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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:
99luftballoons 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large Private University, Top 10 Econ/Top 5 Math
Undergrad GPA: 3.82 (4.0 Econ, 3.9 Math)
Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:
GRE: 790Q, 640V, 6.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc Sequence, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, Real Analysis I, Real Analysis II, Algebra I, Combinatorics, Topology, Math Stats, Grad. Linear
Econ Courses: Intros, Micro Theory, Macro Theory, Econometrics, Senior Seminar, International Econ (1 yr), Organizational Analysis, Finance, Math Econ
Other Courses: Ind. study in Game Theory and Math Econ, Intro Operations Research

Letters of Recommendation: 2 really good ones, 1 fairly good one
Research Experience: Spent a summer RAing and trying to write a paper
Teaching Experience: Grading
Research Interests: Micro theory, decision theory, game theory, mech. design, experimental... list keeps growing actually

SOP: Wrote about what I liked, what I'd done, I got comments on being "very specific" in my SOP from schools that I've gotten in to

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Harvard, Caltech, Rochester, Cornell, PSU, Northwestern, UMinn
Waitlists: UPenn

Rejections: Princeton, Stanford GSB, Stanford Econ, Berkeley
Pending: NYU, BU
What would you have done differently? I would have applied to less safeties, but that's really an ex-post judgment. I think I had a good year, though Stanford GSB was my dream school, but oh well, life goes on.

Comments: I think italos is right, LOR is everything! 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:
mermel 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, B.S. Econ honors from top 40 public school, Math semester abroad at strong Russian math program

Undergrad GPA: 3.94, Econ 4.0, Math 3.93
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Multivar Calc, DiffEq, Number Theory, Matrices (Linear Algebra), Real Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Probability, Topology, Complex Analysis, Computability and Complexity (all A's), Combinatorics (B), Integer Partitions (B+)
Econ Courses: All those required for undergrad econ, was in Honors Economics program my senior year

Letters of Recommendation: 3 from econ professors, one from Econ PhD partner at the firm where I work, PhD's from Chicago, Princeton, Harvard, and Berkeley, 2 I am sure are very strong, and others are probably strong as well
Research Experience: Not any good research experience undergrad. Have been working in econ consulting since, so that sort of counts.
Teaching Experience: just tutoring
Research Interests: Micro theory, game theory, decision theory

SOP: I'm not really sure how to judge my SOP, I think it told a good story of why I want to get econ PhD.
Concerns: Lack of research experience, I had a withdrawal passing from graduate level analysis when I decided to do a second major in econ rather than doing a masters in math. I stated this in many of my essays, so hopefully that's ok.
Other: Working for past 2.5 years in economics litigation consulting

RESULTS:

Attending: Northwestern
Admitted, Declined: UPenn
Waitlists: Princeton(eventually rejected), Chicago(Admitted without funding for first 2 years)
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, NYU, Berkeley, Stanford, NSF

What would you have done differently?
I think some RA'ing as an undergraduate would have helped, but I am very happy with Northwestern and don't really have any regrets. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Lurker_ 2009:
Type of Undergrad: McGill University (B.A. Math and Econ)

Undergrad GPA: 3.89/4.00 overall
Type of Grad: Cornell, 1st Year in the Econ PhD (2007-2008)
Grad GPA: 3.84/4.30
GRE: 800Q, 590V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Multivariable Calculus, Advanced Calculus, Analysis 1, Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra, ODE, Differential Geometry, Numerical Analysis, Theory of Interest (All A's), Analysis 2 (B+), Analysis 3 (B+), Analysis 4 (B), Complex Analysis (A-)

Econ Courses: Undergrad: Intermediate Micro, Statistics, Intermediate Macro, Econometrics, Advanced Theory (All A's). Grad: Micro I, Micro II, Metrics I, Mathematical Econ (All A+'s), Macro I (A), Metrics II (A), Macro II (C-).
Letters of Recommendation: Two junior and one well-known.
Research Experience: Part-time RA for one year at Cornell and Full-time RA this year at the NBER.
Research Interests: Theory, Behavioral Economics

SOP: Awkward.
Concerns: The lack of tractability of current behavioral models.

RESULTS:
Attending: Going back to Cornell.
Admitted, Declined: Northwestern

Waitlists: Princeton (Ultimately Rejected) 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:
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:
zshfryoh1 2009:
PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A. Math and Econ (double major), large public college in Northeast
Undergrad GPA: 3.78
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 770Q/630V/5.5A
Math Courses (Undergrad level): Calc I&II (A, A-), Multivar Calc (B+), Lin Alg (B+), Intro to Prob and Stats (B-), ODEs (C), PDEs (A-)

Math Courses (Grad - Masters level): Non-Measure Prob Theory (C-/A on retake), Numerical Analysis I&II - Proof based (B, A-), Stochastic Methods in Operations Research (A-)
Econ Courses (Undergrad level): Intro Macro (A), Intro Micro (A+), Mathematical Intermediate Micro (A+), Mathematical Intermediate Macro (A-), Money and Banking (A-), Investment Analysis (B+), Financial Markets (A+), Independent Study & Research Paper on Real Options (A), Computational Finance (A+)
Econ Courses (PhD level): Econometrics I (B-)
Other Courses: Algorithmic Programming I (A+), Algorithmic and OOP II (A+), Full Science Honors Research sequence including three research presentations (all A or A+)
Letters of Recommendation: One excellent from a Econ Prof who is fairly well known. One excellent from an Econ Asst Prof that I RA'd and TA'd for. One Excellent from CS prof I took for Computational Finance.

Research Experience: A lot.Three years as an RA for a prof doing research into financial markets, and as part of this research I am in the process of developing a new method of programming simulations of financial markets for market microstructure research. Currently working in paper explaining new method, which I hope to submit to journals before September. Project for the Independent Study course on an application of Real Options to labor bargaining in sports. Will be submitted to a journal in May or June. Honor's thesis on applications of real options to natural resource and agricultural investment.
Teaching Experience: One Semester as TA for Intermediate Micro. Subbed multiple times for professor in Options and Futures class
Research Interests: Financial Econ (specifically Market Microstructure and Real Options Analysis), Micro Theory, Mathematical and Computational Methods, secondary interests in everything but monetary macro.
SOP: Decent and pretty standard. Customized it for each grad school and explained some extenuating circumstances.
Other: Full time student (35+ hours per week) at a school for the advanced study of Talmudic Law, simultaneous with my college schedule. Six student seminar presentations of original research in Talmudic Law. Five publications of original research in Talmudic Law. Two semester of extenuating circumstances (taking care of ill grandmother). Applied for NSF, did not receive.


RESULTS:
Acceptances: A number math/stats/FE masters programs
Waitlists: UPenn
Rejections: NYU, NYU Stern Econ, NYU Stern Finance, Columbia, Columbia GSB, Wharton Applied Econ, Wharton Finance
Pending: None

Attending: MA Stat, same as UG


What would you have done differently? Nothing really. All my profs told me that with 20 more points on my GREQ I would have an excellent shot at 15-30 range schools and a chance at top 15's. However, my plan from the start was to only apply to a few top 15 programs, and if as expected I didn't get in, to go for a math/stat/FE masters and re-apply next year. I did not have the time to study to re-take the GRE anyway. Getting the UPenn WL this year is a good sign for next year's apps. Anyway, I will now have a chance to study for and re-take the GRE, take grad real analysis, a couple more PhD level econ classes and a few more stat classes. It is a one year MA with very flexible electives. I also hope to have two papers submitted to journals for publication as well as at least one conference presentation before application season next fall. 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:
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:
Rejections:
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:
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:
Zmoney 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large U.S. Public University ranked 40-55 (best in state) typically known for Football not Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.93 overall 4.0 in Econ 3.69 in Math Graduating Summa

GRE: 800 Q 540 V 5.0 AWA
Math Courses: Calc 1-3 1,2 tested out 3(B+), Differential Equations(B), Stat 1(A), Probability(A) Lin Alg (A) Math Stats 2 in Spring
Econ Courses: Intros, Intermediates, Public Econ, Sports Econ, Empirical Research, Independent Study (for research) Labor, Empirical Public Econ I (PhD field) All A's
Other Courses: Minors in Food and Resource Economics, and History
Letters of Recommendation: 3 LORS 2 excellent letters from pretty well known Econ faculty in their concentrations (one Phd Chicago the other Wisconsin) and 1 very good letter from a senior member of the Ag Econ Department (Purdue well known in Ag econ)
Research Experience: 2 written empirical papers one for the class in research and the other (to be my thesis) I want to get published. Database work and research at Fed

Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Public Econ, Public Choice, Taxation Policy, Political Economy
SOP: Solid i think, had multiple profs say they wouldn't change a thing
Other: Internship at the Federal Reserve, Strong Undergraduate leadership positions
Concerns: My B in Diffy Q, Coming from a big public school, No Real Analysis.
RESULTS:

Attending: Virginia
Admitted, Declined: Michigan State, Boston College, Florida
Waitlists: none
Rejections: Northwestern, NYU, Penn, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maryland, Texas-Austin, Cornell, Duke

What would you have done differently?
Started taking math freshman year as opposed to junior year. Double majored in Stats
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:
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:
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:
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:
sihnt2307 2009: profile evaluation
Profile evaluation and advice please!
Undergrad: small but good LAC
GPA: Overall - 3.845, Majors - Econ 3.94/Spanish 4.0, Minor - Math 4.0
GRE: Quant 800/Verbal 540/?
Econ: Principles (A), Intermediate Micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A), Econ Stats (A), Internship Abroad - for credit, with econ research and consulting firm (A), Econometrics (A), History of Econ Thought (A), Game Theory (A), Intl Trade (in fall 08), Advanced Micro Theory (in spring 09)
Math: (took AP calc in HS), Cal 2 (A), Cal 3 (A), Diff Eq and Lin Alg (A), will take two Math Stats classes during the next year
LOR: 3 Econ profs who know me well and think highly of me (?), all went to very reputable schools
SOP: probably something about my research and teaching experience, want to go into intl econ
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
dancerdf 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ from top-ranked university in the Netherlands
Undergrad GPA: 3.9, Summa Cum Laude
Type of Grad: M.S. Econ, LSE
Grad GPA: -
GRE: 790Q, 550V, 5AWA
Math Courses: Standard, although no separate courses, everything included into quantitative methods 1-3
Econ Courses (Master-level): Micro, Macro, Metrics, Development
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Public, International Economics, Micro, Macro, Competition Policy, Growth Theory, Financial Economics, Development Economics, History of Economic Thought, Auction Theory
Other Courses: Finance, Strategy, Marketing, Sociology
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (2 from Maastricht, 1 from LSE)
Teaching Experience: Tutor for microeconomics at student association in cooperation with the university
Research Interests: Development
SOP: Standard
Concerns: 790Q GRE, no course in real-analysis
Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Northwestern, Chicago, UPenn, Stanford, Berkeley, NYU, Columbia, Brown
Can't wait for the results!!! :rolleyes:
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:
DesperateEconomist 2009: It's time to do this:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Bachelor in Business Administration, prestigious institution in Latin America.
Undergrad GPA: 7.6/10
Type of Grad: Master in Economics, same institution than undergrad.
Grad GPA: 8/10
GRE: 800Q, 490V, 4.0AWA
TOEFL: 104 (30R, 30L, 20S:crazy:, 24W)
Math Courses: Mathematics I, II, Linear Algebra, Metric Spaces, Statistics I, II, III, Mathematical Economics (grad).
Econ Courses (Masters): Macro I, II, Micro I, II, Metrics, Time Series and others not so relevant.
Econ Courses (undergrad): Macro, Micro, no Metrics.
Other Courses: Several other courses, but with small or no relevance for admission purposes.
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (1 Chicago PhD, 1 UCLA PhD, 1 Cornell PhD), and I believe that all of them are solid.
Research Experience: RA for two econ professors and currently working on my master's thesis. I also presented a paper in an economics meeting in my country.
Teaching Experience: TA for two graduate courses (Macro and Time Series) and 1 undergrad course (Statistics).
Research Interests: Macro and IO.
SOP: The usual stuff: I put a brief description of my profile and talked about my preferences and why I think I would succeed in their program.
Concerns: Low score on the speaking section of the TOEFL. Maybe my math background is not as strong as desired by some schools. At least a few low grades that could hurt me.
Applying to: Berkeley, Boston College, BU, Cornell, Columbia, Maryland, MSU, Minnesota, Northwestern, NYU, UT Austin, UCLA, UPenn, Washington St. Louis, Yale.
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:
mathy backpack 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large Public University, BA Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.75 Overall, 3.9 Econ, 4.0 Math
Type of Grad: MA Economics (1/2 of credits were math though)
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 800Q, 690V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I, Calc II, Vector Calc, Linear Algebra, Logic, Probability/Statistics (multivar calc), Real Analysis, Linear Algebra(grad), Probability Theory(grad)...All A's Taking: Statistical Theory(grad)
Econ Courses (grad): Micro(MA), Macro(MA), Econometrics(MA), Labor(MA), Public Finance(MA), GameTheory(MA), Optimization I(PhD)...All A's Taking: Adv Macro(PhD), Optimization II(PhD)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermed. Micro & Macro, plus 12 other Junior/Senior semester courses for the major...All A's in these, but with a spicy little B and a C in intro Micro and Macro(101 and 102) as a Freshman
Other: English Minor, Drum & Bass show on student radio
Letters of Recommendation: Different combos of 5 Econ profs from master's program
Research Interests: Micro Theory, Game Theory, Behavioral, Micro-ish Development
SOP: Spent way too much time, 1 1/2 pages, standard I'm sure
Concerns: Picked a great year to apply!?!
Other: Despite the random attacks of anxiety, I am pretty excited. Trying to prepare myself to not take the rejections too personally. I have faith that I will end up exactly where I am supposed to be.
Applying to: The usual suspects...Princeton, Yale, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Penn, WUSTL, Duke, Carnegie Mellon.... hopefully enough!
Fingers: crossed
:)Good Luck to everyone.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists: