econhappy
-
Posts
30 -
Joined
econhappy's Achievements
Newbie (1/14)
1
Reputation
-
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 Econ Undergrad GPA: 3.3 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: 168Q/166V/4.5W Math Courses: Multivariable Calculus (P - took on pass/fail), Linear Algebra and Differential Equations ©, Intro to Stats ©, Intro to Stats retake under different course name (A-), Linear Algebra & Real Analysis I (A-), Real Analysis Convexity & Optimization (A-) Econ Courses: Macro (C+), Micro (B+), Metrics (A-), Independent Research Seminar (A), Honors Thesis (A), Case Studies in Economic Development (A-), Poverty and Impact Evaluation (A-), Intro Econ (A) Letters of Recommendation: (1) undergraduate thesis advisor, top economist in my field (2) pre-doc supervisor, top economist in my field (3) pre-doc supervisor, younger economist in my field Research Experience: undergrad thesis, undergrad RA 3 semesters, pre-doc/full-time RA 3 years at top 5 universities Teaching Experience: N/A Research Interests: Development, environment, applied micro SOP: tailored last paragraph mentioning school faculty members Other: RESULTS: Acceptances: UC Berkeley ARE, Duke Econ, Chicago Harris, U Maryland Econ, U Maryland Ag Econ, UCSB Econ, UC Davis Ag Econ, UC Santa Cruz Econ Waitlists: HKS Public Policy (didn't see through til the end), Brown Econ (rejected), UCLA Econ (accepted) Rejections: LSE Econ, Northwestern Econ, UCSD Econ, Chicago Booth Econ, Michigan PPol + Econ joint, Boston College Econ, Boston U Econ, Columbia Econ, NYU Econ Attending: UC Berkeley ARE Comments: What would you have done differently?: Obviously I would have gotten better grades in undergrad, or taken more courses after undergrad, and maybe applied to a few more higher ranked schools. But overall extremely happy with my results given my profile!
-
Profile Review and Potential Second Admissions Season
econhappy replied to twilli4's topic in PhD in Economics
Huh, surprising! I found it valuable as an applicant to include a paragraph about department fit, partially because it actually helped me realize that at some schools it was near impossible to write the department fit paragraph and maybe I shouldn't apply there due to poor fit; for the most part they were genuine representations of how I see myself fitting in, though perhaps the rest of my SOP already spoke to that and the fit paragraph didn't add much from an adcom perspective. -
I know at least one person who was accepted to Columbia via email around that time, no official letter.
-
Is it possible to use differences in cost of living as a factor as well? For example, two similarly ranked schools with similar stipends but one school has a significantly lower COL.
-
I think this depends on your field. As a development econ person I rank these like: 1. UCSD 2. UCLA (not that good for dev but overall good ranking) 3./ 4. UC Davis /UCSB (I think Davis has better placements but UCSB has cool faculty and great location) 5. USC/UC Irvine. (Not really sure about either of these schools. Seems like many people apply to UC Irvine so it's probably better ranked). UC Davis is very safe and a cute/fun/liberal college town despite the fact that it seems quite rural. USC is in the middle of LA so probably higher on crime. Note that UC's tend to have stipends on the lower end and require RA/TA most if not all semesters.
-
I'm guessing UCSD has become an IR or waitlist only for those who haven't heard back yet (?)
-
Yep. I got three decisions first week, and none at all this week. Surprising.
-
Yeah I also gathered this from GC and just the fact that the app needs to be reviewed by both PPol and Econ, and I think Econ treats this as a completely separate pool of applicants (i.e. there are slots set aside for this program) so sit back and relax!
-
lol same...I definitely have been checking this periodically.
-
First cycle and acceptance. When can I expect funding?
econhappy replied to tlgoa2's topic in PhD in Economics
I've received a few acceptances so far and none of the initial acceptances came with funding information. I've only now received funding information from one of those schools, which came a few days later. I think it's totally normal for school's to send out financial offers later and wouldn't worry about it, but it should be reasonable to reach out and ask about the timeline if you're itching for more info. I'm guessing that this next correspondence that they mention will be more official and contain the funding offer. -
I'm the Berkeley ARE acceptance on GC. I think the only useful thing I can say is that none of my friends/coworkers have heard back yet and their profiles are strong. I'd expect more to come soon though based on previous years.
-
I was the first poster for the school I was accepted into! I didn't really read into this at all but my thought is adcoms are definitely not checking gradcafe, and ignore the trolls. I haven't received any trolls/disbelief about my post. I think it's great to keep GC updated for not only people this year but also people in future years to reference admit dates!
-
Also what about Davis ARE? Seems like one person reports an unofficial acceptance via phone. Anyone else? I'm guessing getting an unofficial acceptance early is an indication of being a top choice candidate similar to an early admit?
-
Has anyone else received an interview request for UC Santa Cruz? Not sure what to make of it because I'm not an international student and many people have said it's typically for internationals only. Is this a standard step in the process?
-
This program was launched in 2017 and seems to be aimed at the same group of people who might be interested in Ag. econ/dev/applied micro programs. Without job placements I can't tell what tier of program this should be considered as. Any thoughts?