jblsmith

The same way the universities phrase their rejection letters: be vague, impersonal, and feign gratitude and respect.

Put in the specific context of Government Affairs I see that my comments are not applicable. I didn't realize what topic the thread was under, I just clicked and started writing. Think before you type.

The same way the universities phrase their rejection letters: be vague, impersonal, and feign gratitude and respect.

Just an update: I DID decide to go to UH for my Ph. D. in economics. I recently visited the campus and met with professors, administrators, and students and everything seems to be legit. This could all be a facade, however, and they are all really conspiring to wait until I move down there before they revoke my funding. Only time will tell. I will keep you all posted.

I think there are too many differences from one program to the other in order to make this sticky. For instance, my program (economics) seems to require a much stronger transcript and GRE score than suggested above but work and life experience seem to play almost no role in admissions decisions. The original post is a good guideline but I fear that it is in danger of misleading some who's actual degree requirements are quite different.

Put in the specific context of Government Affairs I see that my comments are not applicable. I didn't realize what topic the thread was under, I just clicked and started writing. Think before you type.

Hey guys, just wanted to revive this old post.

First off, I'll update you by saying that I finished my first year in the PhD program and then passed the Comps on my first attempt to be admitted to Candidacy.  I'm now nearing the end of my second year and everything seems to be going well.  In the almost two years I've spent here I've not heard any stories of the now infamous Ms. Cohen.  Of course, I haven't explicitly asked any of the older students or professors either.  I might just do that...

To DamianD,  I would ask how he hasn't heard of UH if he was looking to apply to Rice?  The Departments at UH and Rice work extremely close with one another.  We share a weekly seminar series where visiting professors alternate between the two campuses to give seminars in Macro, Micro, and Econometrics.  And our students are able take classes at either campus.  True, Rice is more theoretical which may make it more prestigious but the distinction between theory and applied work is quickly fading and now many of the best economist are empiricists   Furthermore, while Rice may have a better reputation for being a private school, UH benefits from public funding by having a much bigger department and many more funded graduate students.  This in turn means more publications, citations, and placements for the department.  I would strongly encourage any perspective student to apply to the program as it is very well respected in the field and Houston is a great place to live!

Shit, I have an application into that program right now! Definitely something to consider if they give me an offer.

Hey guys, just wanted to revive this old post.

First off, I'll update you by saying that I finished my first year in the PhD program and then passed the Comps on my first attempt to be admitted to Candidacy.  I'm now nearing the end of my second year and everything seems to be going well.  In the almost two years I've spent here I've not heard any stories of the now infamous Ms. Cohen.  Of course, I haven't explicitly asked any of the older students or professors either.  I might just do that...

To DamianD,  I would ask how he hasn't heard of UH if he was looking to apply to Rice?  The Departments at UH and Rice work extremely close with one another.  We share a weekly seminar series where visiting professors alternate between the two campuses to give seminars in Macro, Micro, and Econometrics.  And our students are able take classes at either campus.  True, Rice is more theoretical which may make it more prestigious but the distinction between theory and applied work is quickly fading and now many of the best economist are empiricists   Furthermore, while Rice may have a better reputation for being a private school, UH benefits from public funding by having a much bigger department and many more funded graduate students.  This in turn means more publications, citations, and placements for the department.  I would strongly encourage any perspective student to apply to the program as it is very well respected in the field and Houston is a great place to live!

Put in the specific context of Government Affairs I see that my comments are not applicable. I didn't realize what topic the thread was under, I just clicked and started writing. Think before you type.

I'm fairly familiar with George Mason as I thought of applying there and have met some of the faculty at conferences. George Mason is indeed a strange department becasue, as you point out, they study Austrian economics. Austrian economics is on the fringe as it largely rejects the use of quantitative methods in favor of a more heterodox methodology. This to be expected as the school is located in Washington, D.C. and they are more interested in political economy and policy making. This makes it hard for Austrian economist to publish in Tier 1 journals and explains why they are more active in the blogosphere. I'm lead to believe that the department would have largely been discounted by the mainstream except for Profs. Buchanan and Smith.

In sum, an usual admission policy would be in keeping with their unusual department.

Put in the specific context of Government Affairs I see that my comments are not applicable. I didn't realize what topic the thread was under, I just clicked and started writing. Think before you type.

The same way the universities phrase their rejection letters: be vague, impersonal, and feign gratitude and respect.

Sucks to be you , nerd.

Haha, jk.

Just an update: I DID decide to go to UH for my Ph. D. in economics. I recently visited the campus and met with professors, administrators, and students and everything seems to be legit. This could all be a facade, however, and they are all really conspiring to wait until I move down there before they revoke my funding. Only time will tell. I will keep you all posted.

The same way the universities phrase their rejection letters: be vague, impersonal, and feign gratitude and respect.

The same way the universities phrase their rejection letters: be vague, impersonal, and feign gratitude and respect.

The same way the universities phrase their rejection letters: be vague, impersonal, and feign gratitude and respect.

Put in the specific context of Government Affairs I see that my comments are not applicable. I didn't realize what topic the thread was under, I just clicked and started writing. Think before you type.

In all seriousness I really don't think you need to worry about retaking the GRE. I too got a 750Q and got a number of funded offers from Ph. D. econ programs (ranked 25-50). Granted, they weren't Harvard, but still they were Ph.D. econ not MPA programs. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the GRE is not the only metric adcomms look at when considering you application. It's well documented that GRE scores are not robust indicators of grad school performance and adcomms know this. My sense is that admissions committees use the GRE as a cut-off but after that the scores don't matter as much. They are more interested in the other parts of your application: Independent research, your SOP, LOR's and transcripts. IMHO you would be better served spending your time editing your SOP and doing research rather than studying for the GRE and stressing out over a couple quant points.

Hope this helps.

Put in the specific context of Government Affairs I see that my comments are not applicable. I didn't realize what topic the thread was under, I just clicked and started writing. Think before you type.

Put in the specific context of Government Affairs I see that my comments are not applicable. I didn't realize what topic the thread was under, I just clicked and started writing. Think before you type.

I think there are too many differences from one program to the other in order to make this sticky. For instance, my program (economics) seems to require a much stronger transcript and GRE score than suggested above but work and life experience seem to play almost no role in admissions decisions. The original post is a good guideline but I fear that it is in danger of misleading some who's actual degree requirements are quite different.

Put in the specific context of Government Affairs I see that my comments are not applicable. I didn't realize what topic the thread was under, I just clicked and started writing. Think before you type.

I think there are too many differences from one program to the other in order to make this sticky. For instance, my program (economics) seems to require a much stronger transcript and GRE score than suggested above but work and life experience seem to play almost no role in admissions decisions. The original post is a good guideline but I fear that it is in danger of misleading some who's actual degree requirements are quite different.