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petheory

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Everything posted by petheory

  1. petheory
    Interesting that US master programs offer full tuition scholarships.
  2. petheory
    The faculty is stronger than the program's rank (by Repec rankings)- proximity to MIT & Harvard seems to be a huge factor.
  3. petheory
    LyX could be annoying to use for someone accustomed to Overleaf- but they are essentially the same for econ purposes. I do agree that the best way to pick up programming/math skills is to learn along the problem sets. Try to have fun everyone!
  4. petheory
    I believe that problem sets in econometrics will require us to use Stata/Matlab though (only took the PhD micro sequence so not very sure- MA metrics does require plenty of coding).
  5. petheory
    Solid top 20 IMO, even higher for development/labor, if you work at the intersection of the two fields.
  6. petheory
    I would go with the math appendixes of the grad econ textbooks I will be using and develop skills in Stata, R & possibly Python. Math textbooks are inefficient IMO since not all techniques in any subjects (calc, LA, RA) will be used.
  7. petheory
    BU hands down, given your interest in empirical political economy. There's Harvard/MIT nearby as well. If you are interested in econ placements, polisci departments are not useful for you- BU econ profs are strong enough to place you in econ.
  8. petheory
    As someone interested in PE & formal theory (aka my namesake), I have to say your concerns 1 & 2 really contradict each other as theory is hard to place in both econ and PS. Indeed, Caltech & Minnesota are at opposite ends of things. But I think you should prioritize research interests/fit/happiness in the program over practical placement considerations, as really the former determines the latter. My prior bias and experience is that micro theory inclined person tend to hate grad macro & macro research in general- so your macro class might not tell you much.
  9. petheory
    If you have offers from identically ranked schools with comparable strengths in your subfields of interest, it can be really hard to make a decision until the last minute. It's even worse when one school has an obvious advantage over the other in some aspect while is disadvantaged in the other aspect. Talking to busy faculty and past students also takes time.
  10. petheory
    Yes, they do. I got an A in grad micro in the fall and that is important. At the same time, don't take too many classes in the semester you're applying. Concentrate on analysis and do well.
  11. petheory
    Gut feeling is the most important. Throw a coin, and see if you regret the outcome.
  12. petheory
    From my experiences taking math as an international undergrad and a US masters student, international grades are curved downwards more harshly and US grades are more lenient (to the point that any decent effort guarantees an A range), especially in private schools. If you rank favorably in your class and do well in the EME you should be fine.
  13. petheory
    The ability to convincingly describe one's research interest and department/faculty fit is quite correlated to research experience, writing sample, coursework, and most importantly recommendation letters though. I was contacted mostly by faculty in my fields of interest from programs that admit me, but I don't think that's the difference between admission/rejection. Other applicants will likely be interested in the programs' strengths anyways.
  14. petheory
    Apologies, indeed I don't know about HKS and I was just making assumptions.
  15. petheory
    If you look over to Berkeley econ+Haas, they have a very strong political economy group comparable to Harvard's. Berkeley econ/Haas/ARE are a close-knit group (econ includes Haas & ARE students in their list of JMCs). There's one ARE guy doing decision theory this year, so it's possible to do political econ as an ARE student as well.
  16. petheory
    I think probability & stat inference is more useful, though it might teach the same stuffs you've learned in econometrics I.
  17. petheory
    You have enough coursework (assuming A-/A in RA+grad micro). I understand that you are anxious about your background, but there is a diminishing returns to math preparation. My sense is that you should focus on your thesis, get a RA gig with a professor, and boost some programming experience. Think about your recommenders (if you haven't done so) and try to do things that maximize the strength of their recommendations. I would say Econ PhD field courses are more useful than all these (might give you a nice writing sample+recommender in the process).
  18. petheory
    I was waitlisted at Michigan, I replied to both the assistant and the program director, and got a reply from the director. I have been corresponding with the director ever since (I have declined).
  19. petheory
    If your polsci department is focused on quant/positive political economy, taking advanced/grad polsci classes will help you to read many modern polsci+econ papers, which are methodologically indistinguishable from non-structural applied micro. You will write a lot which will increase the pool of possible writing samples (ideally the sample should come from your econ senior thesis, but having experience in writing research papers is important). In this sense, they are more useful than undergrad econ classes, which are not very useful if you only do problem sets and not read modern papers. Of course, econometrics/math/statistics are of paramount importance, as well as grad econ classes.
  20. petheory
    Are you interested in political economy/economic history? Otherwise no (but it won't hurt provided you have the enough math preparation). They look at your coursework, not your major.
  21. petheory
    Me too. I guess previous rejections/acceptances are real and they are slowly releasing decisions. The admins are probably loading the letters (or have loaded them), and all will pop out at the same time.
  22. petheory
    Everyone zooming also makes it easier to interview too.
  23. petheory
    I think 11-20 schools are admitting a relatively small cohort and putting a lot of people on the waitlists. They are trying to poach top 10 students through a wait-and-see approach. April is going to be interesting for sure.
  24. petheory
    Turned down WUSTL, Duke and Michigan last week. Will turn down BU too. Good luck!
  25. petheory
    For theory I believe that Stanford GSB>Stanford, and Northwestern MEDS>NW, mainly because of smaller cohort size (closer faculty supervision) + no macro requirement+ the bus econ group's exclusive focus on theory. No theory group can beat GSB's Nobel laureates IMO. Columbia and Harvard are more business/finance oriented than their econ counterparts I believe, but not true for Stanford/NW which is pure theory.
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