can_econ

Chances are the course is called "Honours Linear Algebra". Adcoms would expect that the honours stream of any course is relatively hard at a decent school; I can't see the point in mentioning it. I also can't see how you could gain that much from contacting people at Caltech. Since your advisor has contacts there, you could ask him/her whether you should contact anyone (and who), and also how you should work your SOP for Caltech.

I've heard that the waitlists for a studio can be quite long at Thunderbird. I'm not sure about the 4 bedrooms - I've heard they're shorter, but I'm not sure how much shorter. Quite a few PhD students in Econ live in Thunderbird.

I'm at UBC. Development has been traditionally strong at UBC (though I know LSE has a few very good development economists) - Siwan Anderson, Patrick Francois, Ashok Kotwal and Mukesh Eswaran are all at UBC so you'd be well supported if you want to do development econ; I'd definitely have a look at what they're doing. UBC offered grad courses in political economy and behavioural econ for the first time this year, and has made hires in political economy who aren't listed on the website but will be at UBC by the time you take your field courses. There's a decent group of profs in micro theory (Mike Peters, Sergei Severinov, Yoram Halevy, Okan Yilankaya). There tends to be a bit of a Canadian bias in the best placements, but last year a job candidate had an offer at a top 50 US school so I guess the bias isn't that strong. I know LSE has a really strong group of people doing political economy, development and contract theory, and a couple of people doing applied behavioural theory, which makes it a hard choice if that's what you know you want to do and you have lots of money to spare and you think that you'd get good support from the faculty at LSE. But definitely look up UBC's development faculty and Matilde Bombardini (political economy) - I really think you could get great faculty support in these areas at UBC as well. Yoram Halevy taught the behavioural econ course and Joe Henrich taught an interesting psych-and-econ course this year, so there are people doing behavioural research here, it would be worth taking a look at what they're doing too. The bottom line is that UBC could definitely support your range of interests. Given that your reservations re: UBC come down to fit and placements, I'd arrange to talk on the phone with Mick, and ask about grad courses and faculty in political economy and behavioural econ. Ask about placements too, as Mick should know about the last couple years of placements which were pretty reasonable (I don't think they're on the website). I don't know much about UPF or their program.

My impression is that the schools are comparable but UBC has a bit of an edge in terms of overall ranking; I'm at UBC so I may be biased. There's a good group of trade people at UBC are in the business school - Keith Head, John Ries, Werner Antweiler come to mind off the top of my head, also Jim Brander, Barbara Spencer... Usually a couple of econ students each year have a committee member or co-advisor from Sauder (mostly people doing IO or trade). There aren't that many students doing trade, but there are a few; one PhD grad from last year doing trade ended up at York U which is ranked ~100 on econphd.net

I'm at UBC and I like it. It isn't too big a class, and there are a good number of students interested in macro. I think the international macro (Devereux, Lahiri, Hnatkovska) faculty is really top notch. In macro-monetary and macro-public finance, check out what Henry Siu and Paul Beaudry are doing (they co-taught 1st year PhD macro in the 2nd semester for the past couple of years). Both are very approachable and enthusiastic. Also, Giovanni Gallipoli is working in macro-labour and has a few students who seem to be doing well. For empirical public finance - UBC has a great group of empirical researchers doing labour/public econ, out of them, Kevin Milligan and Phil Oreopolous have taught a public econ grad class in the past. The environment here is friendly; while there's definitely pressure on you in first year to get through comps, the environment tends to be cooperative rather than competitive. Attrition seems pretty reasonable (2 people due to comps in my year out of 11 who wrote comps). I talk about research ideas with my classmates all the time. UBC is typically ranked above Iowa in international department rankings, but Iowa has had some very good placements in the past couple of years at the upper end. I'm not sure what that reflects since I don't know the program so you'd probably want to ask around a bit more to make an informed comparison. As a place to live - yeah, it's a bit expensive. A lot of PhD students live in Thunderbird apartments on campus, if you're looking to get an idea of how much rent would cost on campus - Thunderbird Residence

Definitely apply around. Most people I remember from my MA at UBC had grades in the high 80s or 90s in undergrad (esp people who got funding). Maybe if you have a UBC undergrad they are a bit more lenient. Somewhere will probably give you a chance, but expect some rejections - from my experience with PhD applications, there can be a lot of randomness in the process, so it's entirely possible that you'll get into a decent program but be rejected from lower ranked programs. Your profs will give you an idea of what programs they feel comfortable recommending you to, so you'll want to ask your profs about where to apply. Good luck.

At UBC, people with first semester MA averages in the ~90% range tended to get accepted at UBC for the PhD, people much below that didn't tend to get accepted (that probably isn't that useful since you don't know how MA grades work at UBC). So it is still somewhat competitive to stay for the PhD. In my year, 6 out of a MA class of 50ish decided to do PhDs in Econ at UBC + a UBC MA from the year before me joined the PhD program; about the same number of people had applied to PhD programs and either chose to go elsewhere or didn't get in at UBC. In the class after mine, maybe 2 or 3 UBC Econ MAs ended up in the UBC PhD class this year. So it varies year to year. Normally I think you'd have to be at least in the top 1/4 of the class (maybe it's a little bit more competitive than that), but the quality of the class and the number of people wanting to pursue PhDs varies from year to year. I heard that at U of T, even if you're in the doctoral stream you still have to apply for admission and not everyone gets in - I'm not sure how hard it is to get in from their MA, but my impression is that it's far from guaranteed. Check posts from Reactor, who was at U of T.

The better developed your economic tools are, and the more you know a literature, the easier it will be to get a good understanding of a paper without reading it in detail. So I wouldn't worry too much about your reading speed right now, as you should get better at reading papers quickly as you move along in grad school. That being said, there have been a couple of papers that I've spent a few hours working through last semester. Sometimes to really understand a paper I find that I need to work through the details, which is hard for me with some theory papers. You can learn a lot from going through a paper slowly and replicating the key results, so don't be discouraged if that's what you've been doing and it takes you a long time.

I don't know how you're setting this up, but most of the profs doing research in finance are in the business school (Sauder), there are people both in asset pricing and corporate finance. I don't know whether you could necessarily get someone to take you on as a summer student or RA though, but I guess you can always try.

one thing a friend of mine did was mention his paper in his SOP, including the title and the SSRN URL. (so if they really cared they could look it up). These are 'report papers' as opposed to research papers? Then the value added might be negative anyways. If it isn't like the sort of research you'd do as an Econ prof at a research-based department, then the value added will be negative for pure econ programs at research-based departments. If you're applying to applied econ and AgEc programs, things might be different.

For funding - most programs offer funding to some students, but not all students. Within Canada, it tends to be the case that for a given applicant, you have higher chances of getting better funding at a lower ranked school than at a higher ranked one. I know that Calgary, McGill, SFU, Alberta, and Guelph all have some good environmental economists on faculty, and I think they all have reasonable MA programs. If you're sensitive to funding, I'd apply to a few of these schools. Note that Econphd.net rankings probably underrate Calgary.

If you're interested in environmental economics, you could also apply for UBC's Ag Econ MSc (2 years). Queen's, U of T, and UBC are the 3 most known Canadian MA programs in Econ. You could also try schools like Calgary, McMaster, York, etc. in Canada.

I'd echo some previous comments - it should be possible to get in somewhere. I'd recommend trying a range from top 50ish schools to top 100ish schools. Ask your former profs what's reasonable. Hopefully at least one prof (preferably 2) from the school you attended as a PhD student will be supportive of your desire to pursue a career in economic research and will be supportive in suggesting schools that would be appropriate for you.

I'm actually at UBC. Like any other PhD program, you could go in straight out of undergrad if you were sufficiently prepared. What's your background, academically? Most students in my year (and I think the year below me as well) have MAs; the year above me is a mix. Most Canadian students who are interested in grad school and don't get into a top 10 school out of undergrad do a MA as far as I've seen. There may be a slight preference for those with MAs - since MA grades are usually a good predictor of PhD grades.

First, I wouldn't limit yourself to applying to 10 schools (despite the cost) - perhaps apply to a couple more top schools if your references don't mind (eg Yale, Penn). Given your profile, you do have some 'upside risk' of getting into a top 9 school if your references think you do - in which case you should apply to a few more to up your chances. Sure, apply to UCLA and Mich too, other people seem to have offered good suggestions as well. I would apply to a couple of business schools too, given your interests. You can decide later where you want to go after your offers have come in, there's a lot of randomness in the application process, plus during your masters you'll learn a bit more about your field interests, different schools, etc (even if you think you already know a lot about these things). I don't think applying to 15 schools is unreasonable. To the OP: I think with Canadian placement - any preference for Canadians comes from closer contacts between Canadian profs + that stated preference for Canadian applicants (I think they're required to make that statement) + they realize people who are from Canada are more likely to want to live in Canada and hence are more likely to take the job if they get multiple offers. Given that you did an undergrad and MA at Queen's and (I'm guessing) are a citizen, I'm not sure how much more going to a Canadian grad school would help you get placed vs going to an equally good US one.

I think UBC has a phenomenal labour group, but there aren't many people doing finance in the econ department (unless you count international finance). Thomas Lemieux, Nicole Fortin, Craig Riddell and David Green are the main senior faculty doing work on labour economics. Check out their CVs if you're interested; from my personal experience and from reports of my classmates and others these are all really nice and helpful people too.. We just hired Phil Oreopoulos as a senior hire from U of T too.

Math 320 is a good course and would be excellent preparation for a PhD, and would make a great signal. I would try to take that in 4th year if you can. Take whichever of Math 200 and Math 226 is the more advanced one. You may want to take Math 220 before Math 320 or at least have a look through a basic intro to analysis/intro to proofs material (eg Lay's book) as Math 320 has a reputation as a hard course. I'd prioritize taking Math 200/226 + Math 320 over the probability sequence. PS I'll probably see you in class in the fall if you take that grad class.

I don't think most schools require you to report them - however, most schools I applied to had forms as part of their online app that asked for a list of relevant courses and your grades in them. At UBC you should get all of your grades before January, so in time to put them on the form. I'll mention too - some schools want you to have 2 reference letters from people who taught you at the grad level if you're currently in a grad program.

If you're willing to look at Canadian programs, UBC would fit nicely on your list. UBC has four faculty working on development econ - Ashok Kotwal, Mukesh Eswaran, Siwan Anderson, and Patrick Francois. Some of the macro profs (eg Amartya Lahiri, Paul Beaudry) are interested in growth and other development-related topics in macro. I think the faculty could support a variety of interests within development economics.

If you want to get into UBC, probably not (shouldn't matter much though I know a couple of people who waited a year and then came back to UBC's PhD). I think if you could get one or two solid references from well known profs from second semester classes it would do a lot for your applications outside of Canada. This is assuming you do well, are enthusiastic and have good ideas. If you waited a year you could also take a math class or two, which would be good prep, but if I remember correctly you were a math major. You could also polish up your summer paper to submit with your applications if you do a good job on it.

I'll try to comment. I tcan think of two reasons why Oxford MPhil placements are better than UBC MA placements - 1) selection effects: Oxford probably draw sfrom the same international applicant pool plus much more heavily from Europe; and people from top Ivy League schools who need a little boost to their profile are more likely to go to a similarly 'prestigious' school. 2) It's a 2 year program vs a one year program; I think placements from UBC would be better if everyone who went on to a PhD applied after they finished the program, and if you want to spend two years not doing a PhD that's the appropriate point of comparison (though it sounds like you'd like to move on as quickly as possible). I don't know your profile at all, so can't really comment on it. As for research fit - at UBC I wouldn't worry about it much for the MA, but I've heard good things about the MA/PhD courses in Econ History and Development Econ as they're currently taught. If you're thinking PhD - it really depends on where you'll be looking for a job. I don't know Oxford's placements, but UBC's are here: http://www.econ.ubc.ca/grads/phd_grads.pdf Given your areas: Oxford has some big names in econ history; UBC probably isn't as strong but does have a number of economic historians, and few students doing econ history. In development macro, it depends on what you mean. If you like the kind of stuff Collier does, then Oxford's good (I don't know who else is there in macro-development). At UBC, Patrick Francois, Paul Beaudry, and Amartya Lahiri, do work on growth or macro-development related topics. There aren't a ton of profs doing political economy (narrowly defined) at UBC.

I haven't read the paper but went to the seminar. The point of the paper went beyond golf - incentive schemes which are like touraments in that one's relative performance, rather than one's absolute performance, is used to determine one's payoff, are used outside of sports. One example is that a boss at a real estate firm might give a big bonus to the best performer, (I think this is the example she used) at the office. It sounds like it would make the real estate agents want to work hard for a big bonus, but if one person consistently outperforms everyone, then why would everyone else want to exert extra effort for almost no expected payoff? In golf, the idea is that you can exert extra effort by getting to the course early, taking extra care on your shots, etc.

There are definitely people in the middle of the class who don't get into UBC's PhD. In my year, everyone had other good options though sometimes at lower ranked schools that were good in their area of interest. You might be able to take PhD classes at UBC - you'd have to ask, it would be risky. You have an interesting choice, not sure if I have a strong opinion either way. Doing well at either school would be a good signal, though I'd imagine (esp. since it's a terminal MA at UBC) that if you intend to move on, you'd place a bit higher (in expectation) from UBC, but with a higher variance (from my perspective) on that placement.

Depends on how close your profile is to being there in the first place. The people who I have seen get offers at top 10 or top 15 schools coming out of UBC's MA are people who I think would have been able to get into top 30ish programs on the strength of their undergrad record. I do know people who took the MA and got into top 10, top 15 PhD programs they didn't/wouldn't have gotten into without the MA. If you're dead set on going to a place 'much better than UBC' it's possible straight out of the MA. Though you'd want to apply very broadly to the top schools though and be willing to take what you're offered. In my year a few people prefered UBC to offers at top 15, top 20 schools because of better funding and a better research fit and a good experience in the MA program. Also, if you take a year off after your MA before applying for a PhD I think that changes everything - especially at UBC, where you right a paper in the summer and take field courses (many of which are taught by well known profs) in the second semester, after your applications are in.

is Iowa state an MA program or a PhD program? Could you take PhD core courses at Iowa State if it's their MA program? If you can take some PhD courses there in an MA program, I'd follow the funding. If you go to UBC and do well (ie top handful in the class), I think you can place into program like UBC or perhaps slightly better depending on how you rank things. If you're closer to the middle (say, top 1/2 to top 1/3 on average) of the class, I think you should still be able to get into a good school like Iowa State for a PhD if you did this year, and perhaps have some other options. It will really depend on how you do though - which is hard to predict, though your profile looks reasonable.