose work I'm interested in, so I'll tailor towards each program. Broadly interested in applications to development. Will try to work in research and extracurriculars. Concerns: I come from a less prestigious university/program. No solid research. Other: I founded an Economics club at my university and helped start a social impact fund. I am also a peer adviser for the office of financial literacy. Are these things that I should play up or is coursework/ research the main thing? I'm also interested in the impact of doing a masters at PSE or the Tripos vs. going straight into a (possibly lower than my target) PhD? Is it worth it to do the masters and then reapply (assuming that I'll really enjoy both?) Applying to: APE/ETE Masters at Paris School of Economics, Cambridge Tripos, MIT, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Northwestern, Brown A couple of my friends (who I compare pretty evenly with) have gone to or been admitted to the Tripos, so I feel like that's pretty safe. PSE also has a reasonably high acceptance rate. My current plan is to see if I get into any of my "reach" PhDs, and if not, do a masters and reapply. I've received mixed opinions about whether this is a good idea. I'd really appreciate your thoughts! Thanks!

There was a profile evaluation not too long ago where somebody mentioned being an RA as preparation for getting into top PhD programs. This isn't something I know much about/ had considered before, and from the looks of the original thread, I wasn't alone in this. What is being an RA like? What are the advantages vs. going straight to grad school? How do you get a good one? Stuff like that.

I want to get a PhD from a top tier program eventually, but for relationship reasons doing a 2-year masters at Paris School of Economics (the APE program) would be extremely convenient. From what I can read it seems like a top-tier program, and it's affordable too. On the other hand, I'm coming out of undergrad with a strong transcript (including grad classes in math & econ) and good faculty recommendations. Some people I've talked to have said that I'm in a better position to get into a top tier (e.g. MIT, Harvard) program if I apply straight out of undergrad. Is doing the masters going to set me back? Is it possible to defer PhD programs while I pursue the masters? Thanks!

Tirole immediately comes to mind as a top-tier French economist. Duflo is one of the most influential development economists and there's Piketty too. He was a star even before he topped the best-seller lists.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: T 30 Public Undergrad GPA: 3.98/4.0 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: V170/Q167/5 Math Courses: Calc 2-4, Linear Algebra I & II, Modern Algebra, Intro ODEs ODEs, Intro Prob & Stats, Probability Theory I & II, Numerical Analysis, Real Analysis (Intro and graduate level), Intro Complex Analysis Econ Courses (grad-level): 1st year Micro sequence, Game Theory, Growth Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro, Intro Macro, Micro Theory, Macro Theory, Poverty and Wealth, Econometrics I, Game Theory, plus Advanced Econometrics and Development Economics (B+) at LSE. (all As or A+s except where noted) Other Courses: Computer Science major, French minor Letters of Recommendation: 1) My prof for game theory and the graduate micro sequence 2) Prof that I took honors intro micro with, was his TA for two semesters. Close relationship. 3) Prof who I took micro theory, poverty and wealth, and grad growth with, current adviser for honors thesis. Research Experience: Honors thesis on measuring poverty with Engel curves, work on empirical pricing dynamics (machine learning + game theory) Teaching Experience: Three semesters of Micro Theory, one of intro macro, one of Data Structures (CS) Research Interests: Game theory, behavioral models, dynamics and disequilibrium SOP: Standard. Broadly interested in applications to development Concerns: I come from a less prestigious university/program. No published research. Other: I founded an Economics club at my university, and I am a peer adviser for the office of financial literacy. I'm heavily considering doing a Master's at Paris School of Economics for relationship reasons. Applying to: APE masters at Paris School of Economics, most of the top 10 (definitely MIT / Harvard, even if its a bit of a reach) plus a few further down just to be safe.