<p>I'm a junior undergrad in economics environmental studies and minoring in math, and my interest for graduate schools are in a state of constant change. I typically went back and forth between public health and economics (either specializing in development or environmental econ). My grades are good at a 3.8, and my practice GREs look decent so far, and I plan to get more specific internship experience this summer to supplement my previous research background. </p>
<p>I'm discouraged because by a simple google search, I found Columbia's sustainable development PhD program, and it seems like an absolutely perfect fit for me because it requires a great deal of economics, mathematics, natural science, and social science to get into it, and it just seemed idyllic for all my interests, until I looked their FAQ section. Out of 250-300 people that apply each year, they only accept 6 PhD students. 6. Such a low number means that I can't possibly hope to compete with all the other people applying because the people who get in probably have As in every single class and 99th percentile GRE scores and more stellar recommendation letters, and impressive work experience than I could ever hope to emulate with what little time I have left before I apply.</p>
<p>This wouldn't be such a crushing blow if there were other programs that seemed even half as good as Columbia's. The only other programs I found were at RIT (Sustainability, but it looked a lot less worth it) and Arizona University, and neither seemed to be as powerful or excellent as Columbia's. Neither had a strong focus on econometric modeling or policy compared to Columbia's so that makes me wary about even getting into a field that seems so suited for my interests. I did notice a few other schools in australia, sweden, and germany, but I'm wary of schools outside of the US. What advice can you guys offer me about this situation?</p>
<p>My advice would be: don’t psych yourself out. You can’t affect the competitiveness of the program or the background of other students, but you can do your best to make yourself a great candidate for graduate school. Find the weaknesses in your application, and do what you can to strengthen them. Keep in mind that GPA and GRE scores are generally exclusionary factors–programs may use them to cut the applicant pool, but anything above their cutoff point is generally the same. Your 3.8 vs. anyone else’s 4.0 generally won’t be viewed very differently (assuming you didn’t tank a critical course, or anything). Don’t panic about what is probably the least important parts of your application (assuming you do well on the GRE, of course), and focus on the experience that will really set you apart from the crowd (relevant work and internship experience, research, etc).</p>
<p>Also, you may want to ask your professors or others you know if your field for advice on what grad schools are looking for in their applicants and other schools you should be looking at. They may know of schools that you haven’t thought of, or they may be able to recommend faculty at these programs that are doing work that you are really interested in. Broaden your scope to look at other programs that you would be interested in, rather than setting all your hopes on this one school. When I was applying to grad school, there were schools that seemed GREAT on paper, but when I actually visited the program and talked to the people there, I was really disenchanted with their program. Nothing is exactly like it seems on the website, and while some programs may appear to have a huge emphasis on this or that, when you’re actually there, it might not be what you expected. Sometimes, we build things up in our heads to be more than they actually are.</p>
<p>So do you best to beef up your application package and don’t worry about what others are doing. Present yourself as the ideal candidate for the programs you’re applying to, and hope for the best. Have a plan B, so you have options if you don’t get in right away. In my field, it’s the norm for programs to be around 6 students (sometimes, as low as 4), and it can be really intimidating. But all you can do is your best. If you feel like taking a year off would help you strengthen your application, then take a year off. If you don’t get in the first time, it’s okay to apply again, after improving your application. Someone gets into those programs, and there’s no reason it can’t be you =D</p>
<p>Keep in mind you’re being taken in as a PhD student to be a researcher, not a classroom drone. So getting a 4.0 and a perfect GRE doesn’t matter nearly as much as the rest of your abilities.</p>
<p>The fact that it seems like a perfect fit is a good sign, actually. Along with the things the others have already said, fit is very important for graduate school. Keep looking for other programs and ask for suggestions, but don’t get discouraged yet!</p>
<p>Nope. I had a 3.4 GPA - I had an otherwise outstanding application (including a 3.6 major GPA) - and I was admitted to Columbia’s PhD in sociomedical sciences program. My program also accepts 6 applicants out of 200 or so.</p>
<p>For research programs, GPAs and GREs function more like a cut-off. I would say that cut-off is probably somewhere around 3.5-3.6, although I’m a testament to the fact that exceptions are often made for otherwise outstanding students. After that, though, it doesn’t matter whether you have a 3.8 or a 4.0 - the differences between those two students academically is so small as to be ignorable. Similarly with GRE scores - there’s not much difference between the 90th percentile and the 99th percentile as far as predictive power goes, especially when you go beyond coursework into the really important stuff. So It’s my sense that a student with a 3.8 and GRE scores above the 85th percentile or so probably shouldn’t worry about that.</p>
<p>Now, there will always be people with better credentials than you. But I remember feeling the same way about my PhD program at Columbia - so perfect it almost hurt. THAT’S what’s important. They don’t want a 4.0 and a 1600 GRE who can’t do statistics or isn’t interested in anything their professors are interested in.</p>
<p>I also advise you, though, to get excited about other PhD programs too. Maybe no other PhD program is as exciting as that particular program, and that’s okay. But you should also feel excited to a certain extent about other programs, and apply widely, maybe to at least 5-7 programs in your field. If you’re interested in health economics in developing countries, look at schools of public health - most of them have economics “wings” (usually in their social & behavioral sciences department) with a cadre of professors doing research on health economics, and very often in development. There may be some programs there working on sustainability, and collaborative agreements with other schools (maybe the school of public affairs/government) to take classes and do research. I would imagine that Harvard probably has such a focus.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone! I feel a lot better about all of this now. I will look at the other few programs with this focus as well as programs in related fields. </p>
<p>This summer I hope to get some sort of super relevant internship but I’m not really sure what would be feasible for me to do without having to pay through the nose, as it often seems to be with field internships in developing countries. Even though I do say that, I actually will be taking a field course on sustainable development in Peru this spring thats offered through my school, so that should help a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks again, and its oh so reassuring that getting a B in a calc 3 class or something won’t posion my applications!</p>