EconGnome

I spent some time and looked into the reputation of the article and according to the wikipedia page (possibly questionable source) it allegedly has a fairly decent reputation within the mathematics community. If it's any compensation, most of the work that I did in that group was rather prob/stats heavy. Do agree that adcoms will not take kindly to some of my poor math grades. That is my biggest concern for my profile at this point.

Wow, this is actually super helpful! Thanks for sharing, starz! :encouragement:

Hi chateauheart, thanks for the reply. To provide some more context, the name of the journal that the work is published in is 'Experimental Mathematics' (Taylor & Francis) and the field of study was, of course, in experimental mathematics. I can really only gauge the reputation of the journal vicariously through the reaction of the faculty member that I worked with, but he seemed very excited about being published in that particular journal when I spoke with him about it.

Hi all, In my undergraduate degree, I had the unusual opportunity of working with a mathematics faculty member on a paper which led to a publication in a leading journal soon after our research concluded. Outside of a brief literature review, this is the only significant, faculty-led research experience that I've got under my belt. On top of that, I was also a highly regarded TA for a linear algebra course for several semesters before I graduated from undergrad. To make matters a bit more confusing, I have what I believe to be non-competitive mathematics grades in the courses that I took as an undergraduate (B level for the most part). I was wondering if anyone knows what the general consensus is on non-economics publications and non-economics TA experiences in the context of applying for Econ PhD programs? Are these experiences enough to potentially make up for some of my lackluster mathematics grades?

Hi laborsabre, Thanks for the very through response! A few questions to follow up: Would it be worth it for me to retake some of the calculus sequence/diff EQ to make up for the poor grades I received in those courses? Do you think it would be worth it for me to complete a Master's program first to make more connections with Econ faculty before reapplying to a PhD program? Thanks for your help!

Interesting point. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of mostly only working closely with math faculty members when I was in school, so I feel as though I don't have a whole lot of econ faculty members I can go to for LORs. Do you think it would be worth it to get in touch with some of my econ professors that I at least took courses with in undergrad, even if I didn't work with them closely?

I'm casting a fairly wide net. I suppose my goal is to get into a top 25 school, but I think I will be applying broadly within the range of the top 50. I haven't looked long, but I am looking at UIUC, UWash, and Michigan State are three schools that stick out.

Bump!

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 30 Public Economics University in the U.S Undergrad Major: Economics Minor(s): Informatics and Statistics Undergrad GPA: 3.59/4.00 GRE: Haven't officially taken the GRE yet, but practice scores have usually been around 165-167 (Q) and 164-166 (V) COURSES: Kind of got off to a rough start my first few years (~3.55/4.00), but there is a very strong upward trend in my last two years. Math Courses: Calculus I-III (C, B+, B), Differential Equations (C+) Linear Algebra (A+), Mathematical Proofs (B) Econ Courses: Intro. Micro/Macro (A,A), Inter. Micro/Macro (A-, A), Environmental Economics (A), Applied Econometrics (B+), Game Theory (B-), Economic Forecasting (A), Financial Econometrics (A), Macroeconomic Policy (A) Other Courses: Probability & Statistics (A-), Applied Multivariate Statistics (A-), Advanced Data Science (A) Letters of Recommendation: 1). Mathematics Faculty member that I did research under for ~6 months 2). Mathematics Faculty member that I worked as a TA under for the past year. 3). Economics Faculty member who supervised an independent study that I did as an undergraduate. Research Experience: I worked as an RA with a mathematics faculty member for ~6 months while I was in school. I am listed as a co-author in our final published work Teaching Experience: I have been a TA for a course on Linear Algebra for the past year. Research Interests: Macroeconomics, Health Economics, Econometrics, Computational Economics Other: I am spending the next year as a gap year doing data engineering at a leading ad-tech company, if that counts for anything. In an ideal world, I think I would like to go to a top 50 school, but I'm really not sure where to shoot or what ranges to even shoot for in my applications. That being said, I am open to any and all feedback/suggestions! http://www.www.urch.com/forums/images/icons/icon7.png