gradcafe26

I didn't apply to a couple of schools last year because, via email correspondence, I learned that certain professors that I'm interested in are moving/retiring. So in my case, contacting POIs helped me to save some money. But I agree that it won't boost your chance of getting in.

Will decline Toronto as well, good luck to waitlisters.

^Still waiting for a few schools and will post after my cycle is over. Thanks for your sharing in the profiles and results thread.

I'm in a similar situation, but I won't wait for another year because the weaker aspects of my application are unchangeable things like undergrad university (unknown, international) and GPA, plus I don't think I can publish in a real journal or get an MA in Statistics by the end of 2014... But if I were you, I would check on three things before taking the risk of reapplying. First, I assume you aren't telling them your true plan, so find out under what circumstances they will grant you the deferral. Second, ask adcom members why they rejected you, which may or may not include the two issues you mentioned. Third, read the profiles of people who got Harvard and Stanford this cycle and evaluate whether your application can be more competitive than theirs in one or two years (admission gets harder each year, doesn't it?) Good luck, and congratulations on the offers you already have!

...

Toronto here

Thank you very much BFB!

I did contact quite a few POIs regarding that question, and my experience is that, 30% POIs no response, 40% POIs say this is not your concern (and from their tone I sensed that this question is indeed presumptuous), 30% POIs say yes I’m taking students, looking forward to your application. But this is just my impression based on a small n, BFB’s insights would be greatly appreciated.

Of course you don't include X in the list you give X. The previous comment that "don't put X at the end of the list you provide them" confused me a bit as well, but I thought that was an obvious misunderstanding and ignored it. Aside from that, the question remains the same.

“I am fairly sure adcom members, once they read your SoP and see your GRE scores, will be able to easily figure out which other schools you are applying to.” Makes sense, thanks.

Any other suggestions? I'm sure it would be helpful to many applicants this year. Suppose the school list does somehow affect admission, what is our optimal strategy? For instance 10 schools on my school list, ordered by ranking: 1,2,3,4,X,5,6,7,8,9. Program x asks for my school list, I should a. ignore the question b. give them the full list c. something like 1,2,3,4,X d. something like X,5,6,7,8 e. something like 3,4,X,5,6 f. (from TheGnome) a sample of schools that you are applying to - one or two higher ranked, X, and one or two lower ranked. g. ???

Why?

I was just ordering them according to program rankings available to the public, it says little about dept strength in my areas of interest.

Thanks for all the inputs here. I can't agree with #7, because at least for UNC, they ask you to send your school list to the DEPT in a SEPARATE email. So it matters for the dept (thus admission?), but I just don't know how. Let me divert the conversation a bit: suppose the school list does somehow affect admission, what is our optimal strategy? For instance 10 schools on my school list, ordered by ranking: 1,2,3,4,X,5,6,7,8,9. Program x asks for my school list, I should a. ignore the question b. give them the full list c. something like 1,2,3,4,X d. something like X,5,6,7,8 e. something like 3,4,X,5,6 f. ?

I saw this at the UNC website, and encountered similar questions on my school list while filing out online applications for other programs. Anyone has any idea why this information is "most helpful to the department"? Does it affect admission at all? Thanks a lot!

Thanks for your great suggestions BFB, just a few quick questions building on what you just said here: 1. It seems that you are suggesting that AW score only matters for funding, not for admission. But if my AW score is exactly 4, it wouldn't affect funding either, at least in your program. Is that correct? 2. I have both a core project and several related questions in my SOP, and as a result my SOP is about 1000-1100 words. Is that too much information to include in the statement? 3. My writing sample is statistical, but no modelling stuff in it. In that case do you think it's wise to emphasize interest in formal modelling in the SOP? In terms of coursework related to modelling, I only have one undergrad micro, plus a few math courses that may be useful as well. 4. Right now I'm tailoring my statement for the programs that I'm applying for. But at the same time, there is still room to improve my writing sample with several statistical tools developed by econometricians in the last decade. So in terms of time management, which one do you think will yield a higher payoff? 5. Do you think we should to email professors of interest about whether they will be taking students next year? Some profs may be moving, or they may already have enough students to supervise, etc... Thanks again!

Thanks a lot guys!

Hello, all About two years ago, I sent my GRE score to some of the programs that I'm applying this year. Do I need to spend another 25 bucks each to resend the score? In my current university, this is not necessary since they keep it for a few years. For other programs, I'm not sure, but there might be a general rule on this issue that I didn't know??? Thanks a lot!

Thanks for all the responses here, especially RWBG.

Thanks for the input luckyducky. And yes of course you are right that you can't change your interest dramatically, but once you have a major puzzle in the statement there are many many ways to relate it to profs' current projects, either theoretically, substantively, or methodologically... So I'm talking about these micro adjustments here. It is my understanding that even if your POIs are not on the committee, your statement will be shown to them by the committee. But a precondition for that is that your statement needs to interest someone on the committee first... My field is IPE btw.

Hi all, I was wondering whether it is possible to find out who's on the admission committee so that I can tailor my statement to each program accordingly. This information is not open to the public in my university, but phd students here usually know which professors on the committee were interested in their profiles during the admission process. In other words, this information may still be out there even if it's not posted on schools' websites... I've also checked previous discussions on this point on this forum, but opinions vary. Some people said it's a futile attempt, while some others said many programs just post it online... Many thanks!

Thanks for info Matt

Hi Matt Dander, just a quick question, out of the 15k, how much is for RA/TA? I'm thinking about applying to UT next year. Thanks:)

That makes sense, thanks!

Thanks for the advice BFB In other words, I don't necessarily need to stick to one central theme in the personal statement? Then the difficult task would be allocating the limited space in the statement to two areas of research interest.