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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:
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:
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:
Rejections:
shubhamk 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B. Tech. from IIT Kanpur (Best Techno-Managerial school in India)
Undergrad GPA: 3.0/4

Type of Grad: MBA also from IIT Kanpur
Grad GPA: 3.2/4
GRE: 800Q, 660V, 4.0AWA
Math Courses: All quantitative courses for Electrical Engineering (Communication Systems specialization). That also means related courses on probability, calculus and Linear Algebra
Econ Courses (MBA-level): Micro, Macro and International business economics
Other Courses: 4 Sociology courses (during undergrad). 1 Development Economics course (during MBA)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 econ Prof (IIT Kanpur), 2 other Prof (IIT Kanpur)
Research Experience: 1 research case study was done for UNICEF while I was UN intern for 3 months in India itself. This was published for internal UN circulation. I have been working on development field for 3 years with small IIT Kanpur reports being published internally.
Research Interests: Development Economics, Labor Economics and Public Policy
Results
Will be attending: Penn State ($$, Economics)
Rejections: Wharton (Applied Economics), UCLA (Economics), Columbia GSB (Economics), Cornell (Applied Economics)

Pending: CMU Tepper (Econ and Public Policy), ERIM (Labor Econ)

What would you have done differently?
Nothing!!! I am happy that I am finally going to do research in Economics which is more important than many other parameters we try to judge our acceptances and rejections on.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
veryshuai 2009: PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Nicely ranked midwest LA
Undergrad GPA: 3.62
Type of Grad:Econ
Grad GPA: ~85/100
GRE: 800/700/4.5

Math Courses: Calc 1-3 (A,A,A-), Stats (A), Real Analysis (A)
Econ Courses: Grad series Macro, Micro, and Econometrics and some other stuff...A's except Micro 1 (B) and Time Series (B) (no pluses or minuses in our program)
Other Courses: Nothing that should matter
Letters of Recommendation: UCLA (thesis advisor), Brown, U Mich
Research Experience: RA for a semester, Master's Thesis

Teaching Experience: Nope
Research Interests: Development, Applied Macro Theory, not sure...goal to work in the research dept. of international organization
SOP: Spent a lot of time on it, but who knows...
Other: Fulbright fellowship and some other money awards...


RESULTS:
Acceptances:Penn State ($$),BU (no$), UW Madison(no$)
Waitlists: none
Rejections:Michigan, Minnesota, Brown, Harvard, U Chicago, NYU, Columbia, UPenn, Berkeley, UCLA,
Pending:Georgetown

What would you have done differently? Applied to a few more mid-ranked schools...it would be nice to have another funded option or two. Having said that, I am glad that I got firm rejections from all the top 20's, so that I don't have to wonder "What if?"
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:
EnviroEcon 2009: PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A. Mathematics and Economics; UCSD, Top20 Econ/Top10 Public University
Undergrad GPA: 3.73 Overall, 3.67 Major
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 770Q, 620V, 5.0AWA (5.5AWA the first time I took it, like they care)

Math Courses: Calc I,II (B+, A-) Mutil-Var Calc (A+), Diff Eqs (A-), Linear Alg (A), Real Analysis I,II (B,C), Math Stats I,II (A-,A), Probability (B), Adv Linear Alg (A+)
Econ Courses: Intro Econ (A), Inter. Macro I,II (A,A), Inter. Micro (A,A+), Game Theory (A-), Public Policy (A), Metrics III (A), Econ of Oceanic Resources (A)
Letters of Recommendation: Not "A" list profs, but I'm sure enthusiastic: Math prof (UCSD PhD) who I RAed for, History prof (Harvard PhD) from minor in Hebrew Lang and Lit, Senior Analyst from consulting firm
Research Interests: Environmental and Resource Economics

SOP: Relatively strong I'm told, then again, who's to judge but the adcoms.
Teaching Experience: None at the university level, but tutored for two years during BA at local elementary (math/reading/kickball).
Research Experience: Summer RA in Math dept studying mathematical transformations, Independent Research on Economic Sanctions
Work Experience: Research Analyst for 1+ year at consulting firm doing market/econometric research for the housing industry.


RESULTS:
Acceptances: Maryland AREc, UCSB, Oregon St. ARE, Ohio St. AED, UArizona, Colorado @ Boulder, Riverside, Cornell AEM MS, Davis ARE MS
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, UCLA, UCSD
Pending: USC (don't care)
What would you have done differently?
Applied to some Top15-20 pure Econ programs. Gotten close to Econ profs for LORs (had 0 among my 3). Relieved at the time, my C in RA II killed me. Taken PhD Micro/Metrics in undergrad. Analogous to the job market, two people concurrently aiming for PhDs in different disciplines while wishing to wind up at the same school is beyond sanity. On a brighter note, I believe my SOP was essential at the margin as many programs noted its strength and appeal to their adcoms. Only found this forum after I sent in most of my apps. Glad I obliviously chose Math/Econ major, otherwise I'd be screwed.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
bigleaguechew 2009: Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ / B.S. Math from a top 100 econphd.net public school
Undergrad GPA: 3.5 Overall, 4.0 Econ, 4.0 Math
GRE: 790Q, 610V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: One year of real analysis (A+'s); two quarters each of theoretical linear algebra (A+'s), numerical analysis (A+'s), math prob stat, nonlinear dynamics and chaos; one quarter each of PDE's, abstract algebra and complex analysis

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

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

RESULTS:
Attending: UCSD ($)

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

What would you have done differently?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments: I’m surprised I got so many rejections, but ultimately I am very happy with the final outcome. I really like UVA’s Program and they gave me good funding.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
freecon 2009: PROFILE:

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

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

Other:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments: The undergraduate school's reputation matters a lot. If you cannot change this, try to get strong LOR then.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
LAEconGirl 2009: Undergrad: US Top 100
GPA: 3.93/4.0
Major: History and Economics, Italian minor. Post-bacc work in math at UCLA
GRE: 780Q, 650V, 4.5 A, planning to retak test for 800Q and 5.0+ A; did not study the first time round.
Math: Calc I (A+), Calc II (A+), Calc III (B-), Linear Algebra (B+), Intro to Stats (A). I also plan to take Stats and Probabilty I and II this spring. I would consider taking Real Analysis as well and would appreciate people's feedback on this. I took my math courses after graduation at UCLA as a post-bacc student.
Econ: All required plus major courses in topics such as monetary and fiscal policy, econometrics, public welfare, development and urban economics. A's in all courses except on B+ in monetary and fiscal policy
Research: Undergrad econometrics paper, very basic
Teaching: Private tutor in high school math and economics
Schools considering: NYU MA, LSE MsC, BYU MA, USC MA, Boston University MA, UCLA PhD, Rand Pardee School of Policy Analysis PhD
Other: Female, 24, American residing in Los Angeles
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
roundabout 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: East Asian university(BS in electrical engineering),
another East Asian University(BA - second bachelor's degree - in economics)
Undergrad GPA: 3.4/4.0(1st institution), 3.96/4.0(2nd institution)
Type of Grad: Same university where I got Economics BA degree. MA, Economics.
Grad GPA: 4.0/4.0 (progressing 2nd semester)
GRE: 800Q, 640V, 4.0AWA
Math Courses:
When I was an engineer wannabe: Cal I,II,III(diff. eqn),IV(sort of complex analysis), Dicrete mathematics
Since I became an economist wannabe: Numerical analysis, Probability and statistics, Linear algebra I,II, Analysis I,II(Baby Rudin), Topology I, Real Analysis(measure theory), Real Analysis I(Grad. Level, Big Rudin), Probability theory I(measure theoretic, Grad. level, progressing)
I took way more math classes as an economist wannabe. (It seems a bit weird, isn't it? ;))
Econ Courses: Bunch of them. Some highlights are: Grad. Micro and Macro, Micro theory related seminar class, Grad. Monetary theory, Grad. Econometrics (approx. 20 classes)
Letters of Recommendation: 4 econ and 1 math professors. I'm not really sure how my LoR would seem like :(
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Experience: half year of RA during undergrad(worked on improving lecture material), half year of RA during grad(project related with auction)
Research Interests: Economic theory, Applied microeconomics (For right now, mechanism design and market design stuff.)
SOP: It would be OK. I don't really concern about this one though. Mainly about motivation, interests, highlighted classes and experience which would be helpful for Ph.D. study.
Concerns: LoR - I don't think it would be ugly. However, I have no evidence to believe that the recommenders would write a exceptionally good one.
TOEFL - score on speaking section is terrible due to the lack of practicing(I hate to do this).
Applying to: 10 among top 20, 7 among 20~50 U.S. Econ Ph.D program
Comments: TM has been a great resource for preparing Ph.D study since I've changed my career. I recently joined TM to contribute one sample, which would be my result, so I can pay back what I've earned from here. Let's see what will happen after 4 monthes.
(For those who might recognize me, I want to be remained as an anonymous TMer. Please do not talk to other friends that I posted my profile here. :) )
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:
irancontra 2009: PROFILE:
Type of Grad: BS in Economics Liberal Arts University
Grad GPA: Summa Cum Laude
GRE: 770Q, 630V, 5.0 AWA
Letters of Recommendation: 3 undergraduate econ professors (1 well known)
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: Undergraduate TA
Research Interests: development, resource economics, remittances.
SOP: pretty standard
Concerns: I have been out of academics for 5 years.
Two spent working abroad in development, not the Peace Corps, and 3 in business.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCSB, UCSC
Rejections: ASU
Waiting: Stanford, U Washington, U Oregon, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Riverside (Masters), USC (Masters), UCSD, U Arizona
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: