Okay

Hi guys, I am planning to apply to PhD in Economics programs this fall. But the thing is, I am only an average student from a top US master's, which severely limits my chances of admission to top 30. So, I am thinking about applying as if I had no master's education and just an undergraduate degree. This idea looks fine to me as I was one of the top students at my undegrad institution in Asia, and even got a PhD offer from Texas-Austin at the time (I declined it at the time because I was way too confident about myself). What do you think? If I had performed better in PhD courses - I took 4 of them and got B+ in all - what I have done at my master's could be considered very good. I wrote a quality capstone paper and have been an RA since June. But the GPA of 3.50 ruins everything. I am also considering full-time RA positions. But can those compensate for my average master's performance? And if yes, how much? Will top 30 be my ultimate limit? Thank you.

Hello guys, I am interested in knowing the amount of funding (yearly stipend) that each school in top 30 provides to admitted students. I was trying to get this information via looking at gradcafe posts, but the information there is not complete. Can you share your information? Let me start first: NYU: $34,000 is common UCLA: $20,000-$27,000 UMich: $20,000-$23,000 UW-Madison: $22,000-$28,000 Cornell: $25,000-$32,000 Penn State: $28,000 is common Texas-Austin: $16,000-$18,000 UNC: $18,000-$21,000