Graduate School

The deadlines for some grad schools are a month away... so I need to make some decisions. Sure, I'd like to apply to 20 schools, but that would run me upwards of $1000 plus time and energy, and would be rather inefficient. It's a good system, I think, since there isn't a limit to the number of schools you can apply to, but the system rewards focus and set preferences. This of course benefits the people doing admissions, since they have more control over admitted students taken and less work to do.

I am almost 100% sure that I'm going to pursue a Philosophus Doctorus in Economics, with a concentration in development. My GRE scores are competitive: 800 quantitative (93rd percentile), 710 verbal (97th percentile) and 5.5 out of 6 on the analytical essays. GPA is 3.85, I've had Calc I and II, and I plan to take III (multivariate calc) in the spring. I lack matrix algebra, and my school - Northeastern - is more of a liability than a benefit.

So far, I've limited my search to the East Coast, since moving out West somewhere would be a major social cost, and the Eastern schools run the gamut from top to bottom schools, so there's plenty of options here in the Bos-Wash megalopolis that I call home. Here are the programs I've seriously considered:

1. M.I.T. - It's the bomb hizzy of grad schools, but my chances of getting in are slim, let alone of getting aid. Their heavy math focus doesn't help me.
2. Harvard - Their average GRE scores are 797 and 775, respectively, and I lack both academic pedigree and math background. Besides, talk about becoming a sellout...
3. Princeton - Also top-tier, this one receives 800 applications and accepts 25 students, with nosebleed GRE's and both multivariate calc and matrix algebra required. Still out of my league.
4. Yale - Ranked 7th by USNews. Multivariate required, matrix algebra required.
5. Columbia - Good school, good city, good econ program, and decent financial aid. Matrix algebra is recommended, but not required. I don't know if I'm pedigreed enough, but it's probably worth a shot.
6. UPenn - High math requirements, low financial aid, and location in the heart of Philly. What's not to love?
7. NYU - They obfuscate about requirements, which is probably a good thing, and they're 19th ranked in USNews. They also have an excellent aid package, which I'd need if I went to school in Manhattan.
8. Brown - Rhode Island's answer to Harvard is easier to get into, has better aid, and accepts a surprising 40 out of 500 applicants.
9. University of Maryland - As close to D.C. as you can get in a decent Econ program, UMD is well regarded, rejects 675 people per year, has a low math requirement, and is ranked 24th.
10. Johns Hopkins - This school has a great name, and it's tied in the 24-hole with UMD, but it's in Baltimore and requires matrix algebra. Upside is the excellent aid package and it isn't too far from D.C.
11. Boston University - BU wins the proximity prize (3 blocks from my house) and it also wins 3rd ranking honors in Massachusetts, surpassing B.C., Tufts, and UMass in a 1995 ranking that I used for non-top-25.

Applying to all 11 schools could easily run me $600, and some of them I have no chance. I'll most likely apply to:

1. M.I.T. - This is my miracle choice, if I actually go through with it. Gives God the chance to work a miracle (if He wants me at MIT), and allows me to list MIT when other schools ask who I've applied to.
2. Columbia - New York isn't really attractive to me, but I guess it gives me flexibility between Boston and D.C. And it's better than U.C. Davis or something!
3. NYU - I don't really know how much different the next few schools are; they score 3.7 to 3.5 out of 5 on USNews' scale, and the 1995 rankings basically show what I suspect: that they're in the mid-range between the top-tier schools and the shoo-in schools. Anyway, NYU leads both lists, if marginally, and the location is palatable. Their financial aid packages and deeper research if and when I'm accepted will make the decision; not my pre-rankings.
4. Brown - Good name, close to home, good aid all pluses. Rhode Island isn't my idea of a happening place, but it's not Pittsburgh either.
5. UMD - Good reputation, good location, highly regarded in the 1995 rankings. Excellent financial aid could push this over the top.
6. BU - Not only does BU rank a respectable 40th in the 1995 rankings, but its specialty is development economics and 2/3 of the students are foreign nationals. That's good for what I'm planning to do, and it leaves me in town where I can live at home or with friends, and incur lower living expenses than elsewhere (no car needed, etc). On the other hand, it's BU.