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Hello all, I am beginning to think / prepare to apply to graduate programs this cycle. I think that I have a profile with a decent chance of admit for a top ten school (high grades in econ & math at a T15 undergrad, full time research assistant for 2 years, etc.) However, I am having trouble choosing my third LOR writer. Given that the other two letters will come from senior, well-published professors, which should I choose between: (1) A senior lecturer at the T15 undergraduate school who helped advise my thesis and regularly advises honors econ students; or (2) An associate professor at a relatively unknown university I RAed for a few years ago (have not kept close contact) who publishes frequently in top field journals with a few articles in general interest journals. My prior is that both letters would be of similar quality--strong but not excellent. Additionally, both potential recommenders received their PhDs from top five programs. I guess my main question is how disadvantageous is it to have a recommendation from a senior lecturer compared to a professor? Would that outweigh the lecturer being in a better position to make relative comparisons between me and other top students at my undergrad?

Type of Undergrad: Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges, Econ+Math (double major), Political Science + History minors Undergrad GPA: 3.92 Type of Grad:n/a Grad GPA:n/a GRE: tbd (Non-US citizen) Math Courses: Diff Calculus (A), Int Calculus (A), Multivariable Calculus (B+), Logic & Proofs (A), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (A) Probability Theory (A), Real Analysis (A) Econ Courses: Intro (A), Intermediate Macro (A-), Intermediate Micro (A), Statistical Analysis (A), Econometrics (A-), Development (A), International Financial (A), Crime (A), International Pol. Econ. (A), Education (B+) Letters of Recommendation: 1. Prof who taught me for 4 courses 2. Prof who was an RA for + econometrics + senior thesis 3. I haven't decided Research Experience: Will write senior thesis, RA for a year Teaching Experience: Tutor Concerns: A- in Econometrics + B+ in Education + B+ in Mult. Calculus during the same semester, when I had multiple deaths in my family. Would that hurt my application too much? What about coming from an LAC with no grad-level classes? Questions: Where should I be aiming? What schools in this range have a particularly strong program in Development/Labor?

Should I delay graduation by half a semester to take PhD Micro (among other courses)? I'm also considering just taking Honors Analysis 2 during my senior spring semester and calling it a day. Would delaying graduation be considered negatively by admissions committees? Thanks.

Hi all, I'm new to Urch and I have some questions: A bit of introduction about myself, long story short, I ended up staying an extra year in undergrad and earned a degree in primary major in econ and secondary major in math. Honestly, up to senior first semester was tough (I almost failed the first sequence of real analysis - got a C), but I pulled myself up and got As in math classes afterwards in the remaining three semesters, including an A in retake of the first sequence of real analysis, and As in second sequence of real analysis, advanced real analysis (grad-level math course), stochastic processes (technically in stats department), measure theory, topology, abstract algebra, and in (honors) probability. Upon graduation, I worked for a professor at a top 10 institution as an RA, and there I took PhD-level Econometrics and Microeconomics (got As). And my question is: my overall GPA is around 3.67 (as I also had several not so great grades prior to Senior 1st semester - I had hard times with math and sometimes even with econ but things started to click more during my senior second semester), but during the last 4 semesters in undergrad (that is, senior year and the extra year), my GPA is 3.87. In this sense, 1. Is it worth mentioning both my overall GPA and my GPA during the last 4 semesters in my CV? 2. Also, any thoughts to how the admissions committee (including top schools) will think of my math grades? I know it will be rough, but I want to shoot for and apply to top schools if possible (including the top 10). Please help me out and let me know what your opinions are to these two questions! Thanks :)

Going into my senior year as an Ec major, with minors in Real Estate, Mathematics, and Philosophy at a small liberal arts college, but I'm very far behind the pack in terms of math. Math classes: Freshman Year: Calc for Social Science Majors: A Applied Statistics: A Junior Year: Calculus I: A Senior Year: Calculus II: Currently Enrolled Advanced Statistics and Probability: Current enrolled Linear Algebra: Currently Enrolled And I plan on taking Calculus III, and a proof class next semester Economics classes: 3.9 overall Freshman year Global MacroEconomics: A Applied MicroEconomics: B+ Sophomore year Applied Macro: A Applied Micro: A Game theory: A Junior year Econometrics I: A Urban Economics: A Independent Study: A Economics of the European Union (study abroad): A Senior Year Econometrics II: Currently enrolled Senior seminar: Planned for next semester GPA: 3.86 / 4.0 GRE: 166Q 162V 5.5W If its worth noting I also have an A- in masters level philosophy class from my first semester sophomore year, and 1 semester of research work at a think tank house at my university (where the grade for independent study came from), and this week I will begin TAing for applied micro, and RAing for the head of our stats department. Goal: Get into a top 50 PhD program Research Interest: Behavior Economics, Price theory, Crime, Monetary Policy

Hi, I'm interested in development and applied micro economics, and need to choose between these two options. Historically, Michigan has had much better placement. But, they lack of senior faculty in development in particular now. They do have a lot of interesting APs joining this fall though. Brown has incredible senior faculty - some of whom have joined in the past few years, but I don't think that their placements have quite caught up yet. Brown is a riskier option (don't know if the placements will catch up) - so not sure whether I should go for the place with more interesting senior people or the program that has a higher median placement.

Hello friends! Longtime lurker, first time poster. Hope to get to know y'all better.