Nikhil Basavappa @NikhilBasavappa Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

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Former bus boy and house painter turned amateur mechanic and @columbia_econ PhD student. Past: @bostoncollege @MITecon

Joined November 2019

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

I am becoming increasingly convinced that the best part of a PhD is the summer before you start it, when you get to tell everyone you’re doing a PhD and they’re all like “oh that’s so cool” but you don’t have to actually do any of the PhD yet.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Paper just got accepted! Specifically I have accepted it. I have accepted it will never get published and will die unceremoniously in my documents folder.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

my research proposal is to analyze data that doesn’t exist using methods I don’t understand

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

how much of grad school is spending ~2 hours carefully reading like half a paper and then just saying screw it and skimming the second half in like 10 minutes

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

i don’t know how to explain this but this is IV regression

@platini954

Certified Vakabon

3 years

???

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

Sometimes I remember that I am indeed a PhD student in economics at Columbia living in NYC and it’s just so indescribably far from where I thought I’d be like 5 years ago. Life is weird and apparently I’m extremely bad at predictions.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Ok, to be clear: 1. I haven’t started my PhD 2. If I thought the above tweet were literally true, I wouldn’t be pursuing a PhD. My sister is a PhD. I have some idea of what I’m getting into. 3. Pre-docs: don’t be discouraged. 4. Wear a mask and practice social distancing.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

can you all stop advancing the literature around econometric methods. i am still trying to understand stuff that happened in like 1987. thanks in advance.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

econometricians are gonna be so pissed when we finally discover the multiverse and can actually literally observe the counterfactual

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

The final numbers are in: I applied to 34 PhD programs Got rejected from 27 Withdrew apps from 3 Never heard from 1 Accepted by 3 Going to 1 It all worked out, but my god did I spend a lot of money to get dunked on over and over.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

In a weird snap decision, my grandmother no longer wants the vaccine, and my mom is having a hard time (re)convincing her. Grandmother hates my beard, so I’ve offered to shave my beard if she takes the vaccine. This is legitimately most leverage we have at this point.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

teaching tomorrow, working on my slides

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

3rd year of PhD. Excited to come up with perfect research ideas that I will pursue flawlessly and with great initiative. Nothing will go wrong and I will feel really good all the time.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

me, as a student, seeing students nod: oh come on you are such a nerd me, teaching, seeing students nod: i owe you my life

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Econ is rough. Every time I try to solve an optimization problem, I FOC it up.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

professor said my research idea was “really interesting” I will ride this high for the next 5 years as I make zero progress on said research idea

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Another memory from last year’s grad admissions season School: we rejected u :( Me: ok *10 days later* School: do u wanna know why we rejected you Me: ...no School: School: its cuz we don’t think ur smart :(

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

i keep using “salient” in normal conversations and i feel like this is going to converge to me getting punched in the face

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

none of the undergrads in the class I’m TAing laughed at my icebreaker joke. It hurt.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

Got my TA assignment. Excited to get intellectually dunked on by a bunch of 18 year olds who have never taken econ before but are probably way smarter than me.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

writing extremely inefficient code so the do file takes forever to run so that I can take a break

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

got grades back. Passed. So now I will be doing (with a friend) a big dumb road trip in a little dumb old car. I’ve been thinking about this trip for years. 10k+ miles, 40ish days. A bow tie lap of America.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

econ PhD programs: don’t worry if you struggle with the first year classes - it has no bearing on whether you’ll be a good economist! also econ PhD programs: if u get a B in a class u are dead to us.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

kinda suspicious that this econometrics textbook is asking me to derive the optimal GMM estimator. like isn’t that your job. why are you asking me to do it.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

my identification strategy is valid because it is the best i could come up with under the current circumstances please don’t ask questions i don’t know how to answer them please just look the other way i know it’s bad please don’t say anything oh god why are you raising your hand

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

In 2017 I met one of my favorite authors. Had a short conversation. At the end he asked “are you a writer?” and I said “eh idk kinda” and he said “if you even hesitated, the answer is yes.” Four years later I have abandoned writing. There’s no moral here other than he was wrong.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Almost a month into econ grad classes and we haven’t ONCE intersected a demand curve with a supply curve. Scam!

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

💪💪💪

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Just handed in my solutions to a problem set. They were 19 pages long. I clearly did something wrong, just not sure if it was the problem set or choosing to go to grad school in general.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

Most incredible part of columbia business school is that you don’t have access to it if you’re an economics student in the school of arts and sciences. Are they afraid we’re gonna come in and start graffitiing lagrangians or something?

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

trust in yourself. don’t update your priors.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

while we’re talking about the GRE I will never not be cranky about spending $615 to take it three times and then $756 to send it to schools. Just require the official score only upon acceptance/enrollment. I’ll be like 45 years old still cranky about this.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

in my opinion if we raise the minimum wage it will be higher than before

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

@ben_golub linear algebra endowed with a malevolent spirit

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

In august 2017, I interviewed with Josh Angrist to join MIT econ as a research support associate. He recommended the dept hire me, and I took the job. Just goes to show even (future) Nobel prize winners make terrible mistakes.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

TAing a PhD class is cool because now more than ever before I feel like I have no idea what I’m talking about and no right to be teaching these people who probably know more than me

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

remembering the time I got a -355 on the first draft of a philosophy paper freshman year

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

seminar speaker on thursday pronounced de Chaisemartin and D'Haultfoeuille without fear or error. Just went right through it with hesitation. 96 Bulls type domination. Hall of fame stuff. It was an honor and a privilege to witness from mere feet away. He should win a Nobel.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

whenever I start to get delusions that I might be cool I remember that I’m a 25 year old with homework and that immediately puts an end to it

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

broke: I’m a first year grad student woke: I’m in the 17th grade bespoke: my entire future hangs in the balance of a handful of Greek letters I do not understand. furthermore, I’ve no money and no prospects. I’m already a burden to my parents and I’m frightened.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

1 year

I didn’t get a 170 on the GRE quant because I wanted to stand out from other candidates

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

the gre is very important. knowing how many apples timmy had left after trading with shelly and garth was crucial to my understanding of bootstrapped standard errors in grad econometrics.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Very happy to see all the PhD acceptances. I also understand that’s it’s rough if you’re not in anywhere yet. Not sure I know how to handle that well, but (1) it’s VERY early (2) you can only go to one school (3) the process can be super random. Helped to keep that stuff in mind

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Also also please continue to donate to bail funds and causes aimed at combating anti-black racism (as well as racism, generally). Continue thinking about concrete steps you can take to provide black scholars the support and opportunities they deserve. Then take those steps.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

we must protect khoa at all costs

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

we always talk about how stressful grad school can be but rarely acknowledge how much of this comes from not knowing if you’ve committed tax fraud every time you do your taxes

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

So, I’m gonna take a break from twitter for a bit. Have done this before but figure I should maybe talk about it this time, in some attempt at creating a public good…(thread)

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

also when I was teaching today I asked the undergrads if they wanted to do an icebreaker and they straight up said no. stunted on, right then and there, in the first 5 minutes.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

a fun thing that happened last year: I tweeted about getting rejected by a million schools, and then a prof from a school that rejected me commented “wish you had applied here we’d have loved to have you”

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

proof by come on just trust me when have i ever lied to u

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

🚨new working paper alert🚨 Had some free time today so I decided to take a stab at what’s salient: the $2000 checks

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

my standard errors are robust. but am i?

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

As far as I’m concerned, Krueger won it today alongside them

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

why would i play wordle? what, so the government can figure out all the 5 letter words i know? no thanks, i value my privacy

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

if i were a struggling first year grad student i would simply get really good grades instead of struggling

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

This could not be more Orwellian! The AER rejected my paper for being “shockingly bad” and “lacking any sort of intellectual merit” and for “being simply a list of Ina Garten recipes from 2007” smh this is an assault on the first amendment! We’ll see u in court! etc etc

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

normal people proposing: will you marry me? econ people proposing: i would like to make our relationship’s time horizon infinite

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

I have a lot of respect for people who don’t think mangoes are really good because it takes a lot of courage to be so wrong so openly

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

regular couples: we’re having a baby academic couples: we are coauthoring a novel human

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

i am objectively struggling at pretty much everything but this made me pretty happy for a brief, shining moment a few days ago

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

i am not “too scared to ask her out” i am simply waiting for IRB approval

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

For what it’s worth, I had planned to do a bunch of preparation the summer before first year, and having now gone through first year, I can say with certainty that absolutely none of the stuff I had planned to do would have been useful and I’m glad I goofed off instead.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Grad school for people who can do math real good: easy peasy lemon squeezy Grad school for me: difficult difficult lemon difficult

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

want to help grad students transition to research? give them (me) all your best research ideas along with the data and the code and a first draft written, typeset for a top 5 journal. solved.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

FWIW: when I applied to PhD programs, I had good (but not great) grades from a decent (but not elite) undergrad school, no real analysis, all my math came after college. No idea what was in my letters, but I suspect 2 out of 3 were good but not great. 1/?

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

here I am, once again, alone in my room, listening to songs that remind me of extremely sad times in my life while I attempt to read a 68 page paper published in the QJE

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

excited for my date tonight

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

none of my grad school friends are huggers and this is having a profound negative impact on my quality of life. like someone hugged me yesterday and i barely knew how to do it anymore.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

if/when I get a pet I will of course make sure it has gotten a 170 quant on the GRE and an A in real analysis

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

due to the pandemic I have decided to cancel my birthday this year and will thus be remaining 25 until 2022. It was a hard decision but we all have to make sacrifices in these trying times.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

normalize distributions

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

happy graduate student tax fraud day to all who celebrate

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

extended family sent me a gift card with this note and i simultaneously want to laugh and cry

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

“just learned how beta_OLS is inconsistent under the many IVs problem. Got me thinking how I treated you inconsistent, acting like a beta, treating you like some ordinary least square.”

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

a supervillian whose power is turning correlation into causation

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Behold my sourdough on a hike I am the alpha economist where is my PhD someone give me my PhD

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

even when it’s over, it’s not over. the grind never stops. @SilvioRavaioli

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Sprinkling “clearly,” “obviously,” and “of course” into my proofs hoping that the grader will be too insecure not to trust me blindly

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

To be clear, in general, it takes like 32 seconds to tweet. Tweeting a lot doesn’t take up a lot of time.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

I don’t understand why rich people want to become politicians. If I had tons of money I would just move to some place nice and then never talk to anyone ever again.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

simultaneously relieved and insulted that none of my non-econ friends have asked me to explain this whole stock fiasco

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

the error was not in my code but in myself

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

I, too, suffer from endogeneity

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

not sure why we keep saying “these uncertain times” when these times are very bad with fair amount of certainty

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

what is econometrics if not my pain persevering

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

they say grad school is a marathon not a sprint. well guess what buddy. i sprint marathons. it hurts really bad and it isn’t working at all.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

in your mid to late twenties you discover that you can conquer basically any negative emotion by drinking some water and dancing alone in your kitchen while making chickpeas and listening to music

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

new paper incoming! no idea what or when though. just hoping I write something or have an idea eventually.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

At this point, just google “where can I donate”. People have created amazing lists and websites dedicated to figuring this out for you. Also, listen to people whose experiences are different than your own.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

how to hide my tweets from professors who are teaching my classes without blocking them

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

new semester starts next week which means the return of the constant fear that i will appear very dumb to people who are very smart

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

Let my dough rise next to an electric stove. Call that proof by induction.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

I lost like 6 pounds over the final exam period and I am planning to gain it all back today with an absolutely degenerate selection of terrible delights

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

love this journey for my coffee beans. good for you bro. see the world. experience life.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

Have been informed in class by my professor that professors who teach my classes can see and are seeing my tweets

@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

how to hide my tweets from professors who are teaching my classes without blocking them

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

a little mad at my macro prof for making me feel that monetary economics can be really interesting

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

3 years

i have been alive for 26 years and still don’t know what bay leaves do. like what flavor do they add. is it all a scam by Big Bay Leaf.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

you are all very nice and I appreciate you saying I got this etc. But I do not, under any circumstances, got this.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

2 years

have we switched to only requiring the official GRE score only if you’re accepted yet. because that gets expensive. I spent like >$600 sending my official GRE to schools that rejected me. We do this with transcripts why not the GRE.

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@NikhilBasavappa

Nikhil Basavappa

@NikhilBasavappa

4 years

At my friend’s wedding realizing I left a graph off of a problem set submission. Living in the moment.

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