Economics PhD out of reach?

[jas66Kent]

Originally Posted by joni308

They are not hilarious. They are just non-existent because serious people don't look at them.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. When I was applying to the UK they asked for my GPA, and I'm pretty sure that they do convert the score (using one of their own charts) into the UK equivalent score (1st, 2:1, 2:2 etc..)

From what I've read, and from what I've been told by many students over here that go to the US, the US Universities do the same thing. (They convert the percentage UK score to a US based GPA.)

The only difference are the ranges they use. The more prestigious the school, the higher the range. i.e. A 1st for example is sometimes 3.8 + GPA or 3.7+ GPA. The better school would have the range at 3.8+

[Guerilla poster]

If you ace the GRE and the GRE Mathematics that will help. Most top PHD programs in the US are very Math focued, so if your math grades are good that will probably over shadow everything else. A lot of people can't do the math at this level.

[joni308]

Originally Posted by jas66Kent

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. When I was applying to the UK they asked for my GPA, and I'm pretty sure that they do convert the score (using one of their own charts) into the UK equivalent score (1st, 2:1, 2:2 etc..)

From what I've read, and from what I've been told by many students over here that go to the US, the US Universities do the same thing. (They convert the percentage UK score to a US based GPA.)

The only difference are the ranges they use. The more prestigious the school, the higher the range. i.e. A 1st for example is sometimes 3.8 + GPA or 3.7+ GPA. The better school would have the range at 3.8+

They? Who's they? Employers may do that because they have nothing else to do I suppose. But only at Entry Level. And how many Turkish, British, French etc new graduate seek an EL job in the US? Not very common. I was mostly referring to the OPs specific problem who wanted to apply for a PhD in the US. Trust me on that. When he applies noone is pulling out a chart.

(of course it is understood that if the same school accepted another 4 students in the past from the same school and they all had GPA 9+ and this student has a GPA of 6 this may say something)

[jas66Kent]

Originally Posted by joni308

They? Who's they? Employers may do that because they have nothing else to do I suppose. But only at Entry Level. And how many Turkish, British, French etc new graduate seek an EL job in the US? Not very common. I was mostly referring to the OPs specific problem who wanted to apply for a PhD in the US. Trust me on that. When he applies noone is pulling out a chart.

(of course it is understood that if the same school accepted another 4 students in the past from the same school and they all had GPA 9+ and this student has a GPA of 6 this may say something)

They = International Admissions Office of US University

[joni308]

Originally Posted by jas66Kent

They = International Admissions Office of US University

And you were told by whom that they do it?

Of course at some point a conversion may be made but it's another story if anyone is taking it into consideration. But let me be clear. If I'm already familiar with the UK grading system and I have at least a rough idea what grades look like (say I have accepted in my school so far 200 UK students and all had 17/20 GPS, which converts to 3.4 US) and now I got 1 application coming from the UK that is, after conversion, 2.4/4 I may choose to trash that application.

But be careful. Once again, I was only talking about the OPs specific problem who's applying for a PhD in Econs. The GPA is the last thing they will look at. Sure someone along the way may convert it, I'm not objecting to that. But converted or not noone would care. After all, what if they student comes from a very tough school?

Recommendations and Publications if any
GRE Subject
Letter of Interest
School you are coming from
GPA (ATTENTION! This may not be exactly true depending on how you interpret it as (raw)GPA as a measure of academic performance affects in a way most of the above)

may be a reasonable order of importance

[AAABBBCCC]

Originally Posted by Guerilla poster

If you ace the GRE and the GRE Mathematics that will help. Most top PHD programs in the US are very Math focued, so if your math grades are good that will probably over shadow everything else. A lot of people can't do the math at this level.

[AEG]

How many course credits does a reguler undergraduate actuarial science program requires for graduation?

[joni308]

Originally Posted by AEG

How many course credits does a reguler undergraduate actuarial science program requires for graduation?

I personally don't know but I have one question for you. How much does an actuary make in Turkey. Say someone with 1 year of experience and an FSA with 10 years of experience. I'm sure you did your research before deciding to pursue this career.

[AEG]

Originally Posted by joni308

I personally don't know but I have one question for you. How much does an actuary make in Turkey. Say someone with 1 year of experience and an FSA with 10 years of experience. I'm sure you did your research before deciding to pursue this career.

Someone with one year experience does not make much. Fsa with 10 year experience about 500k us dollars per year.

For the record I make a lot more than actuaries with my experience. So money is not why I plan to go for a PhD. In fact I will probably be miserable during doctoral studies.

[dactuaryk]

Btw, an undergraduate interest in Economics does not always translate into a phd level interest in Economics. It's probably a good idea to do a masters first, not only to get into a phd program, but to make sure you actually want to do it. I did my Econ masters and then realized that my love for econometrics was not enough to pursue and succeed in a phd program. You really have to also have some interest/aptitude in theoretical mathematics as well to be truly successful in that field.