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Hello, I really appreciate any thoughts on my profile. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Economics with honors, Math, and poli sci Majors from Top 15 economics program Undergrad GPA: 3.97 overall, 4.0 in econ and poli sci, 3.9 in math Type of Grad: NA Grad GPA:NA GRE: GRE: Q170 / V166 / AWA 5 Math Courses: calc 1-3, probability theory, linear algebra, Analysis 1, intro to Stochastic Processes, all A's , diff EQ's, and Theory of Single Variable Calc (AB's), Abstract algebra (IP). Econ Courses (grad-level): , Phd micro theory (IP) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): into micro and macro, honors intermediate micro and macro, stats for econ, econometrics, behavioral econ, public finance, senior thesis class Other Courses: Three poli sci classes I wrote data based analytical papers for. Letters of Recommendation: One from a Poli sci professor who knows me well and I wrote a quantitative paper for. One from my Honors thesis prof. He is a senior lecturer not a professor, but has a PhD from a top program and has taught at top programs. One from CEO of the research company I work for who also runs a research center at my University, PhD in public Policy from top Program. Research Experience: Data driven papers in 3 poli sci courses. Senior thesis for econ. Worked full time last summer and about 25 hours a week during this semester at an education research company, working with large data sets in R. Will work as a full time research analyst after graduating in December. Teaching Experience: Tutored for the athletic department. Worked a lot there last year and a few hours week this year. Tutored a variety of classes, intro intermediate micro/macro and advanced electives. Met with students individually and in groups on a weakly basis so I feel its comparable to TA. Research Interests: Public Policy, labour, political economy SOP: talked about papers and work experience. Emphasized my interest in public policy. Spent way too much time looking at it so hoping its pretty good. Other: This is my fifth year of undergrad; I am only in two classes right now. Applying to: Mostly top 15 with a few 20-40 range, and Harvard Kennedy school for Public Policy PhD Concerns: working a lot and spent a lot of time on apps and GRE. I couldn’t put as much time into PhD Micro theory as I would have liked, at least that’s the excuse I am currently using haha. Will likely get a B, maybe an AB. I’d be personally happy with that, but I have heard this does not look good to graduate schools, and am worried I will have overreached with most of my apps if this is the case. Very grateful for any input!!

I'm completely hopeless now that I realize what kind of signal a low GRE Quant score can send out to grad schools. I want your advice on how to pull off an admission offer for a Masters Economics most possibly in United States. Here is my profile Type of Undergrad: PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: University of London Distance Learning Program (BSc Economics) - This program is run by LSE and taught by affiliated institutions across the globe. University of London International Programmes with academic direction provided by LSE. - University of London International Programmes - Study - Home GPA: Don't know how to convert, I currently fulfill all requirements for a 2:1 (Upper Second Class Honors) GRE: Q 156 (64th percentile) V 147 A 4.0 TOEFL: 104 (Speaking: 29) Math Courses: Calc I (A-) Calc II (A-) Mathematical Economics (A-) (involves Static and Dynamic Optimization, Differential Eq, Control Theory) Statistics I (B) Statistics II (A-) (Prob Theory, Distributions, Inference) Linear Algebra and Real Analysis (C+) Econ Courses: Principles Micro&Macro (A-) Intermediate Micro (A) Intermediate Macro (B+) Intro Econometrics (A-) Monetary Economics (A) International Economics (B) Research &Teaching: None SOP: Made a thesis proposal by describing a research topic in monetary policy tools and effectiveness, also highlighted a academic excellence award received at the end of 2013/14 semester Applied to: UBC, Tufts, CEMFI, BGSE, UCL, Duke, Wisconsin, Grad-Geneva, NUS, Boston, Texas-Austin, Warwick Rejected by: BGSE, UCL (within 2 weeks) Accepted by: None so far Concerns: 1) Did my GRE score close the curtains on my hopes? I had carefully assessed whether I needed to retake it but UBC and UCL have mentioned a minimum requirement of 156 in quant section and BGSE mailed me that GRE is not as important as your quant subjects grades. Although that shouldn't count now as 2 out of those 3 already rejected my application. NUS, Warwick didn't require GRE. It is too late to retake it anyways. Have I made a critical error? 2) Knowing my profile and places I applied and rejections I got, can you advise on where I should NOW apply as a backup, possibly in US for MA Economics? I don't necessarily want to pursue a PhD and wouldn't mind working in industry for economic research institutions or financial services. How reputed are NC State, Georgia State, Georgetown, UColorado-Denver, Texas A&M, Florida State for their economics departments and in particular masters programs not just in terms of getting into PhD in the future but also for getting into job market? Any other places in Canada, UK, Europe? 3) Also, what will be good options for MPP or Public Administration programs as well as Masters in Finance (leaving out the elite group of MIT, Princeton, Vanderblit) ? How good are Arizona State, Temple U, Massachusetts-Boston and IIT Stuart? Would really appreciate some input Thanks a lot for your time P.S. My grades were in UK percentage scale and hence I used WES website to convert them as follows: [TABLE] [TR] [TD=colspan: 2]Grading Scale[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][TABLE] [TR] [TD=class: Title, bgcolor: #FFCC33]Scale[/TD] [TD=class: Title, bgcolor: #FFCC33]U.S. Grade Equiv.[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #ffffff]70-100[/TD] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #ffffff]A[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #EEEEEE]65-69[/TD] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #EEEEEE]A-[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #ffffff]60-64[/TD] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #ffffff]B+[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #EEEEEE]50-59[/TD] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #EEEEEE]B[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #ffffff]45-49[/TD] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #ffffff]C+[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #EEEEEE]40-44[/TD] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #EEEEEE]C[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #ffffff]0-39[/TD] [TD=class: info, bgcolor: #ffffff]F[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Hi All, Recently came across this forum and thought I would put my profile out there for feedback on my admissions chances. I'm looking to apply to several schools this coming fall for a PhD in Organizational Behavior or Human Resources (somewhat dependent on the school in question). I am a 2008 Magna Cum Laude graduate of two honors programs of The University of Texas at Austin (Business Honors Program and Plan II Honors, both highly respected undergraduate programs). My GPA is a 3.88 and my GRE is a 1490 (720 Verbal and 770 Quantitative) and my senior thesis was selected as a model thesis (10 total selected, though mine was a creative writing thesis). I've spent the last 4 years pursuing a mix of volunteer positions (Americorps) and consulting (two top 20 firms in healthcare and environmental consulting). I've had a PhD in the back of my mind since late in my undergrad years and that voice has grown louder with time. I can't say that I have a dissertation topic locked down as I anticipate my interests could change some during the course of graduate study but some potential research interests include: 1) the effects of flexible working arrangements on employee retention and success for new fathers, 2) how results-only workplace schemes can drive bottom line results, 3) differences in long-term employment outcomes between external hires and internal promotions, and 4) career effects of formal mentoring relationships in the work place. I have a good list of extracurricular endeavors (mostly volunteer based) but am a little concerned that I have a handful of B's in some of my quantitative courses (Engineering route Calculus, Advanced Physics, and a few others). 60% (three out of five) of these occurred as a freshman, so I'm hoping the admissions councils will be understanding of that. Still, I'm considering taking a few graduate applied statistics classes to offset this potential weakness. Schools I'm looking to apply to include: 1) Cornell (not having visited, this is my #1 as I feel it lines up best with my academic interests) 2) UCLA 3) Berkeley 4) Northwestern 5) Virginia 6) Michigan 7) Duke 8) UNC 9) Minnesota 10) Vanderbilt I assume that I would have a tough time getting into H/S/W though if any of you disagree, please let me know (my ego will thank you, haha)! All feedback, constructive criticism, advice appreciated. Let me know if you would find any additional information useful.