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Some Academic Tips for Bangladeshi Female Students Interested in Economics/Social Science and Related Subjects

3/4/2023

 
I write op-eds, articles, and features about educational institutions in Bangladesh. This blog is not on complaining about current institutions. This is just a list that I think may help you if you want to navigate the system. I am writing this mainly for 18–24-year-old girls currently going to a Bangladeshi college/university.  

1. Result is not enough or even the most important thing.

In our education system, we see many students with the highest CGPA who are really bad at critical thinking. It is more common in girls - they are very good in test results. But, when it comes to handling new questions, coming up with new research ideas, they suffer. This is understandable given that our girls are brought up in boundaries with many social restrictions. To come up with interesting new research ideas, you need to have an open mind and an open environment. I grew up in a very conservative environment too. However, academic scholarship demands a broad mindset. So, develop a broader mindset, work on it for yourself. How?
  1. Read books, read journals. Learn, learn how to learn. 
  2. Engage in community groups (in debating groups, writing in newspapers)
  3. Engage in conferences, seminars whenever you get chances.
  4. Take part in departmental activities. (I did not. I was afraid of bullying - don’t be like that.)

2) Create a network 

Find mentors. Given the patriarchal nature of our education system, it is hard to have academic connections if you are a girl. However, creating a network, finding mentors - are important. Talk to people, find who can help you, work with these people voluntarily or as an intern whenever you get chances. Be open to opportunities, and then grow from that slowly. 

3) Skill development 

Again, coming back to the first point, girls are in general good when it comes to test results. But many girls are still not that much open to skill development. At this point, policy enthusiasts need to be very much skilled in data work - Learn data science methods, data visualization, R, STATA, Python, ArcGIS, Qualtrics whatever you can manage. Use online resources to learn - today it is not hard to find resources if you are willing to learn. Do not be afraid of programming just because our society tells that "Girls cannot do this or that".

4) Read non-textbooks -

Textbooks are old and you probably follow Western textbooks that are totally irrelevant for your real-life experiences. Learn from books - go to the library, Aziz market, Batighar, Concord bookstores, book fairs, Neelkhet - whatever you have around you. See what interests you most - read books from a broad perspective: history, politics, economics, sociology, law, international relationship - whatever interests you most. 

Be a regular user of your university library. Use the newspaper section to train yourself to think critically​. 

5) Take responsibility for your future. 

Plan for it. Plan for 5 years, 10 years. Work for your goal in whatever way you can. Complaining does not and will not help. I see many women around my age wasting most of the time complaining. Really, it does not help. Just because we did it, you do not have to follow us. Be a better woman.

Try to become the best version of yourself, not just what other people think you can manage. People in our soci
ety have a tendency to discourage students, and girls take this more seriously. Red alert - stop sabotaging your life. 

6) Learn how to make cold calls. 

Learn to use emails to ask for help. Also, learn how to use LinkedIn for professional networking. Do not use Facebook for professional purposes. If you really have to, then just ask for the email ID.

​Do not cross boundaries and learn how to set your own boundary too. Do not just become another nice girl. Help others but help yourself to grow too. I have another blog post on this - how to send cold emails etc.

On Facebook - many Bangladeshi students use Facebook to make connections with professional people. I find it very awkward. For example, if you are 18/20 years old, you are more than 15 years you
nger than me. I do not want to share my personal activities with unknown people from different generations and would like to keep my Facebook aside only for my friends and family. That does not mean I do not want to help students. I very much try to respond to every email I get from students.

I think it is best to use LinkedIn and emails for professional purpose. In my personal op
inion, it is best to send an email if you have a question to people whom you do not know. We, mid-aged professionals, definitely check our emails every day. 

7) Find people who are also ambitious, 

You need to find mentors for yourself who can help you to navigate the academic system. You also need to find friends who are ambitious - who want to learn and are willing to do hard work. I see many clubs in my university - book clubs, policy discussion clubs, writing clubs. Create something like that to find similar-minded people. 

8) Beware of nasty competition: 

Our education system has a nasty competition. Try to learn to take yourself away from that nasty part. Competition can be good and can be healthy. However, criticizing others because they got something you couldn’t - is very unhealthy. 

Well, you may feel jealous, and that is normal human nature. But handle the jealousy with grace. Ask people to give you academic tips - how did they achieve the things you also want to achieve. And then work on yourself to achieve what you want to achieve. Don’t be stuck in a complaining loop. Don't find excuses. 

9) Have a plan for 5 years when you enter undergrad life. 

How do you visualize your future? Where do you want to go? Do you want to stay in Bangladesh? What types of jobs are you looking for if you stay in Bangladesh? Do you want to prepare for higher studies? What are the main countries you would like to go to? How can you prepare yourselves for them? Having a plan, having a list of activities divided by every semester will help you to focus and build your CV.

10) Have a CV ready 

Have a professional CV/resume ready from your first year of undergrad so that when you need to write a cold email, you can send that. This should include whatever information you want to share - your test results, professional activities should be the priority. Did you write any newspaper articles? Include that. 

11) Most Importantly - Understand yourself 

Different people have different skills (pros and cons). Some are good at public speaking, some are good at writing, and some are good at programming etc. Nobody can be “best” in everything. So, you really need to understand yourself. What are the main skills you have? What are the things you would like to improve?

That's all for today. 
Again:

  1. CGPA is not enough to make you look academically "smart". Learn - learn how to learn more. 
  2. Make connections with scholars who are willing to mentor you. 
  3. Make connections with fellow students from your department and elsewhere. Having a group of ambitious, hardworking peers is important. 
  4. Make a plan for 4 or 5 years from the beginning of your undergrad. What do you want to achieve? Where do you want to see yourself?
  5. Understand your pros and cons. What are the things you are good at? How can you be the best in these activities? For example, some people are better at writing than coding. Plan accordingly. 

For Economics Students In Bangladesh

8/16/2022

 
Download File Here

​অর্থনীতি এবং অন্যান্য সামাজিক বিজ্ঞানে আগ্রহী শিক্ষার্থীদের জন্য আমি এই ই-বুকটি লিখেছি। মূলত যে তথ্যগুলো আমি নিজে অনার্স পড়াকালীন জানতাম না, এবং যে কারণে আমার নিজের পিএইচডিকালীন অনেক সমস্যা পোহাতে হয়েছে, সেই তথ্যগুলো আমার অভিজ্ঞতার ভিত্তিতে লেখার চেষ্টা করেছি।

এই ইবুকটি শুরু করেছি একেবারেই হাইস্কুল ছাত্রছাত্রীদের থেকে। সামাজিক বিজ্ঞান কি, এখানে কি ধরণের পড়াশোনা হয়, কি ধরণের ক্যারিয়ার তৈরি করা যায় - এই নিয়ে আলোচনা দিয়ে শুরু ইবুকটি। এরপর আমি অর্থনীতিতে অনার্সকালীন কি নিয়ে চিন্তা করা উচিত, কি তথ্য মাথায় রাখা উচিত, পড়াশোনার স্টাইল ইত্যাদি নিয়ে আলোচনা করেছি। দেশের বাইরে আসতে চাইলে কি ধরণের প্রিপারেশন নিতে হবে, তাই নিয়ে পরের চ্যাপ্টার। কিভাবে নেটওয়ার্কিং করতে হবে, অন্যান্য সফট স্কিল নিয়েও কথা বলেছি। ম্যাথেমাটিক্স এবং স্ট্যাটিস্টিক্স এর প্রিপারেশন নিয়ে কিছু আলোচনা করেছি।

আমি এরপর দেশের বাইরে আসলে বাংলাদেশী অর্থনীতির শিক্ষার্থীরা কি ধরণের সমস্যার সম্মুখীন হতে পারে এবং তা নিয়ে কিভাবে চিন্তা করা উচিত - এই নিয়ে আলোচনা করেছি। এই শেষের চ্যাপ্টারগুলো মাস্টার্স এবং পিএইচডি ছাত্রছাত্রীদের জন্য।
আশা করছি এই আলোচনা এখনকার শিক্ষার্থী কারো কাজে লেগে যাবে।

I hope students enjoy the e-book. Please feel free to share it with anybody you want.

Students, please feel free to email me if you have questions.

Happy Learning!



সূচীপত্র

১। ভূমিকা - বই এর উদ্দেশ্যে        পৃষ্ঠা ৩ 
২। বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ভর্তির পূর্বে: সামাজিক বিজ্ঞান কি এবং কেন পড়বো? পৃষ্ঠা ৫ 
৩।  ​দ্বিতীয় পর্বঃ স্যোশাল সায়েন্সে সাবজেক্ট চয়েস  পৃষ্ঠা ৯ 
৪। আন্ডারগ্র্যাডের ছাত্র হিসেবে করণীয় কি কি পৃষ্ঠা ১১ 
৫।  সমাধানের কিছু পথঃ পৃষ্ঠা ১৩ 
৬। অর্থনীতিতে উচ্চশিক্ষা সম্বন্ধে - অর্থনীতিবিদ হওয়ার পথে পৃষ্ঠা ১৫ 
৭। চতুর্থ পর্বঃ ক্যারিয়ার হিসেবে রিসার্চ পৃষ্ঠা ১৯ 
৮। পঞ্চম পর্বঃ দেশের বাইরে উচ্চশিক্ষার প্রস্তুতি নিতে চাইলে পৃষ্ঠা ২৩ 
৯। ষষ্ঠ এবং শেষ পর্বঃ এপ্লিকেশন প্যাকেজ প্রস্তুত পৃষ্ঠা ২৬ 
১০। নেটওয়ার্কিংঃ পৃষ্ঠা ২৯ 
১১। বাংলা মিডিয়ামের শিক্ষার্থীদের জন্য - রাইটিং এ উন্নতির জন্য পৃষ্ঠা ৩১ 
১২। দেশের বাইরে আসার পর কি কি মাথায় রাখতে হবে? পৃষ্ঠা ৩৩ 
১৩। বিদেশে পৌঁছানোর পর - মাস্টার্সে প্রথম সেমিস্টারে কোর্স সামলানো পৃষ্ঠা ৩৬ 
১৪। কিভাবে মাস্টার্সে গবেষণার ক্ষেত্র ঠিক করবেন পৃষ্ঠা ৩৯ 
১৫। টিচিং এসিস্ট্যান্টশিপ সামাল দেওয়া পৃষ্ঠা ৪৩ 
১৬। পিএইচডিতে ইচ্ছুক ছাত্রদের জন্য  পৃষ্ঠা ৪৫ 
১৭। ক্যারিয়ারের পথ পরিবর্তন পৃষ্ঠা ৪৮ 
১৮। Where are our macroeconomists? A discussion on current math-oriented western  macroeconomics education system and effects on Bangladeshi Academicians  পৃষ্ঠা ৫০ 
১৯। Insufficient Data পৃষ্ঠা ৫৩ 
২০। Some Academic Tips For Bangladeshi Female Students Interested In Economics/Social Science And Related Subjects পৃষ্ঠা ৫৫ 
২১। First-Time Conference Presentation? পৃষ্ঠা ৫৮ 



First-time Conference Presentation?

6/8/2022

 
​My sister attended her first in-person conference last week. I was talking to her about preparation etc. and thought maybe I can share some of my experiences in a blog. So here it is - 

1. Professional conferences have many versions. But the typical ones in Economics include three types of presentations: long presentation (18/20 minutes), short presentation (9/10 minutes), and poster. You will have to submit an abstract or a full paper. They may ask you if you have a preference for short presentations or long ones. If the paper is not selected for a full presentation, they may ask you if you want a poster. As a graduate student, I think you should take any chance to attend and present your work. However, be careful about your budget and reimbursement too. 

2. I have attended ASSA conference just to see how big conferences work before I submitted to any conference by myself. It was expensive, but I think the whole experience helped me in the long run. It is a good investment. I also have attended the Heartland Environmental and Resource Economics conference at UIUC multiple times before my own conference presentation. I guess all these helped me to prepare. At the least, I knew what to expect. If you can manage time and money, I suggest you attend conferences before your own talk just to see the system.

3. Presentation: If you are an international student and if you are not coming from an English-medium school, there is a good chance that you feel awkward about saying almost anything. I believe that you can hide your nervousness by spending lots of hours in preparation. Know everything about your slides. Have a mock presentation. Make sure your slides do not have spelling errors. Make sure your slides are readable. Make sure you do not need to read from your slides. Make sure your slides are self-explanatory too. If your slides are perfect, and you are well-prepared, it will be harder for people to ignore your work. 

4. Fashion: I definitely did not have any idea about professional clothing before my first conference. I asked around; some female professors and some senior female colleagues helped. The basics are pretty simple: a formal shirt, a formal pant, shoe, and maybe a blazer if you want. You can try informal dresses too if you are just attending (not as a presenter), but I think you will feel more confident if you are dressed like a professional. These things are expensive, try second-hand shops. You will get nice almost-new stuff. 

5. Notebook: Do not forget the power of a pen and a small notebook. Always have a set with you. There are always ideas, questions, debate around you - you need to keep track. Laptop does not do the trick. 

6. Business Cards: Some senior friends suggested that I get business cards. So, I actually had business cards with me in my first conference. I could not manage to give it to anyone though!

7. It is better to go to your first conference with some friends - fellow graduate students from your school. You will feel less awkward. You can share expenses, and you can attend talks together. 

8. In those open bars, you may feel "nobody wants to talk to me". Actually, I have met some other graduate students from other schools in these conferences who were also feeling awkward, and they are very good friends now. So, try finding other people around your stage, they are going to be your colleagues for a very long time. It is OK if big people do not want to talk to you at this moment! 

9. Sessions: There are normally lots of sessions. Try to attend some big picture sessions - like keynote, panel discussions. These sessions will help you to see where the field is going. Attend some method sessions to learn cutting-edge methods. Make a mixture of sessions to attend. 

10. If you have any particular question to ask to anybody, you can definitely try to set up a coffee meeting. If you want suggestions from some specific experts, it is fine to invite them to listen to your talk. Know how to write cold emails.

11. Question-answer period: Normally, there are 2/3 minutes after every talk where you will get questions from the audience. Ask questions, engage in the discussion. I always find this helpful to learn. If you get a question that you do not know, it is OK to be honest. If you find the answer later, you can send an email to clarify. 

12. Thank you emails: If somebody gave you a good suggestion, it is good to send a note after the conference. 

Well, these are just some things that I learnt in the last five years. Hope this helps! 

Finally, enjoy the conference experience. You will attend your first conference only once! :) 

Contemporary Economists I follow

11/16/2021

 
This is a list of people doing research on areas I am interested in: agriculture, environment, urban - rural regional variation, development. Most of them are "economic historian" by training and specialization (some not). I will keep this list updated! 

Martin Fiszbein

Jacob Moscona 

Rick Hornbeck

Dave Donaldson

Marshal Burke 

Wolfram Schlinker 

Stefano Falcone

Michele Rosenberg 

Johannes Buggle

Federico Masera 

Cory Smith 

My CV Template

10/17/2019

 
I use a CV template that I copied from Prof. Jason Blevins. I find it clear, concise and easy to navigate.

Template




Recapping GradLife - Part 2: How to match data with research ideas (Developing countries)

10/4/2019

 
I am writing this post in Applied Micro-ian solidarity!

If you are an early-career grad student wondering around if you can ever settle down with a research question and find a data that can answer that question, I feel you. This is a constant exercise, we get better with experience, and let me share some of my thoughts from my own experience. This post assumes that you want to find a question and fit a data with that question.

How to find data for your first project?

Finding a research question that motivates you, and finding data that has information in that context is one of the toughest task for applied micro students. I am laying out the things I learnt in the way of "failing" to do so. These are probably the steps in sequence:

First, Research Question: field class, discussion with mentor and other professors, reading articles, newspapers, blogs. The blogs I follow for new ideas are linked at "Links" in my website. And, my dissertation adviser (the #Great Prof. Amy Ando) agreed to read some trillion research proposals in five years!

Second, You know the question, at least broadly - how to get a data to answer it. Write the question in 2/3 different ways. Ask your adviser/field course professors to read it and give you feedback.

Third, Now that you know your research question broadly and you have feedback from some specialists, read relevant papers that use similar question. Find which data they used - country, context, time period. Make a list and see those data (you should get a sense of available variables from there).

Fourth, Talk to people who work in that area. They may know about a data in your context. They may know a context or a policy in some country. For my second-year paper, Prof. Arun Agarwal told me Nepal has some new policies regarding the question I was interested in. Read the books from my first post to see how to write cold emails, but do it anyway.

Fifth, Have two options open. Having a back up plan always helps, and I admit that I am not good in plan-B.

Six, Data will be desperately unclean - learn how to clean data. Learn how to spend your whole time with data. My first paper's data was not geocoded, I did it all by myself with the name of the villages. It takes time.

Here are some links and sources that might be helpful. If you have a research question on developing countries:

1) LSMS is probably the first place I will always go. You get a repeated cross sectional data for almost all developing countries. Sometimes they even have panel data. If you are interested in agricultural questions, look at LSMS-ISA.
For most of the countries, it is free. And the World Bank is really great in assisting with data related questions.

2) ICRISAT also provides information on agriculture and poverty for some countries.

3) IFPRI has data on food and agriculture.

4) Demographic and Health Survey: DHS is a great source of information for demography/environmental health questions. It's geocoded. It's freely available.

6) India NSSO data: You have to pay as you go by selecting variables and years.

7) Indonesia: Indonesian PODES data is a great source for economic and environmental questions. Village-level panel and annual data. You need to pay as you go.

For environmental questions, there is an increasing demand for satellite data and geocoded information.

Satellite and Spatial Data

1) Forest cover: Global forest cover data is publicly available from 2000 (here). Use gfcanalysis in R to clean/extract the data.
2) Nightlight: Nighttime light data is also widely used in development economics (here). I have some concern in using it for village-level economic analysis in developing countries. Use Rnightlights in R to clean/extract the data.
3) Admin boundary: You can get admin boundary data and shapefile from GADM for every country (here).
4) Fire: Nearly real-time fire data is available from FIRMS (here).
5) Marine data: Global fish watching data available here.

Bottom Line:

If one thing I learnt and still am learning: don't give up on a research question just because you do not have data right now. If your intuition says it could be something, chase it. It is painful, it is worthy!


Recapping GradLife - Part 1: Some books to Read

9/29/2019

 
Most of us start graduate school with a lot of passion about academia and science, but zero practical knowledge about how it actually works. It takes time to get familiar (and that's fine, we don't have to know everything from our mother's womb :) ).

My first conference presentation was at the end of my third year. Before-after that period, I started to read some books. These books helped me here and there with small tips.

I am listing some books for early-career PhD students. These may help you too if you are not that much familiar with academic professional environment. The books are designed to help in searching for academic jobs, but they provide information on "how to present in a conference", "how to write an email", "how to ask for help (cold email)". Hope it helps!

1) Academic Job Search :

2)Surviving Your Academic Job Hunt: Advice for Humanities PhDs

3) A PhD is not enough

4) The professor is in

5) The portable dissertation adviser 

6) The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research












Convert Word File to LaTex

9/28/2019

 
One of my dissertation chapter was in Microsoft Word document, but the other two were in LaTex format. Well, I did not know how to use LaTex earlier in my graduate school! To compile all three for my dissertation, I converted Microsoft Word document to Tex file. This is the cheat code if any of you are also stuck. It works pretty well.

Use Docx2Latex online converter to get the basic Tex file.
To align, use flushleft from the beginning
Number equations manually. If you do not like table format in this way, use Excel2Latex addin in Excel.
Download the package from here: Excel2Latex
Manually need to change the Table captions.
All the numbering need to be changed. 

Write Journal Article with LaTex

9/28/2019

 
For a starter, getting used to LaTex is not easy. This is a template that I use for my papers, you can copy it to Overleaf or any Tex typesetting system to make your own file. 

\documentclass[12 pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{color}
\usepackage{ragged2e}
\usepackage{indentfirst}
\usepackage[a4paper, margin=1 in]{geometry}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{rotating,caption}
\usepackage{float}
\usepackage{placeins}
\usepackage{enumerate}
\usepackage{threeparttable}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{lscape}
\usepackage{flexisym}
\definecolor{EconomicsGray}{RGB}{198,212,225}
\definecolor{EconomicsLightBlue}{RGB}{127,191,192}
\definecolor{EconomicsBlue}{RGB}{0,63,138}
\definecolor{EconomicsDarkBlue}{RGB}{0,63,117}
\usepackage{multirow}
\restylefloat{table}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{tabularx}
\usepackage{lscape}
\usepackage{rotating}
\usepackage[nodisplayskipstretch]{setspace}
\setlength{\parindent}{5ex}
\usepackage[toc,page]{appendix}
\usepackage{amsthm,amssymb}
\renewcommand{\qedsymbol}{\rule{0.7em}{0.7em}}

\usepackage[backend=bibtex, natbib=true, style=authoryear, maxbibnames=99,]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{references.bib}
\renewbibmacro{in:}{}
\usepackage[%
colorlinks=true,%
linkcolor=blue,%
citecolor=blue,%
urlcolor=EconomicsDarkBlue,%
pdfstartview=FitH,%
pdfview=FitH,%
pdfpagemode=UseNone]{hyperref}
\hypersetup{pdftitle={Economics: The Open Access, Open Assessment E-Journal}}
\usepackage{cleveref}[2012/02/15]% v0.18.4;
% 0.16.1 of May 2010 would be sufficient, but what is the exact day?
%\usepackage{bibentry}
%\pagestyle{myheadings}
\crefformat{footnote}{#2\footnotemark[#1]#3}
\usepackage[bottom]{footmisc}
\usepackage{fixltx2e}
%\usepackage{floatrow}
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\section{Introduction}

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Application Steps: Applied Economics PhD Program

9/28/2019

 
Steps

When to start?
  1. The earlier the better, of course! Keep enough time to adjust the school list.
  2. Some schools have deadline as early as last week of November, e.g. Ohio State University (ARE). If you are planning for those schools, need to compile everything lot earlier.
    1. Lots of schools have two deadlines, later one without funding. Be careful.
 
Things you will need
  1. Transcript
  2. GRE score
  3. SOP
  4. 3 Reference Letters
  5. CV
  6. Writing sample (Not that every school will ask for a sample, but it’s better to send one!)
 
Statement of Purpose (SOP) Matters
  1. Applied Economics program mostly offer RAship, so SOP will matter.
  2. Take time to write SOP. DON’T start at the last moment. Do some research on how to write SOP. Some schools have format, get idea from those. Keep at least one month in hand to make different adjustment in writing.
  3. Thousand SOP templates are available online, you can get basic ideas from those. But don’t copy anything- Admission committee also has access to internet!
    1. Focus on your strength, don’t apologize for your weak side (Like ”I got a B because....” Who cares?). There can be special cases though.
    2. Try to make some links between your research ideas and current literature. Don’t put 4/5 ideas together. Stick to one or two. Name those specific professors you want to work with. And, don’t put names randomly. Do some good research on their current work and specialization.
    3. Some schools have their own restriction on pages. Otherwise, you may try to be in 2 pages.
      1. Don’t put your course list in SOP. They have your transcript.
      2. Focus on the research experience, whatever you have. That’s important.
      3. If you have teaching experience, put that too.
      4. Why and how do your ideas and experience fit in that school?
    4. A rough sketch would probably look like- 1/2 para on your motivation, 3/4 para on your research ideas and experience, 1 para on ”why this school”, ”why these professors” and ”why you”.
    5. If you can manage, talk to some professors about SOP (show them what you have written and get feedback!).
 
Urch and gradcafe

Follow Urch and Gradcafe from June-July of the year. It will give a clear idea of the applicant pool.
I don’t know if there is any new forum!
Links: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/
http://www.urch.com/forums/forum.php
 
Real Analysis? Good to have a class on Real Analysis. 

Reference Letter

Talk to 3/4 professors from August/September.
Talk to those professors who know you well, and will take some time to write.
Professors are busy, don’t ”order” them 15 different reference letters at the end of December.
Share the whole school list with them, and take their suggestions seriously.
 
Take Time

Every single application form will take 3/4 hours. Some will ask weird things, so take time. No rush!
If you are confused on any requirement, ask the admission office. Don’t guess. International students, check if they have extra requirements.

Program Ranking

Get the basic idea from IDEAS, but mostly ranking is not important, I think. A better strategy would be searching through your interest-specific journals. Go through the recent AAEA/AERE sessions (you can read accepted papers online), working papers of current grad students will show a better signal.
Link: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.agr.html https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.env.html
 
Diversify Risk

Yes, it’s expensive, time consuming and frustrating. Make a balanced list. If you want to apply 7/8 schools, take 3/4 from top, 2/3 from medium, and 1/2 schools should be sure shot.

GPA and GRE

What is the lower bound?
There is definitely no lower or upper bound, except that some schools explicitly say, ”we want ***”. This chance is low. However, there is an acceptable range! A good quantitative score will help a  lot. 

Some schools put average GRE score of their accepted pool. You can get good ideas from those, Urch and Gradcafe are also helpful in this regard. Ask people who recently get admission in good programs to get an idea. My only point is: if you want to get a PhD, low GRE score or low CGPA should not stop you. Those scores are not reflecting your intellectual capability. 

Online Resource 

A nice online resource on application process: http://chrisblattman.com/about/contact/gradschool/
​

Bottom line Try to focus on your strength. Everybody has comparative ad- vantage in something, use that.
*All comments are my own. Suggestions are welcome: howlade2@illinois.edu
​

    Author

    Sharing some suggestions for current graduate students. All comments are my own, reflecting only my experience. 

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