2014 ARE Thread

[adam12]

I'm having a hard time discerning how various departments feel about contacting faculty members regarding admission/ funding.

 

The usual rule is: don't. If they really want you to contact faculty, the program website usually tells you explicitly (common for interdisciplinary programs like Duke UPEP, Bren, etc.).

 

 

I realize I'm not Maryland or Berkeley material, but am hoping to attend a university that is well enough regarded to still give me a shot at an academic career.

 

Don't count yourself out of any program too soon. I had a 3.1 undergraduate GPA, a barely-acceptable GRE-Q score, and no research experience, but Davis still considered me one of their top PhD applicants. Plus, I think ag/applied programs value applicants who already have a graduate degree more than econ programs do. Doing very well in your MS and getting good LORs might mitigate whatever modest detriment your undergrad GPA caused.

[BananaFish]

Thanks adam, it's definitely heartening to hear that the applied programs give more weight to the work done in your masters program, since the general consensus about pure programs seems to be that a high graduate GPA counts for little. Reading some of the posts on this forum can leave one with impression that getting a B in freshman calculus eliminates any and all chance for professional success and personal fulfillment. Maybe pure the economists are just a more heartless, unforgiving bunch than the applied ones. :)

 

So I'll just try do as well as I possibly can in my MS program and see where I stand a year from now. Hopefully that, combined with strong LOR will be enough to make me competitive at some well regarded programs for 2016. Now I have to make sure I get an A in Real Analysis this fall....

[ms484]

I realize I'm not Maryland or Berkeley material, but am hoping to attend a university that is well enough regarded to still give me a shot at an academic career. I spent the past two years after completing my undergrad teaching high school and enjoyed it, so I'd be happy to land a spot at a teaching-oriented institution some day. However, I know LAC jobs are still extremely competitive, so the ranking of the school I attend will be important.

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I totally disagree. It looks like from your profile that you haven't taken any econ, or barely any. Therefore most places wouldn't accept you for their phd, or even masters. I was rejected from Davis for my masters because I did not have enough econ courses, but was a "top applicant" after my MS with an RA position. I bet after you finish you will have a strong shot to get into all of the ag/econ departments. That is, if you do well. And yes, totally take Real Analysis, although since you have already taken proofs based maths it's less of a big deal.

 

PS I think that Maryland is more on the level with Davis and Wisconsin. I think that those three are pretty much equal, though it obviously depends on what you are interested in.

[BananaFish]

You're right, ms84. I've only taken intermediate Macro/ Micro at this point, so I'm lucky to have found an MS program to take me and fund me. I found those classes easy, but recognize that graduate economic study and undergraduate study are vastly different, so I don't really have a gauge as to how well I'll be able to do in my MS program. I'm hoping to do very well since I've generally been able to do well academically when I've applied myself, but again I don't know how difficult I'll find it.

 

For those with MS degrees, can I ask which aspects of your masters program you found most challenging? It seems like the graduate students I spoke to at the school I'll be attending found it to be the level of math required.