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I am wondering how competitive admissions are to lower ranked ARE programs? Is it as necessary to have as substantial of a math background as for other programs?

Hi all, I find myself at a bit of a crossroads -- or rather, I see myself arriving at one in the not-so-distant future. I've been working in the field of policy research/analysis for quite a few years now and have a master's under my belt, but I'm beginning to feel like unless I acquire a PhD I may never reach the professional level I'd like to, which is to say that I'd like to lead research one day and am worried that I'll always be stuck in a purely supporting role in the think-tank scene. The thing is, I really love my work; I love contributing to policy research from within a think-tank-y type of organization and feel strongly that I'd like the rest of my career to play out in this sort of environment. While a career in academia has some allure on account of its own unique research (and teaching) opportunities, I have a bit of a fear about 'screaming into the void' so to speak, doing great research that no one ever reads. I know this isn't always the case in academia, and I know going the think-tank route doesn't mean the impact of one's research is guaranteed to be any more potent -- but let's just take my preferences as a given. What worries me is that my academic background is pretty lackluster in terms of grades, predominantly because, frankly, I didn't break my neck to do as well as I might have. Hindsight is 20/20, but when I was in my BA and MA programs in both cases I was convinced that I was taking a last step in my higher education; a PhD was only for those that wanted to be university professors (or so I thought). At any rate, I feel like an Econ PhD would not only provide the most rigorous quantitative / research methods training, but would open the most doors at the sort of think-tank organization at which I presently work/see myself a part of in the future -- but it's here that I'm most concerned about my academic background. Admittance into a sociology program seems more feasible, and I'm sure I could craft my own experience in such a way so as to make it a strong quantitative methods learning experience -- but the tradeoff here is that it seems like a slightly less relevant degree, with fewer doors being opened as a result. Here's all of my background that I think could be relevant to an admissions committee: Undergrad: BA in economics + BA in English, University of Michigan Graduate: MA in policy studies, UC Berkeley Research Experience: 1 year social work research --> 1 year education policy research --> (grad school w/ policy internships) --> 2 years health policy research --> 1 year education policy research = 5 years and change of university and think-tank policy research (w/ quantitative emphasis) GRE: I took this back in 2011 (would need to retake) but I believe my percentiles were 94 across the math, verbal, and writing sectionsLetters of Rec: I could get good recs from current/former employers/professors, the best of which would be from a current colleague who is an econ professor at a top 15 school (formerly the chair of its econ department) Relevant Courses & Grades (here's where it looks ******): (UofMich) IntroMicro A-, IntroMacro B+, IntroStats B+, Calculus II B, IntermMicro B, IntermMacro C*, EconStats B, EconDev B, EconDev II B, Econometrics B-, EconDemog B, BehavioralEcon A- (UCSD summer) Linear Algebra A (UC Berkeley) SpatialDataAnalysis B+, Land&HousingEcon A, Calculus III (Pass), RealAnalysis (dropped) *PSA folks: maybe don't take your major's hardest theory course in the same semester you enroll in organic chemistry 'for fun' TL;DR: I'm interested in pursuing an economics or sociology PhD for the purposes of developing my research skills and advancing my career in policy analysis, but although I'm not necessarily a trash candidate, my economics/math background is pretty mediocre, basically a straight B average. Is there any value in trying to go the EconPhD route, maybe shoring up my application by taking some math courses at a local college? Or is something like a top-25 school too much of a longshot that I should drop hopes of the econ and pursue the sociology route instead?

Hi everyone. I found this terrific forum, and I thought that, maybe, I would be able to get some feedback about my current situation. In short, I have an undergraduate degree in law, from an university in Chile. But what I really expect to do -even regarding what uncommon it could be- is get into a graduate program in economics (Msc or MA) in order to try an application to a phd program in US. As you could imagine, my academic background has nothing to do with math or Econ; nevertheless, I expect to take this year -I began on January- to prepare myself in math, take some courses at university or college level at the end of this, and the following. However, I do not know whether my plan it's a whole nonsense or a foolish dream. Therefore, I would be quite grateful if someone could tell me about some options for someone in a situation like mine is, or if know someone who did something similar; also, whether it is not too much to ask, some information about good masters programs that could help me to get that math and Econ background. Best regards, V.

hey guys, i been admitted to an international business/business strategy program. i plan to do research on how the environment affects firms. i am a little worried to be honest, i have no institutional access to journals currently. my math is quite bad and my background is in political science, i do mostly qualitative work. will i be able to publish well with qualitative methods or basic ols regression in the field of international business?:shy:

I’m starting a phd (accounting) this fall as I’m sure many others here are too and I was hoping some students could help answer questions and explain issues that will crop up during the program. My problem is that even though it’s a few month away I already feel like the weakest link in my class. I have the worst math background with no formal calculus classes and will be attempting to skip to calc 2 while the other student has a strong math background. I know logically I wouldn’t have been accepted to this amazing program if they didn’t believe in me but I feel so far behind already. So I ask others what should I do to prepare for the program and how do you overcome feeling like the worst person in your program?

Hello. My profile is: Under GPA : 3.46/4.5 (WES version converted to the US Standard 3.26/4.0) - Top 10 school in Korea, Business Administration) Grad GPA : Currently 4.0/4.0 (I can maintain around 4.0) - Master of Accountancy in top 40-50 business school in the US Work Experience - Accounting Department at one of the global companies in Korea (5 years) GMAT : 730 (Q50, V38) Reserarch Experience : Nothing, Planning on applying for RA at Master program I am currently studying at Math Background : Business Math in Undergraduate (Grade : B) Statistics Background : Nothing, Planning on taking SAS course during winter Letter or Recommendation : Planning on getting 1 from accounting research professors and 2 from accounting lecturer Research Interest : Financial Accounting, Earnings Management Target schools : around top 20-50 Schools (Arizona State University, Boston College, UC Irvine, and so on) 1. I would like to apply for some programs this year even though I know I am not that competitive right now and do not have enough time. Is it an acceptable idea to apply this year without research experience and math background? 2. If I apply next year after adding a research experience and statistics background a little bit, as mentioned above, will I be more competitive? 3. Please evaluate my profile and feel free to give me any advice. Thank you very much.

Hi all, I have a bit of a weird profile/confusing background, but am interested in pursuing a PhD in finance, to apply probably 2014/2015. My background: Undergraduate: Math and Economics undergraduate degree from a top 30 economics school: Course work in PhD econometrics, advanced mathematics (past real analysis), undergraduate published empirical paper. 3.7 GPA Graduate: Masters in Economics from a top 30 PhD program, left voluntarily after passing the comprehensive exams. 3.6 GPA Currently work in litigation consulting, on empirical finance projects, heavily emphasizing econometric modeling/finance models. Worked heavily in SAS/Stata. Also have a background working extensively as an RA for a well known policy institute. Does anyone have thoughts on how to strengthen my profile for a finance program/where I should aim for applications? I am willing to take more classes/ seek out more opportunities, but I feel a bit over-education already. Any thoughts would be VERY VERY appreciated!!!!! I have 1-2 years to bulk up my credentials!! Thanks so much everyone, these forums were so helpful to me in the past, I hope that will be the case this time around :)