Fall 2022 Profile Evaluation & Recommendation of School Tiers to Apply to

[jwh_py]

Undergraduate: Top 100 in US according to Ideas RePec & US News

Field: BS Econ & BS Statistics (double major)

Undergraduate G.P.A: 3.88/4.00 Overall -- 3.95 in Econ -- 4.00 in Statistics -- 4.00 in Math

Mathematics Courses (Undergrad): Calculus I/II/III; Linear Algebra; Real Analysis; Probability Theory I/II

Graduate: N/A

GRE: 158 Q 163 V (planning on retaking up to 3 times this summer or until I get at least 167 Q)

LORS: 1 from Fed RA work (2 years); 1 from undergrad RA work (1.5 years) for assistant prof doing labor research; 1 from undergrad TA work (1 year) for intro to econometrics

Applying to: Dream schools -- Princeton, Penn, Michigan
                      Next tier schools -- Wisconsin, Duke, Minnesota, UT Austin, Vanderbilt
                      Next tier schools -- Notre Dame, UVA, Cornell, Rochester, Penn State
                      "Safe" schools -- ASU, Oregon, Houston

Emphasis: Macro, ideally researching the housing market

Concerns: Likely not going to have published or coauthored anything by time of applying. I helped a fair amount with research during undergrad but nothing of coauthor caliber, same goes for work during Fed RA-ship. I do have some independent "research" regarding housing market trends up on my website but still nothing quite at the publication stage.

Looking for: Honest opinion on the schools I'm applying to. Are they a good mix? Am I wasting my time applying to Princeton, Penn and Michigan? Do I need much safer schools? 

[kun09]

Hi. I'm also applying for Fall 2022. You have a better profile than I do. I suppose you could go for schools a bit higher than Duke etc., and take Notre Dame, UVA as safe schools. It's just my personal opinion, good luck.

[tutonic]

You should provide this list to your letter writers and get their opinion on it. Check out old Profiles & Results Threads from past years to see how others performed in the past. There are a couple students from the past 5 years that came from a comparable school, if I'm not mistaken. These are the 2 most recent ones (2020 and 2021). 

The stickied thread for Old Profiles & Results have dead links given the forum switched platforms a couple months ago. I'll update that thread some time in the coming few days, but you can just search for "Profiles & Results" in the PhD Econ sub-forum.

[tbe]

As tutonic said, your letter writers are far better positioned to answer your question than we are. What they write in their letters is much more important than many other aspects of your application. We don't have that information. Your letter writers should be people who can both speak to your potential (i.e. write a letter for you) and also give you advice on where to apply and how to evaluate your options. You shouldn't be taking advice on these things from anonymous people who don't know. 

[econk]

Hi there! Just wondering what you are doing (Fed RA work, other work, courses, etc) between now and starting your PhD? It seems you’re planning to apply next cycle (Fall 2022) to enter into grad school Fall 2023.

[jwh_py]

On 1/18/2022 at 1:12 AM, econk said:

Hi there! Just wondering what you are doing (Fed RA work, other work, courses, etc) between now and starting your PhD? It seems you’re planning to apply next cycle (Fall 2022) to enter into grad school Fall 2023.

I am about to start my second year of Fed RA Work

Edited January 19, 2022 by jwh_py