Voided Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 (edited) This sequence signals to adcomms a level of intellectual curiousity not strictly produced by ambition I tried to think of a discipline that is more likely to signal intellectual curiosity pursued for it's own sake than pure mathematics, but I came up empty. Edited December 3, 2014 by Voided Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicaffairsny Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I'm tried to think of a discipline that is more likely to signal intellectual curiosity pursued for it's own sake than pure mathematics, but I came up empty. Yeah but having it as a requirement kills any signal to that effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelForbin Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Its obvious there are more variables than what are discussed on here. Why not let people think about them if they want? I'm not so sure there are other variables at play. And if your starting from 0, the opportunity cost of increasing other factor other than mathematical/economic preparation and research ability likely outweighs the benefits of those rather unrelated, backdoor traits that may idiosyncratically positively affect admission outcomes. In summary: I think it is a waste of time to try and identify these variables, because even if they are well identified, they are still a waste of time to pursue - at least WRT admissions. Remember, we're thinking about this in a goldfish bowl of admissions. In life, there are many reason to do things that aren't related to admission to an economics ph.d. program, but if we're strictly trying to maximize admissions probabilities, one is better off taking more math and doing more research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicaffairsny Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I guess but it could be fun testing theories on omitted variables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Food4Thought Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I guess but it could be fun testing theories on omitted variables. Take a few physics classes and report back your results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicaffairsny Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Take a few physics classes and report back your results. Any other theories? I'm trying to hack the top 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBZ Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 It appears "Lazy Econ PhD Grads" has turned into "Lazy Ways To Get Into Econ PhD" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelForbin Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Any other theories? I'm trying to hack the top 10. You could write a response to the JEP article about the omitted variables in Ph.D. admission and how that drives the overall unproductivity of Ph.D. from top-10 departments. Tie it into spillover effects from being born in a non-university hospital. Economists LOVE spillovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicaffairsny Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 It appears "Lazy Econ PhD Grads" has turned into "Lazy Ways To Get Into Econ PhD" I don't think its necessarily lazy to find a hack when you are not a conventional 18 year old freshman tyring to lay out a plan. As an older non-traditional student, where time has greater opportunity costs its sound economic thinking to maximize efficiency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelForbin Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I don't think its necessarily lazy to find a hack when you are not a conventional 18 year old freshman tyring to lay out a plan. As an older non-traditional student, where time has greater opportunity costs its sound economic thinking to maximize efficiency. This thread is amusing -- we've officially hit diminishing returns on analyzing graduate school admissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicaffairsny Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Remember I have a boring job where I sit on the internet all day. There is no diminishing returns for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelForbin Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I didn't know that -- start reading papers or studying for real analysis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicaffairsny Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I'm not completely unproductive in the time. But 8 hour days lend themselves to some fooling around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.