MAN

One of my applications has three essay questions in place of a statement of purpose. Here are the questions: 1) What are your vocational objectives and how will your proposed plan of graduate study relate to them? (The response to this essay is your "Personal Statement.") 2) Within your major field, are there areas of special interest to you? Please explain. 3) Are there special circumstances related to your academic record that you feel we should know about? Have you ever been convicted of a crime? If the answer is yes, explain the circumstances, give the dates of the offense(s) and discuss what you learned from the circumstance. The thing about this is, each question has a size limit of "32,000 characters or about 6 pages." The issue I'm having is that for questions 2 and 3, I'm having trouble coming up with more than a paragraph. Is it bad if my essay questions come in way under the size limit? I know most people don't come close to using all the space, but is one paragraph too little for #2 and 3? Should I try to adjust my answers so that they are in the ever popular opening paragraph, 3 paragraph body, closing paragraph structure?

Just looking at tuition, I'd say that it will cost you about $60,000 for the entire program (approximately $15,000 per semester for 4 semesters or 2 years). This figure doesn't take into account the cost of living (i.e. housing, food, health care, etc.). Also, the school can reduce the tuition costs as part of their financial aid package (if they give you one). From what I've seen, this is a pretty average cost of tuition. If you look around you'll find some that are higher and some that are lower. I'd say go ahead and apply to the school and see what kind of financial aid you end up getting (I'm assuming you are a great candidate and will get accepted and get aid). At that point you will have a better idea of what it will actually cost to attended. Then you can take the cost of attendance and compare it to the benefits of the education (i.e. higher pay over your career, getting a job you like, etc.).

If I was in your situation, I'd probably let it go. What do you gain by informing the authorities? The only thing I can think of is the feeling that you stopped an unethical act. You aren't going to enhance your chances of getting into the same schools (i.e. eliminating the competition doesn't work as a graduate school application strategy). Now what can you lose from informing the authorities? This girl gets in a huge amount of trouble. Also, and this just might be my Italian/Sicilian side talking, but you come off looking like a snitch. Or to quote Mike Brady (played by the great Gary Cole) in The Brady Bunch Movie, "Cindy, you know by tattling on your friends, you're really just tattling on yourself. By tattling on your friends, you're just telling them that you're a tattletale. Now is that the tale you want to tell?" Chances are that this girl will end up being caught without your intervention. Your best bet would be to just distance yourself from her and this situation.

After getting my referees to agree to write letters for me, I snail mailed them a package that included the following: 1) A Thank You letter (I used a template I found on the internet and reworked it so it was more personal) 2) My resume/CV 3) A copy of a personal statement that I sent to the schools I applied to 4) A copy of my undergraduate transcript 5) Cover sheets for all the schools that require them 6) Stamped and addressed envelopes 7) A checklist for all the material the referees needed to complete You will probably be able to send a similar package with some of the items removed. I had provided things like my resume and my transcript because I've been out of school for almost 5 years. My referees needed a little extra background on me in order to give an educated letter. If your referees already know you well, then edit that stuff out. As far as non-responsive profs go, I'll tell you my experience with one of them. I had mailed the above package out at the end of September/beginning of October. As of this past weekend (mid November), only two of my three profs had submitted the material. So, I wrote a short e-mail to the professor who still hadn't submitted the material. In the e-mail I explained that I want to complete the applications as soon as possible and I asked if we could set a deadline on getting the material in (I offered up a month's time for the deadline). The same day I e-mailed the prof, she e-mailed me back saying that she had just completed the letter and was submitting them that day. If your professor is dragging his/her feet you may want to see if you can set-up a deadline to get things done. Otherwise, you might get put on the back burner.

I found Kaplan's book very helpful. I studied for about 6 months. I focused mainly on the math portion of the test (verbal doesn't really come into play too much in Economics). I don't remember the exact scores I got on their tests, but they ranged from about 450-650 verbal and 700-750 quantitative. The quantitative score was very consistent, but the verbal was all over the place. On the actual GRE, I ended up with 560 V, 800 Q, and 4.0 AWA (I probably should have spent a couple of minutes studying/thinking about the AWA in my prep, but I didn't. Oh well).

I also found this site through Econphd. Feel free to look at all the various posts. Post any questions you may have.

I asked all of my professors for LoRs through e-mail. Though, my situation is a bit unique. I graduated with my undergrad degree in '04. Since then, I moved from Illinois (where I went to school) to Florida. Because of the distance, it was almost a necessity that I ask over e-mail or phone. The e-mail process did take a little bit of time to get replies. So, keep that in mind. If you have the ability to meet face-to-face with the professor, I'd suggest that. It would be quicker and allow questions to be asked by both the professor and yourself. In regards to asking a professor with a doctors or a masters it depends on the type of program you are going into. Some programs (like Economics) really needs to be from a doctor. If you are going for a less uptight program, I agree with FSIA.

Update: The school got back to me over the weekend and told me they have my GRE scores.

I just sent out packages to my recommenders with all the necessary cover sheets, postage paid envelopes, and so on. But, I have not yet ruled out applying to additional schools. If I decided to apply to more schools, do you think it would be an issue to come back to my recommenders and ask that they submit a couple more letters for me? I'm assuming it wouldn't be a big deal, but I wanted to see what the rest of you think. Of course, I could just go the Ferraro route and walk into the office of the recommenders, grab each by the collar, and tell them they will write additional letters for me, or else.

Anyone have an educated opinion on Albuquerque? I'm looking at applying to UNM and over the week I overheard the Albuquerque is a pretty rough city. I received the information third hand, so I wanted to check out if any one has any good/bad experiences with Albuquerque. Let me know.

I need a little advice here: I took the GRE back in July. At the time of the testing, I listed four schools that I wanted my scores sent to. A couple of days ago, I received an e-mail from one of the schools I had requested my scores sent to letting me know what they still needed from my application (btw, that was a very nice gesture by that school and it won them some kudos points). on their list of missing items was my GRE scores. I'm not sure if it was an misfiling at the school or if ETS screwed up my order, but to rectify the issue should I: a) Contact the school and see if the scores were just misplaced Contact ETS and see if they will resend the scores for free (try to convince them it was their fault) c) Bite the bullet and have another set of scores sent d) Both options a and b e) Other Let me know what you think. Thanks!

The issue I see with going after the PhD is that I'm not sure about my qualifications. I did well as an undergraduate at an unranked state school (3.5 GPA at Illinois State University). My GRE is partly good (800 Q), partly mediocre (560 V), and partly bad (4.0 AWA). My biggest issue, though, is my lack of math courses (I took Calc 1 and 2 as a freshman - back in 1999-2000). Looking at most programs, I will need to make up a lot of math work (linear algebra, differential equations, real analysis, etc.). Also, I have no econ papers published or history of working in econ research. It seems that the PhD programs focus more on the math classes taken and work history. While I'm not going to Harvard, MIT, or U of C, I'd imagine that my deficiencies would hurt my admission/financial aid chances at most top schools (hence the nerves about whether applying to lower ranked schools is worthwhile).

I have considered a Ph.D. in Econ (I am applying to Oregon's PhD program). So, that may be an option. Even if I don't follow through to get a Phd in Econ, I would much rather have the econ masters than the MBA. Based on your descriptions, I would much rather have a role as a researcher than have a broad degree. Plus, I would rather have a degree that challanges me a bit. Also, the labor market seems to be flooded with MBAs, I would rather give myself a bit of a competitive edge. I appreciate the advice. Thanks.

I absolutely hate business administration classes (I had B.A. as a minor as an undergraduate). There is no way that I would go MBA.

I'm in the process of applying to various Economics grad schools. As such, I've read all the available web resources (i.e. Econphd.com, Chris Silvey's "becoming and economist," etc.). Everything I have read has said to forget about masters because it is useless. Also, they say that it is pointless to go to a school not ranked in the top 10-25. I am currently targeting master's programs that rank somewhere between 100-300. My career goals are more along the lines of getting an analytical job either in the private or public sector. It seems like most the advice is geared towards people who want to be teachers at Harvard, U of Chicago, etc. Am I a fool for going for a little lower prestige program that I would feel more comfortable at? Or should I heed the advice given on the various websites? I guess I just get nervous when I read that others feel my chosen path is a waste of time.

I'm no longer in school (graduated back in 2004), but I am going to take the time to learn/refresh myself on some math and econ that will be useful after I get accepted (yay, positive thinking). I probably wouldn't have thought to look for changes in applications, so I'll have to do that. Thanks!

Thanks for the answer. Do you think an early application results in an earlier admission decision? Or do you just get lumped in with everyone else?

Hello, I am looking at attending Economics graduate school in the Fall '09 semester. I have already taken the GRE (560V, 800Q, 4.0 AWA), filled out the applications, submitted transcripts, and contacted my professors for letters of rec. Am I doing this way too early? Could there be any benefit for getting this out of the way quickly (ex. I applied to undergrad really early as well and ended up getting a grant to attend my preferred school)?