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What do you do if you love econ, are passionate about teaching and research, can't think of doing anything else with your life, but can't get into a good program? My undergrad GPA is average (3.5) and GRE is not stellar (163Q, 158V) . I start a one-year masters soon but I'm sure I'm not going to finish top of the class there as well. Also, I'm not an American citizen. I'm sure I can get good recos and probably manage to get somewhere in top 50-70. But is there a point? A lot of people tell me there isn't. Do these places produce any good research at all? Does someone from a college that's ranked 50 have any shot at getting a decent academic job? What about industry? Will I be screwed if I hold a PhD from a college not well known, considering that I won't be able to get a job as a professor easily and I'll be over-qualified for most jobs in industry? Will I at least be able work at a community college or something somewhere in the USA (keep in mind I'm not American)?

I really want to get an Econ PhD. I'm really passionate about research, but I think my profile has some weak points. Maybe I should give up, and settle for a masters. What do you guys think? PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BA in Econ, Latin American U, ranked probably 200-300 in the world Undergrad GPA: 3.2 Type of Grad: M.A in economics Grad GPA: 3.6 GRE: Q: 164 / V: 163 / AW: Still dont know Math Courses: Calc I (B) Calc II © Calc III © Prob Theory (B-) Statistics (A-) Mathematical Economics © Real Analysis (A-) Econ Courses (grad-level): Lots of classes, decent grades (A-) Econ Courses (undergrad-level):Lots of classes, cecent grades (A-) Other Courses: Letters of Recommendation: Cornell and Tolouse PhD's working at a Latin american Central Bank. NYU and Tolouse PhD's at a Latin American Univerity. Research Experience: 6 years working at a latin american central bank. 5 coauthored papers in second tier journas. A solo paper in Economic Systems. Teaching Experience: Almost none. Some TA experience as an undergrad. Research Interests: Macroeconomics and Finance SOP: Working on it Concerns: Low GRE (I can retake it again) and low math GPA Other: Applying to: Barcelona GSE, LSE, Paris SE, Stockholm SE, Carlos III. CEMFI.

Hi everyone, I am interested in development economics and international affairs and I got acceptances to both American University and George Washington University. I would much rather attend GWU but the offer is unfunded, while at American, I was offered a GA-ship totaling 19.2k. My parents can not help me financially, unfortunately, and I will be on my own for tuition and living costs. My question is, do you know anyone who has gone to GWU without a funding offer? Do you know if the school usually finds a way to help its students financially once they enroll? Am I at a bargaining position, and if yes, should I mention to them that I got a funded offer from American or will this be irrelevant? Finally, is it worth being in debt to attend GWU if I have the option to go to American? Thank you for your honest opinions in advance! This forum is invaluable!

So, I just discovered this site a few days ago and have been lurking and clearly now decided to join. I'm looking into a Phd (just finished up junior year) to try to make Mom & Pop proud, and I have a question for y'all: Before now, I've received much of my "knowledge" of the strengths of different programs by the U.S. News and World Report rankings. In those rankings, there are dozens of programs that are listed as "unranked." However, some of these "unranked" schools, which one would think would be worse than any ranked school, seem to have better reputations here (what specifically comes to mind are American, UMass, West Virginia, Delaware, New Mexico, and maybe Utah). So my question is, are these schools unranked because for whatever reason they didn't fit U.S. News methodologies or didn't send in data or something like that, or does U.S. News believe they are below all the ranked schools? Thanks for the help!;)