pocketecon

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BS Finance and Mathematics, NYU Stern Undergrad GPA: 3.83/4 Type of Grad: MBA at IIM A/B/C (top B school India) Grad GPA: 6.92/9 GRE: Q: 168, V: 162 Math Courses: Calc 1-3, Linear Algebra, ODE, Analysis 1, Algebra 1, Math Modeling, Vector Analysis Econ Courses: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics Letters of Recommendation: 3 Professors from MBA program Research Experience: Undergraduate Thesis at NYU Stern Teaching Experience: TA - Marketing and Math Tutor at NYU Research Interests: International Economics and Finance SOP: My SOP was well structured and I managed to tie in all my achievements, extracurricular activities, research and teaching experience to create a narrative about why I wanted to pursue a Masters and a PhD. The key, I think is to explain why you did what you did and how it relates to the various aspects of a PhD in economics and life thereafter. RESULTS: Acceptances: Oxford MPhil, Cambridge MPhil, LSE EME, UCL MSc, UoT MA (TAship) Rejections: UBC MA Attending: Oxford MPhil Comments: Was surprised to get rejected by UBC What would you have done differently? I wish I had applied to some programs in the top 30, would have saved me two years and lots of money. But at the beginning of the application season, I honestly did not feel confident of cracking a funded offer at any of the top 30 programs. I also wish I had applied to CEMFI as the program would have offered the same benefits as Oxford MPhil but at a significantly lower cost. How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions? Fairly accurate, as most posters predicted that I would crack one or two of the aforesaid institutions.

I think Harvard, MIT and Princeton have explicitly mentioned on their websites that the candidates admitted have had scores above 95th percentile (169/170). The other programs in top 10 do take candidates with lower scores (as indicated by the lower average scores reported by them). So assuming that all other aspects of your application are competitive, can we assume that this strategy applies only for Harvard/MIT/Princeton?

Can you please elaborate on your experience with their PhD students and the knowledge of the course and professors?

Can anyone tell me where do the top UK and European programs feature in the top 50, if we were to categorize them using buckets or in absolute rank terms? There is lot of variability in the different rankings out there on the web for these universities. Specifically, can anyone tell me where would LSE and Oxford feature?

@Kazakh - given your background and other offers, LSE EME is definitely the place to go I feel. I also have an offer from LSE EME, and would have opted for it as well had it not been for personal reasons (choosing Oxford MPhil). Have you had a look at the textbooks they have asked us to go through ? They have given a list in the offer email and it should give you an idea of what's in store.

If you do not mind sharing, what other offers do you have besides LSE EME ?

@specious and @tutonic: Thank you for your inputs. I'll be opting for Oxford.

Yes, Oxford is way more cheaper on a per year basis, given the lower tuition fees, accommodation costs and living expenses. The 2 year cost for Oxford is slightly more than the one year LSE EME cost, but given that the EME degree at LSE will be followed by either a MRes at LSE or a year of RA'ship, the overall 2 year cost of going down the LSE path is significantly higher.

Apologies for digressing, but can anyone tell me what is the general consensus regarding the most trustworthy ranking methodologies these days ?

@tutonic: Yes I've considered the track record of LSE EME which is why I'm leaning towards Oxford. I don't see the point going through an extremely difficult program, where your maximum effort may not be adequate enough to guarantee a distinction. Of course obtaining a distinction at Oxford and continuing onto DPhil is also difficult, but the break up of the program into two years makes is relatively less difficult. As far as CEMFI is concerned, I'll concede it was a genuine case of overlooking from my side. I wish I had applied to it as well, but given that the funding deadline is passed, I'll just work with the ones I have for now.

Hello everyone, I have had the good fortune of obtaining offers from four programs in the UK, namely: 1. MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics - LSE 2. MPhil Economics Oxford 3. MPhil Economic Research Cambridge 4. MSc Economics UCL Few facts about me: Research interests: International trade/economics/macroeconomics PhD Plan: Complete one of the aforesaid degrees, work hard for a distinction and then apply to selective top 10 US PhD. I intend to continue my PhD at the original university if I am unable to get accepted into a top 10 PhD program in the US. Post PhD Plan: Work in academia in the Asia Pacific, especially Singapore/Hong Kong or my home country - India. Personal facts: Married with an infant daughter, and my family will accompany me for most of my PhD studies. Funding: Although I can self-finance the MSc/MPhil programs, I am hoping to get funded for the DPhil/PhD stage since I have two dependents along with me. Given the aforesaid information, I need help in determining which offer to choose. I have ruled out UCL and Cambridge for now, since these two programs are relatively inferior to the above two in several aspects (please let me know if I should re-consider this for any reason). Hence the choice is between LSE and Oxford for me. Presently I'm inclined towards Oxford since it is a 2 year program and enables me to balance academics and family duties perfectly. LSE's EME is definitely very hard and prestigious but I'm not sure if the marginal increase in prestige justifies the marginal decrease in the quality of life. To sum up, are these two program similar enough in prestige/future prospects/department strengths to justify decision-making simply on non academic aspects ? I look forward to your valuable opinions.

Still have not received any update/email on Toronto's MA program. Do they send out offers all at once?

Yeah sure

Hello, I am a fellow IIM C student, also interested in pursuing a PhD in Economics. I was in a worse situation than you since my grades at IIM C weren't stellar and I did not have great LoRs. To rectify my own situation, I applied for MSc programs in Europe and Canada and have got into two so far (UCL and LSE EME). For people in our situation, I believe we have to tread the more difficult path of doing a stepping stone Master's because doing so gives us the following benefits: 1. We get to improve our profile by taking relevant economic courses - LSE EME for example is equivalent to first year PhD coursework 2. Develop relations with Professors who can be future referees 3. Open the path of pursuing RA positions abroad post completion of degree, thereby ensuring another LoR option (your RA supervisor) 4. Some MSc programs offer direct progression to the PhD track if you perform well This path takes more time than usual and would involve significant cost (the UK programs are very expensive). But Indian students get the chance to apply for INLAKS scholarship and last year a student from LSE EME got this scholarship. I will be applying for this one too this year and I hope I get it. So I suggest you to keep your head high and not lose hope. If you opt for this path and do well in your MSc program, you will significantly improve your chances for PhD admission.

Institution: London School of Economics and Political Science Program: MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: None Notification date: 2/15/2017 Notified via: LSE for you Portal

Thanks for your input, I will be trying to reach out to faculty at my undergrad institution for help in this regard. Hopefully things should work out then!

Thank you everyone for the feedback !!

Unfortunately the OPT route is out for me since I graduated 4 years ago and my F1 has expired. It seems that the only possible option is the G-4 visa. There is a J-1 visa for research scholars but I am not sure whether that is meant for RA's or Professors.

I am currently applying to one year Master's programs in Economics (LSE/UBC/UoT/UCL). I plan to apply for PhD in Economics after completion of the degree and work in a RA position in the intermediary year between completion of Master's and commencement of PhD. Being an international student from India, several positions are out of our scope due to sponsorship issues or citizenship restrictions. In this context, I had the following questions: 1. What are the various RA positions international students can vie for (please list them if you could) ? 2. Do adcoms look upon RAships at RBI (India's central bank) or other India based think tanks favorably? 3. Assuming I pursue a degree at either of LSE/UCL/UoT/UBC how difficult is it to obtain a RA position at each of these institutions post completion of the degree? 4. Which other US/Canadian/European universities or institutions hire international students without restrictions?

thanks, I should definitely finish my application by first week of January but will try to finish it earlier than that.

@specious thanks, an RA gig is something I did not consider till now but now I will definitely give more thought to it @impliedvol I can't take any more math courses since I'm out of college. An RA stint post the Masters is a valuable suggestion which should help me get strong LORs. Thank you for the advice Others - thank you for your valuable inputs and suggestions, they have definitely cooled down some nerves for me!

Hello, I am applying to the LSE MSc Economics 2 yr course this year. Unlike other schools, LSE has not given an explicit deadline for this course and accepts applications on a rolling basis (applications opened from October). I have contacted my professors for references and should hopefully procure them by mid December and apply by the last week of December/first week of January. Would that be too late to apply given the rolling process? Does anyone know till how long does LSE go on to accept intakes for this program?

Hello, I am interested in the 2 year MSC Economics Program at LSE. My goal is to pursue a PhD thereafter. These are my profile details. Undergraduate: NYU Stern Majors: Finance and Mathematics (double degree) GPA: 3.83/4.00 (summa cum laude) Math GPA: 3.95/4.00 Math Coursework: Analysis I, Algebra I, Probability and Statistics, ODE, Linear Algebra, Calc 1-3 Econ Coursework: Economics of Global Business, Microeconomics (grades are A+ in everything except for A in Analysis) Honors Thesis: Did a year long thesis under the selective Honors Thesis program Postgraduate: IIM A/B/C (top 3 MBA program in India) GPA: 6.92/9.00 Coursework: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics (A in Micro and Macro and B in Econometrics) GRE: Q: 168 V: 162 LORs: Weak (will get them from my postgraduate professors who don't know me that well plus its been 2 years since I graduated) Work Experience: 2 years in family business in commodity trading Target Programs (in order of preference): 1. LSE MSc Economics 2. UCL MSc Economics Are my credentials sufficient to give a shot at LSE MSC econ ? I plan to apply by December end this year. Will that be too late? Should I wait out a year and work on some of the weak areas such as LORs?

Thank you for those positive words; I just wanted to clarify - did you mean top 30 PhD or masters' programs ?

Thank you for your opinion !