Round 2

[jblsmith]

I need some feedback on where I should apply. Let me give you my story:

Undergrad: I went to a highly selective, private, liberal arts school but wasn't sure what I wanted to do until about Junior year when I decided to pursue graduate study in Economics/Finance. I realized the a strong math foundation would be required, however, at that point I hadn't taken any math courses for about three years since my high school physics/calculus course. Nevertheless I jumped right in taking Calc I-III and Linear Algebra. I had always had strong quantitative skills but my formal training was not up to par and as one might expect I did not fair so well in these classes. Despite these set backs I was able to graduate Cum Laude with Honors with degrees in Economics and Political Science. I took my GRE and scored 710 Q 535 V and 5.0 AW. Certainly not stellar, again reflecting my lack of formal mathematical training. Nevertheless, it was good enough to get me into a terminal masters program with funding.

Graduate: I performed very well my first year in the MA program, earning A/A-'s in all my courses including Math Econ and two semesters of graduate Econometrics. I feel that the MA put me through the rigor I needed and now I'm looking to apply to Ph. D.'s for Fall '11.

Here are my questions to you guys: Will my less than outstanding math performance in undergrad (including the low GRE Q score) come back to haunt me? Can some of this be outweighed by my performance in the MA program? And ultimately, what programs, Econ and/or Finance do you think I should look into? I should note that I'll be retaking the GRE in 3 days and I'm confident I will perform much better.

Stats:

Undergrad

GPA: 3.75/4

Majors: Econ/Poli Sci

Quant Courses: Calc 1-3, Linear Algebra, Econometrics, Time Series

Awards: 2 Summer Research Fellowships, 2 Semesters as a Research Assistant

Undergraduate Honors Thesis: Macroeconomic Growth Modeling

Bunch of extracurricular/honors stuff...

Graduate

GPA: 3.95/4

Quant Courses: Math Econ (A), Econometrics 1 (A-), Econometrics 2 (A)

Awards: Full Assistantship

Master's Thesis: Growth Theory and Human Capital

Advisor: Department Chair who was also Math Econ Professor

LoR's: Department Char in MA program, Econometrics 2 Professor, Undergraduate Honor's Thesis Advisor

[Birch Barlow]

Your story sounds a lot like mine: same type of school, same majors, same time frame to decide to grad school. I did well in my undergrad math classes and went on for a master's in math. I applied to a smattering of schools, three in the top 10, another three in the top 20, and some nearby state schools -- 11 apps in total. I tried to split my apps between good programs and places where I thought I could compete for funding. I feel like I played it conservatively, though.

Apply to schools with faculty who do the kind of work that you'd like to do. The whole process seems like a crap shoot anyway, so why not roll the dice.

[jblsmith]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Sorry for my late reply, it's been awhile since I signed on here. In the meantime I've finished my applications and all-told I applied to 13 programs, 8 Econ and 5 Finance. In semi-rank order:

Boston College - Econ & Finance

WashU - Econ

UConn - Econ & Finance

Rutgers - Econ & Finance

Pitt - Econ & Finance

Iowa - Econ

Houston - Econ & Finance

Tennessee - Econ

Following BIrch Barlow's suggestion I feel like I have a good "smattering" of programs. The BC and WashU programs are Top-30; UConn, Rutgers, Pitt, and Houston are Top-50 with Iowa on the cusp, and Tennessee is pretty far down on the list but pry Top-100 (this was more of an afterthought, one of my professors is Emeritus at their program and offered to write me a letter). I should also mention that I was able to improve my GRE Q score to 750, not stellar but hopefully acceptable. Tell me what you guys think my chances are.