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Hi everyone, I'm an Indian woman aiming for PhDs in Public/Social Policy or International Development. I'm unsure of where to start looking for universities in USA or UK because I cannot figure out where I'd be a strong candidate. Profile as below: Undergrad in economics, 1st rank from a top Indian university Masters in development studies from a top UK university but an overall Merit (about 60-65%), not the highest grade. Working for 2 years now as an RA with young profs/economists from the USA. Have also held internships with large non profits and government in India. GRE 165 quant, 160 verbal. Also completed some additional math coursework in linear algebra, vector calculus and real analysis from Harvard Extension. Have a co-authored publication in a local journal on labour / gender. My dream programs would be Stanford's Economics of Education or MIT Urban Planning PhD's International Development focus (my research is education and labour in cities). But wondering if I'd be a a more realistic strong candidate at NYU Wagner or Duke Sanford? Could anyone help with what universities I should be looking at? Thank you

BC has strong empirical faculty but its accounting PhD program is relatively new. Minnesota has strong faculty in analytical and its empirical strength has improved a lot. How to choose between these three programs? Any comments will be much appreciated!

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Australian G8 university (top 50 globally). Bachelor of Economics (Hons.)/Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) Cumulative GPA: 3.75 out of 4.0 (top 3 in cohort) GRE: 168 Q/162 V/5.5 AWA Math Courses: Real Analysis (B) Econ (Honours Level) Courses: Research Project (A+); Industrial Organisation (A+); Public Economics (A+); Public Economics (A+); Macroeconomics (B+); Econometrics (B+); Development Economics (A-). Also 14 undergraduate economics courses, including mathematical economics and 4 semesters of stats. Letters of Recommendation: 1) Honours thesis supervisor. Achieved a 90+ mark (second in cohort). (Strong) 2) Honours course supervisor. (Strong) 3) Professor who I worked on a research project for as part of my work experience. (Super Strong) Research Experience: Honours thesis; research work in consulting (evaluation of a major national program for the Australian Government) Teaching Experience: TA’ed 1 semester in introductory microeconomics Work Experience: Two years in Big 4 government consulting Program skills: R, Stata, QGIS Other: Academic awards in 3 units Strong extra-curriculars – committee member of Economics Students Society and Young Economists Network post-graduation Self-assessment: Lack of maths hurts, but from what I’ve been told Australian honours is more maths intensive than US undergrad econ courses. Our school has sent a couple of people to top 10 in the last 5 years. Talking with my faculty I’ve got a very good shot at top-30 and an outside chance at top 10. Any advice would be appreciated.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Low ivy school. Triple major in CS/ECON/MATH Cumulative GPA: 3.99/4.3 GRE: 170 Q/161 V/4.5 W (non-native English speaker) Math Courses: Linear Algebra(A+), Multivariable Calculus(A), Applied Algebra(A), Advanced Linear Alg(A-), Honor intro to analysis(A), Stochestic Process(A+), Numerical Analysis (A) Econ Courses: Intermediate Microeconomics(A+) & Macroeconomics(A), Statistics and Probability(A+), Econometrics(A), Game Theory(A+), Financial Engineering(A), Quantitative Analysis(A), Behavioral Economics(A-), Asymmetric Information(A), and International Trade(B-, oops!)Taking ECON PHD Micro I now, seems good so far CS Courses: Intro to Python(A), Object-Oriented Programming & Data Structure(A), Discrete Structures(A+), Data Structure & Functional Programming(A-), Machine Learning for Intelligent Systems(A), Algorithms(A), Computer Vision (A), and System Programming (A+) Letters of Recommendation: 1) Assistant Professor who I RAed for 8 months. He is also my thesis advisor (Super Strong) 2) Full Professor who I RAed for and took a class with. He was a top5 full professor before joining our school. (Strong) 3) Full Professor who I RAed for and took a class with. (Strong) Research Experience: 4 RA experiences with 2 Assistant Professors and 2 Full Professors. Asked 3 for LOR. Interned as undergraduate researcher for the AEA publication code-checking job. Teaching Experience: TAed 3 semesters for the Discrete Structure course and 2 semesters for the Machine Learning course (all in CS department) Programming skills: Python, Java, Matlab, Latex, R, STATA I am a bit concerned with my B- Econ course. I didn't feel well when I took the final. Does it harm a lot? Would it be reasonable for me to get a top 10 offer? Or top 5? What's gonna be the expected lowerbound for me? Should I apply to any program below top 25? Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello guys, I'm from WFU and want to applay for PhD candidate program for 2021 fall. Degree: BS in Math and BA in Economics Current GPA: 3.90 GRE: Q169+V155 Math Course: Multivariable, Liner Algebra, ODE, PDE, Real Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Stochastic Calculus, Discrete Dynamic System. All of them are A, and currently taking grad level measure theory. Econ course: I heard Ugrad econ course doesn't matter. But all of them are A LOR: I've not started to talk with them. But probably one from my econ thesis advisor (strong?), another strong or very strong from my math thesis advisor. And I think I can definitely find a strong professor who has taught me before. Research Experience: Not any at now. But I'm working on two thesis (one math and one econ) this semester, hope can add at least something to my PS and CV TA experience: math tutor I want to focus on Micro for my PhD program. I have some thoughts on schools like UCSD, UMich, UWisconsin-Maddison, UPenn. I'm even considering MIT and Stanford, although I know the odd is low. Do I have to take another GRE test to get over 330? Any thought or advice on this? Thanks!

Type of Undergrad: top 10 econ Undergrad GPA: 3.9 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: not yet taken, anticipating no problem Math Courses: calc 3-4 (A, A), honors linear algebra (A-), real analysis 1-2 (A, A-), probability (A-), statistics (A) Econ Courses: intermediate micro (A), intermediate macro (A-), econometrics (A), advanced econometrics (A), PhD micro 1-2 (A-, A), PhD metrics (will take in fall), PhD information economics (A) PhD industrial organization (A), PhD mechanism design (A), PhD experimental economics (A), thesis (will do in fall) Other Courses: intermediate programming (A), stochastic systems (A), algorithmic economics (A) Letters of Recommendation: - very strong letter from tenured prof - coauthoring a paper - very strong letter from well known, tenured prof - RA'd for two years and took multiple classes with him - (3) decently strong letter from tenured prof, took PhD class with him - (4) decently strong letter from AP, will RA* this summer See the questions for more info Research Experience: see LORs Teaching Experience: TAd random courses Some questions: 1. What range of schools should I apply to? 2. I'm not sure who should be my third recommender. I was supposed to RA for (4) this summer but that's been largely cancelled for obvious reasons and he's offering me a virtual RAship which would be substantially less involved. (3) seems like a good option except I haven't done any research with him, only taken one class where I did pretty well. What are the relevant considerations when deciding whose letter to take? Also, what are the circumstances in which a 4th recommendation is a good idea?

As I've mentioned in a post before, I do have an offer for EME LSE which I'm deferring until next year due to financial constraints. This means I can also apply to other European schools in the meantime, especially because they're often cheaper. Which others would you recommend? I plan to apply to (on top of LSE) UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, TSE, PSE, UPF, CEMFI. The ultimate aim would be to apply to a strong school in the US after or get admitted to a strong PhD programme in the UK. Any others you would recommend?

Hey mates, I have taken advantage of this forum for a while. Now, I finally took the courage to ask you some questions I have about the application process for the PhD in economics around the world. I hope you can help me. I'm planning to apply to 15+ programs in this year. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BA in economics top Latin American school. Undergrad GPA: 3.7/4 Type of Grad: Msc Economics, same school Grad GPA: 3.5/4 GRE: 166Q, 159V, 3.5AW Math Courses: Calculus I-III(A), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis ©, Statistics I-II (A+), Econometrics I-III (undergrad) and Econometrics I-III(grad) (A). Other relevant Courses: Micro I (C, grad), Micro II (A, grad), Macro I (A, grad), Econometrics I (A, grad), Econometrics III (A, grad), Labor Economics (A, grad). Research Experience: 5+ years as RA. Bunch of topics: labor, applied econometrics, trade, development, IO, environmental economics and economics of education. 5 different profs (3 potential LoRs). Teaching Experience: 4+ years as TA: Statistics, Econometrics, Micro and Macro for both undegraduate and graduate levels. Other: Honor undergraduate thesis and a master thesis published in a fair journal. Participated in 8 conferences (national and international). Top 3 in undergrad. Letters of Recommendation: 1 - Undergrad. supervisor (PhD at a top 10), very famous in my country, sent lots of students to PhD in the last 10 years. I've also been his RA and TA. Tenured. 2 - Grad. supervisor (PhD at a top 30), not so famous, but I consider a strong letter. Also sent some students to PhD in the past. Tenured. 3 - Prof. I've been RAing for 1+ year (also my teacher in undergrad) (PhD at a top 5). Very young. Concerns: 1 - My lack of math courses (at least in comparison with the folks in this forum). 2 - My C's in Real Analisys and Micro I. 3 - My 166 in GRE quant (should I retake, I have plenty of time, but not plenty of money). Could it be that my strong recommendation letters combined with my extensive experience as TA and RA compensate for these flaws in my transcripts? In other words, can the selection committees give more/less weight at any of these points and this increase/decrease my chances of being admitted? I know these questions do not have objective answers, but I would like your opinion on how high I should aim when I decide which schools to apply to (top 10, 20, 50, etc.). Could any of you give me a light? Cheers!

Thanks for you guys’ opinion! Undergrad: Agricultural Econ in China; GPA:3.91/4.00 One Year Exchange Program in a Top 5 Econ program in the US GPA:4.00/4.00 Grad: Master in a Top 5 University in the US. GPA:3.90/4.00 RA: currently doing a one year RA in one of the Top 2 econ programs. Proposed Research Interest: Macro and Labor GRE: 165V 170Q 3.5 AW. Really worried about my writing part not sure if it’s sending a really bad signal. Maths Classes: Haven’t taken many maths classes. But have taken: Real analysis1&2, intro to Proof, Optimization, linear algebra, Calculus, Probability Theory. Got A in all of them. Econ classes: Have taken the PhD level Macro sequence:(A B+ A-). But this program is reknowned for having hard cores. Plus I get a strong letter from one of the professors in the core sequence (ranking top5 in the final exam but got an A- somehow). Grad electives(two A’s). For all the other undergrad level econ classes, I mostly got A’s. Letter: One from a full professor in a Top 5 econ program teaching the macro core sequence and the chair of the department. Have taken two classes from him and confirmed I have a strong letter. One from my current boss/thesis instructor. An assistant professor. But this letter should be really strong. Have a work in progress (not in paper form yet but working on to get the algorithm sorted out) coauthored with him. This is listed on my CV not sure if it's going to help or not. One from an assistant professor from whom I have taken a second year phd level labor class. Confirmed by my boss (they know each other pretty well) that I should get a strong letter. To be honest, i’m Not sure if I can get into one of the top 10’s.... But I didn’t apply to many programs beyond the top 10.

Duplicate post.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 10 SLAC - BA in Economics Undergrad GPA: 3.8/4 GRE: V 163 / Q 169 Math Courses: Calc A (B+), Calc B (A), Calc C (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Probability (B+), Differential Equations (A), Real Analysis (B+) Econ Courses: Introductory Macro (A), Introductory Micro (C+ (family member passed away during finals week)), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (B+), Labor Economics (A), Environmental Economics (A), Money and Banking (A), Health Economics (A), International Economics (A), Econometrics (A) Letters of Recommendation: 1 assistant prof I RA'd for for two years (strong), 1 prof I RA'd for for 1 year (strong), 1 economist from federal reserve (strong) Research Experience: 2 years RA experience in undergrad, mostly in economics department but also one semester in political science department. Two economics papers published from undergrad in which I am co-author with a professor. Also one summer at a Fed bank. Currently almost finished with my 1st year as a full time RA at a Fed bank. Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Labor, health, TBD I'll likely be spending one more year as an RA at the Fed, and applying for Fall 2020. Looking for advice on what levels of programs I should be targeting. Is top 25 out of my reach? My main concerns are some sub-par grades (B+'s in intermediate Macro, Probability, and Analysis), and lack of graduate coursework Thanks!

Anyone can give me advice about these two schools? I got two full funding offers but it's hard to decide. My career goal is to be a professor or researcher in the US. And I am a Asian student, so asian friendly living of Hawaii is too attratctive. I am interested in applied microeconomics such as labor or environment economics etc. LSU is better in terms of ranking but it seems they are strong in Macro. Hawaii seems to be strong in environment economics. Except the living cost, any advice where to go? Thanks!

I'm currently applying to a couple of PhD programs, however, due to personal circumstances I'm not able to apply to top schools (eg. Stanford, Yale, MIT, Harvard, Chicago). I know that most of the top departments are populated with graduates of these programs so I was wondering what people would recommend doing to be positioned for the job market following the PhD. I'm interested in academia (though not necessarily at a top school realistically) or central banking if that doesn't work out. I'd really like to make sure I'm aware of how to make myself an attractive candidate from the beginning so that I don't waste precious time. For some context, I've been told that I would have been competitive for the top schools I listed, had I been able to relocate (I had a high GPA at a prestigious undergrad, a perfect GRE, a pending publication, multiple research awards and work experience at investment banks and research houses). However, it's just not on the table - as such, I need to be more conscious of the path I take. I'm considering two programs - one isn't that great overall (maybe top 50 globally?) but the speciality I'm applying to is extremely strong (top 10 globally). My second choice program is much better overall (about top 15 globally according to some sources), but not nearly as strong in my specialty.