marblenm

Thanks for the update!

Thank you please do!

@jklimek I still have not heard anything from UNC. Someone from my undergrad university's PhD program said that UNC offered him an unfunded offer on April 12 last year so at this point I don't have high hopes for a funded offer.

Which analysis book will the class use?

It doesn't look legitimate. UNC's posted application deadline was Jan 6th and the GC poster received an offer on Jan 26th. Their website also said that they would continue accepting applications after the deadline and consider those for funding as well, so such an early decision does not seem likely. Also, looking back at GC's 2016 results, there was one UNC acceptance posted on Jan 28th while the rest were posted late March. I'm not buying it...

@eatorange I got a very generic waitlist email from Maryland with no mention of priority, so you must be near the top!

Institution: Illinois Urbana-Champaign Program: PhD in Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 21K Fellowship + 4 year TA Notification date: 2/17/17 Notified via: Email

Institution: U of Oregon Program: PhD Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: TBD Notification date: 2/9/17 Notified via phone, snail mail, or email: email Comments:

Hello, Like many on this forum, I came to economics late in my undergrad and had to play catch up. I followed the standard course advice and am currently taking an introductory analysis course as well as metrics and micro at the grad level. I'm also in my second year as a research fellow under a university program and I've worked with various professors around the department, so I have a decent amount of general research experience. Simply put, I jammed a lot into a two year span and I am starting to feel like I could really benefit from taking another year to focus on a few core tasks in order to round out my preparation for a PhD. I expressed this to one of my professors the other day and asked for his opinion on RA positions at the Fed, NBER, etc. His response was that the work I would do as an RA wouldn't be any different from the work I am currently doing and that if academia truly is the end game, there are alternative preparation routes. He has offered to mentor me through a research intensive masters, meaning that I will continue to take advanced math courses and then most of my my econ credits will come from stacked 'independent study' courses. The majority of my time will be devoted to essentially being his research assistant, but I will technically be a masters student. Additionally, I will be able to apply for PhD programs in next year's cycle, rather than in two years. The professor recently directed the AEA summer program when it was at our school so I have no doubt that he is aware of what it takes to prepare for a PhD program. It is a small and highly specialized econ department, but that is exactly why I have this opportunity in the first place. He really pushed the point that I will be hard pressed to find this type of individualized training and that I will get exposure to the entire spectrum of research rather than "just running endless regressions at the Fed". My biggest concern is that the payoff of holding out for another year will be negligible. That I will spend my time learning things that I am going to learn in a PhD program anyways, and that it ultimately won't influence the range of schools that I am/will be competitive for. At the same time, this route will lead to genuine and well justified LOR from three professors that I have already established relationships with during my undergrad. Sorry for the long post. I'm really just hoping for some outside perspectives on what implications this type of masters would have on cracking the T20. Thanks in advance!

A little late to the party but....no love for Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments? That seems to be as good a place as any to start.

I have had so much trouble getting this kind of answer from any single professor, adviser, or grad student. Thank you all so much!!

I believe this will be my intro to proofs course: [TABLE] [TR] [TD] Math 327 [ 3 ] Introduction to Mathematical Thinking and Discrete Structures [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Description: Course will introduce students to the fundamentals of mathematical proof in the context of discrete structures. Topics include logic, sets and relations, functions, integers, induction and recursion, counting, permutations and combinations and algorithms. [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] And here is Advanced Calc II [TABLE] [TR] [TD] Math 402 [ 3 ] Advanced Calculus II [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Description: Generalization of 401/501 to several variables and metric spaces: sequences, limits, compactness and continuity on metric spaces; interchange of limit operations; series, power series; partial derivatives; fixed point, implicit and inverse function theorems; multiple integrals. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] A little off topic, but how would adcoms view an in-progress course? (i.e. apply Fall 2016, take advanced calc II Spring 2017, after applying.) Would previous course indicators give them faith that I will do well in the course?

So I cannot find anything definitive on what exactly Real Analysis entails. Going through my university course catalog, the only course with real analysis in the title or description is: [TABLE] [TR] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Math 461 [ 4 ] Introductory Real Analysis for Engineers [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Description: Continuity, differentiability and integrability for functions of one real variable. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] I go to a large flagship, so I am sure the actual material that I need is in these courses somewhere. This advanced calc course looks similar to some of the descriptions for real analysis that I've seen on here: [TABLE] [TR] [TD] Math 401 [ 4 ] Advanced Calculus I [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD] Description: Rigorous treatment of calculus in one variable. Definition and topology of real numbers, sequences, limits, functions, continuity, differentiation and integration. Students will learn how to read, understand and construct mathematical proofs. Please, someone give me a more thorough description of real analysis, or at least what I am expected to know when adcoms are looking through my application in regards to real analysis. [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

How exactly do adcoms evaluate the quality of the professors that write your letters of rec? I go to a large flagship university, but our econ department is a small applied environmental economics program, and I do not plan on pursuing environmental. I would say two or three of our professors are top-tier, but their work is very applied, so I doubt that their names would be immediately recognized. I have research experience with two of these professors, so I should get quality letters, but really I am making the most out of what the university provides me!!