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I am wondering if anyone has received invites for interviews for their PhD applications yet? When do they typically go out?

Education: I studied Philsoophy, Politics, and Economics at a T-5 UK uni (although the Econ department is ranked lower). I completed the standard Micro, Macro, Metrics sequence and Masters level Micro and Macro, graduating first in my cohort and the equivalent of As in all Econ modules. I also did the MSc Econ for Development at Oxford afterwards, finished 3rd overall and did well on my dissertation. The coursework used Romer for Macro but was a bit more applied in Micro, Metrics covered GMM, MLE, LDVs, and basic nonparametrics and ML-not sure how this compares to taking PhD classes in the Us, but looking at what Prelim exams I can find online I feel comfortable with a lot of the material on first year exams. Experience: I’m currently working as an RA at the LSE, doing work with DSGEs and monetary policy. Teaching assistant in a couple upper level Econ classes and audited classes for Real Analysis and Differential Equations in the maths department. Confident working with R and Matlab/Dynare, reasonably good with Stata and Python. I also intervened at Brookings as an undergrad a couple years back, and am an American citizen if that makes a difference. My GRE is weak-165Q 168V. Probably too late to retake for HYP, but willing to if it means I don’t get filtered out based on my Quant. Frustrating since as I work with PDEs as part of my research and took Calc III while still in high school, but mistakes happen. I realize this is different from law/undergrad admissions but I’m a URM (Hispanic) if that makes them any more flexible. I’m mostly interested in applied Macro (writing sample will be a paper I wrote using DSGEs) but realize my profile probably leans development so will probably lean into this for the SoP. I’m tailoring it to each uni I’m applying to, so should be reasonably good. Blanketing the T20, but most interested in Stanford, NYU, Northwestern and Yale. Am I competitive for any of these?

Hi everyone, I'm a junior in Economics from Peking Univ, China. From some RA work and communication with marketing faculties, I find consumer behavior especially attractive to me and I want to apply for marketing phd in the US next fall. However, I'm a bit worried about my profile so I'm here for some advice. Test Scores (GRE): V152+Q170+AW4.5 (I'll retake to try to reach 160 in V) Undegrad GPA: 3.85/4.0 Research Experience: a 6-month RA experience with an assistant prof in management (phd in social psych at UC Berkeley) (the project focuses on social emotions such as awe and envy), participated in idea generation, lab experiment running and data analysis in R and Mplus; currently working with an associate prof in marketing (phd in marketing at UChicago Booth and worked as AP in UFlorida for 5 years) Teaching Experience: None Work Experience: None Other information: As I mentioned above, I major in econ so I used to think that I was interested in behavioral econ. However, after some exposure to social psych, I find myself prefer doing research using experimental methods. Now I'm working on a supervised independent project (which will be my writing sample if everything goes on well) on gift giving and decision in dyads. As for psych training, I've only taken introductory social psych. Also, I'm participating in 1st year cb course and reading group to read and discuss articles from top journals jcr and jmr. My main questions are whether i should take more psych courses to strengthen my background and whether I might be a strong applicant for cb phd next year? Concentration Applying to: CB Number of programs planned to apply to: about 15 Dream Schools: haven't started selecting schools If anyone can leave some opinion, I'll be extremely grateful!

Hi everyone, I have a couple of questions about my profile: Educational background: -Bachelor: 4/4 with honors (top 100 university, Europe) -Master: 3.6/4 (top 20 university, Europe) Core Courses at Master level: -Math (real analysis) B- -Statistics B -Econometrics A- GRE: Quant 160 Verb 162 (planned retaking) Reference letters: My Master thesis supervisor, top faculty member and reasonably strong My Bachelor thesis supervisor, I assume not so strong Research experience: No RA Work experience: currently in a one year traineeship at ECB with high programming content questions: -Apart from retaking the GRE, are there other ways to make my profile stronger? What are the European universities reachable? A sincere thank you in advance.

Hey guys: What are my possibilities to get into PhD in economics in Europe? Like Zurich, Bocconi, SSE or EUI? I am not considering US My grades are pretty low: Masters in economics (8.2/10) at Carlos III Bachelor in economics (7.3/10) at Carlos III But I have a lot of research experience: Research intern at Bank of Italy Research assistant at UPF (Pompeu Fabra) Research intern at a famous German institute Research Fellow at Barcelona school of economics Soon I will join DG Research at ECB Really good recommendation letters Do I have any chance? I did not take GRE yet.

Hi there, Profile: International student Undergraduate: Commerce - Not well known outside home country Percentage - 75% - this is a decent score. Cleared a very difficult famous accounting charter exam in India alongside my bachelors- only 11% of test takers clear in the 1st attempt - will this help prove academic ability in any way? Masters - Economics - Top 5 Economics depts UK Percentage - Distinction - Top 5% of the class. Diploma in maths - Distinction - Top 5% of class .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... Courses from MSc in economics and diploma in maths - courses from undergrad not very relevant to economics. Economics topics - Intermediate micro (82), Intermediate Macro (72), Econometrics (65), Money and banking (64), MSc Macro (78), MSc Micro (82), MSc Metrics (78), Game Theory (79), Public Finance (78), Asset pricing (80). The MSc modules are somewhere between intermediate courses and graduates courses in terms of rigorousness. Math topics covered - Partial Differential Equations (75), Real analysis I (74), Real analysis II (72), Complex Analysis (75), Ordinary Differential Equations (78), Stochastic Processes (70), Linear Algebra (80), Optimisation (73). ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... Research Experience - none Potential References - One from the head of the department who taught me undergrad level metrics - he knows me well, did his PhD from top in Australia. Another from math professor where I did my Math diploma - knows me very well and have discussed a lot of stuff with him with regard to mathematical applications in economics. Another from my dissertation supervisor, an associate professor who did his phd from an ok uni in the UK but I managed to really impress him with my MSc dissertation. He gave me very good marks on my dissertation. GRE - Q/V/AWA - 166/154/4.5 Research Interests: Macroeconomics, Time series My goal is to apply to the top 20 Economics PhD programmes. I fee like I should either do a course that strengthens my math profile or my economics profile. Its really hard to get a full time RA opportunity in the UK so i thought i should decide to focus on coursework and grades. i am hoping that my dissertation supervisor's reference would be sufficient proof of research potential. In the same university where i did my MSc in economics there is a course MSc in applied math that students in that past have taken and were placed in top 20 phd in economics in the US. This course allows you to take advanced math courses and phd level economics modules from the econ department. This will also help me build better relations with some of my potential referees and perhaps obtain a stronger reference from one of the profs teaching phd students. As part of a dissertation i will again get to reach out to some profs who are well known and write a dissertation under them. I could choose modules such as: Measure Theory Stochastic Analysis Advanced Macroeconomic Analysis Functional Analysis I Advanced Econometric Theory Introduction to Topology Advanced Real Analysis Another choice I have is to go for the LSE EME course where the coursework is perfect preparation for phd in the US but may not help me get a good reference as it is a short 9 month course without any dissertation element. I am worried if my lack of RA experience is going to count against me. Students from my program (Msc in economics) before me have gotten into Stanford, NYU, UofT, UBC, UCLA, Minnesota. Which course should i choose to maximise my chances of top 20 phd? Is there something else i can do to improve my chances of getting into the top 20 US Econ programmes? Please guide me.... :eager: Thanks a lot in advance.....

Hello everyone, I’ve been admitted at European University Institute’s PhD with full funding. Nevertheless, I’m worried about the lack of Environmental Economics research among the faculty. I have the alternative option of the doctoral track M2 at Toulouse School of Economics. Nevertheless, at TSE there is no guarantee of progressing to the PhD after the M2 and, given that I already hold a master’s degree, the prospect of ending up with another master and start PhD applications all over again is not flattering. Apparently, TSE accepts around 25 students for the M2 and 15 make it to the PhD. Moreover, I wonder if the current COVID-19 crisis may affect universities’ funding and cohort sizes next year. I also have an admission to the PPE master at Paris School of Economics, which comes with the same caveats as TSE, after 2 years there is guarantee of progressing to the PhD. I’ve entertained the idea of going to EUI and look for a second supervisor elsewhere, EUI students can visit other institution during their second or third year as part of the program. The school holds some exchange agreements with some universities and seems open to the possibility of arrangements with other departments by students proposal (Exchange Programmes • European University Institute). Nevertheless, I wonder if it is a stretch from my part to have this as my plan A. Any thoughts on whether EUI might be a good option after all or if the risk of going to TSE/PSE is still negligible compared to the better fit with its department? I particularly wonder how common it is or if it makes sense for a professor to invest the time and effort of supervising a student outside of his/her uni. Any thoughts/advise welcome! Best regards. PD: TSE comes with some funding (but not a full stipend) and PSE has no funding. I may get some external scholarship, tho.

My profile is below. Thank you in advance for reading my post! Any input is greatly appreciated. Type of Undergrad: Honors BA in Behavior Economics from Chinese university (Top 5 of Chinese finance and economics colleges), 2016 – 2020. Undergrad GPA: 4.02/4.5 Rank: 4/23 Type of Grad: MA in Labor Economics from Chinese university (Top 2 of Chinese finance and economics colleges), 2020 – 2023. Grad GPA: 4.2/4.5 Rank:1/13 Research Interst: Health economics, labor economics GRE & Toefl: still working on it Research Experience: (All 3 have a high gold content） 1 project 2 RA Presentation: twice (one is an international forum, another is a well-known labor economics forum in China） Paper: 1 health econ paper (It is expected to be published as the first author in JCR 1） 1 public health paper Teaching Experience: 2021 – 2022: TA for Adavanced Macro Programming skills: Proficient in Python, Stata. Questions: There is an internship at the National Health Commission in China, doing research work in public health, and I would like to ask if it is of great significance for applying for a PHD? Given all this information, what rankings do you think I can get into?

Hi All! Does anyone have any idea how hard it is to get accepted to UIUC Econ PhD program as it's ranked among the top 30? And how are the admitted student profiles? Thank you in advance!

Most people find Year 3 to be the most mentally challenging time of their PhD. You are just starting to define your research agenda and projects, but the pace is slow and the feedback is almost always negative. Around this point, PhDs begin to question their ability to write a dissertation, become an academic, or even do useful work in general. Below is advice I wish I would have gotten prior to my (very rough) 3rd year in a Management (Macro) PhD program. You'll soon see that writing a paper is just your small contribution to a conversation that the rest of the field is having, nothing more and nothing less. Thus, you need to be (1) interested in the topic of conversation and (2) understand how the rest of the field discusses topics and is expecting the conversation to evolve. Most PhDs with bad advisors don't fully understand the critical importance of point (2). The current state of our field is built by a complex social process of egos, ideas, and tradition which is unlike any other industry. You can easily see this in the field's large amount of conventions that would be obscure, counterintuitive, or bizarre to laypeople and even other academics. For most people, it takes a year or two to figure out how to come up with ideas faculty will find interesting, how to write papers are written to appeal to reviewers, how topics evolve in a predictable way, etc. Don't be hard on yourself when it takes you a while to figure this out. Around the middle of year 4, assess if you meet both criteria (1) and (2). For example, you may realize that you like what you research but learn that you find the entire writing, review, and publication process glacially slow, overly focused on almost useless theory, beholden to fads, reliant on bad science, and that you've made no meaningful contribution when all is said and done. If you (1) lose the fire for topics of interest or (2) realize that you don't like the often dysfunctional academic production function, you should ask yourself whether you want to do research academia for the next 40 years. The job essentially doesn't change as you get more senior-- you just do a bit more teaching and service. If you aren't energized by (1) and (2), it can be a miserable life. There are many tenured professors in this position. If you fall into this camp, start looking at adjacent industry jobs, which would almost certainly be a better fit, allow more mobility, give you more locational flexibility, and often have relatively higher pay once you get five years out of your PhD. Industry has other issues (e.g., less autonomy, less temporal flexibility, less pure intellectual engagement), but in the long run, you'll almost always be judged on your current skills, ability to learn, ability to work well in a team, and by what you can produce. Make sure to find the best fit for you (and your loved ones!).

Hi all, I recently heard secondhand that some schools have increased their GRE Quant Score thresholds to a 168 (consistent with 167 falling below the 90th percentile). Can anyone confirm if this is the case? I've taken the GRE 3 times, and every time have scored a 167... My verbal and AWA scores are strong enough (165 and 5, respectively). Will my application be thrown out at top schools before even being considered due to the low Q score? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

The Rady School of Management (UC San Diego) is seeking applicants to the fully funded PhD program in Management, Economics and Strategy concentration. Students will have the opportunity to work on exciting research in behavioral, health, and education economics field experiments, and work closely with faculty thanks to the small student : faculty ratio. This is a small but growing program that affords close mentoring from great faculty (including Uri Gneezy, Marta Serra, Sally Sadoff, and Anya Samek) and access to the resources of both the business school and the Economics department. UCSD has a vibrant research community and San Diego is a beautiful place to live. Students can learn more and apply here (deadline is Jan 5): https://apply.grad.ucsd.edu/departments/rady-school-of-management#management-rs79

For those who want to go to a PHD in economics, is it better to continue to choose IUG(Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate Study) or go to a higher ranking master's program? currently top 50 public and top30 Econ department undergraduate

Hi I have started considering applying to Finance Ph.Ds as a diversification option for Econ phd applications or perhaps as a first choice given some of the advantages that business school phds seem to have. A profile evaluation is appreciated. All advice pointing out differences or similarities between the two application processes is welcome. Stats: University of Southern California Double Major in Mathematics and Economics Overall GPA: 3.88 Math Courses: Calc 1-3: A Linear Algebra: A Probability Theory(MVC prereq): A- Mathematical Statistics: A Real Analysis 1+2: A Topology: A Advanced Linear Algebra B+ Econ Courses (All A grades): Intermediate Micro + Macro Econometrics Advanced Econometrics Thesis course I've taken 3 programming courses for A grades. I was in the honors research program at my Economics department and have good contacts with the professors there if that is relevant. I have never taken a business or finance course. I'm currently working a finance job in a boutique asset management firm and plan on staying here for two years. Not sure if my profile is appropriate at all? Or if it is, where I should be applying. Thanks all.

Hi, I am 46 years and want to apply for PhD in Strategy. I have had experience in Corporate Strategy as well as in academic think tank institutes. I have also worked with a top Strategy professor as part of the think tank group. Will my age be considered as a challenge in my PhD application? What would be the best way to overcome that? I am posting in this group to get more reliable advice. Officially no university can discriminate on age. I want to prepare an application that may address their concern, if any. Thank you, Regards Gowrishankar

Hi - I am wondering if universities have a preference for GRE v/s GMAT for a PhD application in Management / Organizational Behavior. Most universities say they accept either, while some universities explicitly say they prefer the GRE. However, most of the folks on these forums seem to have answered the GMAT. Any thoughts on this?

Hi all, I found an (aptly titled) Public Goods website that compiles/aggregates a bunch of free resources online that's relevant to budding/current PhD students, compiled by Christine Cai, a fourth year PhD student at Princeton.

Hey everyone, I am a first year at the University of Virginia and am hoping to a PhD in economics. The main problem I am having is I feel that there is very little support for me at this university, for example: the vast majority of resources seem to be devoted to our business school, I am unable to assist in or conduct any research until my third year, and there is only one economics related club. In only a few weeks, I have made a few connections with the top economics professors at our university and feel that letters of recommendations from them will not be too hard to get. I am very motivated, have already taken high level math classes, but it seems like I could excel much more if given the proper opportunities. I few options I have been considering that aren't too far out of reach include: Northwestern, Georgetown, Cornell, Berkeley, UPenn, and Columbia. I have lots of other extracurriculars I am very excited about, but none of them are quantitative and all of these other universities have vastly more assistance for econ majors. I am hoping to get into a top 10 PhD program and was wondering how beneficial/hurtful transferring to another university would be. Thanks in advance.

Hi all, I'm currently going through the interviewing process and will be starting my OB PhD program in Fall of 2021 (haven't committed anywhere yet). I am married and my wife just gave birth to our first little girl. It is a very exciting and special time, but also, in the back of my head I'm wondering how we are going to make it all work. Questions such as if we can afford buying a small house or condo, if my wife can continue working with our child, if there is child care at the universities, if we may have to go into debt, etc., come up in my head and bring a bit of stress. I'm wondering if anyone has advice on how to best handle a PhD program with a family, things to watch out for, things to consider, etc.? Thanks!

I applied to 19 schools this year (17 PhD in Finance across US and Europe) and 2 MSc in Finance (LSE, Tinbergen). I was rejected without interview from 16, had interview at Michigan Ross and INSEAD and finally got an offer from Bocconi for PhD in Finance. I have a decent profile coming from top schools in my country (Bachelors in Physics, MBA) but have had below average grades in my UG Maths sequence (B-, B, B+). In the first two ones, I simply did not study (please don't ask why). So the rejections (especially from Masters program) fill in tremendous self doubt as to my ability to handle PhD level curriculum. I have worked on 2 research papers during my Masters, cleared CFA Level 2, working in a top US Bank and work with utmost discipline and sincerity. I think my primary motivation for pursuing a PhD was not research rather 2 factors. One, I love teaching, having taught in schools and other people. Second, I hate corporate world and the feeling of having sold myself and my life for big bucks. So being a Professor seemed a good option. But I don't know if I should even pursue this path anymore. Seeking some advice.

I used to be in a top Management PhD program but quit later because of research interest and relationship with one of my committee members. This year I am applying a Marketing (CB) PhD program. Should I mention my past experience in the Strategic Management one? Actually my performance (GPA) was very good. It's a plus or minus to include it in my application? Many thanks in advance for your kind advice!

Hi guys, I am new member in this forum. Nice to meet you all! I'm here mainly to get some advice for my Econ PhD application since my case is pretty rate. All the best!

Hi, I am considering applying for PhD in Marketing for Fall 2021. I am looking for advice on whether my profile needs some work and which schools might be feasible options. Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): GRE Quant: 168/170 (94th Percentile), Verbal: 170/170 (99th Percentile), Writing: 4/6 (60th Percentile) Undegrad GPA: 7.74/10 or 3.57/4 (as per WES) in Electronics and Communication Engineering Graduate GPA: 3.85/4 so far (another year remaining) in Master's in Business Analytics Research Experience: No published papers but working with a professor in the Marketing department as RA for an ongoing research project Teaching Experience: None, but worked as TA for a Marketing and Supply Chain course Work Experience: 3 years work experience in the field of Analytics, with focus on Marketing Concentration Applying to: Marketing Number of programs planned to apply to: I hear 20 is a reasonable number Dream Schools: Wharton, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, University of Chicago (I don't think my profile is exceptional enough to be accepted, but this is the dream) Other Questions: What made you want to pursue a PhD? A PhD would give me the opportunity and resources to pursue business problems that I am interested in Questions or concerns you have about your profile? 1. I realize my profile is not very exceptional, but I still want to target some of the top schools- is there anything I can do that would increase my chances? 2. What would be some reach or safety schools for someone with my profile? Any additional specific questions you may have: With respect to the Letters of Recommendation- I have worked closely with one professor as an RA, I think he would give me a good recommendation. For the other 2, can I reach out to professors whose courses I've taken but not necessarily worked closely with or is that a bad option? I hear reaching out to old managers or stakeholders from business is a bad idea for PhD applications, is that true? Thank you so much for your time. I am hoping to get some sense of direction with my applications because this is my only shot practically.

Hey folks, I'm looking to start an OB PhD this fall and am in the market for a laptop. I was originally wanting to get the new Macbook with the M1 chip, but I've also heard that the M1 chip doesn't play nice with various stats software. Is that the case? And if so, does anyone know if it's being worked on? Also, are there any laptops or specs you'd recommend I look into as I search for laptops? Thanks!

PROFILE:Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, B.A. Econ with honors, T10 Undergrad GPA: 3.45 (econ: 3.93, math: 3.87). First year GPA was extremely low with several Ds/Fs. Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA :N/A GRE: Q170, V165, AW5.5 Econ Courses: Honors Intermediate Micro (A), Honors Intermediate Macro (A), Honors Econometrics (A), Auction Theory (A), Dynamical Economic Modeling (A), Industrial Organization (A), Experimental Economics (A), Econometric & Data Science Methods (A), MA Game Theory (A), PhD Micro II (A), Honors Thesis (A). Math Courses: Honors Calc I-II (C, C-), Calc III (A), Intro to Proofs (A), Abstract Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis I-III (accelerated/regular) (A-/A), Topology (A), Algebra I (A-), Honors Probability (A-), Measure Theory (A-), ODEs (A-), MA Mathematical Statistics (A-). LOR's: I had one strong letter from my thesis advisor when applying to a masters program, not sure about PhD programs later on. Will hopefully have 2 strong letters from RA position at a top predoc program. All are senior faculty. Research Experience: 2-year RA, Honors Thesis and 3 individual research term papers (50+ pages each). Awards: Outstanding thesis prize Research Interests: Not sure yet Applying to: Not sure yet --------------------------- I would like to get some advice for what courses to take based on my profile in the coming two years during my RA. Currently I'm trying to choose between: Functional Analysis Dynamical Systems PhD Metrics I-III PhD Micro III PhD Macro I-III Machine Learning Algorithms Measure-theoretic probability MA Big Data and Economics MA microeconometrics I'm leaning towards PhD metrics in my first year and time-permitting, functional analysis. Then, machine learning and algorithms in my second year and perhaps PhD macro. I'm also unsure which is better: An A- in a class like PhD metrics or functional analysis or an A in a class that is slightly easier, like MA metrics. I'm also unsure if it's necessary to build a profile with an obvious field of interest by taking classes that are relevant to the field. I am taking a maximum of 6 classes per year. Thanks for any suggestions, especially if they are classes I have not considered or listed.