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Most Recently Selected profile:

The data below comes from testmagic forums and shows accepted, waitlisted, and rejected applicants for 2009 for economics graduate school. Clicking on the graph above will make the most recent profile appear to the right of the graph.

All profiles:

Acceptances:
mjsmith1986 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ from small but respectable LAC with well known Econ researchers; they don't do minors but I have taken enough math to qualify for a "minor" at other schools
Undergrad GPA: 3.67 cumulative, 3.83 econ
GRE: 800Q, 590V, 5.5 AWA

Math Courses: Calc I (A-), Calc II (A), Calc III (A), Linear Algebra (A), Proofs and Fundamentals (B), Stats (A), Real Analysis I (A), Topology (A), Real Analysis II (Spring '09), Dynamical Systems (Spring '09)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): The relevant ones: Intermediate Micro (B+), Intermediate Macro (A), Advanced Micro (A), Econometrics (A), Senior Thesis (A)
Other Courses: Some political studies/physics
Letters of Recommendation: Two from Econ Profs (UT-Austin and Yale), one from Math Prof (head of Math dept.)
Research Experience: RA for Econometrics professor; Awarded summer research grant (co-authored a paper with a professor, in publishing stages); senior thesis

Teaching Experience: TA for intro micro
Research Interests: Labor Economics (specifically Economics of Education), Behavioral Economics, basically Applied Micro and Econometrics stuff.
SOP: Just talked about my research experience and interests.
Other: Applied for an NSF grant to build on some conclusions from my undergraduate thesis.

Concerns: That my Verbal score might be a little low. I was easily testing in the high 600s but I basically rushed through it on the GRE to get to the Quant. I also declared a late major in Econ (in my junior year) and have spent the last year and a half rushing to make up the appropriate math/econ courses for grad school, so I don't know whether that sends a good or bad signal to the adcomms. Also, high volume of apps this year with rather homegenous profiles.
What I would have done different: Majored in math from the start. Curse my fickle interests!
Applying to: Princeton (Woodrow Wilson School), Cornell, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, George Mason, Carnegie Mellon, Boston U, Boston College, Virginia, Duke

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Boston College ($$), Johns Hopkins ($), UVA ($?)

Rejections: Princeton, Brown, Maryland, George Mason, Boston U, Duke, CMU
Pending: Cornell (Probably rejected)

ATTENDING: Boston College

What could I have done differently?
As I said before, I would have majored in math from the start rather than rushing in my last semesters to make up the appropriate coursework. Aside from that, not much; I am pleased to have the offer that I do and am looking forward to graduate school!



Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
securityblanket 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Economics, BA from Turkey
Undergrad GPA: 2.80/4.00

Type of Grad I: Economics, Msc
Grad GPA: 3.30
Type of Grad II: Financial Mathematics, Msc
Grad GPA: 3.85 (ranked second out of 30-40 people)
GRE: 780Q, 320V, 4.0AWA

Math Courses: (3.30 average) Calc I-II, Linear Algebra, Honour's Linear Algebra I-II, Ordinary Differential Equations, Introduction to Probability Theory, Real Analysis I-II, Game Theory (grad level course form math. department), Difference Equations, Lebesgue Integration and Measure Theory, Introdution to Functional Analysis, Functional Analysis (PhD level), Probability Theory (Grad level), Stochastic Calculus Applied to Finance (Grad level), Stochastic and Deterministic Optimal Control (PhD Level), Partial Differential Equations and these are all I guess.

Econ Courses: A lot since I am graduated and obtain my Msc fromm department of economics
Other Courses: A lot of statics and econometrics courses (even more than my math course including grad and undergrad courses).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 Econ profs plus one professional -- exceptional. 1 well known.

Research Experience: Working in a research department for 3.5 years and published one SSCI paper (D-Class but anyway) and one conference paper (ECOMOD)
Teaching Experience: TA for into to econometrics
Research Interests: Applied time series econometrics, international finance, monetary macroeconomics, macro-finance models and DSGE models
SOP: why my undergrad gpa is low, I want to be a policymaker etc (3 pages explains my professional activities etc.)


RESULTS:
Acceptances:
UNC Chapel Hill (no funding)
UC Santa Cruz (no funding)
UPF (no funding)
JHU (no funding)
Rejections: so many

Waitlists: UPENN and BU
Will be attending: JHU rocks!!!

What would you have done differently? My undergard GPA is a very big problem and even my math courses were not enough. may be this year was a disaster, who knows? but I have very close friend wişth a simlliar background that has done a lot better in two years ago. Anyway, still I am satisfied with JHU. I wish all TMers a good luck in the future. I hope you will be more lucky than me... Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
freecon 2009:
PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.90/4.0 (gpa in math&econ 3.96) Top ranked out of 150
Type of Grad: No grad degree
GRE: 780Q
Math Courses: Calculus I-II, Linear Algebra, Math for economists, Math Analysis, Graph Theory and Networks, Probability and Statistics I-II
Econ Courses: Many...Macro and micro theories, Game Theory I-II, Growth and Development, International Trade I-II, Public Finance, Monetary, Econometrics I-II, Time Series

Other Courses: Java, Matlab, Management courses...
Letters of Recommendation: I used five different recommenders. One was a famous prof, one was department chair, others were associate profs knowing me well.
Research Experience: non
Teaching Experience: Tutoring in Econ 101&102 for two years, assisting in CS 123 for a semester
Research Interests: Game theory, Macroeconomic theory, macroeconomic policy games
SOP: I have sent a standard SOP to each school by just changing the name of institution. It is neither bad nor well-prepared, although I spent great time on it.

Other:

RESULTS:
Attending: BU ($$$)
Acceptances, declined: UMD ($$$), JHU ($$), Brown, LSE-MSc, UPF-MSc ($$$)
Waitlists: Brown funding list

Rejections: MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Yale, UCLA, UPenn, Northwestern, NYU, UCSD
Pending: UWM

What would you have done differently? Firstly, I didn't study for GRE assuming that the quantitative part was easy. Yes, it was easy. But I should have studied to gain speed. Further, the verbal part was horrible for me as an international student. If I had studied, I may do well. Secondly, I didn't apply to Cornell, Columbia, Michigan, Chigago and Minnesota. I should have made a better combination of schools instead of applying Princeton,MIT,Berkeley,Yale and so on. Thirdly, it is the important one: I should have written more specific SOPs. But, it was impossible for me since I still haven't know exactly my research interests. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
EconJames 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: International students. Good university in my home country but not well known.
Undergrad GPA: Major in Econ, minor in Math, GPA 3.8
Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q 570V 4.0A
Math Courses: Mathematical analysis, Advanced algebra, Numerical analysis, Analytical Geometry, ODE, Real analysis, Complex analysis, Functional analysis, Probability theroy, Mathematical statistic, Dynamic optimization, Stochastic process
Econ Courses: many, all basic courses including intermediate marco,micro,metrics.
Grad Econ Courses: Advanced macro, Game theory, Advanced finance
Letters of Recommendation: Not famous professors, but know me well

Research Experience: Two papers published in domestic journals
Teaching Experience: No
Research Interests: Macro

RESULTS:
Acceptances: UMN, JHU, OSU, UBC, IOWA, IUB, ASU
Waitlists: Princeton UPenn (rejected on April 15)

Rejections: UCLA, UCSD, Michigan, Cornell, WUSTL, Rochester, Duke, CMU

What would you have done differently? Perhaps attend a MA first. Or maybe should prepare a paper with a DSGE model.

Comments: The undergraduate school's reputation matters a lot. If you cannot change this, try to get strong LOR then. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Rejections:
xbar 2009: PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.S. Economics: Management Science (Top 10 US Institution by IDEAS)
Undergrad GPA: Econ: 3.5/4, Highest Distinction; Cumulative: 3.14
GRE: 800Q, 550V, 4.5W
Math Courses (undergrad): Calc II (B-), Calc III (C+), Linear Alg (B-), Mathematical Reasoning (B)
Econ Courses (grad): Econometrics I (B), Micro I (B-)

Econ Courses (undergrad): Everything besides macro (A's and B's)
Other Courses: Bob Marley and History of Jamaican Culture, MMW 5
Letters of Recommendation: MIT, Stanford GSB, UCSD
Research Experience: Senior Thesis (A)
Teaching Experience: TA for one year (Intro. Micro/Macro)

Research Interests: Econometrics, Game Theory
SOP: Concise.

RESULTS:
Attending: Rochester
Acceptances: Rochester ($$)
Rejections: Penn State, JHU, Cal, Brown, BU


What would you have done differently?
Stress out less. Maybe taken one or two more grad courses. Topology, just because it is interesting in itself.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Sonaar 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, minor in History from a Latin American University

Undergrad GPA: 4.3/5.0, ranked 2nd in cohort.
Type of Grad: M.A. Economics, same Uni as undergrad
Grad GPA: 4.4/5.0, ranked 7th in cohort.
GRE: 790Q, 500V, 4.0 AWA. Second time.

Math Courses: Calculus I, II and multivariate (A, B+, A), linear algebra (A), Math for economics (A), Math statistics I and II (both As), Econometrics I and II (both As)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro (A+), Macro (A), Econometrics (A), Growth theory (A), International Economics (A), etc. for M.A.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro I, II and III (A, B+, A); Macro I, II and III (A, B, A+), Fiscal and Monetary theory, Public Economics... lots of them, lots of As.
Letters of Recommendation: one from a pre-tenured economics professor, one from the senior economist of a IFI, other from an economist of another IFI. One from a prof of a Public Policy School.

Research Experience: lots, almost 7 years between an Latin American think tank, now at IFI.
Teaching Experience: tutor of linear algebra and other econ courses, TA and later main instructor.
Research Interests: Applied Microeconomics, Health economics, Development, Labor
SOP: Done, pretty good

Concerns: some weak grades and econ and math courses (I was young and stupid then), and no formal, more advanced math.
Other: M.A. thesis published at local refereed journal, presented at an international conference.


RESULTS:
Attending: Maryland ($)
Acceptances: Maryland ($)

Rejections: Michigan, Duke, Michigan St, UT Austin, Johns Hopkins, U British Columbia, Brown.
Pending: BU
What would you have done differently? A lot. besides the obvious (more math, better grades, apply to more safeties), I should have applied earlier. Too much RAship (7 years!) probably hurt my application. I was extremely lucky to get a funded offer.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
crangeon8214 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, large top 25 American research university
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad: none

Grad GPA: none
GRE: 760Q, 620V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III (A,A,B), Linear Algebra (C), Diff Eq's (C), Probability and Statistics (D,B (retaken... )), Real Analysis (C)
Econ Courses: Introductory Economics (A), Principles of Microeconomics (A), Principles of Macroeconomics (A), Intermediate Micro Theory (B), Intermediate Macro Theory (A), Game Theory (B), Econometrics I,II(B,A)
Other Courses: physics up to quantum mechanics

Letters of Recommendation: 3 full professors (2 very strong, 1 medium..strong?)
Research Experience: Honors economics thesis paper, not published (got one of very few scholarship awards at graduation), physics research fellowship
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro, behavioral, environmental

SOP: Primarily talking about my research experience
Other: Expert with SAS, worked at a notable consulting firm, not sure if that even helps
Concerns: Math grades suck. Econ grades are just ok. GRE nothing to write home about.

RESULTS:
Attending: UC Irvine($$)
Admitted, Declined: UVA, Boulder ($$), Washington, Oregon State ($)

Waitlists: none
Rejections: UMD-AREC, Davis-AREC, Penn State, GMU
Lost in space: JHU, UCSB

What would you have done differently?
As far as the application process goes - I wish I had exhaustively researched faculty interests before applying, I feel as though I might have let some potentially good schools (for me) like Iowa and Arizona slip through. On the whole, I am very pleased - my profile is all over the place, and Irvine matches me very, very well. As for undergrad, well, it is what it is.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
3ohto4oh 2009: Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, large top 25 U.S. Public research university
Undergrad GPA: 3.0 (rounding up LOL)
Type of Grad: M.A. Economics, terminal degree within department

Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 790Q, 570V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II (AP credits), Math Stats (A), Discrete Math (A), Math for econ (undergrad and grad, A, A)
Econ Courses: Tons. Sloppy undergrad grades, All A's in MA.
Other Courses: Random stuff like Japanese

Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors of econ
Research Experience: MA thesis, submitted for publication (fingers crossed!)
Teaching Experience: Tutoring
Research Interests: Macro, applied macro, forecasting.

SOP: Suggested a couple of potential research topics.
Concerns: No serious math courses hurt me in applications, could make things more difficult in my studies.

RESULTS:
Attending: City University of New York, Graduate Center. $18k "Enhanced Chancellor's Fellowship," guaranteed for 5 years.
Admitted, Declined: American U ($-WL), Northeastern U ($$), Suffolk U ($), and the New School (¢)

Waitlists: Boston C, U Washington, U North Carolina, Georgetown U
Rejections: Johns Hopkins U, U Maryland, Boston U, George Washington U, Michigan U

What would you have done differently?
Very happy with this outcome. I spread my applications far and wide, so I am sure that I got into the best program that I could have - and then I fell in love with CUNY on a campus visit. As for advice to others, I have a huge hole in my transcript where there should have been upper-level math courses, and I should have corrected that.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
bigleaguechew 2009: Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ / B.S. Math from a top 100 econphd.net public school
Undergrad GPA: 3.5 Overall, 4.0 Econ, 4.0 Math
GRE: 790Q, 610V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: One year of real analysis (A+'s); two quarters each of theoretical linear algebra (A+'s), numerical analysis (A+'s), math prob stat, nonlinear dynamics and chaos; one quarter each of PDE's, abstract algebra and complex analysis

Econ Courses: applied metrics (A+'s), public finance (A+'s), labor, game theory (A+), and a few others in addition to intermediate micro/macro
Letters of Recommendation: It seems as though I had one very respected letter writer, and other letters were more or less ignored at many schools (just what I gathered from my conversations with grad directors where I was accepted)
Research Experience: Virtually none. Started an undergrad research project that was never finished
Work Experience: 2 years in consulting (business, but not econ)

Research Interests: Applied micro, IO
SOP: Talked about how my experiences and coursework have influenced my research interests. Tailored last paragraph to each school I applied to. I cannot say this with enough emphasis... THE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE DEFINITELY MATTERS AT SCHOOLS OUTSIDE OF THE TOP 10. IF YOU DO NOT COME FROM AN IVY AND YOU DON'T HAVE A SPOTLESS MATH/ECON RECORD WITH SOLID RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, I WOULD ADVISE YOU TO SPEND SOME TIME ON YOUR SOP AND START WORKING ON IT EARLY!
Concerns: I had about a year straight of abysmal grades (yes, we're talking about F's and W's here people) in my sophomore year of college due to some family issues. I think it was important that this occurred when I was an english major, and I made up for it by excelling in all of my econ and math courses. So, if you have screwed up and permanently marred your transcript like I did, HOPE IS NOT LOST! It just means that you have to work extra hard to outperform your classmates from here on out.

RESULTS:
Attending: UCSD ($)

Admitted, Declined: Stanford GSB Marketing ($$$$$$$$), Penn State ($$), WUSTL ($), UNC ($/2), UVA ($), Texas ($$), ASU ($$), Arizona ($$), Pittsburgh ($), Ohio State ($), U of Washinton ($), Maryland (stiffed me)
Waitlists: Minnesota, BU
Rejections: Top 10, NYU, Columbia, UCLA, Michigan, JHU, Wharton (but it doesn't count in my mind cuz I hardly showed up for the interview)
Never heard back from: USC (not that I care anymore, but seriously WTF?)

What would you have done differently?

Nothing really. I had a huge black spot on my record with that one atrocious year, and nobody knew how that would affect me. My letter writers were extremely supportive in helping me apply to as many places as I could afford, and cover a broad spectrum of programs. I thought UCSD was a long shot heading into this process, and I am thrilled to be going there. I can honestly say that I would have been happy at just about any of the programs that I was accepted to, and it was incredibly difficult for me to turn down so many attractive offers. Obviously, this is a problem that I am happy to have, but you'd be surprised how gut wrenching it is to turn down a fellowship offer from a school that you had been day-dreaming about attending just a few weeks earlier. Still, I would advise everyone who isn't a superstar with stellar LOR's to adopt a similar strategy and apply to as many places as you can afford.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
eggman 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top Public University (William & Mary)

Undergrad GPA: 3.87 Overall, 4.0 Econ, 3.9 Math
GRE: 760 Q, 550 V, 4.5 A
Math Courses: MultiVar. Calc (A), Linear Algebra (A), Intro Proofs Class (A), Real Analysis (B+), Ordinary Differential Equation (A), Probability (A), Mathematical Statistics (in progress)
Econ Courses: Econ of Information (A), World Trade Theory (A), Econometrics (A), Time-Series Econometrics (A), Cross Section Econometrics (A) (advanced econometric courses are part of my school’s MPP program, but are cross-listed in Econ)
Letters of Recommendation:

-Assistant Professor I was a TA for
-Professor that is my Honors Thesis Advisor
-Professor I worked for on a theoretical paper, well known in his subfield.
Research Experience:
-RA for one summer doing grunt work data collection
-Empirical Honors Thesis on a topic in pubic economics (decentralization)
-Worked on a Theoretical Paper in social choice theory, attempted to prove a theorem the professor could not solve. Even though I couldn’t finish the paper for him, I was able to make enough progress that he could see that I had some talent, greatly improving my LOR.
Teaching Experience:
TA for an Econ 101 class, graded assignments and held review sessions.

Research Interests: Public, Labor, Applied Micro
SOP: I think it was fine, matched up my interests with some professors, nothing noteworthy to say about it

RESULTS:
Will be Attending: UVA
Acceptances: UVA($$), Indiana ($$)

Waitlists: UNC
Rejections: Princeton, Yale, UPenn, Rochester, Penn State, Maryland, JHU, Duke, Michigan, Minnesota, UCLA

What would you have done differently?
I wish I would have started math earlier and had been a Econ/Math double major instead of just a math minor. I believe I had enough Math to make me competitive, but a little bit more could have been nice. I also wish I had done better on the GRE, but I studied a lot and only got a 760Q, so I don’t think taking it again would have improved my score, thus I don’t regret not retaking the GRE.

Comments: I’m surprised I got so many rejections, but ultimately I am very happy with the final outcome. I really like UVA’s Program and they gave me good funding.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
brettm84 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: U.S. Large Public University, maybe top 150 econ. B.A. Philosophy and History (2007), B.S. Economics (2008)

Undergrad GPA: 3.96/4.00 (4.00 Econ and Math)
Type of Grad: 1 yr. masters at same university as undergrad.
Grad GPA: 3.70/4.00
GRE: 780Q, 630V, 5.0 AW
Math Courses: Undergrad: Calc. 1-3, Linear Algebra, ODE, Intro to statistical methods (I & II), finite math, discrete math.

Graduate: Probability theory (B), Intro to stochastic processes (in progress)
Econ Courses: The usual undergraduate classes.
Graduate Econ Courses: Math for Economics (A-), Micro theory I (A), Macro theory (A), Econometrics (A), Micro theory II (in progress), Econometrics seminar (in progress), Monetary Economics (in progress).
Other Courses: the first 75% of my transcript is largely irrelevant (mostly philosophy and history courses).

Letters of Recommendation: All 3 from econ professors. Only 1 is from someone who is active researching/publishing.
Research Experience: none
Teaching Experience: grader/TA for math department.
Research Interests: macro, development, financial
SOP: straightforward and informative. I am uncomfortable saying anything nice about myself, so it may have been too "humble".

Other: My undergraduate career got off to a rocky start, and includes being suspended for disciplinary reasons. I included an explanation of the "incident" in each application. Six years having elasped probably reduced the negative impact. UNC, however, did make me pay for a criminal background check.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: UNC($), Duke (Tuition only), UVA (no $), Univ. Wash. (no $)
Waitlists: WUSTL

Rejections: UPenn, Yale, JHU
Pending:

Attending: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill


What would you have done differently? I have only been doing economics for a year and a half, and my pre-econ career included no math, so my record is limited. Obviously, if I had decided to pursue a PhD in Econ earlier, I could have done more to improve my application. I should have chosen my reach schools from a little further down the rankings, since it probably took Upenn and Yale all of 2 min to toss my application in the trash. When I submitted the applications I gave myself a 1hance to get into Upenn and Yale, a 10hance for JHU and Duke, and 50 0.000000or the rest, so E[# of acceptances]=2.22. I exceed my expectations so I am very happy, and I'm sure I'll love UNC.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
tmdruie 2009: So I can get on the shiny charts!


PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Physics and Economics from a top 10 liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.14/4.0
Type of Grad: One stats class
Grad GPA: 3.3

GRE: 790Q, 600V, 5.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III(I took them in high school, I really don’t remember and nor do my transcripts), Linear Algebra (B), Mathematical Probability and Statistics (B-, B), Real Analyst(A, at a different school then my undergrad), Stochastic Processes (B+, grad course, at a different school then my undergrad)
Econ Courses: AP Micro and Macro (A, in high school), European Economic History (B+), Law and Economics (B), Intermediate Price Theory (B), Intermediate Macro Theory (B), Econometrics (B), Contemporary British Economy (B), Industrial Revolution-Britain (A-), Econ of Multinational Corps (A-), Thesis (labor econ)
Other Courses: Physics, which I put in my math lists. Quantum Mechanics I, Partial Differential Equations (B+), etc. I only did the bare minimum for a liberal arts major
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ professors (my thesis advisor and the person who led my study abroad), 1 physics professor (thesis advisor), 1 economist who is my supervisor

Research Experience: RA for 2.5 years at ‘a central bank’
Teaching Experience: Tutored, graded and lab assisted for two years for physics in college
Research Interests: All over the place. Labor, policy, experimental, applied micro, development, etc.
SOP: Intro, I did physics I can do math!, I wrote a thesis in economic and liked doing research, I’m working as an RA and like doing research, I took extra math and can write proofs, I was part of an econ paper reading group and like reading papers, interests (changed a bit depending on what the school had, and more policy oriented for ag econ schools). Also a few sentences about things I did that I removed or added depending on the school. The 500 word schools were hard, the 1000 word schools were easy. I also had a Personal History Statement about being a female doing math for the schools that wanted it.
Other: Applied for the NSF. I tried not to say anything to risky, and not say much about interest in policy to non policy/ ag econ schools. I like Aikido.


RESULTS:
Acceptances: Boston University (waitlist for $), Michigan State(no $), University of Essex (ISER), Ohio State (Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics) ($-Fellowship), Indiana University ($-TA), Iowa State University ($-TA)
Waitlists: University of Minnesota
Rejections: MIT, Harvard (Econ and Political Economy and Government), Yale, Berkeley (Agricultural & Resource Economics), Northwestern, NYU, U Penn (Econ and Wharton), University of Wisconsin – Madison (Econ and Agricultural and Applied Economics ), Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Caltech, University of British Columbia , Ohio State, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (Econ and Public Policy and Economics), University of Maryland (Econ and Agricultural Economics), Boston College, Johns Hopkins, University of Minnesota (Applied Economics), University of California – Davis (Econ and Agricultural Economics), Duke, University of Essex, Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Carnegie Mellon (Econ, Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Public Policy and Economics)
Pending: Toronto MA, Queen’s MA


What would you have done differently?
Gotten better grades in undergrad. When I really started understanding what the things I need to do for a PhD I think I did the best I could, took real analysis, applied for the NSF (if only to write a SoP for them), read papers etc. I probably could have gotten more research experience at my job (co-author), and I defiantly could have gotten better grades and taken more math as an undergrad. But over all I’m happy.

Attending:
Boston University
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
DreamFactory 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BBA (minor Econ), International applicant, not top but one of the best schools in my country.
Undergrad GPA: 3.83/4.00 after rescale, summa cum laude (within 2% of the graduates, but the transcripts doesn't offer the rank anymore)

Type of Grad: Same school, MA econ - major:Economic theory (expected aug. 2009)
Grad GPA: 4.0/4.0 after rescale
GRE: 800Q, 670V, 4.0AWA
Math/Stat Courses:
Calculus I (B+),II (A), Intro to Probability (A+), Differential Equations I (B+), Linear Algebra I (Aced all exams, A+), II (A+), Analysis I (A+), II(A+), Topology I (A+), Stochastic Processes (A+), grad Real Analysis I (A)
Econ Courses: undergraduate - Principles I (A+),II (A), Biz Econ (A), Monetary (A), Financial (B+), Micro (A+), Macro (A), Metrics (B+)/ graduate - Micro I (A+) II (A), Macro I (A), II (A+), Metrics I (A+), Financial Economics (A), Micro Seminar (A+), Public Sector Economics II (A+)

Other Courses: Bunch in biz. especially in finance (mostly A's or A+'s in finance)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ (both micro), 2 biz (both finance), 1 math (analysis 1,2, topology 1), all very strong but not so famous
Research Experience: RA for 2 semesters (participated in a project), 1 working paper, conference participation etc.
Teaching Experience: grad Micro I (MWG) - 2 semesters
Research Interests: Behavioral Finance/Economics/Experimental, Market Microstructure, various topics in Micro Theory......actually almost everything in Finance and Economics since most of them are interesting (I'll choose them after I get to know more)

SOP: no idea how it look like to the adcoms.
Other: External fellowship.(5 years of tuition+health+18k)

RESULTS:
Acceptances/Attending: U of Chicago (Econ, very late admission!)
Waitlists: none

Rejections: 4 econ (actually I was rejected from Chicago econ in March) - Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia
17 finance - Booth, Kellogg, Wharton, Stanford GSB, Sloan, Stern, Haas, Fuqua, Tepper, Simon, Anderson, UIUC, OSU, UMinn-TC, Eli Broad, Wisc-Madison, Johnson
Pending: LSE MSc Finance and Economics (Applied after all those dings)

What would you have done differently?
I would've concentrated more on my SOPs. Should've had different major in my undergrad (changing major is not allowed in my alma mater, and Biz major had toooooooo many required courses back then). Also, I should have gone for exchange student in the U.S. when young...get some LORs from famous faculties there...BUT I DON'T CARE ex-post, I got into one of my favorite school!
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
GymShorts 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S.B.A. in International Economics and Finance, Math minor, from a 1st tier nation university (U.S. News and World Report) without an econ PhD program. (Had one but it was shut down a few years ago)
Undergrad GPA: 3.7 overall, 3.9 in econ, 4.0 in math
GRE: Will know in August
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Topics in Math Sol Sci, Fundamentals of Adv Math, Analysis I (fall), Probability and Stat (fall)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate micro and macro, econ stat I, econ stat II: intro metrics, econometric models, international econ
Other Courses: A lot of business classes, corporate finance, investment analysis, international corporate finance, computer programming (fall)
Letters of Recommendation: All well published, all should write great things.
Research Experience: Working on a paper now that I hope to publish
Teaching Experience: TA for econ stat I & II for a year, will continue next fall and spring probably. A year of tutoring calculus I & II and intro macro and micro.
Research Interests: Political economics, game theory, micro
SOP: In process of writing
Concerns: Haven't taken GRE yet
Applying to: I haven't finalized the list; depends on whether I ace the GRE. Any suggestions?
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
dodora 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Physics (HK)
Undergrad GPA: 3.95/4
Type of Grad: Physics (TOP 20 US)
Grad GPA: 3.97/4
GRE: 800Q, 640V, 4W
Math Courses (undergrad): math required for physics major undergrad
Math (grad): advanced mathematics for physics (A+)
Econ Courses (grad): Macro I (A+), Econometrics (A+), Computational Macro (didn't take for grade)
Econ Courses (undergrad): None
Other Courses: a lot physics courses and a few biology courses...they're irrelevant, i guess
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors and one physics professor and one math professor
Research Experience: RA for a condense matter physics lab; doing research in biophysics/computational bio labs...again, irrelevant
Teaching Experience: TA for two years
Research Interests: Macroeconometrics
Concerns: obvisously, tooooo few econ courses. And I should apply to more places...
Applied to: Stanford, UPenn, Cornell, UCSD, UMD, JHU, Georgetown, UBC, UToronto
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
thursday 2009: Here we go. At least, one more data point for this. :p
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in business administration. Top uni in the country, though not (well) known internationally.
Undergrad GPA: 5/5. (Highest distinction, unofficially. I wish it were in econ/math at a better undergrad university.)
Type of Grad: M.A. in economics (two-year program) at a solid economics school with a reputation of placing good students in good American/European PhD programs.
Grad GPA: 3.44/4. (After the 1st year.)
GRE: 790Q, 520V, 3.5AW. (Me knows writing good.)
TOEFL: first time: 106 (20S); second time (because of 20S): 107 (23S). (Basically, I wasted $. And, yeah, me does speaking good too.)
Math and Econ Courses, all in all: one-year sequence of grad micro, macro, metrics, and math for economics. Almost no (at least, not that relevant) econ/math as an undergrad. Plus on-going electives in misc economics (e.g. IO, and the like).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors: 1 quite well known prof. (Cornell PhD), 1 well published associate prof. (UPF PhD), 1 assistant prof./my thesis adviser (UMD PhD). Not sure about the strength of the letters.
Research Experience: on-going thesis, nothing else.
Teaching Experience: nil.
Research Interests: macro, growth, political economy of development.
SOP: nothing special, I think.
Concerns: I wish I had done some econ/math instead of business staff as an undergrad. Plus, too low grades (PhD-application-wise) in relevant grad courses.
Other: ~
Applying to: UMD, JHU, Penn State (reaches for me, I think), BC, IUB (targets?), UH (a real target, I guess?).
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Waitlists: