econstat

Yeah, I figured there's really nothing to game here, not that I was trying to game anyone. I was just concerned about the potential signaling effects it may have. I just told them about my current status straight up. My advisor communicated to them that he/she highly recommends the school. Let's hope that things work out well.

I think I'll share my experience. I re-applied this year after only applying to t25 and getting rejected from all of them last year. At the time of my rejection, I had been working as a RA for around a year. I talked to my letter writers who were all within the top 5% in repec and they were all baffled and could not offer any suggestions except to apply to more schools. I was RAing with one of them. My background is that I didn't have a great undergraduate record and didn't take math classes then. I finished all my phd prep in two years by taking mostly math and stat courses. I spoke to a number of faculty members who suggested that having a working paper could vastly improve my chances. For the past year, I have focused entirely on my research and by the time I applied this year I had something close to a working paper. The professor that I had been working with is very senior and very active in finance and macroeconomics and has published several papers in AER and JFE this year. He/she said that the paper will be published in a top tier general journal and agreed to grant me co-authorship. He/she showed me his/her rec which wrote that I am "a zero risk candidate for an economics and finance program." Also he/she wrote that the paper will come out soon and that it will most likely be published in a top journal. This year I applied to more schools and included more finance programs. Thanks to his/her letter I interviewed with Chicago, Stanford and Columbia finance. For those not familiar with finance programs, this means that out of the 730 applicants I was ranked within the top 12-20(less than 2%). I was waitlisted at Chicago and Columbia and rejected from Stanford. I have been rejected from most economics programs ranging from t5 to even t40 suggesting that they view credentials in a different context than finance schools. Also I have been rejected from a t50 finance school which I thought was weird and t10 finance schools without an interview. I have been accepted by one t25 school in economics and am likely to be accepted at a t25 in finance (given how the professors asked about their "competition") and am waiting for other finance schools. A professor from one of the schools I interviewed with frankly told me that I didn't have any finance courses and wanted to see more recommendations from other faculty members and that was my weakness. He/she said that although he/she has no doubt that I'll be a good scholar that the competitiveness of the pool forced him/her to select others. At the same time, he/she said that admissions is very noisy and they wonder how some people who turn out to be very disappointing could be admitted and admitted that he/she wouldn't get accepted today had he/she applied today. This is coming from someone who got a phd from Chicago. Additionally, my primary rec writer has suggested that I go to the t25 over t5 that I am waitlisted for even if I get in. He/she has a student working there and thinks that I would have a number of professors in my field of interest to do research with and believes that the particular school is on track to become a top phd program with good placements. So my thoughts? I think economics programs have a vastly different approach to admissions than business schools. Both programs are very very conservative and may not be willing to take chances on someone even though they are aware that their decisions are highly flawed and choose to accept the best candidates, at the time of the application, even though they are sure about others' potentials as a future scholar. Taking a graduate course during my RA would have definitely helped my chances. At the end, I am a bit disappointed and wishful about the waitlist. I am relieved and thankful that I have a place to go and have been thinking that a top school may not always be the best choice even if I had it. I have no specific advice for you. All I can say is I know that feeling when you realize that all your hard work has amounted to nothing and hope that you overcome it and achieve your best whether that is academia or industry.

I can confirm the BU email. It was specific about the funding. Also it said that a formal offer would be emailed later so I'm not exactly sure if they are planning on admitting others later.

Hey, I'm wondering how to respond to a professor. I interviewed with him and he asked if I had any offers and who "their competition" was. At the time, I told them about my interviews and said nothing was final. I recently emailed him with a working paper that I co-authored. He has asked me if I had any updates. Right now, I don't have any admits and am wondering how I should respond. I don't want to say that I'm not admitted from any program since that might affect my admissions chances, but I still think it's polite to answer by saying something. Any thoughts on what to say?

Hey guys, Do you have any ideas or insights into how waitlists work for finance phd programs. I have been waitlisted at Chicago's finance phd program. I have inquired about my status and they have replied "We don’t release waitlist rankings but I can tell you that you are highly ranked on the waitlist and that we have admitted people from the waitlist in Finance in the past." I don't know how to exactly take this. If there's 3-4 people, presumably I'm the first person. If there is a longer waiting list say 6-8, I could be anywhere from top 1-3. Depending on which is true, my chances vary drastically. If you have any previous experiences or know of anyone in recent years, that would be very helpful.

Anyone interview with Stern finance or Kellogg finance? Haven't seen any news on interviews and they should have interviewed by now based on previous timing.

@pp2568 Hey, Did you get an interview for Columbia Finance & Economics Phd?

Notification Type: Skype Interview Institution Name: Chicago Booth Concentration: Finance Date of Notification: 17-01-2017 Type of Notification: email Additional Comments: Had the interview today. Only asked about my research and findings.

Thanks for your replies. I guess it can be either really good or somewhat good it seems. The concern was that the professor and I are the only authors so he is the only person among all the recommenders who can testify to my research capabilities. The other ones can't comment on my research abilities directly. Also I haven't taken any classes or done anything besides this project this year which was why I'm concerned. I'm still not sure whether co-authorship was due to good will on part by the professor or my contributions. I will ask him next week about this. I guess that holds the keys to my admission chances.

Hi, I am applying for economics and finance phd programs. I have been working with a prestigious professor in finance (Ivy) for the past year. We are close to drafting a working paper (probably expect it in Dec.) in which he and I will be co-authors. I intend to submit the paper as a supplementary document after it is finished. He is quite convinced that the paper is significant and believes it will be on a top general interest economics journal. The problem is the paper concerns timing. Even if it becomes accepted and published in a good journal, it won't be done in time to have a major impact on my admissions. I have concentrated much of my effort for the past year in this research and am wondering if I made the right choice solely focusing on this project. For clarifications, I took the usual math courses and did a masters in statistics. Also he is writing a rec letter for me and sent out his recommendation letter and assessments while I was present. Any feedback or opinion would be appreciated.

Hi, I am applying for economics and finance phd programs. I have been working with a prestigious professor in finance (Ivy) for the past year. We are close to drafting a working paper (probably expect it in Dec.) in which he and I will be co-authors. He is quite convinced that the paper is significant and believes it will be on a top general interest economics journal. The problem is the paper concerns timing. Even if it becomes accepted and published in a good journal, it won't be done in time to have a major impact on my admissions. I have concentrated much of my effort for the past year in this research and am wondering if I made the right choice solely focusing on this project. For clarifications, I did take sufficient math courses and did a masters in statistics. Also he is writing a rec letter for me and sent out his recommendation letter and assessments while I was present. Any feedback or opinion would be appreciated.