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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!

This may seem like a small problem with deadlines fast approaching but it has me worried. As I’m finalizing some apps I am lost when it comes to submitting undergrad transcripts with no instructions. Mainly the university of Illinois has a section where I add an institution then upload a digital transcript. It doesn’t say it has to be official or unofficial and it doesn’t have a way to mail them in. I don’t have access without getting a mailed copy to a transcript from a college that provided 2 classes in high school and i won’t be able to get a mailed copy to me then scan and upload a digital copy before the December 1st deadline. Plus I only have an unofficial online transcript from undergrad that I uploaded since it doesn’t specify what it wants. Anyone else running into this problem. On on another note Michigan State doesn’t even have an option to upload transcripts or even ask for GPA which seems very odd to me. Unless it asks after I submit my application the only useful information I provide on that application is my name and statement of purpose.

I just noticed that the program I applied to, Stanford Statistics MS, prior to admission requires that students mail two official transcripts to the department. I applied online and uploaded unofficial versions in my application. Since the deadline is tomorrow, do you think I could still have transcripts sent out, arrive late, and still be considered? Does anyone have any experience with this?

Hi all, If you're applying to two programs at the same school and both programs request an official mailed transcript, should you send two copies of your transcript? Or would just one suffice? I couldn't find any information in the school's FAQ (Harvard GSAS), nor did a search in this forum turn up anything. I had a similar question regarding GRE scores, but in the case of Harvard GSAS, I think they only give you a school code and not individual department codes, so I just submitted one report. Thanks muchly.

Since a lot of programs have different application dates, I was wondering how all of you dealt with applications where you submitted transcripts that did not include your entire course history. For example, if you apply in the Fall, then courses from Fall and Spring are not listed. In my case, this means the absence of very important coursework (Linear Algebra, Math modelling, graduate level microeconomics, etc.) Would you advise sending a supplemental letter explaining recent coursework once grades are in and enrollment is complete? Thanks everyone.