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:

• Attending: Minnesota ($$) Acceptances, declined: Carnegie Mellon ($$$), U Texas at Austin ($), U Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ($$), Arizona State ($$)

Rejects:

• Rejections: MIT, Berkeley, Yale, Stanford, U Penn, U Chicago, Northwestern (on the

Waitlists:

• waiting list, briefly), Duke Economics, Duke Decision Sciences

hawksfanatic 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: U.S. Top 30 Public, B.A. Philosophy and Economics
Undergrad GPA: ~3.4

Type of Grad: Econ
Grad GPA: ~3.5
GRE: 740 Q, 470 V, 5.0 AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Intro to Stats, Linear Algebra, Theory of Probability
Econ Courses: Standard Micro Macro sequence all the way through the PhD level, Econometrics I and II, Public Choice, Math for Economists, International Finance, Antitrust, Theory of Gov't Regulation

Other Courses: A lot of philosophy courses
Letters of Recommendation: One well known econ professor from UVA, 2 lesser known econ professors (Chicago and Brown). All very excited.
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Undecided, but leaning towards econometrics at the moment

SOP: Body was generic for every school, changed a few things for each school
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances: NCSU ($$), TAMU ($-wl), UGA($-wl), GMU(no $)
Waitlists: None

Rejections: UVA, Vanderbilt, ISU
Pending: None

What would you have done differently? Maybe study for the GRE more. Hard to say that when I came to college that I wanted to pursue a PhD, it never crossed my mind until the 2nd part of my junior year which is hardly enough time to take all the recommended math courses. In the end I got what I wanted, a place that wants me and is large enough to accommodate any possible changes in my fields of interest. I will be attending NCSU. Accepts:

• Acceptances: NCSU ($$), TAMU ($-wl), UGA($-wl), GMU(no $)

Rejects:

• Rejections: UVA, Vanderbilt, ISU

Waitlists:

• Waitlists: None

EcoBd 2009:
PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad/Grad: BSS and MSS in Economics in a South Asian University.
Undergrad/Grad GPA: 3.7/4.0 in Undergrad and 4.0/4.0 in Grad
GRE: 790Q, 380V, 3.5AWA
TOEFL: 106 (29R, 29L, 23S, 25W)
Courses: Lots of econ courses. PhD level micro and econometrics. Calculus, probability theory, linear algebra, real analysis etc.

Letters of Recommendation: 3 economics professor from my University. 1 got his PhD from Harvard and taught me Microeconomics. Another did her PhD from MIT and taught me Econometrics. The last one got his PhD from Manchester and taught me International Economics. I am sure that they all gave me excellent recommendations.
Research Experience: Currently working in a research institute in my home country. I also have 2 RA positions in two different organizations previously.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Econometrics

SOP: Traditional. Emphasized my interests in economics.
RESULTS:
Attending: Texas A & M University
Acceptances: TAMU ($$), FSU (no $), OSU AEDE: (no$: informally)
Rejections: UCSD, UIUC, UNC, UF, Vanderbilt, IUB,

No word: USC
What would you have done differently? I think I should really do well on GRE verbal and AWA. And I should be more focused on my SOP. Accepts:

• Attending: Texas A & M University Acceptances: TAMU ($$), FSU (no $), OSU AEDE: (no$: informally)

Rejects:

• Rejections: UCSD, UIUC, UNC, UF, Vanderbilt, IUB, No word: USC

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:

• : U Pittsburgh Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Fellowship Notification date: 2/17/2009 Notified through: Phone Comments: American--I posted on Grad Cafe.
• : Texas A&M (TAMU) Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Assistantship Notification date: 2/19 Notified through: Email Comments:
• : UVA Program: Economics Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/27 Notified through: E-mail Comments: American, waitlisted for funding. I haven't kept up with this thread or the board in general, I just wanted to post this in case there's anyone out there who thought all hope was gone for UVA. Evidently they are still making offers!

Rejects:

• : PSU Program: PhD Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: Mass email Not all that surprised, but still disappointed. Nonetheless, I'll direct my frustrations towards the department only and continue to cheer on JoePa.

Waitlists:

morgan918 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics , around top 10 in China
Undergrad GPA: 87 out of 100
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: None
GRE: 600V+800Q+3.5AW
Math Courses: Caculus, Statistics, Linear Algebra, Real analysis, stochastic process, dynamic optimization
Econ Courses: Micro, Macro , Econometrics, Labour, Financial Econ

Other Courses: STATA programming, MATLAB
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from China, 1 from Hong Kong
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro


RESULTS:
Acceptances: McGill MA($), UBC MA(no $), Alberta MA(Canada, $), SFU MA(Canada, $)

Waitlists:None
Rejections: Iowa State, TAMU
Pending:None

What would you have done differently?
maybe some writing samples will be fine
Accepts:

• Acceptances: McGill MA($), UBC MA(no $), Alberta MA(Canada, $), SFU MA(Canada, $)

Rejects:

• Rejections: Iowa State, TAMU

Waitlists:

• Waitlists:None

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:

• Acceptances: U of Washington, George Washington U, both without funding

Rejects:

• 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

Waitlists:

• Waitlists: (ultimately