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Hello, everyone, I’d like your opinions on which schools I should apply for. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 70 State University, Top 15 Econ Department, Dual degrees in Math and Econ Undergrad GPA: 3.31 Master in Economics Type of Grad: Top 40 State University, Top 15 Econ Department Grad GPA: 3.71 GRE: 153V, 167Q, 3.0AWMath Courses: Calculus I-III (B, B, A); Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (B+); Intro to Analysis/Proofs (A-); Applied Linear Algebra (B+); Master level Financial Mathematics (C+), Stochastic Process (A), Master level Honors Analysis I(B-, A(retake)), Master level Honors Analysis(B-, B(retake, I know it is a very bad signal..)); Master level Theory of Statistics (A, A-); Econ Courses (grad-level): Master level microeconomic theory (B, C), Master level microeconomic theory(A, at my master's program), Master level macroeconomic theory(AB), master level Econometrics I-III (A, AB, currently taking), Math for Economists(A), PhD level microeconomic theory(currently taking, highly likely to get an A), PhD level macroeconomic theory(currently taking, highly likely to get an A) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principles of Micro, Principles of Macro, Int. Micro, Int. Macro, Financial Economics, Economic Development, Money and Banking, International Economics, Advanced Quantitative Analysis of the Macroeconomy, Econometrics. Other Courses: Some CS major courses Letters of Recommendation: 1) Research advisor, tenured AP at the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. Solid Letter. 2) Micro theory instructor, AP at the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. Solid letter based on course grade. 3) Titled professor at the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. Not the best student in his class, but he said my writing sample is impressive. Will be a solid letter. 4) Distinguished Chair of the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. My applied econometrics paper advisor. Told me my paper is well-written but not the best among the whole class. 5) Distinguished Chair of the department, Top 5 Econ Ph.D. Supervising my co-authored writing sample with another student in my cohort. Not sure how strong the letter would be. He said it will be based on the final product I submitted to him. Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Econometric theory, micro theory, macro(Yes I have broad interests in all these of areas) I have a co-authored writing sample on proposing a new estimator of discrete choice dynamic panel data model with fixed effect. It turned out to be not a big deal, but at least it was a very good research experience for me. SOP: Mainly focused on my development of writing sample. Concerns: 1)Low undergrad GPA and low GPA on math courses.. 2) Don't have very strong letters... Other: N\A Applying to: Yale, Caltech, UCLA, UMN, Cornell, BU, BC, PSU, MSU, UC Davis, USC, U of Washington, Iowa State, Rice, UCSC, NCSU, Notre Dame, Stonybrook. Please give me comments on this list.. Do I need to apply more/lower ranked schools? Any help will be appreciated!

Thank you for your advice! First, yes I'm a gopher! :excited: I will start to reach out to the professors to see if they would let me into the grad courses. I think I will primary focus on application right now and if things go south, I will definitely try to seek for full-time research after graduation. Again, thanks for your opinion!

First, thank you for you reply! I took cal 1 and cal 2 back in the community college and to be honest, I dont care much about study/grades at that time ( I guess now it pays..) and the master level course is open to both undergrads and graduate student (but most of them are restricted to master students). Only the honors courses and phd level courses need permission to enroll as a undergrad. For the full time research, I will definitely consider this option. I have not yet talked to any professors about the enrollment of the grad courses though, I think I will email them before the semester starts and see if it is possible. Thank you for all these great advises!!

[h=2][/h] Hi, please evaluate my chances for MA and PhD programs. I know my profile is far from enough for Top 20 and willing to go to a master program (as a stepping stone to T20 U.S. PhD) or to a Top 50 program directly. I am an international student who came to U.S. since high school. Then I went to a community college before transferred to my current university. Now I'm rising senior at a public University. The U is ranked overall top 70 in US NEWS (though I think this is ridiculous), and top 15 in Economics. Though the department is decent, but as an undergraduate, it is hard for me to get in touch with professors, since all the classes are taught by current graduate students except for the senior electives, which have strict policy for non-seniors to enroll. The research opportunity is only given to students in university honors program through UROP in the summer and it is very difficult for a transfer student (like me) to enter the program. So basically I have no connections to any professors in the department so far, which means no letters from Econ professor for me at present. But I will try my best to see if I could obtain a letter from the professor next semester (who should be well known in Macro theory) Type of Undergrad: Bachelors in Science, Top 70 Public U Top 15 in Economics Undergrad GPA: 3.5, 3.62 in Economics (3.8 since sophomore) and 3.3 in MathematicsGRE: V152+Q165, will retake in September Math Courses: Calculus I-III (B,B,A); Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (B+); Intro to Analysis/Proofs (A-); Applied Linear Algebra (B+); Master level Financial Mathematics (C+); Master level Honors Analysis I-II (at baby Rudin's level) (B-,B-); Master level Theory of Statistics (A,A-); Introduction to Stochastic Process (A); Grad Probability and Measure Theory (Using Durrett's text) (this fall) Retaking Honors Analysis I this fall Econ Courses: Principles of Micro (B); Principles of Macro (B); Int. Micro (A), Int. Macro (A), Financial Economics (A); Economic Development (A-), Money and Banking (B+); Advanced Quantitative Analysis of the Macroeconomy (the calibration of growth model and some basic real business cycle theory stuff) (this fall); Econometrics (using Greene's Text) (this fall) Letters of Recommendation: One from my statistical theory professor, One from an senior researcher in IMF (has some connections), Still not sure about the third one Research Experience: None Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Econometrics, Macro Theory, Monetary Theory SOP: Generic, will relate to interests in Economics Other: My first concern is my math grades, especially the low grades in honors analysis sequence. I have studied baby rudin (solved many problems in the book) during the summer and I believe I will get a decent grade this time. The C+ in financial math is totally due to insufficient preparations in math. Haven't learned much probability theory at that time and no prior knowledge of stochastic process definitely killed me in the second half of the course which discussed about Black-Scholes model and stochastic pde stuff. My other concern is no grad econ courses under my belt ( not allowed to take as a undergrad) and lack of decent letters. I plan to apply to some Top 20-50 (WUSTL, BU and etc) and a few master programs (DUKE, WISC, LSE, UT-AUSTIN, UBC, U TORONTO, CEMFI, TUFTS and etc) Do you guys think the list above is a reasonable one? Please give any advises as I really can't evaluate myself. Thank you!