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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:
jeeves0923 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, B.A. Economics (Both Honors), Virginia Tech

Undergrad GPA: 3.90
Type of Grad: M.S. Math, Virginia Tech
Grad GPA: 3.90
GRE: 800Q, 610V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses(undergrad): through Real Analysis I & II.

Math Courses(PhD): Abstract Algebra, Stochastic Processes, Measure Theory, Matrix Theory
Econ Courses: Lots of electives + PhD Micro, Metrics, Labor.
Other Courses: Half an engineering degree, history minor.
Letters of Recommendation: 3 Econ Profs (didn't end up using the math prof). All extremely good (at least that's what a couple adcoms told me)
Research Experience: A couple of papers, 4 semesters of econ research, one math theory paper, a bunch of presentations

Teaching Experience:Quite a lot- Calculus, Vector Geometry, Writing Coach, Micro Econ Theory, and some tutoring
Research Interests: Micro Theory, Political Economy, IO... maybe some other applied micro
SOP: I think it was too long, and I would have done a bit differently (see the link below)
Other: I fly airplanes and cook, but not at the same time

RESULTS:

Attending: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Accepted: NSF, MIT($$), Kellogg (MEcS) ($$), UChicago ($$), Minnesota($$), Duke ($$), Michigan(no $), Berkeley Law School
Wait List: Princeton, not eventually admitted
Rejections: Stanford GSB, Yale, NYU, Columbia, Penn, Harvard, Berkeley



What would you have done differently? http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-econo...te-school.html I did better than I expected :)

Nothing too drastic. I'm so happy! Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Cricketer 2009:
PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics - Top British Uni
Undergrad GPA: First Class
Type of Grad: MA Economics - Top Brit. Uni
Grad GPA: (Exp. Distinction)
GRE: 780Q, 600V, 5.5AWA

Econ Courses: Lots of courses + Grad Micro, Macro, Metrics, Networks.
Letters of Recommendation: 3 economic professors. All know me pretty well
Research Experience: Not much - only undergrad dissertation
Teaching Experience:None
Research Interests: Micro Theory, Development

SOP: Wrote what I am interested in and who I would like to work with. Why that uni
Other: Cricket.
RESULTS:
Attending: MIT
Accepted: MIT($$) - after waitlist, LSE ($$$), Cambridge ($$$)
Rejections: Stanford, Chicago, Harvard

Comments: Was apparently very close at Stanford.

What would you have done differently? Nothing much, except apply to a few more places perhaps. Twas a tad risky only applying to four US places I guess Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
miaataro 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad/Grad: BSc in Economics (minors in Mathematics, Statistics and Business Studies) and MSc in Economics (+ a still unfinished MSc in Statistics) from an unknown university in Finland.
Undergrad/Grad GPA: Overall 4.90, Econ 4.94, Math 4.83, Stat 4.94 (on a scale of 1-5)
GRE: 800Q, 390V, 4AWA

TOEFL: 111 (29R, 30L, 23S, 29W)
Math Courses: Unfortunately, they don't have illustrative names. I tooks a course sequence for a minor in math that dealt with the basic areas (linear algebra, differential calculus, integral calculus, real analysis, etc.) in more of an applied fashion.
Stat Courses: A lot. Mathematical Statistics 1 & 2 and Probability Calculus A & B + courses in time series analysis, survival models, mixed models, regression models, multivariate statistics, stochastic simulation, computational statistics, bayesian statistics, robust and nonparametric methods etc.
Econ Courses: A lot. Intermediate and advanced level courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, mathematical economics and econometrics + courses in labour economics, regional economics, microeconometrics, applied econometrics, game theory etc. I also took the econometrics core course in the Finnish Doctoral Program in Economics during the ongoing academic year.

Letters of Recommendation: 2 economics professors and a statistics professor from my university and a research director from an economics research institute. I guess they all know me quite well and believe in me, so their letters should have been good in that sense. None of them were well-known, however (but apparently they had some important connections after all).
Research Experience: BSc and MSc theses in economics, RA for one of my economics professors for 7 months, two last summers as a research trainee in an economics research institute, two last falls as an assistant researcher in an economics research institute, a researcher in an economics research institute from January onwards.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Econometrics and empirical/applied microeconomics

SOP: Nothing spectacular. Tried to emphasize my research experience and convince the reader that my educational background in economics, mathematic and statistics is strong enough, I guess.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: MIT, Tinbergen, LSE MSc EME (Research), Tilburg MPhil (2nd year), Uppsala (it was never official, though, as I withdraw my application)
Waitlists: -
Rejections: Princeton, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, U Michigan, UCL MSc


What would you have done differently? Absolutely nothing. I'm still amazed by my outcomes and really happy that I listened to my recommenders advice to try my luck with some of the top US schools. It definitely paid off... :grad: Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
softsquirrel 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: France's top Grandes Ecoles(2 years in a top "Classe Prépa" if anyone knows it)
Undergrad GPA: 4.35/4.4, 1st out of 500 (Our school thinks its students merit a 10% bonus on GPA and that's why they add that, which made me some trouble as I always have to explain that)
Type of Grad: Same school(The system is weird in France, basically it's 2+3 years after high school and they deliver a somewhat Master-equivalent degree at the end)
Grad GPA: FALL
GRE: 800Q, 720V, 4.5AWA
TOEFL IBT: 115(27Speaking and 28Writing)
Math Courses: basically everything, almost like a math majoring student
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): baby micro+macro+corporate finance
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro, Macro, Econometrics, Development , Growth, Game Theory, Financial Economics etc.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from a well-known French prof teaching economics in US top universities, 1 Oxford Phd (eco), 1 School prof(eco), another 1 schoolprof(math)
Research Experience: only one team-based research on auction theory
Teaching Experience: 2 years TA on maths for 2nd-year math students (the so-called "colle" in our argot)
Research Interests: macro+international
SOP: quitewell-written, I think
Applying to: Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Stanford, NYU, UPenn, Columbia
Commnet: little research experience, but it's the problem for all candidates from French Grandes Ecoles Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Rejections:
ImProcrastinating 2009: Profile:
Type of Undergrad: Top 25 with a top 40ish econ program. BA in econ.
Undergrad GPA: Overall: 3.74, Econ: 3.8ish, Math: bad.
Type of Grad: Not highly ranked, top 100ish. MS in applied math.

Grad GPA (at application time...): 3.9
GRE: 790Q / 740V / 5.0 AWA.

Math Courses:
Undergrad: Calc III (B+), ODE (C- (Ouch...)), Real Analysis (A-), Linear Algebra (A).
Grad: Analysis (A-) (taken at the summer school of a top 10), Measure Theory (A-), Math Stats (A), ODE (A), Functional Analysis (A), General Topology (In progress at application time...)

Econ Courses:


Undergrad: Intro. Micro (A), Intro. Macro (A), Money and Banking (A), Economy of China (A-), Intro to Econ Stats (B+), Mathematical Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (B+), Econometrics (A), International Trade (A), Distinguished Majors Seminar (A), Independent Study (A)
Grad: PhD Micro I (A-), PhD Micro II (A), PhD Micro III (IP)

Letters of Recommendation:
1 from an undergraduate econ professor, not well known.
1 from a graduate math prof, very well known among mathematicians but I don't know if that counts...
1 from a graduate econ prof, very well known.

Research Experience: Summer at the Fed, senior thesis, 1 year + 1 summer as an RA for a professor, RAing at the IMF while applying.

Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro Theory, I/O, International Finance

Results:
Acceptances: NYU ($$$)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: A lot, Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, and UPenn.

Pending: None.

What would you have done differently? If I could do it ALL over again, I'd probably go to an undergrad that was stronger in econ, take more math courses earlier on, and work as hard my first couple years in college as I did my last couple. But I was expecting to get rejected everywhere I applied this time around, so I'm ecstatic to be going to a dream school like NYU.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
MorgieLilly 2009: PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A in Econ-Phil and Math. Ivy League, top 10ish in economics Uni.
Undergrad GPA: 3.85, summa cum laude.
GRE: 780Q, 510V, 3.0W
Math Courses (undergrad):
Cal I, Calc III, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Analysis and Optimization, Probability and Induction (P/F), Probability and Statistics, Advanced Logic, Independent Reading Course, (all As)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro-econometrics (A-)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro/Macro(A-,B+), Advanced Econometrics (B+), Advanced Macro (A), Economic History (A-), International (C, took abroad in Ghana.)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ, both well known. 1 math, well known in math. 1 philosophy, well known in the philosophy of science.
Research Experience: REU Intern in geophysics at Lamont Earth Observatory, summer 2007 (My paper was accepted to the 2008 ASLO Conference). Full-time economics RA this year.
Research Interests: Development, Economic History, Alternative Theories in Economics, Econometrics.
SOP: Talked about why I chose interdisciplinary study, my work abroad in Ghana and my experience this year as a research assistant. I stated that I expected to change my mind about my specialization anyway, so I didn't want to state a particular one.

Applied to: LSE, MIT, NYU, Harvard, UCSD, UC Berkeley, Chicago, Stanford, Columbia, UMich, Princeton, Yale
RESULTS:
Rejected: Everywhere (LSE, MIT, NYU, Harvard, UCSD, UC Berkeley, Chicago, Stanford, Columbia, UMich, Princeton, Yale)
Waitlisted/Accepted: Nada
What would you have done differently? I dunno. Feedback from my home institutions admissions committee (where I was also rejected) says that I should have taken more econ (at the expense of my philosophy and science courses) but I would not give that knowledge and my resulting world outlook up for an admit to this discipline, because I feel that this will inform my research abilities more so than having taken much more economics. I have to do a lot of thinking now about whether I belong in this discipline, seeing as the adcoms don't seem to think so. Today is sad.

Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
ilikefreefood 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Econ major from a top 5-10 liberal arts college.
Undergrad GPA: 3.73/4, magna cum laude with distinction in major for senior thesis research.
Type of Grad: none

Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800Q 640V 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc II-III (A,B+), Linear Algebra (Pass), Statistics (A), Mathematical Structures (A-), Real Analysis (B, taken as a non-degree student at a local school this Fall)
Econ Courses: Principles Micro/Macro (A-,A), Intermediate Micro (A) Intermediate Macro (B), Econometrics (B+), pre-thesis seminar (A-), Ag. & Food Econ. (A), Development Econ. (B+), Econ. of Inequality (A), Econ. of Water Policy (B+), British Econ. history (B+)

Other Courses: A pass/fail seminar on game theory, a Poli. Sci. course on agent-based computer modeling (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 ECON professors (LAC profs but with Chicago/Stanford Ph.Ds), including my thesis adviser who has previously stated that my thesis was one of the best he's ever advised. Where possible, 1 VP at my Econ. consulting firm with whom I've worked extensively on econometric analyses.
Research Experience: ~3 years as an RA in a major Econ. consulting firm; I specialize in statistical and econometric analysis within my office.
Awards: Thesis award from state Economics association, thesis presentation award from state science association, college fellowship for (non-research) work in development related to microfinance.
Research Interests: Development, environmental/resource economics, urban economics, general applied micro.

SOP: Well-written but fairly standard; mentioned specifically my interest in development and applied micro fields.
Other Concerns: Didn't anticipate the B in analysis and received it after I had submitted applications; I don't think I have enough additional math coursework to make up for exercising a pass/fail option in linear algebra way back when.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Minnesota ARE ($$)
Waitlists: none

Rejections: Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, MIT, NWU, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Yale
Pending: Chicago, Cornell
What would you have done differently? Applied to Berkeley ARE and not Berkeley ECON when they made me pick just one; applied to more schools in the 20-30 range and not limited myself by the fact that I applied to 15 programs; discounted the advice of my former professors w.r.t. how far my school's reputation would get me; learned of and read the TestMagic forum earlier in the process.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
LagrangeJames 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. econ, B.A. math, large state university, EconPhD top 60
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0
GRE: 800Q, 650V, 4.5AWA

Math Courses: Calc III (A+), Linear algebra (A+), Differential equations I, II (A-, A), Introductory probability theory (A, fall), Math modeling (A, fall)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Optimization theory (A-, fall), Econometrics II (spring)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All of them, including two econometrics courses and game theory; A- in intermediate microeconomics, A's otherwise
Other Courses: Spanish minor
Letters of Recommendation: Four economics professors -- nobody famous, but I had collaborated on research projects (that I had initiated) with three of them

Research Experience: Two working papers co-authored with faculty
Teaching Experience: Teaching assistant for introductory microeconomics, spring
Research Interests: Growth and development, specifically microeconomic development
SOP: Used a standard template for all statements but tailored last couple paragraphs to specific program, mentioning examples of faculty research I was interested in (but did not mention any faculty by name)

Concerns: No real analysis, but optimization theory provided a good crash course
Applying to: Maryland, Brown, MIT, Harvard, Yale, UCSD, Berkeley, Minnesota, Michigan, NYU, Boston, Columbia, LSE (M.Sc.)

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Yale (with funding), Michigan (no first-year funding), Boston (with funding), UCSD (with funding)
Waitlists: Minnesota

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Columbia, Maryland, Brown, NYU
Withdrawn: LSE
What would you have done differently?
If I had discovered this forum sooner, I probably would have taken more proof-based math courses, which most likely would have boosted my chances at top top schools. However, I think research experience, letters of recommendation from faculty involved in that research and a good "fit" (in terms of my research interests) -- factors that are often overlooked, including by myself -- helped my chances at several schools. Good luck, everyone.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Internationalstudent08 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top-5
Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: Q800, V670, A4.5
Math Courses: Real Analysis, Optimization (As)
Econ Courses: Typical undergrad courses, intro+field courses
Letters of Recommendation: 3 good ones
Research Experience: 1 year RA (+2 summers as an undergrad)

Teaching Experience: Some tutoring
Research Interests: Mostly applied micro
SOP: Must have been good
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances: UChicago (waiting to hear about funding), UMaryland (18k), Penn State (25k)

Waitlists: Wharton AE
Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Columbia, NYU, Brown

Total Score: 10-1-3
Pending: None

What would you have done differently?


I really didn't take advantage of my undergrad school as I should have. I should have started RAing earlier, and I should have taken graduate-level courses as an undergrad, instead of being a chicken. Also, I made some bad thesis-related choices hehe

However, since last year's admission cycle, I did everything that I could to improve my profile, and ended up working with some great people. I learned a lot- perhaps more than what I'm going to learn in grad school.

The only significant econ-phd-related mistake I made was to apply to all top-10 schools and almost none of the schools between 10 and 20 (except for UMaryland). I rejected most of the schools in that range based on location preferences. Since my profile was not clear-cut top10, I should have been more careful.

Anyway, I'm glad I made it!!!!!
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Swingkid 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: University of California, BA Econ & Applied Math, French Minor
Undergrad GPA: 3.85

Type of Grad: micro
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 800/700/6.0
Math Courses: Multi-var Calc, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Numerical Analysis, Probability
Econ Courses: Grad Micro, Intermediate Micro and Macro, Metrics, Applied Metrics, Corporate Finance, Game Theory, Contract Theory, Development
Other Courses: a lot of French
Letters of Recommendation: 3 letters, one of which was from a fecund researcher that I've worked with for two years. The other two are from my grad micro professor and my undergrad development professor; the former barely knows me, the latter I've spoken to about my research ideas.
Research Experience: Two years undergrad RA. Thesis (?)
Teaching Experience: Does dance count? =P

Research Interests: Development, Applied Micro
SOP: I don't think it was that special. In any case, it probably didn't carry much weight.
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCLA, Yale, Berkeley, Brown
Waitlists: U Penn
Rejections: MIT, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, NYU

What would you have done differently?

I would have definitely submitted a better-prepared application for the NSF, since funding is kind of an issue for me. I found out about the fellowship a week before the deadline and decided to apply anyway. That said, I wouldn't have done much else differently, since I'm really ecstatic about my acceptances! :-)

Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
scrobles 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Econ and Math, MIT
Undergrad GPA: 4.7/5.0 (equivalent to 3.7)

Type of Grad: none
GRE: 800Q/740V/5.5W
Math Courses: Calc 1&2, Linear Algebra, Probability, Statistics, Real Analysis, Intro to Discrete Math, Modern Algebra, Intro to Stochastic Modeling (Grad course). About half As and half Bs, with more As in the later years.
Econ Courses: Intro and Intermediate Micro and Macro, Econometrics, Education, Development, Behavioral, Public Policy, Environmental, Econ research class. Mostly As.

Other Courses: Chinese
Letters of Recommendation: 3 profs with PhDs from MIT. The first was my development teacher and I RA'd for her a couple of semesters. I worked for the second two doing field research for 2 years after graduating.
Research Experience: Working at a econ research NGO for 2 years after college. RA for a bit in college.
Teaching Experience: Tutoring probability course in university, and general tutoring stuff.
Research Interests: Development, Behavioral, applied micro

SOP: My experiences and my interests. Why I like econ.
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCSD, UCLA, UC Davis ARE, Northwestern, Chicago, Duke, USC, Berkeley, Harvard, Stanford
Waitlists: nope

Rejections: MIT, Columbia, Brown


What would you have done differently?
My results were great, I think mostly because of my LORs so I think my after-college job really saved me. If I had to do it again, I would get As in key courses (mostly math) and do an economics thesis, but this is just theoretical since it wasn't necessary.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
wind up bird 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large Public University, Top 50 Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.82
Type of Grad: Masters in Statistics at same school

Grad GPA: 3.75
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc Sequence, Linear Algebra, Intro to Abstract Math (Baby proofs), Cryptology (Baby Number Theory), Real Analysis I & II, Algebra I, Lots of probability and stats.
Econ Courses: Intro, Intermediate sequences, Econometrics, Public econ, Game Theory, Asymmetric Info, Economic Anthropology, Economic History (graduate), Empirical Methods (graduate), Math camp

Other Courses: Sociology of Sexuality
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Berkeley, 1 UCSD, 1 Stanford. All apparently pretty strong.
Research Experience: 2+ Years of RAing, summer research internship at Fed, crappy honors thesis and undergrad presentations
Teaching Experience: Tutoring for intermdiate micror, TA-ing for stats (only made it to my Cornell application)

Research Interests: Micro theory, decision theory, game theory, mech. design, experimental, economic history, social choice, public economics, etc etc. Short answer is "not macro"
SOP: It was kind of bad, I'm not going to lie. Mostly I tried to demonstrate how I have been gearing myself up for research. Then the last paragraph was tailored for each school; I dropped names at all of them.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Caltech($$$), Northwestern(WL$), UCSD(No$), BU($$$), University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign($$), UNC-Chapel Hill (?$), Boston College($$), UW-Seatte(WL$)
Waitlists: None! Awesome.

Rejections: Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Chicago, UCLA, Cornell
What would you have done differently? Besides working harder in school? Probably nothing. I have an acceptance with funding at my dream school and have some other ego-boosting admits as well.

Comments: Italos is right, LOR is everything ;)

Might as well document some of my weird admissions cycle happenings as well:


- Boston College sends me an email saying I am not being offered admission because I will get into "superior" schools.
- UW-Seattle pulls the same thing
- Northwestern rejects me, then admits me a week and a half later. Looks like my one top 10 admit really did involve a clerical error.

Attending: Caltech!
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
FierceEconDR 2009: Type of Undergrad: B.A. Math & Econ from the Poor's people Harvard aka CUNY

Undergrad GPA: 3.92/4, Summa Cum Laude
Type of Grad: M.S. Economics courses
Grad GPA: ?
GRE: 790Q, 540V, 5 AWA
Math Courses: All required courses for math degree, Calc I-III + Real Analysis I (B), Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra 1 and 2, Probability Theory(B+), Statistics (Theory) (A+) All others A's

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro and Macro Theory, Labor, International Finance(Macro), Development theory- All A's Advanced econ stats (A+)
Grad courses: Took the Macro, Micro, Econometrics, and some other stuff at a masters in europe. Not in my applications.
Letters of Recommendation: 4 econ professors=1 Berkeley ('semi-known') + 1 Harvard + 1 Kansas/NBER +1 Queen's ('Known'), I am confident they were solid and very enthusiastic.
Research Experience: AEA Summer Training Program, some development research in Paris IX

Teaching Experience: Macro & Micro, Math Tutor
Research Interests: Labor, Development, Applied Micro-econometrics
SOP: I think it was ok, I did it alla S. Athey: Why I want it (duh research!) what research have I done, what papers did i like, some questions I would like to answer, why U X is good. Name dropped in all of them (2 names).

RESULTS:


Acceptances: Maryland ($),Texas ($)
Withdrawn: UC Davis
Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Yale, Chicago, UPenn, Berkeley, Michigan, NYU, Cornell, Northwestern, UCSD, Brown, Penn State

ATTENDING: Maryland :grad:


What could I have done differently?
In terms of the application process: not apply to PSU and apply to Columbia for my NY Bias (not that I would've gotten into!). I have to second: stayed away from TM/Gradcafe during admissions season! ;)

I am extremely happy with UMD so in the end it payed off.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
piffle_dragon 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: U of Minnesota: weak undergrad, top 20-15 grad econ
Undergrad GPA: Overall: 3.83, Econ: 4.0, Math: 3.93(I think...)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 790Q 670V 6 AWA

Math Courses: Calc I-IV, Linear Algebra, Advanced Calculus, Theory of Stats I and II, Math econ, Series and Sequences, Honors Real Analysis (in progress), Linear Programming and Optimization (in progress) All As except Calc 1.
Econ Courses:All the standard ones (all As) in addition to Phd-level macro (B+, A).
Letters of Recommendation: Three. One very strong from a very well-known prof. A second strong one from a known prof. A third very strong from an unknown prof.
Research Experience: Grant for research project advised by big name prof. RA on another professor's work. Senior Thesis.
Teaching Experience: Statistics TA, tutor in math, econ and writing.

Research Interests: At the time, Macro and growth.
SOP: I tried to be genuine, discuss research interests and preparation. Tailored last paragraphs to the school.
Other: Minor in political science. Classes in philosophy, karate, tango, and film. Used to be a music major.
RESULTS:
Attending: UC Berkeley ($$)
Admitted, Declined: Stanford, Minnesota, UCLA, WUSTL, Penn, Penn St., Michigan. All with full funding.
Rejected: Yale, NYU, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Columbia

What I would have done differently: Adjusted my SOP to each school better. I think I did well at schools building their DSGE macro and not well at schools that weren't. But that could just be my perception. I would have also tried to get analysis in and done before the application year. Otherwise, I was extremely happy and lucky with my results and would have only gone to MIT or Harvard over Berkeley. So I'm thrilled! :tup:
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Palimpsest 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Public, Top 40 Econ PhD program
Undergrad GPA: 4.0, Economics (Honors) and Political Science

GRE: 800Q, 740V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II (AP test), Multivar. Calc (A), Math Stats I-II (A, A+), Linear Alg. (A+), ODE (A+), Undergrad Real Analysis (A+), PhD Real Analysis (Withdrawal).
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro I w/MWG (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Standard intermediate and field courses (A/A+'s), Intro Econometrics (A+)

Letters of Recommendation: Were very strong I think. One from PhD micro prof./informal thesis adviser (Stanford GSB PhD), one from current boss (Harvard KSG PhD), one from well-known metrics prof. (Fellow, Econometric Society & ASA).
Research Experience: RA for econ prof (lit rev.), Honors Thesis (Simple game theory application), RA at economic think tank (co-authored journal submission)
Teaching Experience: Limited tutoring.

Research Interests: Public, Energy/Environment, Development, Applied Metrics.
SOP: Focus on learning more and more rigorous methods to work on the types of problems I've encountered in my job.
RESULTS:
Attending: Michigan (tuition waiver + health)
Admitted, Declined: UMN($), UMD($), Duke($), UCSD(TA$)

Rejected: Harvard, MIT, Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, NWU, Columbia, NSF
What I would have done differently: I think I did all I could beyond going to a slightly stronger undergrad school 6 years ago -- sticking with grad analysis would have destroyed me as a person that last semester of school. No regrets at all, I went in thinking Michigan was the most likely outcome, and there you have it. Tough to turn down solid money from very good programs, but UMich felt like the best fit overall by far. For all the talk about randomness, my results were unbelievably coherent.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
funkychinamen 2009: PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Econ program, transfer from top 40 Econ program, Econ major
Undergrad GPA: 3.892 /4.000
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 780Q 480V 4.5AWA

Math Courses: Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Vector Calc, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Probability Theory, Linear Algebra - proof-based, Intro to Proofs, Real Analysis, Math Stats (Spring)
Econ Courses: Intermed Micro, Intermed Macro, Topics in Macro, Analysis of Econ Data, I.O., International Micro, International Macro, Labor, Intro to Mathematical Econ, Game Theory, Econometrics, Grad Micro I, Applied Econometrics (Spring)
Letters of Recommendation: One from an associate professor in the Ag Econ department who I researched with, one from an assistant professor at Business School who I researched with, one from professor who taught grad course
Research Experience: One year with an associate professor in the Ag Econ department, One semester with assistant professor in Business school, senior thesis in progress

Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: I.O., Micro Theory, Labor
SOP: Looked back at it the other day. I HOPE they didn’t read it.:(
RESULTS:

Acceptances:
USC Marshall ($), Duke ($), Northwestern ($), UCSD (No $), Texas (No $), Boston U (No $)
Waitlists:
UPenn (rejected), Caltech (rejected)
Rejections:
Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Minnesota, Maryland, UCLA Anderson, Harvard, Michigan, NYU, Cornell, Brown
What would you have done differently?

I would have studied harder for the GRE, finished a major in applied math, and applied to UCLA econ.

(Not-so) Fun Facts:
-Not accepted to any Ivy League school (UPenn waitlist)
-Not accepted to any school that used the Embark system (Caltech waitlist)

Attending: Northwestern!
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Nebuchadrezzar 2009: PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: european, gpa scale
Undergrad GPA: 3.8/4.0
Type of Grad: european masters
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800 q, 440 verbal, 4.0 awa

Math Courses: calculus 1, 2, 3, diff eq, real analysis 1 2, topology, lin alg
Econ Courses: int mic, int mac, labor, game theory, io, phd micro 1 2, phd macro 1,2 , phd metrics 1, 2, optimization
Other Courses: -
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from home inst, at least 2 of them should be good
Research Experience: term paper, honors thesis

Teaching Experience: ta in several courses
Research Interests: micro-macro theory, game theory
SOP: standard sop summarizing my profle
Other: -

RESULTS:

Acceptances: rochester($), wisconsin(no $), michigan($)
Waitlists: wustl
Rejections: harvard, mit, chicago, nw, upenn, nyu, columbia, stanford, berkeley, caltech, cornell, yale, princeton...!!
Pending: -

going to: university of michigan

What would you have done differently?
i could study more in masters and send my transcript and get a letter of recommendation from there maybe. i don't know if that would help with the top 10. but i am happy to go to michigan!
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:
rvalchev 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small private school. First tier according to US News but dead last in that tier :p
Undergrad GPA: 4.0 - I have another 2 weeks till graduation but hopefully it'll stay this way
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a

GRE: 800Q, 530V, 5.0 AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Optimization, Real Analysis, Topology, Probability Theory, Computational Statistics, Differential Equations
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro and Macro, Econometrics and Forecasting, Game Theory, Money and Banking, Public Economics
Other Courses: Assortment of Business core classes.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Letters from Econ Profs and 1 from a math prof. I think letters will be good to great, math professor has taught me for 2 years and I've conducted research for an year together with one of my econ profs.

Research Experience: Honors Thesis, RA for two summers but I wasted those summers so nothing really came out of it.
Research Interests: Metrics, applied metrics ... i am open to anything
SOP: It was weak, unfocused and not customized for schools

RESULTS:
Attending: Duke ($$$)

Acceptances, declined: Wisconsin ($$$), Cornell ($$$), Ohio State( $$$), UNC -Chapel Hill ($$$), Michigan State ($$$), Pitt ($$$), Tinbergen Institute ($$$), LSE EME (Research), Oxford MPhil, Michigan (no $), Texas(no $), USC ($$$),
Waitlists: Duke funding waitlist, BU funding waitlist, Princeton Waitlist, Texas Waitlist, Michigan waitlist
Rejections: MIT, Princeton (rejected from waitlist), Berkeley, Yale, Harvard, UPenn, Chicago, UCSD, Penn State, Boston College, Cambridge
What would you have done differently? First, read jeeve's thread about suggestions for people from less known undergrads (it was impossible since it was not written until a couple of days ago, but that's what future people should do). Second, apply to NYU, Columbia and Northwestern (but most probably I would have only taken Northwestern over Duke. But still, my portfolio of schools was a little unbalanced). Third, write a much, much better SOPs that would be much better tailored to different schools. You'll be surprised how much SOPs matter (heard it directly from admissions directors at TOP10 and TOP20 schools).Fourth, don't get RA positions that are in the network of your schools and professors because you are already part of this network, so it doesn't add much to your profile. Go out and work for somebody different.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Mankins 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Very large US public university
Undergrad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 4.5AWA

Math Courses: Calc I-III, Mathematical Structures, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Probability, Advanced Calculus I, and Intermediate Real Analysis I (all A or A+). Topology and Mathematical Statistics (Spring 2009).
Econ Courses: The usual, plus Econometrics , Advanced Honors Micro (uncertainty), Advanced Honors Macro (taught by Nobel Laureate). All A or A+, except Econometrics where I got an A-. Game Theory (Spring 2009).
Letters of Recommendation: One from a Nobel Laureate (not sure how solid it was). One from a well-known economist in micro theory and information (probably knows me better than any of my other professors). One from my Advanced Calc professor.
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Experience: Some preliminary work on an undergraduate thesis (never finished), Econometrics paper co-authored with two other students

Research Interests: micro theory, advertising, economics of information, behavioral/neuro/experimental, IO, development
SOP: Standard
Concerns: Very little research experience, no graduate courses
Applying to: Yale, Duke, Stanford, MIT, Northwestern, Chicago, Illinois Urbana, Berkeley, Texas, Minnesota, Arizona State, Carnegie Mellon, and Duke Decision Sciences


RESULTS:
Attending: Minnesota ($$)
Acceptances, declined: Carnegie Mellon ($$$), U Texas at Austin ($), U Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ($$), Arizona State ($$)
Rejections: MIT, Berkeley, Yale, Stanford, U Penn, U Chicago, Northwestern (on the waiting list, briefly), Duke Economics, Duke Decision Sciences
What would you have done differently? There's not much more I could have realistically done. Maybe I could have gone to more office hours and talked to professors more outside of class. I think I may have had better results if I had taken PhD Micro, but I don't know where I would have fit that into my schedule. I transferred schools and switched majors halfway through my junior year, and it took 5 years to finish my Bachelor's degree because of it. I hadn't finished Calc I until the summer of 2007, so I had to catch up quickly on the math required for graduate economics. Considering what a tough year it was, things could have turned out much worse.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Visible Hand 2009: PROFILE:

Type of Applicant: International, big continental european country.

Type of Undergrad: Good public university but with a very bad school of Economics. Student of the university honor college (more selective than Ivy) which offers courses on its own, including in heterodox Economics.

Undergrad GPA: Overall: ~3.9/4.0; Economics: 4.0(+)/4.0; Math/Stat: 4.0(++)/4.0.
(+), (++) and ~ are due to different conversion methods that can be applied.

Type of Grad: Two-years Master in Economics (attending 2nd year), best public university of the country, 2nd department of Economics in the country, best in my fields. Enrolled in the first year of run of the program: it was brand new! Also student of the university honor college (less selective and prestigious than undergraduate's).
Grad GPA: 4.0-ε/4.0 or 4.0(+)/4.0 according to different conversion methods.


GRE: 790Q 530V 5.0AWA - TOEFL: 110

Math Courses: Several courses in Math and Stat covering all the basic Calculus/Analysis/Linear Algebra/ODE/Optimization/Measure stuff up to Simon-Blume (Vol. 2) and De La Fuente level, as well as Probability/Inference/Multivariate Stats up to Casella-Berger.
All full grades with mention.


Econ Courses: All the basic undergraduate Micro/Macro/Metrics stuff plus some applied/heterodox/history/quantitative courses. At Master Level, Micro I/Macro I/Metrics I (taking II for each in the fall) plus: Topics in Economic Theory, Economics of Innovation, Competition Policy.
All full grades, often with mention, apart from graduate Macro I (~A–).

Other Courses: Undergraduate courses in Accounting, Management and Law; graduate Corporate Finance. I have lower grades on these on average.

Letters of Recommendation: 1 MIT, 1 Toulouse, 1 Louvain (from the Master program), 1 Sussex (from my undergraduate honor college). I know ex-post, they were good but not too informative (apart from the Toulouse one maybe); the Sussex one was maybe not very good in the "fill the form" part. They were not always all of them four on every place I applied to.


Research Experience: Started to work on Master Thesis in theoretical I.O.; some short dissertations and empirical projects in the past (none of them valuable).

Teaching Experience: In line of principle, not possible in my country before Master graduation. Starting this march, however, I have assisted my MIT Ph.D. recommender in the graduate course in Econometrics taught by him.

Research Interests: Industrial Organization, Behavioral Economics, Microeconometrics.

Statement of Purpose: A synthetic overview of my academic life and interests.


Other: I obtained full scholarships from both honor colleges I have been student of. Moreover, I have been awarded 2-years full funding (tuition+stipend) to attend a top PhD in Economics, by a board of economists from a prestigious private foundation in my country; most schools I applied to knew this. So basically I would have had ($$$$) in every school had admitted me, at least for the start.


RESULTS:

Attending: Berkeley

Acceptances, declined: Northwestern, Chicago, Stern, UWM, LSE, TSE


Waitlists, eventually rejected: MIT

Rejections: Princeton, Stanford, Yale, UCSD, NYU, CMU, HBS, Wharton (Mgmt), Caltech, EUI


General Comments: If you are an international applicant and the institutions you come from are not so well known, luck and connections really matter alot, even if you have good LoRs from famous economists and a brilliant CV. I know that MIT, for instance, preferred two other students with external funding from my country over me, and they both just came from the two institutions with more reputation in sending students to top Ph.D. programs (but one of them I know, she is really a genius, 780Q). External funding might help, but it depends on the school: for some it really does (MIT, Chicago) but for others it does not (Stanford, Yale). It's not easy to decline Northwestern offer! But, in the end, I am happy with Berkeley.



What would you have done differently? Definitely, attended another undergraduate institution, the best in my country, which is very well established in sending students to top Ph.D. programs. I would have not been funded as I was, at least for the first years, but ex-post I would have had definitely very good shots for Cambridge, MA. My parents had the money, I had been admitted, so I really regret it. I should have also tried to do more research with my recommenders in the first Master year: it hurted me, they did not know me enough well (they also more or less directly told it to me). Perhaps I should have worked more in the final undergraduate years to produce a good analytical working paper to be sent as a writing sample: it may help in some schools, I think; but there was not much I could do as my undergraduate institution was a mostly empirical/heterodox place (not fitting too bad with Berkeley!).
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
calgrad08 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: UC Berkeley, double major in Economics and Applied Math (with high honors)

Undergrad GPA: 3.9
GRE: 800Q, 710V, 5.5A
Math Courses (Undergrad level): multivariable calc, linear algebra (2 semesters), abstract algebra, numerical analysis, real analysis, complex analysis
Econ Courses (Undergrad level): micro, advanced micro, macro, metrics, applied metrics, game theory, development, psych & econ

Econ Courses (PhD level): metrics (2 semesters)
Other Courses: probability theory; operations research courses for applied math concentration
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from prof for whom I’d worked for years as an RA, 1 from advanced micro prof, and 1 from grad metrics prof
Research Experience: 3 years (including summers) working for Berkeley profs; 1 summer at Treasury Dept; 1 year at Federal Reserve Bank
Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: metrics, applied micro
SOP: nothing special, and I didn't customize it at all for the different schools
Other: submitted NSF app but didn’t win

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Berkeley, Chicago, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, UCSD, Wisconsin

Waitlists: Brown
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Yale
Pending: none

Attending: Princeton

What would you have done differently?

--Senior honors thesis, both for the sake of submitting it along with my apps and being able to say that I'd done one, and for the good practice it would have been to have done my own research. I also would have tried to coauthor something with my profs, or at least get more involved in the analysis/writing of their papers rather than the (mostly) data-prep work I did for them as an RA.
--Attend office hours. I got quite good letters from my recommenders, but I can't help but think it would have been good to get to know them (and other professors) better.
--Grad-level micro. Metrics was great and I would certainly take it again if I was doing things over, but it would have been nice to have had micro under my belt as well.

But honestly I've had great luck in the admissions process and I'm thrilled to be heading to Princeton this fall. These "things I would have done differently" are really minor in the grand scheme of things, and with so much noise in the process anyway, would hardly have made much of a difference. The admissions game is as much a mystery to me now as it was before I applied!
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
postgradecon 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BSc in Economics and Mathematics from a well-known but not so good in economics university in Canada.
Undergrad GPA: converts to about 3.85/4
Type of Grad: LSE

Grad GPA: not yet known
GRE: 780Q/530V/4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-II-III (A/A+'s), Linear Algebra I-II (A+'s), Real Analysis I (A+), Differential Equations (A+), Logic and Set Theory (Proofs) (B), Sampling (B+), Prob and Stats (A+), History of Logic (A).
Graduate: none
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro and Macro (A+'s), Advanced Macro (A), Advanced Micro (B+, level of grad Varian), Econometrics (A+), Labour (A), Cost-Benefit (A), Math econ (A), Development (B, abroad), Industrial Organisation I-II (A-, A)

Graduate Econ Courses: Before my masters: Time series econometrics (A), Institutional economics and China's development (A+, with a mini-thesis). Masters: econometrics, micro, macro, political economics (no grades yet).
Other Courses: A bunch of biochemistry classes before switching to econ (grades between A- and A+). Some philosophy classes as extra electives (A+ in all).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from my undergrad, all really enthusiastic (PhDs from Princeton, Queen's and from a German university). One I wrote a mini-thesis with during a graduate class. A fourth was from my graduate program, didn't know me well, was in the beginning of the first year. I sent a different combination of 3 letters to different schools (deadlines were not at the same time and got the fourth a bit later, more on this below).

Research Experience: 2 years as research assistant in a well-respected small Canadian think tank, focusing on productivity and other welfare issues.
Teaching Experience: none.
Research Interests: Political economy, microeconomics, development.
SOP: Talked mostly about my interest in economics, my research interests, and why the school would be a good fit.. pretty standard and not that good.
Other:


RESULTS:
Acceptances: UBC PhD ($$), UPF Masters ($), LSE (no $)
Waitlists: none
Rejections: Caltech, MIT, NYU, Columbia
Pending: none


Attending: UBC (did not want to do a second master's degree before re-applying next year and UPF did not recognize my masters as good enough for their PhD).

What would you have done differently?
As mentioned earlier, I have sent different sets of letters to different schools. Instead, I would have sent the 3 letters from undergrad to all schools and not bother to send a not-so-good letter from my grad teacher. At first I thought it was important, but thinking back I think this might have ruined my chances at most US schools. I was accepted at all schools that didn't receive that letter.Also, I would have applied to much more schools, but I decided late and did not have much time to think about it.

In the end, I am satisfied since UBC is well-respected in its country and on par with a lot of top30 schools in the US.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
untitled 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, BA International Studies (mid ranked Midwest Flagship State School)
Undergrad GPA: 3.65
Type of Grad: M.S. Math (mid ranked but slightly better Midwest Flagship State School)

Grad GPA: 3.6
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 5.5AW (scored 800, 590, 6 before MS degree)
Math Courses (undergrad): Lots, some Bs, B+/A- average
Math (grad): Lots, still a couple Bs, A- average
Econ Courses (grad): Few
Econ Courses (undergrad): None

Other Courses: Physics Minor, once, lots of Poli Sci before I realized math + poli sci =~ econ
Letters of Recommendation: Two Math, One Poli Sci, One Econ. Econ was extremely strong
Research Experience: Math Thesis, RA at academic leaning econ consulting firm
Teaching Experience: Taught micro, macro, math econ, and econ stats principles courses during two year stint at local university while working as a consultant
Research Interests: Econometrics, Resource Economics, Decision Theory, Development

SOP: Focused on work/research experience - probably would have done it differently
Concerns: yes, mostly private.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: University of Washington - Seattle
Waitlists: none

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Duke, Boston University, Davis, Pittsburgh, UCSD, UBC

What would you have done differently?
I can think of one or two classes where an A might have made a difference. Also, it might have been helpful to take at least some econ classes as an undergrad, but I'm glad I didn't, as I enjoyed my undergrad enough. Many private things.
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:
Mobius Strip 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Mathematics and Economics from a top 10-15 liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.87/4.0
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800Q, 570V, 5.0AW

Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Alg, Modern Alg, Adv Modern Alg, Real Analysis, Game Theory (in Math Dept), Topology, Chaos Theory. Received department honors in Math.
Econ Courses: Basically all of them, 4.0 GPA, Thesis (A), Department Honors, Brownell Prize for Distinction in the Study of Political Economy
Other Courses: NA
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from Federal Reserve, 1 Math from Undergrad
Research Experience: RA for 3 years at FRB in DC. Co-authored published paper on racial discrimination in credit markets.
Teaching Experience: NA
Research Interests: Labor (Education), Real Estate, Financial Markets
SOP: Talked about my volunteer activities in tough, urban schools and how it shaped my interests in research in education. Transition to work at the Fed regarding discrimination in the credit markets. Final, throw-away paragraph naming some profs at schools who I'd be interested in working with.
Other: Crushed by NSF


RESULTS:
Acceptances: U Michigan (off waitlist, after 0-14 start)
Waitlists: NA
Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Princeton, Chicago, Chicago Booth, Northwestern, Wharton, U Penn, NYU, Columbia, Duke
Pending: NA
Outside Fellowship: Received a $20k fellowship from undergrad college to supplement lack of funding from UM

What would you have done differently?
After receiving NSF results and reading Jeeves's posts, spelling out the broader impacts to make it easier to checklist. I scored fairly well on intellectual merit, but only average on the broader impacts.


Other than that, it's hard to say. I had nearly a 3.9 GPA with a Math and Econ double major, 3 years at the Federal Reserve, a published paper, and a presented working paper. I did spend 3 years in the private sector at a major bank, which probably hurt my admissions results, but gave me a broader personal, real-world experience that I do not regret taking.

Attending: U Michigan - Ann Arbor
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
lovertothemoon 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A in Economics, B.A. in International Relations, minor in French from U of California Davis
Undergrad GPA: 3.33
Type of Grad: entering first year phd in economics

Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 680 verbal, 720 quantitative, 5.5 writing
Math Courses: Calculus 1(B), 2(B+), 3(A), vector calculus(B), differential equations(C+), linear algebra (A), set theory(B+), real analysis 1(B+), 2(B), 3(C), applied linear algebra (C), mathematical statistics (C+), probability theory (A).
Econ Courses (undergrad): macro 1 (B+), macro 2 (B+), micro 1 (A-), micro 2 (A), world economic history 1 (A), world economic history 2 (A), game theory (C+), topics in macro economics (A-), econometrics (C), international macro (B+), international micro (A), east asian economics (A+), individual research (B+)
Other Courses: lots of political science regarding the international arena, french, and 19th/20th century history courses

Letters of Recommendation: 1) one of the top economic historians, who also was my research adviser and department chair. 2) ecn professor who pushed me to go to grad school and really liked me. 3) ecn professor who also acted as research adviser.
Research Experience: research in monetary history for a two quarter independent honors research course
Teaching Experience: nothing beyond french tutoring
Research Interests: macro, growth theory and development, economic history, and international economics

SOP: standard, focused on research experience and dropping a french major to take math classes my senior year to be prepared for ecn.
Concerns: bad math grades and gre score
Other: Female, worked all throughout college,

RESULTS:

Acceptances: U of Washington, George Washington U, both without funding
Waitlists: (ultimately rejected from all) U of California Irvine, UMASS, Notre Dame U, Texas A&M
Rejections: MIT, Caltech, Stanford, U of California Davis, U of Michigan, Michigan State U
Pending:noneWhat would you have done differently?

1)I would have applied to less schools in the top 20 and more lower ranked schools, because i wasted money applying to schools i never had a chance at. also would have applied to more schools in my home state of california.

2) started my calculus series early and taken the right one first, so that i didn't have to take business calculus, and then real calculus. I also would have given up french altogether and just gotten a triple major in international relations, mathematics, and economics.or at the very least, begun my math earlier so i could have taken that 1 last class i needed for a math minor. taking all your math in the last 4 quarters was not good planning. oh, and probably would have taken more statistics classes.

3) probably would have actually studied for the gre, rather then just going in an expecting to do calculus, not geometry.

in reality, i have no idea how i got in. my gre scores where horirble in comparison to the rest of y'all, and my grades were not nearly as good. i think i only got in because i took so many math classes (even with the bad grades), and i had a couple of REALLY good recommendations and a nice SOP. so, never undersetimate the power of good relationships with professors and the resulting recommendations.

i'm going to University of Washington's ecn phd program without funding, and hope that the lack of money only lasts the first year. wish me luck :)










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Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
canecon 2009: U-grad: UBC, Econ (Hons)
Grad: Queen's, Econ
Ugrad GPA: 3.5 (3.98 upper-econ, 3.98 math (excluding failed calc 1))
Grad GPA: 4.0? (Not sure how it works here)
GRE: 800q 480v 5.0 AWA (despite the awful verbal I am native English speaker / English background)
Courses:
Grad:
PhD Micro I (A), Econometrics MA (A), Public MA (A)
Ugrad:
Econ:
Hon micro/macro I (A+'s) Game Theory (Hon) A, Hon Macro II A+, + intro metrics I/II (A+) + lots electives (mostly A+)
Honours Thesis, Advanced Macro, Econometrics - A+'s
Math:
Calc 1 (F first time then A), Calc 2, linear, multivariable, ODE's, probability(calc based), intro proof A+'s, real analysis A
Research:
Thesis, which is being developed into a paper with Advisor (not in a publishable state yet though)
Was RA for one summer.
LOR:
2 Assistant Profs, Should be good since one is advisor/co-author, the other I took multiple classes with and was RA for.
1 Professor for PhD Micro class - 1/2 the letters will be mediocre, other half should be decent (final grades were available).
SOP: Decent?
Interests:
Political Economy, Development (Micro)
Applying To:
MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Pennsylvania, Berkeley, UCLA, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, Northwestern, LSE, Oxford
My Concerns:
My first 2 years of undergrad are poor, failed calc 1.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
knickerbocker 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics, Math, Applied Math, Top 7 econ program, Minor Japanese Language and Culture
Undergrad GPA: 3.94/4.0 PBK, Econ 4.0/4.0, Math 4.0/4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q 790; V 620; AW 5.5
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Math Stats, Real Analysis I,II, Higher Level Math
Econ Courses: A lot
Other Courses: Mostly Japanese
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ full professors, no nobel prize winners, but know my work well
Research Experience: NONE
Teaching Experience: None.
Research Interests: Economic History, Macro
SOP: Sub par, I fear
Other: Good summer jobs the past three summers
Applying to: Columbia, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Penn, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, Chicago
Worried I didn't apply to any safeties. Low GRE. Reassurances greatly appreciated.

Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
tobleronic 2009: Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics and Math, One of the "New Ivy Leagues"
Undergrad GPA: 3.87, 3.92 Math/Econ
GRE: Q 800; V 490; AW 4.5
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis I, Theory of Numbers, Transformations and Geometries, Combinatorics, Statistics
Econ Courses: Intro, Intermediate Macro/Micro, Labor, Financial Econ, Advanced Micro Theory, Metrics, Honors Thesis, Math for Econ (MA and PhD), Micro (MA), Micro I and II (PhD)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 Econ Professors (a part time) and 1 math professor
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None.
Research Interests: Labor , Micro
Applying to: Columbia, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Penn, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, NYU, NW, Duke
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
SF_Haole 2009: I've been pretty nervous about my chances, and rightly so thus far: 1 admit, 1 waitlist, 3 official rejections and 4 schools that haven't rejected me but appear to have admitted everyone already.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Stanford
GPA: 3.7
Major: Physics (BS), International Relations (BA)
Type of Grad: Stanford
GPA: 3.9
Major: International Policy Studies (MA)
GRE: 800Q, 690V, 6.0 writing
Math Courses: Multivariate Calculus: Differential (A) & Integral (A), Linear Algebra: Basic (A) & Advanced (A), Honors Diff Eqns w/proofs (B). Also a shit-ton of physics classes.
Econ Courses (undergrad): Basic micro/macro (A) intermediate micro (B+,A-) intermediate macro(B+), economic history (A), env. econ(A), public policy analysis(A+), stats for econ(A-), metrics(B+).
Econ Courses (grad): None, but I took grad-level courses in international macro (A-), and development (A) through my masters program and the political science dept's Ph.D-level game theory class (A).
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from fairly famous econ professors. I do research for one of them and took a class from the other (and worked for his colleague). 1 from a very famous political scientist (has his own wikipedia article) who taught my game theory class. Kinda nervous about the polisci rec but my options were limited.
Research Experience: lots of physics research; worked as an RA for the RBI (Indian Central Bank) for 1 summer; currently work in applied econ & policy analysis for one of my recommenders (past 2 years).
Teaching Experience: 1 year as a TA for intro to economics.
Research Interests: econometrics, development
SOP: Decent, I might have explained my research more but I built off my NSF essay, which had a separate previous research essay.
Applying to: 21 schools, including the top 10 overall, top 10 econometrics, and top 10 in development. Also UW-Seattle
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Waitlists: