/u/BainCapitalist

So, I want to talk a bit about the actual application packet for the Econ PhD. This is the collection of documents you actually submit in the online app when you finally sit down and click "apply" to Stanford's PhD Econ program. Late-night Inty rules apply, so this post may disappear without warning.

1. You upload your transcript. Two pages.
2. You upload your resume. Two pages.
3. You upload your Statement of Purpose. Two pages.
4. pay attention here, because this bit is important: You upload a "math summary." For most of the schools I applied to, there was a "mathematics summary" document in which I listed every math class I had ever taken, the textbook used, and the grade I received. Econ PhD programs take math very seriously. There was no "econ prep summary." Nah. But there was a "math prep summary."

That's it. Seven pages. Seven pieces of paper that summarized all I'd done for the prior four years of my life.

Beyond those seven pages, my file had the letters of rec and my GRE scores sent from ETS.

Some of the files also had a writing sample. I turned in an incomplete copy of my undergrad senior thesis.

With the above comments in mind, you begin to see what the application process really looks like.

1. Filter by GRE math. In the old system, which was graded out of 800, most schools threw away all packets with GRE < 780 at this stage. I don't know what the cutoff is now.

2. Scan over the math prep sheet and throw away all packets with subpar math scores.

3. Read LoRs from the remaining packets, picking promising candidates and/or candidates with good LoRs from your personal friends, colleagues, and coauthors. Very fishy.

Anyway, this post may self-destruct at any time.