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DGrayson

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Everything posted by DGrayson

  1. From what I've been told no. When I was at UT, a faculty member that was on the admissions committee basically said that they didn't read it. I wouldn't completely blow it off and not do it, but I don't think it needs to be the main focus of your application.
  2. No problem! The math background is a major plus. The fact that you didn't have math in your econ classes is a little worrying, but since most of it at that level is just straight optimization, I won't really worry too much about it. Also, the AWA scores don't matter at all. If they need an example of your writing, they will look to your Statement of Purpose but almost no one does. With what you've told me, Ph.D sounds like the best route to go down, but like I've said before I would also apply to a few MA programs just in case.
  3. Not necessarily. If it is an outlier, i.e if the rest of your transcript is good, then you can probably just explain what happened in your statement of purpose. It's important for Ph.D programs to see momentum, or that your last two years of undergrad are really strong.
  4. It won't matter. If they cared about your writing ability they would look to your statement of purpose, but most Econ programs very rarely even read them, at least according to a committee member at UT. All they really care about is that Quant score, which will get you through the first round.
  5. Since your interest is in development economics, USC would be a good program for you to do. They're not a top 30 school though, at least not since I was back in Economics, so it may be harder for you to move upward if you decide to do a Ph.D, but they are fairly well respected for development. I would also recommend UT Austin, but for a different reason. They don't specialize much in development, but they have a one year MA program that has done really well placement wise. It's certainly good for giving you a taste of what Ph.D life would be like and would cost you less money, as MA programs are very rarely funded (though UT does give out some funding for some of their MA students). If you have questions specifically about that program I could help, as I completed it a couple years ago.
  6. Hey Ice123! Your profile is going to be a little difficult to evaluate properly because you're coming from an institution outside the US, but I'll do what I can. First of all, I wouldn't worry too much about not having done research. What most Ph.D programs in economics care about when accepting students is having them pass their comps at the end of the first year, then they worry about research. Plus your interests could change during that time anyway. Your quant score is fantastic! What gives me pause is that you got an MSc in Economics rather than a straight MA. There may be a difference in coursework in India, but usually an MA indicates more of a "pure" economic track that highlights more mathematical rigor. I think the question that should drive your decision to apply to an MA vs Ph.D program is the level of mathematics courses you have taken. Any decent program will have required you to take at least multivariate calculus and a course in matrix/linear algebra. Keep in mind that that is the bare minimum. Most students have taken differential equations, perhaps a mathematical probability or statistics class, and a course in real analysis. If you have the bare minimum, I would give applying to Ph.D programs a shot, but apply to a few MA's (I did one a UT Austin and really enjoyed it) just in case.
  7. I'm in a very similar boat to yours. If you are interested in a POI, but not sure whether or not they would be a good fit I would email them. Worst comes worst they'll say that your interests don't match up and that ends up saving you money down the line. They're also likely to recommend others that perhaps match up closer with your interests.
  8. That's where I was leaning towards as well, but I'm worried that since fit is better with the POI who may not be taking students, others are less likely to accept me because of the possibility I'll turn it down. I may also be overthinking this, since other POIs are unlikely to remember our conversation this far from the application deadline.
  9. Hey Guys! So I've started emailing potential POIs at a couple of universities, and while the few responses I've gotten back are positive, they have all mentioned that I should consider a professor at the University I'm at right now whose research interests match pretty closely with my own. I've spoken with this person, and they've let me know that they may not take any students next year. Should I inform those other potential POIs about this if they ask?
  10. @Banzailizard You're pretty much in the same situation that I found myself in about a year ago. I got my masters in Econ and then attempted to apply for a Phd in early modern European history, but my lack of language skills and focus kept me from being admitted. With what i've read of your statistics so far, I wouldn't consider applying for the 2018 cycle until you've managed to really narrow down your interests. If you are interested in Middle Ages, I would contact Anne McCants at MIT. She was extremely helpful when I was considering switching fields and I'm sure she would be happy to talk to you. If you would like to DM me I'd be happy to continue talking!
  11. Hi! I've just finished my first semester as a TA and I've learned quite a lot (mainly that's because I screwed up a lot...but we won't talk about that! ) Something that was especially difficult for me was getting the kids to do all the reading. I'd prepare discussion questions, arrive for section and have about 12 kids staring at me for 50 minutes. A few contributed often, but it was far from the majority. Two things really helped me with this. First, I would often pose questions to the section as a whole, then break them up into groups of three or four to discuss them amongst each other for about 10-15 minutes, then have everyone come together and go over what they talked about. This was something that was done in one of my seminars and I really liked it. Also towards the end of the semester, I started assigning groups a different paper to read and it was their job to present it to the section and create questions for discussion. The students really liked this because, while their reading load was lessened (albeit temporarily) for the week, it forced them to actively engage with the article more than they would have otherwise. Finally, I did this exercise I found online where the students had to create pictoral metaphors about one of the papers they read as a way to remember the main points of the article. They also seemed to really like that. Best of luck!
  12. I was toying with the idea of starting this! I'm glad you did! I applied to Ph.D programs a couple years ago when I was finished up an MA in Economics and had decided to switch disciplines, but didn't get into anywhere because of my lack of language experience. I was frustrated at the time, but I'm SOOOOOOO glad I decided to do another masters at Yale, because I know so much more about my research interests now and I've had the chance to work on French and German. Hopefully this cycle works out! Methodologically I'm interested in the intersection of religion and economics in early modern Europe, but I've also been working on demonic possession in 16th and 17th century England and love that. Still working out the schools I want to apply to!
  13. DGrayson

    Fields?

    American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) natsteel (early American political culture and intellectual history) unforth (19th century US political and military history, US Civil War) hbeels (colonial, early national, 19th century, transappalachain west, historical memory of these eras/areas) thedig13 (20th century U.S.; built environment, modern consumer culture, race, and immigration) Weepsie (North American Mapping, Exploration and Trade, Anti-Communism/Socialism in Interwar period, bit of a mixed bag) lafayette (19th c. [with a dash of 20th], urban, intellectual) vtstevie (Revolutionary/Early Republic New England, infrastructure/economic) macmc (Feminist, gender, and LGBT history) HistThrift (early America, indigenous history) junotwest (19/20th century African-American, Cultural/Intellectual, Gender & Sexuality) calhoun&caffeine (19th cen. Southern [political]) tampopo ramen (19th-20th century capitalism/business) BookishVixen (late 18th-early 20th ce maritime communities, cultural, gender & sexuality) hardtack&coffee (19th Century American Social & Military History, American Civil War) spellbanisher (economic and cultural history of the gilded age, progressive era, and the 1920s) ThisGreatFolly (intellectual, religious, political violence, rhetoric) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) Abetheh (19th/early 20th century Germany and France, religious politics vs secularization) NeutralKate (Modern Russia, modern European economic history) Crackerjacktiming (Modern Germany, gender and sexuality) GloFish (USSR, Stalinism, Soviet-American Relations) jamc8383 (19th/20th century France, interwar culture, relationship between body, mind & place) Heimat Historian (19th/20th century Germany, migration, settler colonialism) AshleyJuneBug (Early Modern France and Britain, gender and sexuality) maelia8 (19th/early 20th century Germany, imperialism and colonialism, travel, exploration) BookishVixen (Victorian and Edwardian English imperialism/gender & sexiality) episkey (19th/20th century France, gender and sexuality, Holocaust) AngesRadieux (18th/early 19th century France, cultural history, music) ManifestMidwest (modern France, colonialism & imperialism, Pacific worlds) DGrayson (early modern Western Europe [focusing mostly on England right now], economic and religious history) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Jogatoronto (Psychiatry in early colonial West Africa) ronwill06 (Social and political radical movements) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern Africa) thekatieladybird (Post-independence conflict and social histories in Central Africa) Latin American History BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) StrangeLight (20th century Central America) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern cone and Mexico) Mujereslibres (German informal colonization of Peru, Brazil, and Chile) AP East Asian History alleykat (Modern China) getitlow (Modern China: Republican, Women, Gender and Sexuality) kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) aec09g (Modern Japan) pudewen (Late Imperial China) kdavid (Modern China; focus on the Republican period) Minion.banana (late imperial China, Islam, intellectual networks) qkhitai (Medieval China and Central Asia, literature and ethnicity) Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Conmel (modern pan-Islamic thought/networks) Baloch (Oman) Atlantic World sandyvanb crazedandinfused Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) melissarose8585 Heimat Historian (German settlements throughout world) Jewish History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), runaway (memorialization & visual culture), ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) awells27 (Late Antiquity: Roman Empire/Palestine/Byzantine) Science/Technology/Environment shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) StrangeLight (environmental history, ecological distribution conflicts) sukipower (20th c. forensic science & anthropology, 19th c. science and medicine) Neist (19th/20th c. biological sciences) seh0517 (scientific illustration, ancient egyptian science & medicine, astronomy, mortuary science) Social annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) BookishVixen (Spheres of influence, Progressive Era reforms affecting immigration) Classical and Medieval Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority) telkanuru (high Medieval intellectual and social history, Cistercian studies) AbbeyRoad (Monastic History, Gender, Cistercians) Kirialax ("Dark Age" Byzantium; the Komnenoi) Cultural StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion) hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature) crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric) alleykat (religion, race/ethnicity, cultural relativism) Heimat Historian (German culture in transnational context) nhhistorynut (20th century US, African American, race/racism, Black nationalism) Canadian History truthfinder (New France, religious) South Asia pakhistorian (Pakistan/Bangladesh,cultural, social, political, women, public history, digital history)
  14. You might like Killer Germs by Barry and David Zimmerman. It's one of my favorite infectious disease books. Some of the other items on your reading list makes me think you might enjoy it!
  15. I'm also a little confused as to how it all works. From what I've learned from my own department, the school applies for the grant and then disburses it to the students. The school has to wait and see how much in funding for FLAS they are granted. Apparently this can take a pretty long time, as I am still waiting for mine.
  16. I am also attending Yale! The European and Russian Studies Masters! I'm super excited. Moving up there in about a week.
  17. Anyone still waiting to hear about the amount awarded? My program at Yale hasn't contacted me yet in regards to how much funding I'll have from FLAS and I'm getting a little worried.
  18. No Ph.D program worth its salt will accept students without at least Calc 1-3 and a class in Linear Algebra. That's because the economics field has become so quantitatively heavy and proof based that it is impossible to survive without those skills. What I would recommend is either taking some classes at the local university you suggested, or perhaps looking at a masters degree program. Their math standards are usually lower and they give you the opportunity to beef up on areas you may be missing. I've just completed my masters degree in economics at the University of Texas at Austin, a one year intensive where half of our cohort have chosen to pursue a Ph.D. If you have any questions about the program or anything I've said in general, feel free to PM me!
  19. Not 100% sure about this one. Graduate programs care mostly about your grades in mathematics related classes, as Ph.D work in Economics involves a high level of mathematical rigor that I not sure you'll be exposed to in finance programs. What math classes have you taken? At the very least you need Calc 1-3 and a Linear Algebra course. Good grades in Differential Equations and Real Analysis are major bonuses, and I'm sure your graduate mathematical statistics class will help if you've done proofs. I wouldn't really wait though, as your grades in the finance program will probably not matter as much since the fields can be pretty different. If you've taken courses in the econ department, I would highlight those in your application. Nope. I would be shocked if they even remember you. Don't take it personally though, as most schools get over 350+ applications a year. Most, if not all, Econ programs in the US require the GRE and will not take the GMAT. Your GRE quant score is average for people applying in the second tier range, I would take it again if you have the time. Test Scores are often used as a threshold marker during the first round. Files whose scores do not reach some predetermined range (usually 165+) get tossed. From there the test scores don't matter that much. Undergrad and Grad GPA will be considered holistically. Generally committees are looking for a trend. Do you have ok grades at the beginning of your academic career but by the end are you fantastic? Or do you fizzle out at the end? Committees care about this because it gives them insight into how motivated/burned out you are, and how you may preform in their program. Grade wise though, Math grades figure in most prominently, but Econ grades matter too. Since you did poorly in some classes (C grades) I would try to explain them in your SOP, though oftentimes schools do little more than glance at the statement. Only if English is not the primary language of your program. You will still have to take the TOEFL, but it will reassure the econ department that you can speak, read and write the language. It really depends specifically on which math courses you have taken, and if you can boost that GRE score. I'd advise applying in the 25-50 range primarily, but throw a few applications to schools higher and lower than that as well. You'd be surprised at the number of people who do not get into schools in the 30 range but do get into schools ranked in the 20s. It really depends on you. I think you'd have an easier time getting into a Finance Ph.D program since your masters is in that, but take a look at the kind of research professors in Finance departments do vs Economics and see which one appeals to you. The last thing you want is to be stuck in a program that you don't like!
  20. I don't know if you are looking for programs in the US or not, but the University of Texas at Austin provides financial aid to some of their students. I just completed their program so I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about it!
  21. I would also strongly suggest that you do not email other schools asking for funding if you switch. It is ok for you to apply to another school after completing your first year, but keep in mind that the real interest those other schools will have is not the grades that you get in your classes, but whether or not you can pass your comps.
  22. Hey guys! I figured I'd post this here, even though it is not a grad school related topic, since the application cycle is probably over for most of you guys. I have some free time on my hands this summer before I start my grad program in a different discipline, so I started researching more into philosophy. I didn't have the opportunity to take more than one philosophy classes as an undergrad (and that was an intro class), but Ethics was always something I wanted to learn more about. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions as to some books where I could get a nice overview of concepts--or just a good place to start-- whether it be metaethics, normative ethics, applied ethics, etc. Thanks!!
  23. I'm currently at UT and I'm enjoying the program. It's a one year intensive and about half our cohort is seeking jobs when the program is over. PM me if you have any questions about the program!
  24. That's not at all true. What you may be referring to is that oftentimes student in Ph.D programs who do not pass comps after their first year receive a masters degree as a kind of "consolation prize". That absolutely happens. Students who apply first for a masters instead of a Ph.D usually do so because there is something in their application (GRE scores, Math background, Econ background) that is lacking and they want to improve it.
  25. Hey guys! I have an offer from Yale and while I won't have all the details on funding until a little later, I figured it would be best to start looking for housing now. I was considering whether it was worth it to try and find an apartment or just try and get grad housing with the University. Any advice (especially including ideal places to live) would be appreciated! I'm not looking for anything too expensive. I'm paying about $660 in rent right now in Austin and that isn't all that bad. It would be just me, no family, friends, or pets (sounds depressing I know! ) Thanks!
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