国外院校解读申请的一些信息

snaillsUID: 2196722

看到很多同学都在寻求定位和申请策略，所以干脆开个帖子，把我知道的一些申请tips贴上来，其中有些来自美国的top program，所以应该还是比较权威的。大家可以从中看出一个好的program到底青睐什么样的申请者，从而有的放矢的进行准备。有些信息来源我忘记了，所以可能还要再找找，另外大家如果有什么好的tips都可以贴出来。先发一个NYU的申请Q&A，我挑了几个重要的问题。

Tell me what you look for in a good application. In particular, how important are the GREs? Transcripts? Letters of recommendation?
The GREs typically set out necessary rather than sufficient conditions. We look for strong quantitative skills. We know that the GRE does not test those skills adequately, but if you score below some threshold (say, below 740) you either had a bad day or there is a problem with the mathematics background somewhere. Do we immediately condemn you on those grounds? Not at all, but if you have low GREs you will have to have that much of a stronger application elsewhere to "make up" for it.
Conversely, if you have 780 or 800 don't sit back and relax. Many of our applicants achieve perfect scores, many more than we can admit. The rest of your application will be looked at very seriously.
Your transcripts will be looked at very carefully. If you are not a U.S. applicant don't worry: we have ways of figuring out and calibrating your scores using our own experience, background, and the knowledge we have of existing students. We look at your economics and mathematics background very closely, using your transcripts.
Your letters of recommendation are extremely important. They should come from academic professionals who have taught you or have interacted with you (e.g., as undergraduate thesis supervisor). The letters should be honest, revealing of your strengths (and weaknesses), and if possible should attempt to rank you within the context of the recommender's own professional experience. It may be a good idea to tell your recommender that we want such a letter. It is all right to write things like "She is a very pleasant person" or "He bears a fine moral character" and we take such things seriously, but in the end these statements won't get you into a top graduate program.
Ideally, your letters should come from academics, individuals who are seriously active in teaching and research. If you have worked in a company and your boss writes us a letter, there is only so much he can tell us about what we really want to know. Similarly, if a top government official knows you or your family and writes a letter on your behalf, it is of limited use to us (and therefore to you).
Do not be concerned about getting letters from "important" academics or researchers. We can tell a lot about your letter writers from the letters they have written before, and from the way they write. These things matter a lot more than whether your recommender has won the Nobel Prize in economics (often, the so-called "important" people don't have the time to write a serious letter).

How important is a background in economics?
Typically, very important, to the point of being crucial. We will look at your application if you have a top-notch background in, say, mathematics and have a real interest in economics, but economics is not just applied mathematics. So we value applicants who are trained in the subject.

Does work experience count?
Good question. The answer is: it depends. If you have been --- say --- an investment banker for 5 years before you applied to a Ph.D. in economics at NYU, you probably have serious work experience but probably none of it will point towards your success (or failure) in a research program. So far as the doctoral degree in economics is concerned, you're probably better off applying just after graduating from university. [This is not to denigrate investment banking at all, but only to point out that it signals very little about the kind of skills we're looking for.]
If you have been, say, at the World Bank, or an intern at the Fed, very similar considerations may apply. It all depends on exactly what you have been doing, but in general don't expect to jump into a priority queue because of this sort of work experience. While experience certainly counts as a positive attribute, it also means that you've been out of touch with academic research for a few years. While experience helps you ask a new set of questions, it can also sometimes close you off to new academic methodologies or ideas. Work experience cuts both ways.

I need to include a personal statement as part of my application. Is this important?
Very. We take this statement seriously and --- believe it or not --- in conjunction with the rest of your application, we can often tell when you have written it as opposed to someone else! A good statement should be clear, not too long, and to the point. We do not expect you to define your Ph.D. topic exactly, but also expect that you would be able to define your interests beyond the usual broad classifications of micro, macro and so on.

Should I include a sample of my research in the application?
Sure. We encourage it. But "research" isn't the literature survey you wrote for a course, or a term paper. That sort of thing will have little or negative value. If you have written a paper and are unsure whether you should send it in with your application, ask your professor. [S]he will know whether your paper has that spark of originality we might be interested in seeing. Use this option sparingly, because it can reveal a lot about you!

Does it help to be in touch with an NYU faculty member in advance?
Yes and no (mainly no). Very often a faculty member gets email from an applicant saying that he wants to work with that faculty member. But this isn't possible until the applicant enters the program, takes the core courses, passes the qualifying examinations, and only then is a thorough assessment carried out (including a lot of self-assessment) and an advisor chosen. So don't use this as a way of trying get a professor to support your application.
Of course, it may be genuinely the case that your own interests lead you to interact with one of our faculty members, quite apart from the question of admissions. In that case your queries will almost always be met with a suitable response. The point is that in most cases, it is easy enough to separate a real research inquiry from a message designed to try and obtain admission.

Fair enough, but just what is it that you are looking for in an applicant?
It isn't easy to define this, but what we look for is evidence of creativity, originality, drive ... ingredients that will make you a successful researcher. The ability to do well in courses or exams is correlated with this talent, and we certainly look for that and we also demand that you do well in our coursework, but that isn't the ultimate goal. Many students are really good at coursework but are just not the same when it comes to research. What about vice versa? Well, we all read about such exceptions and we all admire them, but that's who they are: exceptions. [We look for them as well, but they're harder to find.]

从中可以看出几点：
1.GRE TOEFL过线就行，不用太纠缠。
2.经济学背景相当重要，尤其是微观宏观等核心课程，而且最好是高级的。
3.推荐信至关重要，推荐信strong与否不仅取决于推荐人，更取决于推荐力度。记得论坛上有个拿了stanford offer（非经济）的人的推荐信是2个assitant和一个associate写的。当然这种情况要求你的推荐人至少是美国名校的Ph.D.，否则人家很难认可。
4.好成绩不是万能的，但没有好成绩是万万不能的。除了成绩，research potential也是极为重要的，所以尽量让推荐人在信里评估一下你的研究能力。
5.工作经历或者一般的研究经历（包括paper）是没有太大作用的。

待续...

turkeykUID: 208840

嗯，我觉得NYU最有用的tips就是说经济学老师很忙的，不喜欢搭理陶瓷的。不过我印象里能上NYU econphd的中国人真的是几乎没有啊，只听说有北大的拿到stern商学院的phd。

snaillsUID: 2196722

还是有一些的,今年job market上就有3个,不过一水儿whu的...

snaillsUID: 2196722

Berkeley的那个最打击人了，要满足那么多必要条件，实在是。。。

另外我记得一个貌似是harvard的老师写过一个好的program是如何申材料的，可是找不到了，不知ls几位有没有见过。

xuanieUID: 2540871

我看了觉得心里凉嗖嗖的……

我一个教授跟我说过
他写推荐信通常都是把学生的名字给秘书，然后秘书放进模版打出来……
如果是他非常欣赏的学生他就会亲自写“a few lines”（原话）然后发过去
所以他的推荐信是越短越好的……

xuanieUID: 2540871

呃，对了

UMich的一个Econ的一个Admission officer公开说，他们录取中国学生的时候不看GRE Verbal的，cos no matter how they perform in GRE, their English is just bad（打击人啊）...所以只要数学好背景过硬Verbal差不多就可以了……

graciehaoUID: 2400213

这么好的贴。有点晚了，不过谢谢LZ。我最大收获就是：除非你真对教授的方向感兴趣，否则不要打扰人家。

salantUID: 2596682

我们系的教授也说基本不看国际学生的verbal. 只看美国学生的verbal. 因为美国人如果verbal没考600就说明有点问题了，国际学生考多少都情有可原。

我们班的一日本同学考verbal的时候就是随机选的ABCDE。他说日本学生都这样。