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2022 Sweat Thread


Erin

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On 2/16/2022 at 8:21 PM, szhangbi said:

Not accepted by Minnesota though, I got an offer from a university that I would probably decline. I am wondering how should I decline an offer, as I see no 'withdrawn' button on the portal, shall directly reply to the email with admission letter? or maybe forward to the director of graduate study?

An update from my personal experience: after a few days when the official offer came out so that you can officially accept it on the portal, there would be a 'decline' option along the side.

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16 hours ago, Eustruria said:

I'm also a senior undergrad who applied only to top 30 schools and one safety. So far, I've only gotten into my safety and waitlisted at Wisconsin-Madison's Applied Economics. I've gotten 7 rejections as of now and I have no interest in going to my safety program. I feel like it's gotten pretty difficult to get into a top program straight from undergrad unless your undergrad institution is also high ranked. All my honors advisors, LOR writers, and other economics professors said that my list of schools weren't risky or that I will definitely get into a top program. But frankly, most of my professors are quite old so their expectations are likely off. It feels like the average person who attends a top program has gotten a masters, predoc, or took some years at the Fed reserve.

I was feeling quite depressed as well but you need to change your mindset. Assume you've been rejected from everywhere and start planning your next steps now. Start applying to any master's programs whose deadlines haven't passed or predoc programs. You won't feel as bad. Frankly, I should have applied to some top master's programs, but my initial perception of how easy it was to get into a PhD program got the best of me. My remaining hope regarding this application cycle now is to (hopefully) get into Uchicago's master program since I got rejected from their PhD. Here are my stats: 3.888 GPA; 169Q/163V/4.5AWA; economics (BS), applied mathematics (BS), statistics (minor); 4 publications (2 first author), none of which are in economics journals but are economics related; 3 research assistantships, only one was in economics department;  2 presentations; various awards and scholarships (~$30k).

Yeah for Stanford this year, most people admitted have pre-docs or masters or both. A couple of people straight from undergrad but definitely a small minority. LSE EME and economics masters applications are still open so might be worth applying there if you don't mind living in the UK for a year

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On 2/19/2022 at 5:42 AM, jk_econ said:

Has anybody heard from the PhD in Sustainable Development at Columbia? There is an interview in GC, is it a troll?

Emailed the director and he said early next week they would release decisions, if you don't receive any positive results by the end of next week, that means IR

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Does anyone know if the culture of Chicago has improved / would still consider it a top program? I’ve read on EJMR about the historic high qual failing rate / lack of quality advising (some people say its improved a lot recently). It’s the best school I’ve gotten into and I have a good research fit but I’m concerned about this! I’ve setup meetings with current students and my letter writers as well. Thanks!

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36 minutes ago, helloeconomics said:

Does anyone know if the culture of Chicago has improved / would still consider it a top program? I’ve read on EJMR about the historic high qual failing rate / lack of quality advising (some people say its improved a lot recently). It’s the best school I’ve gotten into and I have a good research fit but I’m concerned about this! I’ve setup meetings with current students and my letter writers as well. Thanks!

Depends on what your other options are. Another thing is that current students won't tell you the whole truth if you set up a meeting. Most people are very discreet about talking bad things about their current programs.

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10 hours ago, helloeconomics said:

Does anyone know if the culture of Chicago has improved / would still consider it a top program? I’ve read on EJMR about the historic high qual failing rate / lack of quality advising (some people say its improved a lot recently). It’s the best school I’ve gotten into and I have a good research fit but I’m concerned about this! I’ve setup meetings with current students and my letter writers as well. Thanks!

9 hours ago, mnbvbnm said:

Depends on what your other options are. Another thing is that current students won't tell you the whole truth if you set up a meeting. Most people are very discreet about talking bad things about their current programs.

First thing: Don't read EJMR. While there are some people there who are knowledgeable, there are also many who will deliberately give you misinformation. They are quite open about trying to trick people.

Second: Chicago is certainly a top program. The culture has improved (I don't know how much) and this is due in part to John List, who checks in here occasionally. 

Current graduate students are often quite candid in private about what they like and what they don't like. If a department doesn't provide an opportunity for you to talk to current students with no faculty around you can draw an appropriate inference.

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On 2/18/2022 at 2:12 PM, economcs4lifelol said:

Thank you! How would you differentiate between program reputation and quality of training?

Two slightly different dimensions. Some places have higher status faculty whose letters and connections might get you further, but who are less willing to collaborate with grad students and so might leave you less likely to become a high quality researcher. Ideally, you want to be well trained and well connected -- visit days should help you figure out where schools are on the tradeoff frontier. 

I will also say on reputation -- from the outside it is tempting to take e.g. 15 year old flyout rankings etc. as gospel because they do a lot of the thinking for you. Most faculty I talk to have a much fuzzier and heuristic approach to ranking schools, and they know much (MUCH) more about the quirks of individual programs (i.e. X high-rank program is incredible for training in Y field, but their students doing Z are worse off than those at Q). You should talk to faculty to get a sense of these types of things, I think. 

As others have alluded to though, personality and place are also important parts of fit. Five to six years of an instituion being among the most important things in your life -- make sure you get along with the grad students and enjoy the location! Remember, it's a TWO sided matching problem!

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