rollmoose

Thank you, all, for taking the time out to reply to me! Following startz's advice, I emailed all my professors this morning to ask if I should apply to more places besides the ones I mentioned earlier. Professor highest-ranked-in-his-field sent me a one-line email saying "More than enough". Literally, just a single line. Unsure what to make of this. I am still waiting to hear back from others. Also, chateauheart, I did interactive research work with the nobel professor for an entire year, where he used to call me at 10am every day to correspond with me about his work. I completely agree with you that I do not stand any chance for top 5, so I am going to add Columbia, Michigan, and maybe two more (these things are expensive, damn).

Shrouded* not shredded* in the previous post, jeez. I really appreciate your optimism, samtheham, but I think my severe lack of any kind of awards or fellowships will greatly harm me (my friends who got in last year were all Fed challenge winners or Rhodes/ Marshall scholars). At the end of the day, I am an average applicant with the only difference being my recommenders, my undergrad institution, and the fact that I was an international student and hence wasn't very prepared to deal with the American system. Gah, anyway, I am willing to spend the next 4 months being convinced that you are right. Not much I can change now, except try to secure RA positions just in case I don't make it anywhere.

Here are how the conversations went: Professor of Econ 1: I will be thrilled to write you a letter! Have you considered adding Northwestern to your list? Professor of Econ 2: Would love to. Send the links Professor of Econ 3: Of course, I'll have it ready soon Professor Nobel: Me: Hi Prof N, can you recommend me to this great RA program at the Central bank? Prof N: I thought you were going to apply to PhD this year. You should apply to PhD this year. Me: Okay, as you say, sir. I will do as you said, Startz, and contact them immediately. Thank you! This is a terrible question but I want to ask it anyway shredded under a cloak of anonymity like I am: is there any consequence to being a non-white non-male?

Political Economics, it seemed much more interesting to me and one of my professors told me that EAP's placements are terrible (I didn't verify this, so I am unsure how valid this is). Irrelevant: I am getting unreasonably obsessed with this forum and doubting my chances more and more the more time I spend on here, but all you guys are very kind for responding to my post. Thank you :). I will finish up with my applications then (from the list I posted, and maybe add NYU) and then go back to my coursework. All other comments will be much appreciated!

All great questions, Startz, most of which I tried to answer through my SOP. I attempted a thesis that was much beyond what I could have rationally done (a really complicated mathematical model instead of the usual regressions that my classmates were handing in) and my advisor did nothing to stop me from committing this academic suicide. My econ grades are A, A-, A-, B+, B+, A-. I have one particularly bad semester in which I broke my foot twice and generally had a miserable time. In order to make up for my grades and the paucity of economic coursework I had done, I chose to come to LSE EME, which has been a great experience so far. I am unsure how much adcoms take extraneous conditions into consideration? I am hopeful that my LORs will be strong-- I specifically asked if they would write me strong letters of recommendation and they said yes, so I am assuming they didn't say yes just to hurt me? I am unsure how valid my assumption is here :/. My Nobel professor specifically made me apply this year even though I wanted to spend 2 years as an RA at my country's central bank, so I am hoping at least his rec is strong. I am grateful for your response, though. Conditioning on the LORs not being strong, where do you think I should apply to?

Hello Urch Community! This is my first time posting here, so bear with me if I flout some rules. Following is my profile and I am currently in the process of applying to PhD programs in economics. I have applied to a few universities already but I need tips on where else I can apply (and soon!) PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Applied mathematics and economics at top 5 U.S. University Undergrad GPA: 3.563 overall, 3.63 in applied math Type of Grad: London School of Economics M.Sc. Econometrics and Mathematical Economics Grad GPA: Not available yet GRE: 168Q 167V 5.0A Math Courses: All the basic stuff: real analysis, linear algebra, probability theory, discrete topology, advanced complex algebra, differential equations Econ Courses: intermediate micro and macro, political economics, advanced game theory, public economics, macroeconomic finance Letters of Recommendation: One Nobel Laureate I did research for (he thanked me in his book), three other professors of economics (all MIT or Harvard PhDs, well established, one most cited in his field), and one math lecturer with whom I took real analysis and discrete topology Research Experience: UG thesis (received a bad grade), several short research projects with professors, two research-focused classes Teaching Experience: taught introductory calculus to freshmen/ sophomores Research Interests: labor, urban, political economy SOP: standard, some description of past research experience and future plans Weaknesses: Horrible undergraduate grades, though As in all math courses I am currently applying to the following: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Stanford GSB, Chicago, Northwestern, UCLA, Berkeley, UPenn Where else should I apply considering my bad grades? Do I even stand a chance at these/ should I be looking at universities ranked much lower? I really, really need a response by tomorrow so I can send recommendation requests to professors. Thank you so much, you guys!