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mrmac3

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Everything posted by mrmac3

  1. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BS Dual Major in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, BS Economics @ Satellite State School Undergrad GPA: 3.85 Type of Grad: MS Mathematics @ Same School Grad GPA: 3.96 GRE: 166/166/3.5 Math Courses: A- in grad advanced stochastic dynamic programming; A in grad Analysis I&II, ODE, Numerical Analysis, Numerical PDE, Optimization, Measure Theory, Complex Analysis; taking grad Functional Analysis, Algebraic Topology, Abstract Algebra; B in Calc II; B+ in Calc III, Discrete Math II; A/A+ in Probability, Discrete Math I, Diff Eq, Linear Algebra; Econ Courses: B+ in grad Micro taken in UG; B+ in Intermediate Macro; A/A+ in Game Theory, Econometrics, Managerial Econ, Intl Trade, Intermediate Micro, Money and Banking, Development, Intl Finance, Public Econ, Mathematical Econ Other Courses: A+ in Machine Learning, Senior Design project in Big Data, Artificial Intelligence Letters of Recommendation: 1 from behavioral research prof who is well known (excellent), 1 from robotics research prof (excellent), one from Analysis II prof (probably pretty good), one from former grad student in the robotics lab now AP (excellent) Research Experience: 4 years robotics, 1 year behavioral econ Teaching Experience: None Research Interests:Market Design, Mechanism Design, and Social Choice SOP:I really hate writing application essays. Wrote it in one go and sent the first draft. Basically an annotated list of books that inspired me to study economics. Added a couple professor’s names at the end who I’d like to work with. (Found a spelling mistake after sending it to 90% of my applications. I think it is true they don’t really read these.) Other: Had a couple robotics papers as third author. RESULTS: Acceptances: Caltech ($$$), University of Arizona ($$), Ohio State University, CS Program @ Alma Mater ($$) Waitlists: University of Chicago($$$$), UCLA, Boston College ($$) Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, University of Michigan, University of Maryland, Duke, Operations Management Program @ Alma Mater Pending: Attending: University of Chicago! Comments:The first time I applied a year out of undergrad I didn’t get anything but a subsidized MA program from UT (only applied to a couple T10 & UT at that time). I think the most important difference this time was having at least one letter from an economist. Luck also had a lot to do with it. What would you have done differently? I am very happy with my results. However, through talking with other students on visit days and browsing this forum, I think I could have improved my application. This is what I would have done differently starting from the beginning of my masters. I wish I had found this site before I sent all my applications. I should have had more economists writing my letters. I should have started RA work earlier and worked with more than one prof. I should have studied or taken a practice test for the GRE, my time management was terrible. I should have taken the stochastic dynamic programming course in the second year when I was better prepared and got a letter from that prof
  2. I asked one of the programs I had an offer from and they asked that I notify them of my decision by 5pm their time April 15.
  3. Yes, I got an offer from Chicago right after someone posted they turned down their offer on gradcafe. :)
  4. I have heard of people getting exploding offers, though I am not sure if that was for econ or some other field. Anecdotally, I was given until April 15 to accept mine.
  5. Chicago mostly. I'm also on the waitlists at UCLA and Boston College but I doubt I'll get good funding at UCLA and I'll probably take myself off the BC waitlist today. How about you?
  6. I can't be the only one who's anxiety of mid-March is returning as I wait for my waitlist offer. I'm not looking forward to jumping every time I get an email or phone call again.
  7. One thing to consider, writing a book about theoretically developing a country is different from actually developing a country. Anyone can speculate about the effects of their policy recommendations. If that is what you want to do, development economics is for you and a PhD in economics is the path to getting paid to make those speculations. This path is also good if you want to make marginal contributions to development like improving efficiency of microfinance or charities. If you want to actually develop a country, you should prepare yourself for success in whatever political mechanism the target country uses to allocate power.
  8. These are all questions best answered by the universities themselves. Email them asking for placement info.
  9. I like matching more than mechanism design. From what I know, Caltech is just as strong or stronger in that area with 3-4 faculty in matching. However, after re-reviewing the faculty, I think I'll remain on the waitlist at BC until I decide whether or not I want a full economics program over Caltech's Social Science. Thanks!
  10. I am hoping to borrow some of your knowledge about various programs. My options are: Accepted: Caltech, University of Arizona Wait List: UChicago, UCLA, Boston College I like micro theory but if I were to do empirical work I'd prefer randomized controlled trials/field experiments. My main question is if my preference ordering is wrong: UChicago > Caltech >= UCLA > Boston College > UArizona From what I understand UCLA is similarly ranked with Caltech but I doubt I will get the funding to go to UCLA. I also debating whether I should tell BC to take me off the waitlist. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
  11. I recently spoke to someone who knows about Chicago and they confirmed what I have heard regarding the inattention to students. I forget if I asked about attrition. My impression from the conversation was choose someplace else unless you are very independent. You should visit both if you can. I will be going to the visit day at Chicago so if you don't make it I can let you know what I learn.
  12. Spoke too soon. Waitlisted at Boston College as well. I am the waitlist king!
  13. Waitlisted at UCLA. The only thing left for me to wait for is Berkeley’s WL
  14. Let it be so!!!! Come on Duke/UMD/OSU/BC!
  15. I think Berkeley sends rejections at about the same time as acceptances. We will know soon.
  16. My plan is going to be something like this: - Rudin Chp 9&10 - Review FA, Measure Theory, and Stochastic Dynamic Programming - Finish Roth & Sotomayor - Reread Sen's Collective Choice and Social Welfare - skim MWG and Mostly Harmless Econometrics - read some papers in different topics to see what I find interesting But this kind of stuff is basically what I do to have fun any summer.
  17. No email for me. No change on website. I wish they would send me a decision.
  18. Congratulations! Vancouver is beautiful.
  19. One of the programs that accepted me just sent me the first year’s syllabi. You might wait to see if they give them to you as part of visit day. I can almost guarantee you a priori that MWG is used for micro.
  20. I want to second jjrousseau's question. I am trying to decide between Caltech and UChicago. Caltech is obviously very good at micro theory and has pretty much the exact opposite reputation to that of Chicago as far as culture and advising. I was looking at JMCs at Chicago and it looks like lots and lots of macro candidates whereas Caltech apparently placed a theory candidate at John Hopkins this year. Is it really better for me to choose Chicago?
  21. [h=2]Here is what I have gathered from forums so far: Questions for Current Students[/h] General How many years does it take to complete the program? How long have you been in the program? How long did it take this year’s graduating class to graduate? Do many people drop out of the program? If so for what reason (failed comps, job offers etc.)? How many of your cohort left the program and for what reasons? What is your general opinion of how the department treats its PhD students on a scale of (worst: teaching work horse --to--best: up and coming academic who co-author's many papers)? Are students competitive with each other? What is your usual schedule? How many hours a day do you spend at school? Weekends? How social is the department? Do people hang out together outside of school? Where do first year students study? Do they have offices? [*]Research Do you have opportunities to present your research? How often? Who gives you feedback? Do faculty members co-author with students? Which faculty members? What are some examples of research that current students are working on? Do students talk to each other about research? What did you do the summer after first year/second year? When do most students start working seriously on research? [*]Coursework How many and what are the classes you are required to take? How often are classes canceled/not offered for lack of enrollment or lack of faculty? Which classes are well or poorly taught? Do grades matter? Are students ever required to repeat core classes? How demanding are the classes? When are the qualifying exams? How many qualifying exams? What happens if you fail qualifying exams? [*]TA Duties What are the TA requirements? How many semesters? How big are the classes? What kind of TA work and how much? Grading/Problem Sections/Office hours How much time do you spend per week on TA duties? [*]RA Duties If you were an RA, who would you recommend working with, not working with? [*]Advisors Which advisors have the best placements? How often do you meet your advisor? How well are first and second year students integrated into the department? How/by who are they advised before they have committees? Are there any fields where the professors are really helpful or really unhelpful to grad students? What fields are perceived as "strong" or "weak" within the department? Are any faculty members planning to leave soon? [*]Funding What happens to funding after year 1? Is it difficult to get funding for research needs, like data, software, travel? [*]Placement What are some of the better placements that graduates have received recently (academic, gov., private)? Do you feel the department is above or below average in helping its graduates find placement? Under what circumstances are you able to try again? Under what circumstances are forced to leave? Under what circumstances do you receive a masters if you get kicked out?
  22. It's beginning to look unlikely. I looked further back into GC history, a couple times they sent out admission the second week of March.
  23. Last year I think it was 4:30pm their time and the year before 1:30pm their time. You can look for posts in previous sweat threads. So it could be in another 2hrs. I would be surprised if it wasn't today.
  24. I just ran a successful ultimatum game on mTurk. We had a rare observation of homo economicus, someone playing the game theoretic predicted strategy for a offer recipient. I am hoping this is an auspicious sign from the gods of economics as I wait for Berkeley.
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