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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:
bigleaguechew 2009:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ / B.S. Math from a top 100 econphd.net public school
Undergrad GPA: 3.5 Overall, 4.0 Econ, 4.0 Math
GRE: 790Q, 610V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: One year of real analysis (A+'s); two quarters each of theoretical linear algebra (A+'s), numerical analysis (A+'s), math prob stat, nonlinear dynamics and chaos; one quarter each of PDE's, abstract algebra and complex analysis

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

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

RESULTS:
Attending: UCSD ($)

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

What would you have done differently?

Nothing really. I had a huge black spot on my record with that one atrocious year, and nobody knew how that would affect me. My letter writers were extremely supportive in helping me apply to as many places as I could afford, and cover a broad spectrum of programs. I thought UCSD was a long shot heading into this process, and I am thrilled to be going there. I can honestly say that I would have been happy at just about any of the programs that I was accepted to, and it was incredibly difficult for me to turn down so many attractive offers. Obviously, this is a problem that I am happy to have, but you'd be surprised how gut wrenching it is to turn down a fellowship offer from a school that you had been day-dreaming about attending just a few weeks earlier. Still, I would advise everyone who isn't a superstar with stellar LOR's to adopt a similar strategy and apply to as many places as you can afford. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
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:
GymShorts 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S.B.A. in International Economics and Finance, Math minor, from a 1st tier nation university (U.S. News and World Report) without an econ PhD program. (Had one but it was shut down a few years ago)
Undergrad GPA: 3.7 overall, 3.9 in econ, 4.0 in math
GRE: Will know in August
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Topics in Math Sol Sci, Fundamentals of Adv Math, Analysis I (fall), Probability and Stat (fall)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate micro and macro, econ stat I, econ stat II: intro metrics, econometric models, international econ
Other Courses: A lot of business classes, corporate finance, investment analysis, international corporate finance, computer programming (fall)
Letters of Recommendation: All well published, all should write great things.
Research Experience: Working on a paper now that I hope to publish
Teaching Experience: TA for econ stat I & II for a year, will continue next fall and spring probably. A year of tutoring calculus I & II and intro macro and micro.
Research Interests: Political economics, game theory, micro
SOP: In process of writing
Concerns: Haven't taken GRE yet
Applying to: I haven't finalized the list; depends on whether I ace the GRE. Any suggestions? Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
econ oh nine 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS Econ from small LAC
Undergrad GPA: Overall 3.6 (upward trend); Econ 3.8; Math 3.6
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800Q, 490V, no AWA yet
Math Courses: Calc 1-multi, stats, intro discrete, linear alg, real analysis
Econ Courses (PhD-level): n/a
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All the usual for the major
Letters of Recommendation: Very enthusiastic, from my professors at my LAC
Research Experience: RA’ed twice; two conference presentations; senior thesis will be submitted for publication
Teaching Experience: TA’ed once, tutoring three years
Research Interests: Micro (probably applied rather than theory), but beyond that I’m not sure… I’ve always enjoyed game theory and decision/information topics
SOP: On my to-do list
Concerns: LAC; lack of math; low gpa’s
Other: I feel my verbal score is not an accurate depiction of my abilities, so I hope my SOP and LORS will quell any concerns admission committees may have. Also, American female, for what it’s worth…
Applying to: Two top 15’s just to say I did (not sure which yet), Maryland, Virginia, Penn State, U of Arizona, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Virginia Tech Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Rejections:
decide_aposteriori 2009: PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Large State School in the US
Undergrad GPA: 3.69 (overall including math and econ majors)
Type of Grad: MA Economics (Canadian Uni)
GRE: 760 Q, 670 V, 5.0 W
Math Courses: Calc III, Intro to Proofs, Abstract Algebra, Numerical Analysis I&II, Differential Equations, Analysis, Probability, Linear Algebra

Econ Courses: Micro (grad), Macro (grad), Econometrics (grad), IO, Topics in Micro, Econ history
Other Courses: Java
Letters of Recommendation: Math PhD Duke, Econ PhD LSE
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Experimental, Labor, Neuro, applied econometrics
SOP: Standard

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Uni Arizona, Uni Hawaii
Waitlists:

Rejections: MSU, Purdue, OSU, Pittsburgh, UCSC
What would you have done differently? I would have started the process earlier. Since I couldn't make any December deadlines I was constrained on the places I could apply to. I'm really happy with Arizona, it fits my interests really well.
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:
allinwonder 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ B.S. Math from top 5 university in PR China
Undergrad GPA: 3.7/4
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q, 620V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I,II(including multivariable one)linear algebra for two semesters, math stats, optimization, Analysis I, II, Complex Analysis, ODE,PDE, Abstract Algebra
Econ Courses (PhD-level): N/A
Econ Courses (undergrad-level):Intermediate Micro and Macro, Econometrics
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (2 of them are mentees of Nobel Laureate)
Research Experience: RA for Econ prof
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests: Experimental Economics, Game Theory
SOP: Focus on research
Concerns: Low grade on PDE
Other:
Applying to: Harvard, Caltech, UMichigan, Pittsburgh, OSU, ASU, UArizona, UVirginia, Purdue, George Mason U
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Waitlists: