skidoo1066

Thanks man That's a good idea, I had plans to reach out to some people in the research area about the paper anyway, just as well pitch myself while I'm at it

I'm trying to figure out if I have a shot getting in anywhere, and if so where. Not to tell you my life story, but here's my life story: I started a rank 30-40ish Finance PhD, I chose this school over other similarly ranked schools I got into because they seemed to have some great characteristics, when to my dismay, during the first couple months there it turned out a lot of what they used to get me there wasn't what they claimed, and I hated the location. I just kept going for a couple years, but I became very depressed, and my wife had dealt with some depression before and it returned severely - probably due to my unhappiness. Oh, and we have 3 kids. With both of us on depression medication and going to counseling I kept my GPA barely above mandatory. Finally, when the department seemed almost unilaterally against my research interests (apparently too much "quantitative finance" and not enough "economics"), with the blessing of the department PhD coordinator, I decided I was going to do a PhD in a different discipline (I looked at applied math, operations, informatics, electrical engineering, etc.) in order to do the finance research I wanted. At this point it was too late to apply to programs, so I got into the mathematics master's program at the same university as an application/resume booster (top 40 math department). Because I was no longer planning to do the finance PhD I didn't study for comps, and I didn't pass the empirical corporate section (I did pass the others). I did the courses for the math master's, but between covid, depression, and PhD level math classes kind of being a bigger bite than I could chew, I'm going to squeak out this spring with barely over a 3.0 for the finance, econ, stats, CS, math courses combined. After a lot of thought and discussion with former professors, I've discovered that my interests can fit into "financial economics", and I'd REALLY rather be a finance professor, and honestly I feel like my research really contributes to finance and economics. So... it seems like I should really just get back into a finance PhD and eat whatever they feed me just to get through. But I'm unsure if I have any hope of getting in. I have a 168 gre quant, I think I could get it to 170. I have a working paper with a professor that hopefully will be submitted this summer. I have very developed research interests and a good handle on current research in related areas. I have master's degrees in econ, finance, and (soon) math. But my grad school grades are just terrible, AND I gave up on a program I was already in. Thoughts on being able to get in somewhere?

In here or in a profile eval post?

Yes, I'm pretty set on attempting this transition - I have put a LOT of time and research into trying to decide whether to leave my current program or not. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in a BAD department, it's just not a good fit for my goals. I was iffy about accepting the offer in the first place but I gave in to everyone telling me to just take it and... now I really regret it. In any case, my question isn't whether I should, but rather how I should.

I'm currently beginning my second year of a finance PhD at a top 30 school, but I'd like to get into a top 10 or 15 econ PhD program instead. Unfortunately some family issues came up during my first year so my current PhD grades aren't good (3.0), but I anticipate close to a 4.0 this semester and some good (excellent?) rec letters. Any thoughts of unique approaches in applying to a top econ program given my situation? A friend who is a (non-econ) professor suggested working at the Fed for a year or two might work well for me. I've also strongly considered doing an MS in mathematics (something I've always wanted to do anyway), taking PhD level econ courses with good grades during the MS, and hopefully getting letters from that econ department.

Is there usually paperwork? I just emailed them and they said that was good enough.

Indeed that would be devastating, although I feel that I am a mouse suggesting it's okay that I crawl over a human's foot which will likely result in scratching the human, and your response is "How would you like it if a human stepped on you?" I feel that your earlier stance of essentially "If you said you'd go, you should go" makes the most sense of what anyone had said, but I still feel that if one's circumstances change drastically, this is a warranted cause for them to change their mind. And when I'm on admissions, I do intend to be very empathetic to PhD applicants. I'm not just taking this stance because it could be beneficial to me now, I would want the best for my potential students, even if they go somewhere else.

I don't really think it's unethical to say "Sorry U of Utah, it's almost April so I thought you WERE my best option, and so I thought I'd take that extra money you offered for accepting early, but then Northwestern gave me a call..." (these would not the the schools in my case, just an example), honestly I think the faculty at the first school should be very understanding that circumstances and thus your feelings are now enormously different. The circumstance contrasts starkly with "Sorry U of Utah, I've actually decided that I don't like snow so I'm going to Arizona State". Nonetheless, it appears that reneging on an offer acceptance sort of ruins your life - I have to wonder if a school would withdraw an offer if you told them you were going to go back on a previous acceptance in order to go there. I think it would be ridiculous for the school to do that and it makes no sense to me, but I suppose academia is full of ridiculousness and silly hoops anyway.

Please note - I'm not attacking you or your viewpoint, I'm just giving my feelings: This isn't like getting married, though. This is like accepting a job. It's more synonymous to accepting a job at Joe and Fred's Firm because the traditional timeframe for big firm recruiting is over and you didn't even get an interview with the firms you wanted - then Morgan Stanley calls you up for an interview and offers you a position. If Morgan Stanley is what you want, you let Joe and Fred know you're going to MS instead. Even if we go with the view that it's like marriage, this isn't getting married - it's only getting engaged. And yes, if you got engaged because you felt a lot of pressure to make up your mind and then realized afterward it was a bad choice, you would break it off. It's going to change your life forever - it should be done in the way you feel is best, just like a PhD.

Question about having accepted an offer: If I've accepted an offer but then my dream school randomly interviews and admits me, what does one do then? This hasn't happened, but I've often wondered what I should do if it did happen.

Thanks for the reminders, it's easy to get caught up on yourself because getting into a school is so competitive. The atmosphere at the school I've decided to go to is very collegial, I think it'll be a great place to make friends.

Well, I was rejected from the best school I interviewed with and was REALLY put out - sort of semi-depressed because I thought the interview went really well. I thought about reapplying next year because a professor from that school gave me some specific feedback on my application (which was very nice) but I have decided to simply move forward and accept the best offer I currently have (because by accepting before tomorrow I got $2000 extra haha). It'll be a great place to live with my wife and kids. Additionally, I just as well be the best student at a top 25 school rather than the worst at a top 10 - I can certainly do some good research and get a great placement. Things are looking good, I just needed to pray a little more to help me see it haha. Best of luck to the rest of you!

Man, this past week hasn't seen much happening with my applications. I surely hope to see more this week!

Way to remain positive! I'm not feeling positive, even though I have offers. I just keep thinking "What if I had done ____? I'd probably have better offers." and then I'm in this never-ending state of loser-ness, contemplating whether I'll end up applying another year to try for a better school. I could really use optimism I suppose.

Does anyone know if Michigan finance has given offers yet?

I now have an on-campus interview with a school in a few weeks. I'm not really sure how good the school is, there seems to be mixed feelings among my professors, and academia in general.

That sounds awesome to be done in a couple weeks! I'm terrified that I'll be waitlisted at one of my higher preferences then I have to decide whether to wait out the waitlist or take the extra money for accepting my current offer early.

Although I can't confirm that Michigan waitlist, when I interviewed with them they said they'd begin issuing decisions "in a couple weeks", which week would begin Monday, so I hope we hear from them in a few days!

Some (not sure hows many) schools use https://www.ets.org/gre/institutions/about/mba/comparison_tool from ETS.

Well you CAN have that... there just aren't enough of those people to go around... :excited:

Rejection from a top school I thought I had a chance at, didn't even get an interview. This brings back those thoughts of applying again another year. If you reapply do they keep your old application on record to reference? They all ask if you've applied before. I want to do some things differently if I reapply, but if they look at my old application that really takes the point out of doing anything differently.

So... I just pulled off a sweet time series analysis technique of my own inventing, and my laptop did it in 36 minutes. That's how I un-sweat I guess. Should have gone skiing instead...

One of the faculty at our school had connections at the school he eventually was admitted to.

I don't know about football tickets - maybe if they offered me a new mountain bike I'd think REALLY hard about going there... haha It is interesting, though, how little variation there is in hard stats (say GPA and GMAT) of admitted students at top 10 schools down to top 50 schools. It seems previous research experience is really a deal breaker and sets people apart. And where they did their undergrad/masters.

The answer is "Yes", there is a more organized student market before Apr 15, and then a crazy scrambling sort of market by schools that don't have their spots filled after Apr 15. As you say, though, presumably most potential students will have accepted an offer. I guess most of the people still on the market would be those willing to reapply next year if they don't get in where they wanted (or didn't get in anywhere), but perhaps there are some who are willing to renege on an offer already accepted. I'm not sure how many people do this, or what the repercussions are for such. I have a friend who was rejected by every school by April 15, and so in the next two weeks he got in contact with another school, submitted his application, had an interview, and was admitted.