hkke

Several Rice economics faculty members (including myself) will host live question and answer sessions for interested potential applicants on December 15 at 7pm CST over Zoom. If you are interested in attending, please email econphd@rice.edu to register and obtain the Zoom link. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, Because of Covid-19, GRE scores are not required to apply for Rice Economics PhD program during the 2020-2021 application cycle. Best, Hulya Eraslan DGS and Professor of Economics

Hello, I checked with Rice Online. The following is their refund policy: 100% refund 2 weeks after course launch and 50% refund 4 weeks after course launch. Although there is no delayed payment option, you can effectively try either camp for 2 weeks. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, I am the Director of Graduate Studies atRice University. Some of you may recall that I have posted previously about our online math and stat camps (see here: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/159050-math-stat-camp-rice-online.html). We are once again offering both camps online this summer. For more details or to register, visit our department website at https://economics.rice.edu/news/summer-math-and-stat-camps Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, I am the Director of Graduate Studies at Rice University. Some of you may recall that I have posted previously about our online math and stat camps (see here: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/159050-math-stat-camp-rice-online.html). We are once again offering both camps online this summer. For more details or to register, visit our department website at https://economics.rice.edu/news/summer-math-and-stat-camps Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know that we are starting the fall run of math camp a little later this year, so it is not too late to enroll. The starting date for the math camp will be October 9th. For the first time, we are offering an online version of the stat camp, which will start on October 16th. For more information about our math and stat camps, please feel free to ask me or see the rest of this thread or http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/157763-math-camp-rice-online.html. We will once again be offering a developing country discount of 50% off of the price of tuition for those living in developing countries. For this purpose, we define a developing country as a country that is either on the IMF's list of "Emerging and Developing Countries" (see World Economic Outlook Database April 2015 -- WEO Groups and Aggregates Information) or that is not classified as an high-income economy by the World Bank (see https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/k...lending-groups). In addition, all non-Rice students who take the math or stat camp will be eligible for a waiver of the application fee if they choose to apply to the Rice PhD program. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, I am writing to announce that we will be offering the math and stat camps in the Fall starting mid September. I will post the registration links soon. If you are interested in either camp and would like to find out more, I recommend reading the first message in this thread and the link in it first. Contact me if you have any questions. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi Specious, The math and stat camp mentioned above are the summer versions. The math camp already started but you can still enroll until the 24th. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know that, in order to help learners in developing countries, we have decided a 50% discount on the tuition cost for math and/or stat camp students who reside in a developing country. For this purpose, we define a developing country as a country that is either on the IMF's list of "Emerging and Developing Countries" (see World Economic Outlook Database April 2015 -- WEO Groups and Aggregates Information) or that is not classified as an high-income economy by the World Bank (see https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups). If you want to sign up for math or stat camp and feel that you may qualify, please email riceonline@rice.edu. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hello everyone, I started a new thread on our summer math and stat camp offerings. Since that post was not showing up, I posted the same message in this thread but that message is not showing up either. I suspect it is because of the links in my message. Since the start of our math camp is nearing (May 10), let me recommend googling "Math camp for Economic PhD Students Rice online" for those who are interested for finding the enrollment links and more information about the camps. I am also happy to answer questions over email. Best, Hulya Eraslan (DGS at RIce Economics)

Hello everyone, A new thread I started announcing our summer math and stat camps is still not showing up, and so let me try my chance here. See the message below. Best, Hulya Eraslan -------- Hi everyone, I am the Director of Graduate Studies at Rice University. Some of you may recall that I posted last year about our new online math camp (see here: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/157763-math-camp-rice-online.html). Following the success of last fall's math camp, we are offering both math camp and stat camp online again this summer. Students who sign up to take either the math or stat camp this summer will take the class alongside our newest cohort of Rice graduate students. At the end of math camp, you will be awarded a certificate indicating that you have successfully completed the math camp, and also have the opportunity to earn a certificate with distinction for excellent performance. In addition, all non-Rice students who sign up for math camp will be given a waiver of the application fee if they choose to apply to the Rice economics PhD program. The link to sign up for the math camp is here: Math Camp for Economics PhD Students | Rice Online Learning The link to sign up for the stat camp is here: Stat Camp for Economics PhD Students | Rice Online Learning Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, I am the Director of Graduate Studies at Rice University. Some of you may recall that I posted last year about our new online math camp (see here: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/157763-math-camp-rice-online.html). Following the success of last fall's math camp, we are offering both math camp and stat camp online again this summer. Students who sign up to take either the math or stat camp this summer will take the class alongside our newest cohort of Rice graduate students. At the end of math camp, you will be awarded a certificate indicating that you have successfully completed the math camp, and also have the opportunity to earn a certificate with distinction for excellent performance. In addition, all non-Rice students who sign up for math camp will be given a waiver of the application fee if they choose to apply to the Rice economics PhD program. The link to sign up for the math camp is here: Math Camp for Economics PhD Students | Rice Online Learning The link to sign up for the stat camp is here: Stat Camp for Economics PhD Students | Rice Online Learning Best, Hulya Eraslan

Agreed, selection matters, but when discussing which school to attend, the decision is conditional on being admitted to schools at various ranks. Conditional on the quality of the student, having a caring and available advisor who is active in research is key to having a high quality dissertation. And conditional on the quality of the student and the quality of the dissertation, having a proactive advisor who is active and respected in research is the key for good placements. Otherwise, it is easy to be overlooked when the recruiting officer in one department calls up the placement officer in another department and asks "who is your best student on the market this year" or "who is your best student in such and such field". I am being a bit vague in saying "active in research" -- I would not attempt it to quantify it precisely but it includes regularly publishing in top journals, being invited to talks, holding editorial positions in reputable journals, etc. etc.

This is good advice for steady state but one needs to be careful when there is a structural change. The placements are mainly a function of the advisor, not of the program one is graduating from. In steady state, they are correlated but when there is a structural change, one needs to know how the job market works to be able to make counterfactual predictions. As the DGS of Rice, I started getting phone calls from good schools (e.g. University of Chicago, UPenn, Penn State, etc.) inquiring whether I could recommend any of our Rice students to tenure track positions at those schools as soon as I arrived at Rice 3 years ago. Of course I will not risk my reputation and make such recommendations when they are not warranted, but my prediction is that we will be able to make them in about 3-4 years. In general, I recommend looking at the placement records of the faculty in trying to make predictions about future placements.

Here at Rice, our admissions process is quite involved. We consider all of the things mentioned on the thread, including GRE scores, math and economics courses taken, graduate courses taken, the letters (and who writes them), research experience, and the statement of purpose. In order to make sure that we don't overlook candidates who have particular strengths in one area while having slight weaknesses in another, we have multiple rounds of reviews with different faculty members. In addition, we interview applicants prior to acceptance. This does take a large amount of time, but we dedicate this time despite everyone on the admissions committee being highly active in research. The reason why we do so is that having strong graduate students helps us do our own research, and having a good placement record improves the prestige of the department. If you have any more questions, I, together with my colleagues Jeremy Fox and Mallesh Pai, will be holding a webconference where we will answer both general and Rice-related admissions inquiries on October 21st at 10:00 AM central. If you would like to join, contact me at my official email address. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, After considering the comment by Sam2791, we decided to waive the PhD application fee for students who pass the math camp. We also decided to move the start date of the math camp to October 24, so if you are still interested, it is not late to sign up. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at the email address which I posted in my original post. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, I would like to finalize the date for the web conference announced in my post below. As I wrote earlier, we tentatively scheduled it for 10am CST on October 21st. If you would like to attend and have a strong preference for a different date, please let me know by October 1st, and we will do our best to accommodate you. In addition to myself, Jeremy Fox and Mallesh Pai will also be attending, so by joining the web conference you will be able to find out about the admissions process from a variety of perspectives. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to RiceEconDGS@rice.edu. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, To follow up on my earlier post, my colleagues Jeremy Fox and Mallesh Pai will be joining me for the web conference, and so by joining the web conference you will be able to find out about the admissions process from a variety of perspectives. Given our busy schedules, I would like to finalize the date for the web conference soon. We scheduled the web conference tentatively at 10am CST on Friday, October 21. If you would like to attend and have a strong preference for a different date, please email RiceEconDGS@rice.edu by Monday September 26 to let me know, and we will do our best to accommodate you. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Dear Sam, The math camp is designed to serve as a really intensive introduction to each subject, which, while less comprehensive than a full-semester course in each subject, is designed to cover both the essential subject material as well as develop the essential skills (proof-writing, etc.) that would be developed in a semester long course. It is not possible to take only part of the course. The cost for the Fall ($250) is already discounted from $500 that we normally charge during the summer to make it affordable for international students. It is actually quite low for a college course in the United States. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi Sam2791, My background is similar -- my undergraduate degree is in computer engineering and I took a lot of math courses during college. But it was only when I took real analysis during graduate school that I realized I did not have as much understanding as I thought I did. Most schools look for a background in real analysis, at least an exposure to it. This crash course is designed to help with that part of your application package. Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi everyone, My name is Hulya Eraslan, and I am the director of graduate studies and interim chair at Rice University. I plan to hold a web conference together with two other Rice faculty members to discuss any questions that students have related to admissions. We have held faculty positions at Rice, UPenn, Wharton Finance, Chicago, Michigan, and JHU and are willing to answer general admissions questions as well as those specifically related to Rice. We are still in the process of setting a time for the meeting, but we tentatively have it scheduled at 10am CST on Friday, October 21. However, October 17, October 24, and October 27 are also dates that would work for us, so if you would prefer a date other than October 21, please send me an email at RiceEconDGS@rice.edu. (We chose 10am CST to allow participation from a variety of time zones, but if you cannot make it but can make some other time, email me about that too.) If you would like to attend the meeting, please prepare at least one question to ask in advance, and RSVP at RiceEconDGS@rice.edu. Best, Hulya Eraslan P.S. If any of you are interested in improving your math background (or are looking for a means to demonstrate your abilities) see my prior post here about the online math camp we are offering this fall.

Hello everyone, I received several messages inquiring how to register. Please see the link below for registration information. Math Camp for Economics PhD Students Rice Online Best, Hulya Eraslan

Hi Abdulmohsen, That is a good question and I am glad you asked it. I expect attending the online math camp to be useful for applying to other universities too. The important thing for application purposes is to be able to credibly demonstrate your math background to the admissions committee at each school to which you apply. Taking this course can help you do so, particularly if you attach the syllabus which demonstrates the topics covered so that an admissions committee unfamiliar with the course can verify its rigor. It would probably also help to mention something about it in your statement of purpose. Best, Hulya

Hi everyone, Let me start be re-introducing myself. I am Hulya Eraslan, the director of graduate studies and interim chair at Rice. As part of the many changes that have gone on recently at Rice (see http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/154291-about-economics-phd-program-rice.html and http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/157291-boston-college-rice-university.html), this year we have instituted an online math camp, in order to be able to cover more material over the summer without necessitating that students arrive in Houston substantially before the math camp starts. Additionally, this allows the math camp to be open to non-Rice students as well who would like a chance to develop their mathematics skills further. As someone who deals with admissions from the "other side", I can see that there are many talented students whose primary flaw in their application lies in having a limited math background or a lack of an ability to formally demonstrate their knowledge of mathematics. Therefore, we at Rice have decided to offer this course during the fall as well in order to give non-Rice students the opportunity to take it and demonstrate their mathematics knowledge prior to applying to PhDs programs. The math camp lasts for a month and is quite comprehensive, providing an extensive overview of real analysis, linear algebra, calculus, and difference and differential equations. The course will run from September 19, 2016 to October 14, 2016 and at the end you will receive a Statement of Completion showing your grade in the course and listing in detail the material that the math camp has covered. A syllabus is attached. For more information, contact RiceOnline@rice.edu. Best, Hulya P.S. I will be holding a web conference soon in which I will discuss admissions is general (not only specifically related to Rice). If you may be interested in attending, be on the lookout for another post announcing this soon.

Hi Econ2011, If you look at the placement record of the faculty at Rice, you will see the list consistently includes places like Yale, Minnesota, NYU, Stanford, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon etc. (Unfortunately some of my colleagues are too modest to put those in their c.v.'s but I am working on creating a web page with that information, with the names of the students.) And so conditional on my information set, I would say the chances are very high that we will have a better placement record than BC in 4-5 years. But to someone who does not know what we are doing at Rice and how placement works, it is a risky bet. This is what I meant by a classic risk-return trade-off. Hope it makes sense. Best, HE