Index of Schools AnalysisAbout the Site 2012 20112010 20092008 2007all years
The chart will appear within this DIV. This text will be replaced by the chart.
Most Recently Selected profile:

The data below comes from testmagic forums and shows accepted, waitlisted, and rejected applicants for 2010 for economics graduate school. Clicking on points in the graph above will make the most recent profile appear in the space below the graph.


Acceptances:

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:
    Attending: BU ($$$) Acceptances, declined: UMD ($$$), JHU ($$), Brown, LSE-MSc, UPF-MSc ($$$)
  • Institution: U of Maryland Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TAship Notification date: Notified through: Comments: it is an unofficial notification. They have notified one of my professor through e-mail.
  • Institution: JHU Econ PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: full tuition waiver Notification date: Notified through: Comments: they have notified my professor through e-mail
  • Institution: BU Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: e-mail Funding:$18700+tution waiver+summer stipend($5000)
  • Institution: LSE Programme: MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics (1 yr) Decision: Accepted Notification Date: 31/03/2009 Funding: None Comments: After rejecting for Phd just on website ten days ago, this time they notified through e-mail.
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Yale, UCLA, UPenn, Northwestern, NYU, UCSD
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: e-mail Comments: not suprising
  • Institution: LSE Economics, PhD MRes (Track 1) Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: web-site (no email) Comments: They should have sent an email to be more polite
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Brown funding list
  • Institution: Brown Economics PhD Decision: waitlisted Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: e-mail Comments:

rvalchev 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small private school. First tier according to US News but dead last in that tier
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 ($$$),
Waitlists: Duke funding waitlist, BU funding waitlist, Princeton Waitlist, Texas Waitlist, Michigan waitlist
Rejections: MIT, Princeton (rejected from waitlist), Berkeley, Yale, Harvard, UPenn, Chicago, UCSD, Penn State, Boston College, Cambridge
What would you have done differently? First, read jeeve's thread about suggestions for people from less known undergrads (it was impossible since it was not written until a couple of days ago, but that's what future people should do). Second, apply to NYU, Columbia and Northwestern (but most probably I would have only taken Northwestern over Duke. But still, my portfolio of schools was a little unbalanced). Third, write a much, much better SOPs that would be much better tailored to different schools. You'll be surprised how much SOPs matter (heard it directly from admissions directors at TOP10 and TOP20 schools).Fourth, don't get RA positions that are in the network of your schools and professors because you are already part of this network, so it doesn't add much to your profile. Go out and work for somebody different.
Accepts:
    Attending: Duke ($$$) Acceptances, declined: Wisconsin ($$$), Cornell ($$$), Ohio State( $$$), UNC -Chapel Hill ($$$), Michigan State ($$$), Pitt ($$$), Tinbergen Institute ($$$), LSE EME (Research), Oxford MPhil, Michigan (no $), Texas(no $), USC ($$$),
  • Institution: Purdue University Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No word Notification date: Feb 18 Notified through: Email Comments:
  • Institution: U of Pittsburgh Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Fellowship Notification date: Feb 18 Notified through: Email and mail Comments: It's been a really good day
  • Institution: Wisconsin-Madison economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Fellowship Notification date: 2/21/09 Notified through: Email Comments: I still can't believe it ...
  • Institution: Duke Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Tuition waiver and on the waitlist for a stipend Notification date: 02/27 Notified through: Mail Weird, they rejected me via the online application earlier this week. Very quick turn around.
  • Institution: Michigan State Economics Ph.D. Decision: Accepted Funding: TAship Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Hey at least I am on 1-1 for the day.
  • Institution: Cornell University Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 21,400 fellowship + 4,400 in summers ...crazy Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Sweet deal
  • Institution: Tinbergen Economics MPhil Decision: Admitted Notification date: 3/9 Funding: 975 Euros/month + Tuition Notified through: email
  • Institution: Boston U Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: E-mail Funding: -"alternative funding applicant" Comments: hey i got one Boston School, even if unfunded
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Princeton (rejected from
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: Who would have known ... rejection stinks
  • Institution: PSU Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Good luck to everybody else !
  • Institution: Duke Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I was kinda hoping I was out of the woods but oh well.
  • Institution: Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-Mail Comments:Another one bites the dust. 0-2 on TOP10 programs.
  • Institution: MIT Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail Comments: MIT and Berkeley at least notify all at the same time.
  • Institution: UCSD Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/19 (Official letter) Notified through: E-mail Funding: -Nada Comments: what can you do
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Duke funding waitlist, BU funding waitlist, Princeton Waitlist, Texas Waitlist, Michigan waitlist
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: 25,750 on the off chance I get in Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: At least one TOP10 school thinks I am somewhat worth it
  • Institution: U of Michigan Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Notification date: 3/19 (Official letter) Notified through: Mail Funding: -Not mentioned Comments: Interesting
  • Institution: UT-Austin Economics Ph.D. Decision: Waitlisted Notification date: 3/20 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Really rocking those waitlsts this year

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...
Accepts:
    Acceptances: MIT, Tinbergen, LSE MSc EME (Research), Tilburg MPhil (2nd year), Uppsala (it was never official, though, as I withdraw my application)
  • Institution: LSE MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics (Research) Decision: Accepted Funding: I haven't applied for it yet Notification date: 28/Jan/2009 Notified through: LSE for You Comments: I am a living proof that someone from an unknown university and with relatively unknown letter of recommendation writers can get at least one excellent admit. This is unbelievable! An update to my funding situation: I didn't get any money at least from GSS.
  • Institution: Tilburg MPhil in Economics (2nd year) Decision: Accepted Funding: The decision is made later. Notification date: 18/FEB/2009 Notified through: Email Comments: I applied to the 1st year of the programme but was accepted to the 2nd year. I'm not sure whether that's actually a good thing for me or not .
  • Institution: MIT Economics Ph.D Decision: Accepted Funding: They congratulated me for my external scholarship and promised to consider me for additional aid once they know what this scholarship covers. Notification date: 3/2 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I've never been happier, honestly!
  • Institution: Tinbergen Institute Economics MPhil (+ PhD) Decision: Admitted Notification date: 3/9 Funding: Full scholarship Notified through: E-mail
Rejects:
    Rejections: Princeton, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, U Michigan, UCL MSc
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics Ph.D Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 3/2 Notified through: E-mail Comments: This was expected.
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 3/4/09 Notified through: Website Comments: -
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: Website
  • Institution: UCL MSc Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: April 21 Notified through: Postal mail
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: -

desemejante 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics from Top 5 European
Undergrad GPA: Predicted 1st class honours
Math Courses: Courses covering: Single and Multivariate Calculus, Analysis, Statistical Theory, Econometrics
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Advanced Micro, Advanced Macro, Industrial Economics, Economic Theory (Game Theory, Information Economics, General Equilibrium, Decision Theory)
Other Courses: Finance, Accounting
Letters of Recommendation: 2, both from Tutors, should be solid!
Research Experience: none
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Micro Theory and IO
SOP: Good
Applying to: LSE MSc, UCL MSc, Oxford MPhil, potentially Bocconi & Cambridge
Accepts:
  • Institution: LSE MSc Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: - (didn't apply for any) Notification date: 01/28/09 Notified through: LSE for you Comments: My top choice!
  • Institution: UCL (University College London) MSc Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: - (didn't apply for any) Notification date: 12/16/08 Notified through: Regular Mail Comments: My first offer!
  • Institution: University of Oxford MPhil Economics Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/19 Notified through: postal Comments: conditional of first class honours
Rejects:
Waitlists:

JohntheExistentialist 2009:
Institution: LSE
Program: PhD Finance
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 13k GBP
Notification date: 2/28/09
Notified through: email
Comments: First funded offer! So happy, excited, and relieved after series of rejection. Good luck to all!
Accepts:
  • Institution: LSE Finance Decision: Accepted Funding: 13k GBP Notification date: 2/28/09 Notified through: email Comments: First funded offer! So happy, excited, and relieved after series of rejection. Good luck to all!
Rejects:
Waitlists:


Rejections:


Waitlists:
Admit summary statistics:
As submitted and recoreded from Test Magic:
There were 5 accepted out of 5 applicants.Of those accepted, average GPA was 3.95, average GREQ was 800.0.
No link to department posted statistics has been added, please let me know if these exist and I will add them.

Links:
Test Magic Econ Forums
econphd.econwiki.com
Last Updated: 14:57:51, Fri May 11, 2012