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geedowg

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Everything posted by geedowg

  1. This is really good advice. You should want to apply to departments at which there is faculty with whom you see yourself working together. Their research should probably guid your decision rather than the name of the department. Other decision factors might be the jobs you would like to work at after. We might be able to give more precise advice if you let us know what your research interests are.
  2. I definitely would not label it as a bad idea for everyone. It just depends on the amount of research you’ve done before and (which sort of goes hand in hand) how sure you are that you’re looking for a career in academia. A lot of good programs seem to admit people straight out of undergrad or one year removed en masse, so I would think about it more in terms of personal reasons rather than admissions reasons. Bottom line: If you know that that is the path you want to take, go ahead and try applying right now. While it’s definitely right to say that a lot of people develop during the time between their undergrad and PhD, I’ve been told by professors that there’s no reason for delaying the process. I mean a great way to get research experience and refine your interest is by being in a grad program. You might have to work a little harder if you enter with less experience, but that shouldn’t keep you from applying. That being said, there are great reasons to wait. I for example wish I would’ve had the courage to work for a year and take some time for my mental health instead of jumping from one high pressure situation into the next one. I got a masters degree along the way, but studied in Europe, so I only entered with four years of prior education as well. In the end the decision is (and should be) personal. Grad school is a lot harder than your previous education was, so no, I didn’t feel properly prepared. But neither did those who had worked in between. Nobody did at my school. Just figure out if this is what you want to do and if you’re ready to start that commitment at this point of our life. This is asssuming that you'd have a strong profile to apply right away. If not, get some research experience just become a stronger candidate. It’s hard enough to find a job after anyways, so being at a more renowned school might pay off in the long run.
  3. Be brief, introduce yourself, tell them why you’re interested in their research and see if they have time for a quick call or similar to answer a few questions of yours. Make sure to have questions that you couldn’t find th answer to online tho. also travelmug is definitely right, but assuming you’re not in a position that luxurious , don’t be afraid to reach out. And definitely don’t get discouraged if people don’t get back to you. Professors are notoriously busy and don’t mean anything by it
  4. I can only second what the other two said (methods, methods, methods). If you’re looking to go into serious quant, you might even want to start thinking about taking a couple math classes and then doing stats sequences that involve calculus and linear algebra (at the Econ or stats department). And the hidden benefit from taking all these methods and theses classes, that might be even more important, is that you’ll actually get to take a first look whether this whole research thing is as appealing to you as you thought. Some people start with a very romanticized idea of a PhD in their head, leading them to drop out. Getting as much experience as you possibly could before will help you decide whether this is something that you truly want to do (which is something that’s not always easy to say coming straight out of undergrad). So make sure to take stock ever so often whether you are enjoying the classes you’re taking and whether these fit with what you were hoping to do in a research program.
  5. Hey @pinoysoc, mind sharing that ted talk with us? Sounds like t might be worth a listen
  6. Yeah that’s a good point. Not sure what’s happening here. either way, this is making me pretty nervous. Not sure if I should start stopping cold turkey with this forum or just regulate my lurking. Being on here just constantly keeps me thinking of my applications, which is definitely not relaxing.
  7. Python and R are open source and most heavily used in the industry. You’ll find a bit more of stata once you get closer to think tanks or academia from what I’ve heard. So you’d probably be able to make a strong case of you’d know some R or python on top of whatever you used for class.
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