babineer

Hi guys, I'm currently deciding between going to Penn and Yale and am interested in macroeconomic growth and innovation. Based on very old posts in this forum, it seems that Penn > Yale in macro and maybe micro theory, while Yale has strong IO and stronger, but I am wondering how this has changed in the last few years. I am not fully committed to macro as my interests also have some overlap with IO and micro, which may also affect the direction I go in with my research in the future.

Got a waitlist from UChicago, is the waitlist expected to bigger this year so that it might be harder to actually get admitted?

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: B.S. in Economics and Mathematics, large public school (USNEWS T15 Econ and Math) Undergrad GPA: 4.00/4.00 overall Type of Grad: Master's Grad GPA : 4.00/4.00 GRE: Not taken, but expected 160-164V & 168-170Q Econ Courses: Grad Micro Theory, Undergrad Micro, Macro, and Econometrics, Behavioral Economics, Grad Econometrics (in the fall) Math Courses: Calc I (AP), Calc-II(AP), Calc III, Linear Algebra, Diff. Eq, Upper Div Lin. Algebra (Honors), Undergrad Real Analysis (Honors), Probability Theory, Math of Finance, Stochastic Processes, Optimization, Grad Real Analysis (in the fall) LOR's: 2 LORs from top 2% RePEc, RAed with both for about a year and one is my thesis advisor. 1 LOR from one of my grad micro professors (was in the top quartile of the class) who also has a strong background (T10 PhD graduate and top 10% RePEc). Research Experience: Worked as an RA with Econ professor for as a freshman doing data work in Matlab. Currently doing my honors thesis on intellectual property and innovation, drawing from some concepts and tools in grad level micro. I got into a fellowship program under which I began this independent research work. Will most likely submit my thesis as a writing sample. Also interned at the Fed and did data and statistics work in R. Research Interests: Innovation, IO, Growth Theory Applying to: Mainly T10 US Econ but a few T20 Concerns : My research experience may be lacking. Also just not sure how much of a tossup the whole process is, especially when applying to T10.

I’m currently taking the first year Grad Micro sequence at a T20 Econ school and am struggling a bit - I expect to get a B+ this semester. Despite having a strong prior record in my math and Econ courses (A in honors level analysis, linear algebra, and probability theory) I am worried that this grade will stick out like a sore thumb even considering the other aspects of my application, so I’m wondering if it would be better to drop the class instead of continuing.

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