tm_member Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Sorry for delay on this. Life happens. As usual, this is a place to share info and your anxiety/joy as the admission process unfolds. Good luck to all and don't be jerks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikicat Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Thank you so much, tm_member! Submitted all my applications. What should I do between now and late February? I just can't resist checking GradCafe every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
askangbuzz Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Thank you so much, tm_member! Submitted all my applications. What should I do between now and late February? I just can't resist checking GradCafe every day. I check urch everyday 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kikicat Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 I check urch everyday Same, haha. Especially now we have the sweat thread, I'll be checking Urch several times a day now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJS Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Same here, I managed to get to the end of 2019 without too much anxiety, but now we're in the new year the excitement/terror is building! How many places have you applied to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econ2020 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Same here, I managed to get to the end of 2019 without too much anxiety, but now we're in the new year the excitement/terror is building! How many places have you applied to? I am super anxious too, have been following urch for a while, so decided to join in :) I have applied to 15 places although depending on how the results go, I may apply to a couple more European places where the application deadline is later as safeties. How about you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJS Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 I am super anxious too, have been following urch for a while, so decided to join in :) I have applied to 15 places although depending on how the results go, I may apply to a couple more European places where the application deadline is later as safeties. How about you? I've applied to 14 places in the US, and also MPhil in Economic Research at Cambridge which I've already been rejected from. If I don't get into any of the US programs then I'll be applying for an MSc in the UK, most of those applications are open until August so plenty of time if it's all bad news come April! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
askangbuzz Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I've applied to 14 places in the US, and also MPhil in Economic Research at Cambridge which I've already been rejected from. If I don't get into any of the US programs then I'll be applying for an MSc in the UK, most of those applications are open until August so plenty of time if it's all bad news come April! I’ve applied to 17 places. Totally broke after the application... have you considered a full time RA position if things are really that bad? That’s what my professor advised me to do... but hopefully we can all get into the program we want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigmasq Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I’ve applied to 17 places. Totally broke after the application... have you considered a full time RA position if things are really that bad? That’s what my professor advised me to do... but hopefully we can all get into the program we want! Hi there! That's what I'm thinking too. But I'm not sure if there will be open RA positions in late Feb or early March? Trying to decide whether I should apply to RAships now or after I get tons of rejections... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
askangbuzz Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Hi there! That's what I'm thinking too. But I'm not sure if there will be open RA positions in late Feb or early March? Trying to decide whether I should apply to RAships now or after I get tons of rejections... Maybe there will be some openings in the fall?That practically means we will be wasting at least half a year. And can we decline the RA offer? I have the impression that economics academia is a small circle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJS Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I’ve applied to 17 places. Totally broke after the application... have you considered a full time RA position if things are really that bad? That’s what my professor advised me to do... but hopefully we can all get into the program we want! Yes, it's certainly not a cheap process... I can see why it would make sense to look at RA positions if you wanted to reapply to similar PhD programs the following year, but I don't think it's what I'm planning to do. I live in the UK and if I don't get into a US program this time around then I don't think I'll try again for the US - if I get onto a UK MSc program instead (which I don't believe is particularly difficult outside of the top 5) then I would plan on carrying on to do a PhD in the UK instead, maybe with a year or two working in between. But the PhD itself in the UK is typically only 3 years rather than 5 (and requires an MSc in Economics as well), and I think that waiting another year to then go on to apply to more 5-year programs would be too much of a long haul for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econ2020 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Yes, it's certainly not a cheap process... I can see why it would make sense to look at RA positions if you wanted to reapply to similar PhD programs the following year, but I don't think it's what I'm planning to do. I live in the UK and if I don't get into a US program this time around then I don't think I'll try again for the US - if I get onto a UK MSc program instead (which I don't believe is particularly difficult outside of the top 5) then I would plan on carrying on to do a PhD in the UK instead, maybe with a year or two working in between. But the PhD itself in the UK is typically only 3 years rather than 5 (and requires an MSc in Economics as well), and I think that waiting another year to then go on to apply to more 5-year programs would be too much of a long haul for me. I also studied in the UK for undergrad & masters! Do you think applicants from the UK are slightly disadvantaged when it comes to Maths background? Because UK undergrad programs typically do not give you a lot of opportunities to choose courses from outside of your department (studying something like Real Analysis) so we only study Maths which is part of the Economics program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luismf08 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I applied to 20 places among the top 25 in US. My plan B is applying to a Master in Europe, but from some comments above I'm wondering if there are RA opportunities at US for foreigners. Seems like a good plan to get better LoRs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
askangbuzz Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I applied to 20 places among the top 25 in US. My plan B is applying to a Master in Europe, but from some comments above I'm wondering if there are RA opportunities at US for foreigners. Seems like a good plan to get better LoRs. It’s definitely feasible if you are doing your undergrad/master in the US. I know a friend who is doing his RAship at MIT on OPT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TenukiMario Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I'm in industry (econ consulting) and applying this cycle. A few of my coworkers who also wanted to do PhDs quit last year to take RA positions, specifically for the LoR angle. It meant enough to them to take a massive (more than 50%) pay cut. On my end, I figured the recs I got from undergrad and my boss here would be enough. Maybe the RA position would get me into a marginally better place, but it wasn't worth the huge pay cut to me. I guess we'll see how my results turn out compared to my ex-coworkers. For reference, I applied to 20 or so top 30 US schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luismf08 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 It’s definitely feasible if you are doing your undergrad/master in the US. I know a friend who is doing his RAship at MIT on OPT. Oh I see, this information is helpful for someone in that situation. In my case, I did my undergrad degrees outside US so I will look for information. If I find something, I'll let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocomoco Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Stanford applicants: Stanford’s Economics Department is admitting this year’s PhD applicants in two waves of roughly equal sizes. For our department to participate in the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program – a prestigious Stanford scholarship to which some PhD applicants also apply – we identify some admits very early. Remaining applicants are admitted during a second, normal wave of admissions. These two waves create a rolling admissions process that is compatible with Stanford’s Knight-Hennessy timeline. The decision date for all admitted students (both waves) remains April 15. https://economics.stanford.edu/graduate/applying-stanford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJS Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I also studied in the UK for undergrad & masters! Do you think applicants from the UK are slightly disadvantaged when it comes to Maths background? Because UK undergrad programs typically do not give you a lot of opportunities to choose courses from outside of your department (studying something like Real Analysis) so we only study Maths which is part of the Economics program? I can't really comment from first hand experience as my undergraduate degree was in theoretical physics which necessarily contained lots of maths classes, but in general it does sound like there are more opportunities to take extra maths classes in the US with the way their degrees are structured. The same is also true to a lesser extent in Scotland, undergraduate degrees are a year long there than in England but 1/3rd of your courses in the first two years can be from any subject area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
askangbuzz Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 I'm in industry (econ consulting) and applying this cycle. A few of my coworkers who also wanted to do PhDs quit last year to take RA positions, specifically for the LoR angle. It meant enough to them to take a massive (more than 50%) pay cut. On my end, I figured the recs I got from undergrad and my boss here would be enough. Maybe the RA position would get me into a marginally better place, but it wasn't worth the huge pay cut to me. I guess we'll see how my results turn out compared to my ex-coworkers. For reference, I applied to 20 or so top 30 US schools. May I ask why you want to quit industry and do a PhD? Opportunity cost seems high if seeking industry employment after the phd. If you can get into a top phd program , maybe a top mba program is also feasible? Or do you want to be a professor? Just curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TenukiMario Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 May I ask why you want to quit industry and do a PhD? Opportunity cost seems high if seeking industry employment after the phd. If you can get into a top phd program , maybe a top mba program is also feasible? Or do you want to be a professor? Just curious You hit on the main reason - I want to do academia. More broadly, I'm just a bit bored with the consulting work and the fairly long promotion time frame. I could stick around at my firm for the next 6 years instead of doing a PhD, but I would end up at the same level as being hired out of PhD, making less, with not much opportunity for advancement after that. Sure, I lose 6 years at 100K+, but I think I would die if I had to spend 6 more years making Excel charts instead of 6 years actually getting smarter, studying things I'm interested in, etc. I'm not obsessed with money - just having a comfortable, interesting, and fulfilling life is good enough for me. As for post-PhD opportunities, I do realize it's very hard to get a good academic job. For that reason, I'm completely OK with a career in industry after PhD. But having a PhD seriously improves your industry options. It gives you a bit of a restart, it increases your starting and max salary, and it allows you to eventually become a testifying expert or something similar eventually. Can't really do that without the degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culturalmetrics Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Anyone applying to Canadian PhD programs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econphdgoals Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Anyone applying to MA programs? Just finished my first round of applications for Jan 15. Wooo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
askangbuzz Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 You hit on the main reason - I want to do academia. More broadly, I'm just a bit bored with the consulting work and the fairly long promotion time frame. I could stick around at my firm for the next 6 years instead of doing a PhD, but I would end up at the same level as being hired out of PhD, making less, with not much opportunity for advancement after that. Sure, I lose 6 years at 100K+, but I think I would die if I had to spend 6 more years making Excel charts instead of 6 years actually getting smarter, studying things I'm interested in, etc. I'm not obsessed with money - just having a comfortable, interesting, and fulfilling life is good enough for me. As for post-PhD opportunities, I do realize it's very hard to get a good academic job. For that reason, I'm completely OK with a career in industry after PhD. But having a PhD seriously improves your industry options. It gives you a bit of a restart, it increases your starting and max salary, and it allows you to eventually become a testifying expert or something similar eventually. Can't really do that without the degree. Nice speech! I guess in the end we maximize our utility/happiness in our life not the amount of wealth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donteatmybacon Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 For those of you who are also applying to business econ programs - has anyone heard from Berkeley Haas BPP, Chicago Booth Behavioral Science, UCSD Rady, Michigan Ross or NYU Stern? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zixin Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 For those of you who are also applying to business econ programs - has anyone heard from Berkeley Haas BPP, Chicago Booth Behavioral Science, UCSD Rady, Michigan Ross or NYU Stern? Nope. Applied to these too, finger crossed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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