melc1316

I certainly think some schools might think that way about a candidate. I've seen people go through the process who were put on waitlists and explicitly told it was because they assumed they had other offers, but I've never heard of any outright rejections for this reason. Also, I do think schools might be changing their admissions process this year because of the immigration restrictions, makes sense to me.

It says on the website "please allow one business day to view your decision once your status on this page has been updated to Decision Made."

Hi, I'm new here and am looking to apply to econ PhD programs this coming Fall 2016. My question pertains to the fact that I'm not coming from the typical econ/math double major or major-minor background (profile below). Typically, I've heard advice that two out of the three letters should be coming from your undergrad/grad degree, and usually I've heard something like this: 1. One letter from professor in econ or math, detailing your performance as a student 2. One letter from a thesis advisor or something you were an RA for 3. One letter from a more senior member from where you work (if out of college, like I am) However, because I don't have an econ/math background, I have no relevant research work from that time in my life. My graduate degree is in Applied Economics, but again, not much research there. Most of my research work is coming from my current job, as a Fed RA. Would it be odd or bad if I had two letters from the Fed? One letter I have lined up already: He was my professor in my grad program, now I work with him, and I am currently working on coauthoring a paper (maybe more than one) with him that should hopefully be submitted by the time I apply. I'm thinking of having one from him detailing my research capabilities and another from a more senior staff member who could use their notoriety or senior stature to discuss my work ethic. Is this too out-of-the-box to do? I don't want to appear too different from the standard applicant, which I'm afraid I already very much do. Any advice you could offer on recommendation letters or, from looking at my profile, where I should shoot for ranking-wise would be greatly appreciated. Profile: Undergrad Major: BA International Studies (private, research university, unranked econ PhD program) Undergrad GPA: 3.8 Relevant Honors: Dean's List multiple semesters, graduated Magna cum Laude, does graduating very early count as an honor? Undergrad Math Courses: Calculus I (A), Linear Algebra (B+), Real Analysis (B+) Undergrad Econ Courses: Intermediate Macro/Micro (A,A) Grad: MS in Applied Economics (private, research university, top 25 econ PhD program) Grad GPA: doesn't report, but around 3.5 Grad Math Courses: Math for Economists (A), Statistics (B) Grad Econ Courses: Macro/Micro (A, B+), Econometrics (B), International/Open-Econ Macro (A+), Regional Economics (B) bad format/professor, Macroeconometrics (A), Microeconometrics (B) professor was new, Development Micro (A), Topics in Macro (focused on banking/fin. crises models) (A) Other Courses: International Econ Policy (A), Econ. of Transnational Crime (B+) GRE: verbal and writing are fine, not where I need to be for quant, shooting for 165+ Letters of Recommendation: 1 awesome one from a former professor in my grad program who I now work with and am currently coauthoring a labor paper with, otherwise I have not figured this out (hence my discussion above) Research Experience: Fed RA, thanked in papers, worked on many projects, and am working on coauthoring a paper now Teaching Experience: volunteered to teach financial literacy, not much otherwise Research Interests: Development, Labor, Banking/Financial crises models, Macro issues SOP: Need to address my shift into econ from my undergrad degree, detail outside things I've done to increase my knowledge such as sitting in on PhD Macro class (was unable to actually register), taking free courses through MIT's Open Courseware and trying to learn more about labor search models on my own Other Stuff: Stata, Matlab, SAS, Fame (is this even relevant?), I'd say I have a pretty good understanding of theoretical models which I think is a plus Thanks!