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Hi All, (Not sure if the is the right forum for this sort of a question. Please excuse me if not) Here is my background: I was enrolled in a decent PhD economics program (top 30) back in 2018. Soon after I started out in August, my personal life took a a turbulent turn and pretty early on (circa Dec'18 - Jan'19) I decided to drop out of the program and return to my home country, due to urgent family+personal reasons. Now that things are returning to normal slowly but surely, I want to pick up the pieces and get back on track. So I am planning to apply for next year's cycle. But I have a ton of questions that are making me pretty concerned. Could you guys please share your thoughts on these ? 1) Whether I should talk about these developments in my personal letter, in detail? (emphasis on "detail") 2) I am skeptical about whether the schools I am applying to will buy this. (For understandable reasons) the schools might suspect that I dropped out because I failed my prelims (truth is, my aim was only to graduate with the Master's degree and come back ASAP) 3) Don't know if my previous letter writers will consent to writing a letter again. 3.1) Since nothing has changed between the last time they wrote it (2017) and this year I wonder if the same letter can be reused? 4) Will the fact that I was once enrolled in a PhD program, in general, hurt my chances of re-entry into another? Thanks a lot, all!

Hi! I am an OB applicant this season, but have not got any good news yet. I think I will apply again in two years, but I would appreciate some advice on how to move forward. I was thinking about possibly get a research assistant job in a business school, but my professor (business phd) recommended me to go into consulting possibly and get some experience in the field. Here is my profile this year Test Scores (GMAT): V 41/93%, Q 50/85%, AW 6/88%, IR 8/92%, Total 750/98% Undergrad GPA: 3.78 (organization development, top15) Graduate GPA: 3.78 (international education, top15) Research Experience: Mainly 2 years of GA while in grad school with a cross-cultural state-wide education reform project, and some other class projects, no thesis. I pretty much thought I will never get a Ph.D. until 2 years ago when I learnt there are Ph.D. programs in business schools... Teaching Experience: none Work Experience: 4 years coordinating a international educator professional and leadership development program at a top university Concentration Applying to: OB - team dynamics/processes Number of programs applied to: 12 - half in the U.S., half in other countries... pretty much all top schools except HSB, MIT and Stanford... Got an interview from LBS, which made me think I have a shot at this. Other Questions: What made you want to pursue a PhD? - the opportunity for sustained research to investigate team dynamics and processes in diverse teams and how teams can capitalize on their diversity - help organizations maximize the potential of their diverse talents - be an advocate and role model for minority and women in business academia Questions or concerns you have about your profile? Right now, I am pretty much only waiting to hear from NUS (Singapore). I have not heard from UBC or Toronto, but pretty sure they will be rejections. I would really appreciate some suggestions going forward - should I focus more on boosting my research experience? - should I get in business and possibly consulting since it kinda involve some research work but will give me more business experience? - should I get an MBA (it will definitely help me change career, but doesn't seem to help much if I plan to apply for PHD again in 2020)? What's the possibility of staying at the school for Ph.D. after MBA if I can cultivate great relationship with faculties? Really appreciate all the knowledge here!

Out of curiosity, to the current grad students here, how useful is the first year metrics sequence to doing empirical research? I've heard that PhD metrics is pretty theoretical, and I was wondering if that hindered people from using it in empirical work.

Hey Friendz, so I wonder if this is a sign that someone is really interested or another mass email reminder of application deadline? Very confused right now :( bc the school who did this seems pretty hard to get in and that's what deterred me from even thinking about applying in the first place...:wallbash::gray::ninja:

Type of Undergrad: State school, it's in the top 100. Not amazing but not terrible Undergrad GPA: At least a 3.5, possibly a 3.6 (have another semester to go) Type of Graduate: n/a SoP: working on it GRE: Haven't taken yet but expecting >167 Courses: Applied Linear Algebra (A), Linear Algebra (A), Elementary Differential Equations (A), Partial Differential Equations (A), Probability (A), Calc 1 (B), Calc 2 © (biggest concern), Multivariable Calc (B), Intermediate Micro (A), Econometrics (A), Intermediate Macro (B), Basic Stats (A) Have yet to take Real Analysis but will either in the summer or fall LOR: working on these, nothing definite so far Teaching: none Research: none, reached out to a bunch of professors but they either weren't interested or didn't take undergrad assistants. Hoping to get an RA job during my gap year As you can see, my math background is pretty solid aside from my poor performance in calc. I was depressed during this time and my GPA as a whole suffered during this time. Given this was confined to one year, how badly will it hurt my chances? I'm not trying to get into Harvard or Princeton, a PhD from a place like NC State or Clemson would be more than fine. Provided a get a good GRE score, would I be competitive for places like that?

I'm a senior economics major and math minor. My GPA at graduation should be at least a 3.5. At the end of my senior year, I'll have taken multivariable calculus, two semesters of linear algebra (one applied and one more theoretical), two semesters of differential equations, probability, an introduction to proofs class, and I will take real analysis during the fall of next year (doing a gap year). I've also taken a basic stats course, econometrics, and intermediate micro and macro. I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I expect to do well as I've always performed well on standardized tests. I've gotten A's in my advanced math courses, but during my sophomore year when I was going through a period of depression and a lack of motivation I slipped up and received a C in Calc 2 and a B in vector calc (after withdrawing from the course and retaking it). I realize this is a pretty big red flag considering the importance of calculus to economics, but how much will it hurt me given it was confined to one year and I've excelled since then? I also haven't had any RA experience (I reached out to tons of professors but none were interested) Given all of this, what are my chances of getting into a decent program? I'm realistic enough to know that Harvard, Stanford, etc. are out of reach, but what about other schools? I'd be perfectly happy getting into a school like NC State or Clemson. If my chances of getting into even schools of that caliber are low, what would you recommend doing to boost my chances? I've heard conflicting advice from various sources. Some strongly suggest doing a masters and using that to make up for any blemishes on my undergrad record while others say that's a complete waste of time and money. Others say the best way to boost my chances is to find an RA job. Any advice would be really appreciated since I'm pretty much undecided as to what to do after graduating.

Hello friendly folks of urch! I'm currently a student in the UK aiming to get into the top 10 in the US(hopefully). I really don't want to spend the time/money going through the route of a masters first. I do know that getting into the top 10 is no easy task, but I would really love to know my chances. Type of Undergrad: Oxbridge, pure economics, currently in last of three years of undergraduate education Undergrad GPA: 1st class honours in both of my first two years, ranked top 10 and top 5 in level for the two years. Math Courses: Math I, Math II (My level of math is about the mathematical appendix of the MWG) Econ Courses: Macro (I, II, III), Micro (I, II, III), Econometrics (I, II, III), Labour, Economic Theory and Analysis GRE Scores: 170/170/6 Letters of Recommendation: Two from my academic supervisors, one from a pretty famous professor from my school Research Interests: Labour economics, applied micro, econometrics Research Experience: Currently working on my senior thesis Teaching Experience: None I think my academic results are pretty good, but I am pretty worried about my lack of research experience. I have a pretty swanky job offer in finance/consulting, but research is something I would rather do. However, I know that an academic career gets much more difficult if I move down to lower ranked schools, so I'll probably only consider the top 10 schools. Do you guys know of people from the UK who go on to PhDs without a master's? Thank you so much!

Hi all, I've very excited to have just been admitted to a top 30 (funding TBD, but I think I'll get something). I've also applied to 6 schools in the top 20 and I'm waiting to hear back from those, but it's pretty unlikely I'll be admitted, so let's assume those are all rejections. If my goal is to get a tenured track position in the same range (20-40), how difficult is it to do so after going to a top 30? Is it worth passing up on this and doing a master's in Econ to improve my application and try again in 2 years (at age 27) for a shot at top 10? I have a pretty strong background in math but only a minor in Econ from a low ranked state school, and I think the main things keeping me out of top 10/20 is lack of research experience and recommendation letters (which I think were great in content, but not from established economists). A research-track master's could improve both those. Am I foolish for even considering this? What if my T30 offer isn't funded? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.