mathman22

Good Evening everyone, I have a question about how micro theorists place. I have been told micro theory is the hardest market to place in but I do not know if this is true. I also like IO but at this point I slightly prefer micro theory to IO. I do not have any information on how the market is for IO students. Any insight on the placement in either of these fields would be appreciated. As for my particular university there has been some decent placements in IO but the advisor who placed students well recently left. There are some very good micro theorists in the department. Depending on the ranking, it usually ranks somewhere around 30 to 35.

I left the optional ones blank as well. In my view, they are optional for a reason. If they were going to make their decision based on them it would be required.

Check out the U of M applied econ program.

Two things: First, you said you are only taking math classes to get into a decent econ PhD. This tells me you should not get your PhD in econ. If you want to go to a top PhD program the mathematics is going to be rigorous, so if you are not passionate about the beauty of math doing your PhD work is going to be hell. Put that on top of your anxiety issues and it just doesn't seem like a good fit for you at all. You also said you like history and political science, maybe you should look into policy programs. These require less math (in general) and seem to fit your interests. Second, it is clear to me by your comment about the integral that you do not actually understand the material (at least for math). I have spent 2 years in a Master's program for math, have taught my own math sections and tutored in each of those years and I have also taught math full time for a year before I start my PhD and you are a typical student who works hard but simply memorizes how to do problems. I get students like you in my office all the time, they do the problem on a test correctly, get scared they did something wrong cross it off and do a bunch of other nonsense then come to ask me for points since they had the correct work but crossed it off. They say the same thing every time, "I know how to do it I just get nervous" but the fact of the matter is they do not understand it and neither do you. Before you say "I actually do understand it!" let me just say again, you don't understand the material. If you understood the material you would not get nervous because you would know when you are correct. Period. You need to read the book, and understand why they do each step of every problem in the section and understand each theorem and definition. You will probably say you already do this but it is clear to me you don't because if you did, you would not have got nervous about that problem you mentioned. My last advice is to stop checking the solution manual. If you need a solution manual to tell you you are correct you do not understand the material. When I tutor calc II I show kids how to do problems and they always say they understand it but when they move on to their own problems they need the solution manual to figure out the first step every time. These students fail math tests because if you can't get the first step correct a professor can't give you points. Of course sometimes there might be a really hard problem but that is when you should ask your professor who can give you better insights than a solution manual.

Glad I could help!

If I were in your shoes, I would go to UCLA without hesitation. Your biggest concern seems to be placement, but attending UCLA will not prohibit you from being placed at a very good university. If you are a top student and produce good research no one is going to not hire you because you went to UCLA. Moreover, you applied to UCLA so there must have been some appeal at some point I would imagine. Try to remember why you applied there and don't let your post rejection blues alter your decision making. The only other option I would consider is Penn. However, if you are unfunded that means you might not be as good as some of the other applicants who are funded which means you might not place as well due to your lower ranking (speculation of course). Most importantly, it is extremely expensive. Unless you are independently wealthy you really need to ask yourself is Penn that much better than UCLA. I personally would say no. I would not even be considering the MA if I were you. In one year from now you could be finishing up your first year classes at a very good university and well on your way to receiving your doctorate or you could be exactly where you are now.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Small State school, not very good with econ but has a good math faculty Undergrad GPA: 3.39 Type of Grad: MA in mathematics from the same university (I had to improve my profile since I did not have my head on straight initially) Grad GPA:3.89 GRE: V 158, Q 162 AW 4.0 Math Courses: Real A-, Measure A-, Functional A, Matrix Theory A, Linear II A, Financial Math B, Math Modeling A-, Computational Lin Alg, A, Numerical Analysis A, many more with mostly As and Bs Econ Courses: Intermediate Macro A, Intermediate Micro B, I took many more as well but it was a long time ago, Intermediate micro was one of only 2 Bs in my econ classes I ever got but I took it in a semester with 20 credits including Intermediate macro, Lin alg, Calc III and other upper level econ courses Other Courses: Letters of Recommendation: 3 from my math professors. They are definitely unknown in the econ world but come from top 30 math programs. Could attest to my hard work, research and strength in writing (writing math that is) Research Experience: Master's thesis, undergraduate thesis, and worked with a research group in the math department that presented at math conferences Teaching Experience: Have taught college algebra, trig, business calc, and precalc Research Interests: Initially micro but lately macro and econometrics SOP: Standard I am sure Other: I was concerned over a few grades as an undergraduate and my GRE but hoped my MA should get rid of any doubt RESULTS: Acceptances: U of Iowa ($), U of MN applied econ, UNL($) Waitlists: UC Boulder, Purdue Rejections: U of Oregon, Uconn Pending: Attending: University of Iowa Comments: I thought for sure I would get into Uconn and Boulder based upon my strengths and research interests. I thought I would get rejected from Iowa and Purdue due to my poor undergraduate record. What would you have done differently? Apply to at least one dream school. I didn't apply to any because I figured it would be a waste of money, but 80-100 dollars to at least throw my name in the hat to one dream school would have been worth it. All in all I am extremely happy about getting accepted to Iowa.

There is a rejection for Purdue up on GC, has anyone heard from them since the initial round of acceptances a couple weeks back?

Institution: UC Boulder Program: Economics PhD Decision: Wait listed Funding: TBD Notification date: 3/10 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Will remove myself from wait list.

Institution: Uconn Program: Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 3/4/15 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Quite surprised, to be honest. I applied here as a back up school.

One said explicitly he is accepted provided sends official transcripts which show proof of the conferral of his master's degree. The other (the one he is attending) only said he must provide official transcripts but did not mention anything about getting the degree. Edit: He did not ask either program about it. These statements were in his acceptance letters

I would ask the programs that accepted you. I have a friend who applied to two places, one accepted him providing he completed his master's, the other admitted him without this provision. He did not complete his master's so he attended the one without the provision.

Usually the "History of X" is a good thing to talk about that will engage the general audience as well as the academics. For example, I once gave a talk on how Aristarchus used right triangles to estimate the distance from the earth to the moon and sun and people really enjoyed it. It was basic enough for non-mathematicians to enjoy it, but the mathematicians liked it because it was on the history of their field. So maybe a good idea would be to talk about one of the early problems in economics and how that turned into the field you now enjoy studying.

Also, if you plan on self study I would recommend a problem book in real analysis that has solutions that way you can see how to properly write mathematical proofs.

due to your level of training I would recommend Real Analysis and Foundations by Steven Krantz. Rudin is a classic in analysis but requires a good level of mathematical maturity if you plan on self study.

Final Review means you should have your decision in a day or 2. I applied to the applied econ program so I had the same experience. if you google "final review U of M" you should get an explanation from their website.

I would say it depends on how much you like the school. If it is a top choice then going and meeting people can improve your chances. I have a friend who was wait listed at a math program, went to a visitation day spoke to some professors and impressed them so much they gave him an offer the next week.

I didn't think it was possible to refresh my email this often (waiting on Purdue). only 3 on grad cafe though so I wonder if they do it in waves

Institution: University of Oregon Program: Economics PhD Decision: Denied Funding: n/a Notification date: 2/20 Notified through: email Posted on GC:yes Comments: First rejection out of 4 so I am not too upset.

Anyone hear from Oregon? I see 4 on GC but they all identically say "Funding TBA" which seems suspect.

When I was filling out the application I was under the impression that I did not need to send them either. They had received everything else but my application was still not complete. When I sent them it was completed. Here on the econ admission website it states you should send one. Graduate Admissions Information - Purdue Krannert

Congratulations, that has got to be a pretty good feeling!

Got it to work. Mine still only says "under review"

Did you send official transcripts? Mine said something like that until they received my official transcripts. Also, I just tried signing in and there was an error but mine has said "under review" since they received my transcripts 12/4/14

Institution: University of Iowa Program: Economics PhD Decision: admitted Funding: email said offers would be sent out tomorrow Notification date: 2/18 Notified through: email Posted on GC: yes Comments: first funded offer so I am very happy about that. Will probably attend