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jongrud

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Everything posted by jongrud

  1. Really? I've never thought that my math preparation was that sufficient because the most of my senior students who got into decent US Ph.D programs took graduate micro, metric, and real analysis and got A from them. I know that these days having good research experience carries more weight than getting A's in math classes (that's why I've started RAing a prof for about six months), but the past record of my senior students is kind of telling me that I also have to take graduate real analysis and get A. In fact, from what I know, the majority of Korean students in US Ph.D programs have taken graduate real analysis. So I'm not so sure if it's actually fine for me to stop taking math. Any opinions would be appreciated. My interest lies in Applied Micro/metric, Development and other empirical micro fields, FYI. Would adcoms require higher level of math/rigor for Korean/asian students even though it's pretty much useless past a certain point?
  2. Thanks for replying! That clarifies some ambiguity. But may I ask one more question? I've also taken a grad mathematical statistics as an undergrad last semester, and I only managed to get B due to overloading myself+ temporary health problem before the exam. The thing is that I can retake it in my grad school and am pretty sure that then I can get A. Would you recommend doing so? I have A+ in grad micro, metric, and undergrad real analysis sequences(two classes) but I'm afraid that B in such mathematical class can potentially hurt my chances badly. The alternative would be taking a grad real analysis class and get A from it (although it's a grad class, people say it's not that advanced compared to the undergrad ones that I excelled in). So the question simplifies to: Retake the grad math stats to cover up the flaw vs Get over it and ace grad real analysis instead.
  3. ----Edited----------------------------- Hi, people. I'm a Korean student in Top 3 university in my country. I just finished my undergrad and will now proceed to grad school of the same institution. I've noticed that in this forum, people say grades in Ph.D micro, and metric courses are strong signals in the admission process. But I wonder, are they the same thing as graduate micro, and metric classes, which are based on Mas-collel, and green textbook? The grad classes are in master programs, so I'm afraid they are not the same thing as the Ph.D micro, and metric that people here are talking about? I'm asking this because I already have A+ in grad micro and metric but I'm not sure they are the ones with strong signaling value. Thanks in advance :)
  4. Hi, guys. I'm an asian econ major student who just made up my mind to do masters in Europe (or possibly in canada) before I eventually apply for ph.d econs. (My dream masters for now are: BGSE, CEMFI, Bocconi, Tolouse, U of Toronoto, Vancouver University, etc.) I note that most masters start in september and ph.d applications are from december to january, so that means I need to apply one and a quarter year after I officially start my master program. For two-year program, I am not particularly concerned, because even if my first ph.d applications turn out bad, I will always be able to take advantage of the remaining one year to boost my profile and reapply the next year. But for one-year programs, what do you suggest I do if my first shots go totally off so that I have to work on one more year until I reapply the next year? I don't think it is possible for graduates of one-year masters to continue working with the professors even after graduation, so it seems to me that the only thing i could do in this case would be finding a 1-2 year full-time RA ship that can potentially lead to strong letters for reapplication. (At this point, I'm not thinking of comming back to my home country after the one-year master, because I see very few good RAships here) But I'm worried if this is a feasible exit-strategy for an international student like me. I'm afraid that RA jobs in US or anywhere else are mostly reserved for domestic students of the country, so I will unlikely get a good RA position even after taking masters degree from the aforementioned schools? Any comments would be very much appreciated :)
  5. Oh I think you got me wrong. What I intended was that I could expect top 25 school "at maximum" even if I work super hard. In other words, Maryland and Rochester are out of my reach here in Korean grad, no matter how hard I try from now. I'm not particularly obsessed with those schools, but I want to be able to have some chances on top15~25 programs.
  6. I know what you are saying Kexin. It makes perfect sense to me. It's just that they are not affordable to me very sadly. On the other hand, it does sound very scary to get an awful transcript in European programs. Would it be that difficult to get good grades in European programs? I know they are rigorous, but would they just throw out terrible grades to anyone who fails to meet their high standards?..
  7. It seems like the programs that I've found were indeed the rigorous ones. I'd better get myself well-prepared for them if I end up in those programs. Your reply is very specific and informative. I appreciate that. I'll take your advice and try to get 170 Q for GRE, and definitely apply to PSE because I'd like to minimize the financial burden. But it leaves me a question: do only the top students there make themselves into top 20 US? I'm not really obsessed with the ranking as long as I could expect better chances there than here in Korean grad school (top 25) I mean, the connection is apparently better there, but do I have to be the top student in order to take advantage of the connection? I would work my butt of to show good performance, but I can't expect myself to be the top as you said.
  8. I just realized what "MWG" stood for lol. I didn't know getting acceptance wasn't that much of a deal. My research interest isn't specific enough yet, but I'm interested in international macro and macro development for now. It sounds like an overwhelming experience to be part of the program; being taught by renowned faculty would be an wonderful experience per se.
  9. To Bayes: Then I guess I don't really need to be worried about "getting in". I would rather try hard to perform well in there. Thanks!
  10. This makes me want to join those programs even more! But do you have any idea about how difficult it is to get into the institutes?
  11. To Kexin, Whoo, it's the first comment, thank you! It's nice to hear a couple cases of Asians who have made it into US ph.d. programs through the Masters. You assured me those programs would be also suitable for non-English speaking students like me. But you aren't entirely sure about my chances into the programs, are you? For your suggestions on US masters, I completely agree with you that they are good bridges, but it's the $$ that deters me from them. Also, as you mentioned, SNU is no doubt the top school in Korea, but I noticed that the professors in SNU are mostly theory-oriented scholars, which bis direct opposite to my research interest. Besides, I've heard that the professors in SNU tend to favor the students who came from the same undergraduate the most, which is pretty discouraging.
  12. *You could just skip straight down to the three questions below. Hello, I'm an int'l student in Korea trying to get into us ph.d programs and this forum has always been of enormous help to me. I thank you all nice people and this place to share similar thoughts and exchange useful info. I would like to let you know in advance that my English isn't good, so please be patient with any possible non-fluency you find as you scroll down my post. I'm currently an undergrad in Economics in top 3 econ department in Korea. It has been only 6 months or so since I made up my mind to pursue my career as an economist (To be an economist for int’l financial institutons like IMF or World Bank is my dream), so I'm really hustling these days to boost my profile to be good enough. I have two more semesters to go till I graduate, and with my resonable expectation, I will graduate with CGPA of about 3.75~3.8 out of 4, with my econ & math gpa being just around the range. By then, I will have taken lots of econ classes, and 9~10 math subjects. Roughly speaking, I will be about top 3% of my cohort. I expected that if I achieve this kind of profile by the time I graduate and also continue my studies in graduate school of the same institution, I will be able to aim for top 20 by the time I take masters degree here. But as far as what I have heard from my seniors who are already in the grad school preparing for us Ph.D in econ, top 20 school like Rochester, Maryland,. etc are reserved for those who were the very top students in the undergrad, and I could reasonably expect to give a shot for 25~45 US programs. I don't want Maryland to be out of my reach, (because it's the best school around the DC area, where IMF, WB are located), so I started to look for alternatives, where I can get better letters and perhaps get away with the int'l student pedigree (terrible in English and not proactive and stuff like that) So, I looked up the posts in this forum regarding the MA programs that can be good bridges to US ph.d program, and the ones that I found nice are: CEMFI, BGSE, PSE, Tolouse, Boconni and etc. (I didn't include those in England because they were too expensive) I thought it would be very nice if I can get into these good MA programs, but I have found literally NO record of Korean student who took these programs to later apply for us Ph. Ds, so I'm worried about a couple things. (There's tons of Koreans who did their MA in LSE, but none in the aformentioned ones) ---‐‐‐--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Given that I get a decent score in GRE, what do you think are my chances of getting into these MA programs (they seem pretty tough to get into) and if possible, of receiving some finincial aid? I also have a 6 month RA experience (not economic RA) in an UN office in Korea if it is any of help. Also, if they are off my range, other alternatives you would recommend for good briges? 2. Do you think it is recommendable for an asian student like me to take masters in those programs? I'm afraid that I'll be like the only asian in those program whose English isn't good and because of that, the faculty will not likely consider me for RA or write a good letter for me. I'm particularly worried about this, because in my grad schools, competition seems pretty tough among grad econ students to stand out and get better letters. If the same thing goes for European MA's, I'm afriad it is unlikely for asian student like me to stand out and get a good letter, in which case I might as well just stay in Korea. 3. If it is all okay for me to be in the programs, I would try to get a letter from the faculty who have strong connection to US adcoms. How would I be able to tell who have strong connection? Any comment would be very appreciated. Big thanks in advance :)
  13. What I meant by "advanced calculus" was actually literally the "advanced calculus". In my school, we have calculus I, II and then the next level classes are the "Advanced Calculus I, II", which are again prerequisites of "Real Analysis I, II". I haven't taken those courses yet, so I don't know what's covered in them, but this is how the classes are structured and labeled in my school. But since I'm going to take real analysis eventually, your post helped me figure out what I need to work on more to get closer to my ultimate goal of excelling in real analysis classes I, II. Huge thanks for the info. By the way, in what classes do I get to learn the contents in the PDF file you've attached? I'm a real novice in this league, so please be patient with me. :)
  14. thanks for the recommendations! I will def be looking for them next time I go to the bookstore.
  15. HI, I'm a Korean undergraduate student from Top 3 Econ school in my country. I have read through lots of posts here and they all have been of tremendous help to me. Straight to the point, I am planning to take advanced calculus and differential equations next semester, but the problem is I have yet virtually no math background except mathematics for economics, college math, and general stuff like that. After conquering those courses, (hopefully) I will need to take more advanced courses like real analysis, and etc. Now, I strongly feel that I have to start digging into some math to build a solid foundation for the tough ones (in my view) coming up next semester and ahead, but I have noticed that calculus books alone were like 1,200 pages thick (e.g. James Stewart), so I'm wondering if it is a wise strategy to go through all of it. I'm not allergic to math or anything like that but I'm just curious what would be the most recommended way of building mathematical structure in my brain. I'm currently having an internship in one of the UN offices in my country so I need to spend my time wisely because I do not have a plenty of time to focus on my study. I would very much appreciate any kind of advice. Thanks :)
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