Should I or should I not?

[reenujose]

Hello guys,

I am an economics graduate from India. I did my UG and PG at not so reputed universities (Madras Christian College and Central University of Kerala respectively). The two courses weren't quant heavy. I have no publications. I wish to apply for Ph.D. programs in the USA. What are my chances of getting admitted at least to the lowest tier universities? Please help. I could save a lot of money on the application fee.

GRE Quant: 160, Verbal: 161

[yash13177]

Hi reenujose,

What Ph.D. programs are you thinking of applying to? A Ph.D. in economics? From my knowledge (biological sciences), international students have to be very competitive in applying to the U.S. simply because there aren't a lot of spots at many universities. For biological sciences, international students are recommended to have strong research experience, especially strong letters of rec, a high TOEFL score and a very high GRE score. I think what can definitely increase your chances is to reach out to the professors at the universities you want to study. If you can establish a connection with them, they could potentially keep a lookout for your application when you apply. Grad school is all about connections!

Maybe someone in your field can weigh in to your situation better than I have.

[juilletmercredi]

Do you have any research experience? How well-reputed your universities are is almost irrelevant; students go to graduate school from all kinds of undergraduate institutions. What's more important is what you did there.

You said that your studies weren't quant-heavy. Most economics PhD programs want to see students with a lot of quantitiative experience - 2-3 semesters of calculus, linear algebra, statistics and probability, maybe even differential equations and real analysis. (Berkeley's website has a list of recommendations for their students.) What does "not quant-heavy" mean for you? Have you taken any of these classes?

If you don't have a relatively strong quantitative background and no research experience, your odds of getting accepted to economics PhD programs aren't very good. Why not take a few years to get some research experience and take the math courses you need to be competitive?

Reaching out to professors in your departments of interest can only help you if you have the kind of profile they look for in graduate students. Lots of students send e-mails to professors ahead of submitting an application. Since they haven't worked with you yet, really the only thing they have to go on is your application packet.