Sumaiya Rahman

1. Yes to ranks - it's not great at the moment, 13/20. 2. I've spoken to 3 professors, who are willing to recommend me and said that my grades aren't reflective of my 'potential'. Usually, those pursuing higher ed from my school, are up in the ranks - which makes perfect sense. 3. I am currently doing a 2 year MA in economics, where my GPA is weak. Part of it is because I did miserably in the first semester (a lot of personal issues + getting back to school after 3 years of work). However, there is an upward trend (last semester, I had only A's). Im taking advanced classes now (PhD first yr) and some MA level classes. I have 1 semester of MA math, 2 semesters of econometrics. Problem is, even if I DO succeed in pulling up my GPA, it will reach maybe 3.5 (if I'm really lucky). I'm confused on whether I should apply to another more specialized MA program, or skip a year while I work, and try for PhD In the upcoming year. I am very interested in behavioral economics and public policy, so I do like the advice on PhD in public policy. Thanks to all the advice!

Thank you for the advice. My UG was from Bangadesh, and I had applied to 2 canadian schools and 1 dutch, with no success. My grad school is in Hungary, which is also not that popular, but a vast improvement from my UG. I have 3 years of work experience in a swiss development project, and about 6 months as RA. One of the more policy oriented papers will be available online, not a journal but in the EC project site. I hope that will count. I'm interested to do my PhD because I love reading and writing papers. It gives me the most joy. I could do it all the time. My GPA weakness stems from a rough personal time and I am determined to overcome it.

Hi, I am an economics student and I want to apply for a PhD in Economics. However, my profile feels rather weak: Undergrad GPA: 3.68 (in a developing country, so university not ranked) Masters GPA: 3.31 (also not a good ranking university) GRE: 160 in Verbal, 161 in Quantitative I would ideally like to study more of behavioral economics and work on designing better policies. I was considering PhD in Public Policy, but without going to a top school, I'm sure I will be skipped over for most jobs. I want to work in a research institute or academia. Any advice? Should I apply to a higher ranked MA school and would they be willing to take me? Or, should I try working on research? Thanks