EconProf93

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: One of the UCs Undergrad GPA: 3.3 Type of Grad: Cal State Grad GPA: 3.7 GRE: 164Q Math Courses: Calc Sequence (B average), DiffyQ (C+), Linear algebra (B), Analysis (B) Econ Courses: Intermediate Sequence (A average), graduate micro, macro, micrometrics, time series (A), random econ electives (A) Other Courses: Letters of Recommendation: 1 from masters thesis chair, 2 from masters coursework professors who have seen my research. These letters are solid. Research Experience: Ugrad honors thesis (department award); MA thesis (department research award); RA for 2 professors during masters Teaching Experience: 2 semesters as adjunct at 5 different schools--instructor of record for principles of micro/macro and business stats Research Interests: macro, monetary, time series SOP: Individually tailored to each school. Identified 3 faculty I wanted to work with as well as discussed those faculty member's research and how it relates with my existing research pipeline. Other: RESULTS: Acceptances: UC Santa Cruz ($$), NC State (no idea about funding, turned down before got funding offer), Houston (same with NC State) Waitlists: Indiana Rejections: 20 other places Pending: Attending: UC Santa Cruz! Comments: Honestly not that surprised given my math history. Honestly felt that the masters was worth it (it was fully funded)--allowed me to explore my interests while also giving me additional time to prepare and get better LORs. What would you have done differently? Figured out I wanted to do PhD not during the end of senior year of ugrad--would have allowed for better planning. Taken way more math and taken that math more seriously during the beginning. Honestly, should have probably either double majored in math or have a math minor as well as some comp sci classes. Also, probably have taken the GRE sooner rather than cram it all in at the end...164 kind of a weak signal. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results and am super excited to start this fall at UCSC! Hope things work out for everyone else!

Hi Everyone, Just curious to see who is attending the UC Santa Cruz visit day this week!

@intunemppov Are you visiting UCSC this week? I'll be there. UCSC pretty much specializes in international finance/monetary (you have Walsh, Kletzer, Hutchison, etc.) whereas UCI (did my ugrad there) is more known for money search + learning (monetary, macrofinance faculty would be people like Swanson, Milani, Branch, and Rocheteau). So my intuition tells me UCSC > UCI for international stuff, but depending on what you want to do for international. Trade and finance prob being the strongest for them, while monetary is pretty dead even, with a slight edge for UCSC if you want to do policy work at a regional fed or the board.

Don't worry everyone! All you need is one. :encouragement:

Thanks! Hang in there!!

UC Santa Cruz post is legit. Got my first acceptance!

It says: Hi, my name is Jon Robinson and I'm the Ph.D. director at the UC Santa Cruz department of economics. The Ph.D. admissions committee read over your file and was very impressed with your credentials. As part of our admissions screening, we conduct Skype video interviews with all admitted students, and we would like to conduct a 25 minute interview with you. The interview would be for us to learn a bit more about you, and also to answer questions you might have. Don't feel bad! I don't think getting an interview is a necessary condition for admissions. Just wait and see, since if the schedule on grad cafe is similar to last year, UCSC should send out info within the next 2 weeks.

Got an email for an interview with UC Santa Cruz! Anybody know what to expect?