lakeside972

Here are my options: Georgetown – admitted, fully funded Wisconsin – waitlisted, but likely admission Maryland – waitlisted, unsure of admission UCLA – waitlisted, unsure of admission, but would likely be without funding I expect to hear about waitlists this weekend, before I need to make a decision Monday. Interests: urban economics, real estate finance, and more broadly, applied micro Job hopes: federal government (Fed, Census, etc.), tech firm, or think tank I think UCLA and Wisconsin might have the best opportunities for urban and real estate. Both have big real estate teams in their business schools. There’s a recently-tenured associate professor at Wisconsin, who does my exact urban interests and seems interested in working with me. However, I’m very concerned about living in a small town like Madison for the next six years and much prefer the DC area. For my job interests (non-academic), the placements at all the schools seem fairly similar, so I'm wondering if rank matters much? Also, how important is it to be at a school with a professor doing the exact research you want to pursue rather than just something similar?

Quick update: So I had been set on applying to programs this fall. However, I've just received an offer to be an RA at a top institution for a two-year term. Given the fact that academic research experience is a big hole on my resume, it seems like it's worth it (in terms of boosting my application) to take the job, work for two years, take some more classes, and get solid rec letters rather than applying this fall, no?

More info on my background here, but relevant highlights: Undergrad: USNWR top-5 school but in History and English (almost no math or econ courses) Masters: Currently working on M.S. in math and stats, set to graduate Spring 2018 Ph.D: Planning to apply to top-20 econ Ph.D programs this fall, to start Fall 2018 My understanding is that the four broadly accepted “core” math classes for an application are: Calc III, Linear Algebra, Ordinary Diff Eq, and Real Analysis. I’ve taken Calc III and Linear Algebra. And I’ll be taking Real Analysis this summer. To “check” the ODE box on my app, though, I’m in a bit of a bind. My options: A course in my grad program I’m currently in this spring, called “Deterministic Mathematical Models,” deals heavily with ODEs and I imagine to a large extent covers a lot of the same material as typical ODE course. A $1,100 course at a local community college (not sure Ph.D programs would scoff at this) A $4,500 course at a local university (which would be difficult to manage with my job and also overlap with my Real Analysis course) I’m leaning toward Option #1 and just hoping admissions committees will not be extremely stringent about having a course literally titled “ODE” on my transcripts. (I don’t know if there’s a place on my application where I can explain this course heavily covers ODEs.) My M.S. program deals with math far more advanced than what’s covered in an ODE course, so I’m hoping this won’t be an issue. But I’m not sure, especially since I’m already such an unorthodox candidate with a B.A. in History and English. Thoughts?

Looks like @specious has figured out where I go to school, ha. Not that I made it very difficult ;) A few comments/clarifications: 1. I'm currently doing M.S. part-time. During the day, I work full-time in public policy econ development research. My job doesn't involve much serious quant research, and I don't work for a Ph.D economist. Thus the reason I'm looking to RA part-time for a Ph.D economist. If all goes according to plan, my next 18 months are (all while working full-time during the day at my current job): Spring 2017 Classes: Finish my two classes Summer 2017 Classes: Real Analysis Research: RA for prof Other: GRE studying, applying for grants Fall 2017 Classes: (pick 2 of) Measure and Integration Theory, Stochastic Processes, and Numeric Methods Research: Continuing research for prof Other: Ph.D applications Spring 2018 Classes: Bayesian Statistics, Intro to Statistical Learning (these will likely be enough to complete my M.S.) Other: Visting Ph.D programs (hopefully!) Fall 2018 Start Ph.D (hopefully!) It sounds like a lot, but I've managed a similar schedule the last two years. These plans are up in the air, though. I've applied for full-time RA gigs at some premiere econ research institutions (to start this summer). If I were to get one, I'd likely defer applying this fall, get more RA experience, and take some extra classes like Real Analysis II, Partial Diff Eq, Measure Theory, another grad econ class, etc., and apply in Fall 2018. 2. I already took MA-level Micro I and PhD-level Micro II. I'm wondering if @specious meant to type "Grad MACRO"? I'm trying to finish my math/stats M.S. by Spring 2018, so taking extra grad-level econ courses will be difficult, since they wouldn't count toward my degree. (Plus, I don't know if $5k for a course + all the time required is worth it just for a bullet point under "courses taken.") And I've considered not finishing my M.S., but I'll be taking my final courses in the semester I'd hear back about Ph.D admissions, so best to just graduate. 3. I don't really have a rec from a "famous" professor (though #1 below is fairly well known in the econ blog world). My LORs currently I can currently bank on are: 1. Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-5 econ program, doesn't publish many papers now but writes books – received A+ in Ph.D course 2. Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-20 econ program – received A in Ph.D course 3. Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-70 econ program – RA-ed for I'm considering RA-ing a prof at top-40 econ school, who publishes regularly (Ph.D from top-5 econ program). That prof would likely bump out #3. I imagine it would be a sizable upgrade.

Looks like @specious has figured out where I go to school, ha. Not that I made it very difficult ;) A few comments/clarifications: 1. I'm currently doing my M.S. part-time. During the day, I work full-time in public policy econ development research. My job doesn't involve much serious quant research, and I don't work for a Ph.D economist. Thus the reason I'm looking to RA part-time for a Ph.D economist. If all goes according to plan, my next 18 months are (all while working full-time during the day at my current job): Spring 2017 Classes: Finish my two classes Summer 2017 Classes: Real Analysis Research: RA for prof Other: GRE studying, applying for grants Fall 2017 Classes: (pick 2 of) Measure and Integration Theory, Stochastic Processes, and Numeric Methods Research: Continuing research for prof Other: Ph.D applications, taking GRE Spring 2018 Classes: Bayesian Statistics, Intro to Statistical Learning (likely enough to complete my M.S.) Other: Visiting Ph.D programs (hopefully!) Fall 2018 Start Ph.D (hopefully!) It sounds like a lot, but I've managed a similar schedule the last two years. These plans are up in the air, though. I've applied for full-time RA gigs at some premiere econ research institutions (to start this summer). If I were to get one, I'd likely defer applying this fall, get more RA experience, and take some extra classes like Real Analysis II, Partial Diff Eq, Measure Theory, another grad econ class, etc., and apply in Fall 2018. 2. I already took MA-level Micro I and PhD-level Micro II. I'm wondering if @specious meant to type "Grad MACRO"? I'm trying to finish my math/stats M.S. by Spring 2018, so taking extra grad-level econ courses will be difficult. (Plus, I don't know if $5k for a course + all the time required is worth it just for a bullet point under "courses taken.") And I've considered not finishing my M.S., but I'll be taking my final courses in the semester I'd hear back about Ph.D admissions, so best to just graduate. 3. I don't really have a rec from a "famous" professor (though #1 below is fairly well known in the econ blog world). My LORs currently in the bank are: #1. Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-5 econ program, doesn't publish many papers now but writes books – received A+ in Ph.D course #2. Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-20 econ program – received A in Ph.D course #3. Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-70 econ program – RA-ed for I'm considering RA-ing for a prof at top-40 econ school, who publishes regularly (Ph.D from top-5 econ program). That prof would likely bump out LOR #3. I imagine it would be a sizable upgrade.

The textbook is "A Course in Real Analysis" by Hugo D. Junghenn https://www.amazon.com/Course-Real-Analysis-Hugo-Junghenn/dp/1482219271

Courses taken: Calc III Linear Algebra A course dealing with Diff Eqs Probability Mathematical Statistics Courses I have NOT taken: A serious proofs-oriented course, which I know is important for Real Analysis I'd like to apply to econ Ph.D programs this fall, so I'd likely take Real Analysis this summer. I'm planning to take off time from work to fully dedicate myself to the course. I'm also planning to do some proof prep in the two weeks before the class. Still, I don't know if that would be enough preparation. What do you think?

I'm aiming to apply this fall to top 15 or so programs :/

@chateurheart Ah, good point, yes. Also, for non-admissions reasons: One reason I opted for a math/stats MS is because in the off-chance I don't complete my econ Ph.D (I'm ~80% sure I'd complete it if I got into a program, but hey, you never know) and drop out to get the consolation econ masters, I wouldn't want a redundant 2nd econ masters degree.

Likely applying to econ Ph.D programs this fall. Likely RA-ing starting this summer for an econ prof at a ~#50 econ program who has connections to top-5 programs. (I have no prior interaction with this professor. No classes.) Two questions: 1. If I do somewhat rigorous RA work for this professor for the summer and fall, can I expect a strong rec letter by December, or is that generally too short a time period? 2. Would it be horribly awkward to bluntly ask, prior to RA-ing, "If I do good work for this time period, is it possible to receive a strong rec letter by December?" (I assume generally yes, but this prof first offered the RA opportunity after asking me, out of the blue during our initial meeting, if I'd be requesting a rec letter from him.)

To semi-hijack this thread: I (an American) have a B.A. in history and wanted to pursue an econ Ph.D. My only econ/math coursework had been a few grad-level econ courses. I needed to beef up my application with an M.S., so I was debating between an M.S. in math/stats or econ. The handful of economists I talked with told me that an M.S. in econ would be redundant for econ Ph.D ("they plan to teach you the econ themselves") and that few Ph.D programs respected American econ masters programs. The economists said an M.S. in math/stats would be much better ("they want to make sure you won't fail out the first year"). Thus, I'm now a year into my math/stats M.S. program. I don't have any regrets. I see most of the courses I'm taking are listed on "recommended math prep" lists at econ Ph.D admissions pages. I thus disagree with mathenomic's claim that "a rigorous economics masters would be better."

Ok, I’m pretty unorthodox: EDUCATION Undergrad (2009-2013) School: Top-5 USNWR Major: History and English GPA: 3.30 (almost entirely humanities classes) Math/stats/econ courses: AP credit: Micro, Macro, Calc I, Calc II Intro Stats (A) Non-degree class prep for grad programs (2015-2016) Linear Algebra – local community college (A) Calc III – local community college (A) Micro Theory I MA level - #50 econ university (A+) Micro Theory II Ph.D level - #50 econ university (A+) Econometrics I Ph.D level - #50 econ university (A) M.S. program (2016-2018) Program: Math and Statistics School: Top-20 USNWR GPA: 3.8 M.S. courses taken/taking: Probability Theory (B+) Mathematical Statistics (A expected) Deterministic Mathematical Models (A expected) Future courses: Real Analysis I – summer Optimization – summer* Ordinary Diff Eq (local community college) - summer Stochastic Processes – fall Numeric Methods – fall RESEARCH EXPERIENCE Data journalism for two years with publications in major media R.A. at econ think tank for 1 year for a low-level economist R.A. for econ prof at #40 econ program* Econ research at think tank for 1.5 years, but not for an economist *Currently debating the Optimization course or R.A. job for this summer MISCELLANEOUS INFO LORs: 1. Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-5 econ program – received A+ in Ph.D course 2. Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-20 econ program – received A in Ph.D course 3. Prof at top-40 econ school, Ph.D from top-5 econ program* – RA-ed for (assuming I take the RA job) Backup LOR: Prof at top-50 econ school, Ph.D from top-70 econ program – RA-ed for Teaching experience: Possible T.A. for math grad course this fall GRE: Taking this summer, confident I can do 167+ Other info: Hispanic (I assume this helps a bit) Applying to: #1-25 programs Research interests: Not sure, but enjoy econometrics, Micro, and IO Concerns: lack of econ undergrad courses (though I got As in two Ph.D first-year classes) low undergrad GPA (though it was 5+ years ago and hoping good M.S. GPA can make up for it) limited research experience MAIN QUESTIONS 1. Should I take the Optimization course or RA for the professor this summer? 2. If I apply this fall (to start 2018), what rank of school do you think I can expect to be admitted to? 3. I’m considering delaying another year (to start 2019) so I can supplement my resume with: Courses: Bayesian Statistics, Machine Learning, Partial Diff Eq, Measure Theory, Real Analysis II More RA experience, possibly a formal job at IMF, World Bank, or Fed What rank of school do you think I can expect to be admitted to in 2019 with this extra on my application?

(sorry this thread posted twice!) look at the other thread.