Choice of universities and chances of getting in/funding

[Rohanps]

By way of background, I have been away from academia for about 7 years now, but before that I obtained a First at undergrad an Distinction at Masters level in Economics from Warwick university. Although my work since leaving university has been economics-based it's more consultancy than research, so probably isn't that relevant.

What is relevant, however, is that I have a fair amount of research experience: I was a Summer Research Intern at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, did one undergrad dissertation and one graduate dissertation; and have recently put together one working paper written in my spare time (although just rejected by Economics Letters, I'll submit it elsewhere soon), and one research paper in progress atm.

My LoR are likely to be quite good, albeit rather UK-centric: one from my Masters dissertation supervisor (relatively well known applied econometrician), one from the econometrician the firm I work for has on retainer (he's head of economics at a UK university) and hopefully one from my undergrad dissertation supervisor.

Having just taken the GRE, with scores of 165 Q and 167 V (AW TBC), I was wondering whether that would preclude me from making it past the first hurdle for admittance to (and/or funding for) my desired universities. In particular, I'm applying to Northwestern (my first choice, really), Chicago, Harvard, NYU, Duke, Minnesota, Michigan Ann Arbor, Wisconsin Madison, Ohio State, Johns Hopkins, and UoI Urbana). Obviously that list encompasses quite a wide range, but I'd appreciate any advice/comments as to whether some might be a bit (or a lot) of a reach.

[CakeTea]

Just curious, what is yr area of interest? Macro or econometrics? It is a smart list with reach (Harvard, Uchicago), target and safety (OSU, UIU). A lot depends on yr research proposal. You have a great GRE and it should clear the first hurdle. Most programmes publishes the GPA/GRE stats of applicants/admits/enrolled students. Your research experience with IFS counts and I have seen some bios of PhD students who did a stint in consulting too. Good luck.

[Rohanps]

Thanks for the reply! My main area of interest is actually empirical IO - I've an idea for a modified technique relating to demand estimation that I want to explore. However, as far as I'm aware, US unis don't require a specific research proposal prior to being admitted - is that correct? (I know UK ones do require a detailed proposal.) I'll probably have another go at the GRE to see if I can boost my quantitative score at all, but I'm not too concerned about that as long as my current score won't preclude me from getting funding.

[Gvh]

@Rohanps, I'm not in your field but I am a fellow international student, and generally speaking in terms of funding opportunities for international PhD students, it is best to set your sights on private as opposed to public universities. This is because public schools have a harder time funding international students because they cannot claim state residency, and thus we are set to a higher bar compared to fellow US applicants. Now, I don't think this means you must exclude all public schools, but it might help to keep this in mind as you refine your school list.

P.S. For what it's worth, your Q GRE is excellent -- since this is used for screening purposes I doubt increasing it is going to make much difference to your admission outcomes.

Edited November 17, 2015 by Gvh

[rising_star]

2 hours ago, Gvh said:

@Rohanps, I'm not in your field but I am a fellow international student, and generally speaking in terms of funding opportunities for international PhD students, it is best to set your sights on private as opposed to public universities. This is because public schools have a harder time funding international students because they cannot claim state residency, and thus we are set to a higher bar compared to fellow US applicants. Now, I don't think this means you must exclude all public schools, but it might help to keep this in mind as you refine your school list.

I know this is traditional wisdom around here but, I've been giving this a lot of thought lately. There are states where it's basically impossible for a full-time student to become an in-state resident for tuition purposes, regardless of how long they're in the PhD program. In Arizona, for example, to establish state residency for tuition purposes you have to either marry someone who already has that status or spend 12 consecutive in the state without being a full-time student. (See here.) Since that is basically impossible for even US graduate students moving from Arizona to another state, I'm not sure getting funding as an international student would be that much harder than getting it as someone coming from outside the state. Does that make sense?

[Gvh]

3 hours ago, rising_star said:

I know this is traditional wisdom around here but, I've been giving this a lot of thought lately. There are states where it's basically impossible for a full-time student to become an in-state resident for tuition purposes, regardless of how long they're in the PhD program. In Arizona, for example, to establish state residency for tuition purposes you have to either marry someone who already has that status or spend 12 consecutive in the state without being a full-time student. (See here.) Since that is basically impossible for even US graduate students moving from Arizona to another state, I'm not sure getting funding as an international student would be that much harder than getting it as someone coming from outside the state. Does that make sense?

That's a fair point. I guess it would be best to look into it state-by-state, if you want to be thorough! But I feel like keeping this in mind does still make sense for a lot schools, like the UCs, for instance. Another thing to consider is that non-US citizens aren't eligible to apply to a lot of national or federal grants (I'm looking at you, NSF), which is an annoying roadblock for PIs taking you into their lab.  I realize this in particular isn't limited to state schools, but since public schools tend to have less available bridging funds and the like, they also may need to rely more on the obtainment of grants. *shrugs*. This might also be field dependent, but hey..you get the idea. 

But like I said above, I don't think this means you shouldn't apply to ANY, just bear in mind there might be additional obstacles to your application that is related to citizenship. 

Edited November 18, 2015 by Gvh

[rising_star]

22 hours ago, Gvh said:

 Another thing to consider is that non-US citizens aren't eligible to apply to a lot of national or federal grants (I'm looking at you, NSF), which is an annoying roadblock for PIs taking you into their lab.  I realize this in particular isn't limited to state schools, but since public schools tend to have less available bridging funds and the like, they also may need to rely more on the obtainment of grants. *shrugs*. This might also be field dependent, but hey..you get the idea. 

Definitely true. But it's worth keeping in mind that international students are eligible for the NSF DDRI (doctoral dissertation improvement grants) because those are submitted by the PI/university, rather than the student.

[Rohanps]

That's very interesting about the funding point - I think most of the universities I listed are private, and the websites of the state ones do indicate they provide funding to some people. Guess I'll just have to take my chances

 

Ended up re-taking the GRE today, with the results V: 165 and Q: 168. Am reasonably happy with those (and am expecting an AW score of at least 4.5) so even if they're borderline for the likes of Harvard, I think they should be ok for other places.

 

Now I just need to ensure my LoRs are as strong as they should be and that my SoP is well put together. Plenty of time left for that though!