quantitypham

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: US News Top 30 Undergrad GPA: 3.8 Type of Grad: Economics 1 year master in Europe top 5 Grad GPA: 3.7 equivalent GRE: 170Q 161V Math Courses: Calc 1-3, Linear Algebra applied, ODE, Intro to proofs, Real analysis 1, Linear Algebra, Topology, Intro to Stats (A/A+) Econ Courses: Micro 1 (B lol), lots of other undergraduate level courses (mostly A); 1st year PhD sequence in Micro (A+\A\A-); 1st year sequence in Metrics (B\A-\B); Phd Macro 1 (B) Other Courses: A programming course in Python Letters of Recommendation: Both advisors for my bachelor thesis - I would say good letters because they know me pretty well and are well-established in their field, PhD Micro 1 prof who I RA for after the Master's program - "Super good" Research Experience: A bachelor thesis in labour, a master thesis in inequality, an experimental paper in the master, RA with prof at master program. Teaching Experience: loads of group tutoring during UG Research Interests: behavioural/experimental economics, micro theory SOP: Alright I think emphasized some research interests. Lightly stated some research lines that I would like to do in the future. Other: RESULTS: Acceptances: Arizona ($$$), Maryland ($$), UCSB ($$) Waitlists: Brown(declined) Rejections: Cornell, Duke, BU, Texas A&M,UT Austin Attending: 1 of the accepted places. Comments: What would you have done differently? I didn't intend to do a PhD in economics until the end of my third year, so I had to do all of those math courses in a very intense year. Reach out to my profs earlier and more during the application process. I didn't apply to a lot of good programs like Caltech, UCSD, CMU, NYU etc. because I completely forgot about the deadlines to apply in these places. Keeping track of these deadlines should've been a priority. After missing out on deadlines, I freaked out a bit, and I applied to some schools that didn't really fit my interests like BU, UT Austin, and Cornell where I tried too much to conform my SOP.

Has anyone heard from Texas A&M? I have received 0 communications from them since I started my applications despite reaching. I don’t care for this school anymore, but it feels like they just took my apps fee and dipped.

I haven't heard anything from them either. Hopefully, they'll let ppl know next week.

I think that speaking with your recommendation letter writers is prolly the best way to get advice in choosing between schools.

Hi, I have seen a couple of posts on gradcafe about invitation to visit day, but nothing from A&M for me so far.

I just received an offer from Maryland without being interviewed last week. There is still hope! 🙂

So about 4 offers out there; more will come out in the coming weeks probably.

One acceptance posted on GC about 2 weeks ago

Hello, I lived in Barcelona last year, so I can speak a little bit about this. For housing, I lived about a 15 minute walk from UPF for €450 including utilities in El Born although there are some cheaper options further away. For food, I would say €250 a month, but I was really really lazy to cook. For transportation, I recommend getting a Bicing, a bike-sharing service, card for €50 a year that allows you to bike anywhere with the city for 30 minutes. Hope this helps. Also, congrats on your offer!

I have also not received news from BU. Wondering if it has anything to do with when I turned in my applications because I finished my application quite late, and my GRE scores arrived a week passed the deadline.

just got waitlisted at Brown, here’s to hoping. It’s my top choice :)

Not the most recent one, but someone I know just got accepted to Arizona earlier.

Just checked my portal after reading this. Rejected😢. Don’t think Austin was a good fit for me anyways (maybe it’s my cognitive dissonance). Good luck to those who are waiting to hear back! Anyways, are funding packages from schools Cost of living adjusted?

Hi, I am confused about the lingo. Is IR in review or implicitly rejected?

There are 3 now, but mine is also still in review.🙈

Thanks for the question. One good starting point would be to ask your professors about which schools best align with your interests. Although they may not work in your particular field of interest, they still have a pretty clear picture of the programs out there and their strengths. Then, faculty lists, topic-specific seminars, or placements, etc. at the schools can help narrow it down some more as mentioned above by prismaticrefraction.

UCSB has a strong behavioral/experimental econ and applied micro program. Santa Barbara would be a nice place to live while working on a tough econ PhD (imo); central coast weather is pretty nice.