Index of Schools AnalysisAbout the Site 2012 20112010 20092008 2007all years
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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:

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, letter of recommendation is everything!
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Harvard, Caltech, Rochester, Cornell, PSU, Northwestern, UMinn
  • Institution: CalTech Ph.D. Social Science Decision: Accepted Funding: 28k + tuition + fees Notification date: Feb. 5 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Go Beavers! (No seriously... come on...)
  • Institution: Northwestern University Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 20K Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Hooray!
  • Institution: Harvard Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: Phone Comments: Jeez, my letter of recommendation writers must have REALLY liked me.
  • Institution: Rochester Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/5, Funding: $26,000 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Really attractive offer, hopefully they pass it on to someone else
Rejects:
    Rejections: Princeton, Stanford GSB, Stanford Econ, Berkeley
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Guess I'm not going to Palo Alto
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: UPenn

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:
    Acceptances: UCSD, UCLA, UC Davis ARE, Northwestern, Chicago, Duke, USC, Berkeley, Harvard, Stanford
  • Institution: Duke University Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: will be sent via USPS Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: email with link to applyyourself website
  • Institution: Harvard Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: I don't know and I'm not thinking straight enough to care Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: E-mail from susan athey(I was away from the phone) Comments: I am so happy.
  • Institution: Northwestern University Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Don't know Notification date: 2/27/09 8 AM Notified through: Looked on applyyourself no email yet Comments: I can't believe it
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: funded, but details in the mail Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Comments: woohoo!
  • Institution: USC Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: fellowship and stuff Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I meant to withdraw my application today, but oh well. At least it tempers the MIT rejection...a little
  • Institution: U Chicago Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: USPS Comments: I am out of town so my mother checked the mail late at night.
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Columbia, Brown
  • Institution: MIT Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail Comments: bummed.
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision:Rejected Funding:bah humbug Notification date:March 5 Notified through:E-Mail Comments: I emailed them last week asking them to please withdraw my application from consideration, but I guess they wanted to say "You're not dumping me, I'm dumping you"
  • Institution: Stanford University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected, then Accepted Notification date: 3/6/09 2:50pm for the reject, then 6:15 pm for the admit Funding: details in the mail Notified through: E-mail Comments: WTF
  • Institution: Brown Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/20 Notified through: e-mail Comments: This is the final school I had pending since I withdrew my app from NYU. Final count: 3 rejections, 10 acceptances.
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: nope

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, letter of recommendation 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:
    Acceptances: Caltech($$$), Northwestern(WL$), UCSD(No$), BU($$$), University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign($$), UNC-Chapel Hill (?$), Boston College($$), UW-Seatte(WL$)
  • Institution: Caltech Social Sciences PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 28k fellowship first year, TA/RA next four years Notification date: Feb 5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Still stunned and ecstatic.
  • Institution: UNC Chapel Hill Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Will be decided in March, apparently. Notification date: 2/26/09 11:14 am Notified through: E-mail Comments: Surprised again. It'll take the edge off Athey not calling me too
  • Institution: University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Tuition waiver + fellowship Notification date: 3/09/2009 Notified through: Post
  • Institution: UC San Diego Economics Ph.D. Decision: Admitted (Provisionally) Funding: Not mentioned Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Yay!
  • Institution: BU Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: e-mail Funding:$18700+tution waiver+summer stipend($5000)
Rejects:
    Rejections: Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Chicago, UCLA, Cornell
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/a Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: website Comments: Not surprising, hehe
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Well at least they were snappy about it.
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: email
  • Institution: UCLA Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Heh. Notification date: Today (5 minutes ago) Notified through: E-mail Comments: Man, UCLA really hates me. Second time I've been rejected. Luckily I MUCH prefer Caltech.
  • Institution: Chicago Economics Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/9/09 Notified through: Mail
  • Institution: Harvard Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Postal Service Comments: Letter dated March 13
  • Institution: Cornell University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/6/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Wasn't gonna go here anyway!
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: None! Awesome.

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:
    Attending: Northwestern Admitted, Declined: UPenn
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: ? Application site doesnt say, maybe waitlisted like others? Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: Checked the application website Comments: First one, woohoo
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 25k a year or so, they make it confusing Notification date: March 2 Notified through: e-mail
  • Institution: Chicago Econ PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No funding first 2 years Notification date: April 15, 5:07 pm Notified through: e-mail Comments: I emailed them last week saying they could take me off the waitlist. I figured if I got anything after that it would be a spiteful rejection.
Rejects:
    rejected), Chicago(
  • Institution: Berkeley Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification date: March 2 Notified through: email Comments: Gotta give them kudos for getting rejects out so fast after accepts, but I still gotta say .... damn hippies.
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: e-mail
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/13 Notified through: I e-mailed and asked Comments:If you haven't heard I would recommend e-mailing Marjorie, she replied in short time and said to take one of my other offers (which I didn't say I had any)
  • Institution: Harvard Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Postal Service Comments:
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Princeton(eventually
  • Institution: Princeton Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: 25,750 if admitted Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: They said they are targeting admitting 22-23 people, 15 people are on waitlist and number that get offers varies by year
  • Institution: Chicago Decision: Waitlist Funding: some sort of funding if admitted, but it's unclear Notification date: 3/10 Notified through: snail mail Comment: "In a normal year, I would be offering you admission and financial aid at this time."

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:
    Attending: Going back to Cornell. Admitted, Declined: Northwestern
Rejects:
    Rejected)
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Princeton (Ultimately

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 $)
Waitlists:
UPenn (rejected), Caltech (rejected)
Rejections:
Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Minnesota, Maryland, UCLA Anderson, Harvard, Michigan, NYU, Cornell, Brown
What would you have done differently?
I would have studied harder for the GRE, finished a major in applied math, and applied to UCLA econ.
(Not-so) Fun Facts:
-Not accepted to any Ivy League school (UPenn waitlist)
-Not accepted to any school that used the Embark system (Caltech waitlist)
Attending: Northwestern!
Accepts:
    Acceptances: USC Marshall ($), Duke ($), Northwestern ($), UCSD (No $), Texas (No $), Boston U (No $)
  • Institution: Duke University Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: In the mail Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: email to website Comments: Hoo- and -ray!
  • Institution: Northwestern University Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Doesn't say Notification date: 2/26/09 9:00PM PST Notified through: Checked applyyourself Comments: Take that, Minnesota!
  • Institution: UC San Diego Economics Ph.D. Decision: Admitted (Provisionally) Funding: Not mentioned Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: E-mail Comments: YAY! One of my top choices! Feels good after a whole week of Top 10 rejections
  • Institution: UT Austin Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Dunno... still confused. Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Website Comments: No e-mail...just checked the website. It says: "We're pleased to inform you that you've been accepted to The University of Texas at Austin. We recommend that you contact your graduate adviser as soon as possible. It's a pleasure to welcome you as a graduate student." Although, I did receive an e-mail from Eugenio J. Miravete making a correction to an e-mail he sent earlier regarding the date of the flyout...I never received the first e-mail...
  • Institution: Boston University Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: "Financial Aid Alternate" Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I think getting accepted without aid to schools that are lower on your list than ones you've already been accepted to is absolutely great. You don't feel bad about being rejected, but it doesn't really change the set of schools you have to make a decision on. Will probably decline soon.
Rejects:
    rejected), Caltech (rejected) Rejections: Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Minnesota, Maryland, UCLA Anderson, Harvard, Michigan, NYU, Cornell, Brown
  • Institution: Stanford University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail AND Postal Comments: What a better way to end a week of 5 rejections and 1 wait-list (not to mention 2 problem sets, and a Stat lab report), except with, not only another rejection from my dream school, but the official rejection letter in my mailbox when I come home? YAY!
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Website Comments: Kind of feeling like Northwestern was a fluke...granted, the most AMAZING fluke of my life.
  • Institution: Cornell University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/6/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Not an Ivy-Leaguer
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: UPenn (
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email

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:
    Attending: Berkeley Acceptances, declined: Northwestern, Chicago, Stern, UWM, LSE, TSE
Rejects:
    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 de
Waitlists:
    Waitlists, eventually

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:
    Acceptances: Berkeley, Chicago, Michigan, Northwestern, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, UCSD, Wisconsin
  • Institution: Wisconsin Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: to be worked out if I respond with serious interest in attending Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: email Comments: first acceptance!
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: waitlisted for 1st yr funding; full tuition plus stipend in subsequent years Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: Email with attached pdf Comments:
  • Institution: University of Chicago Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: ?? Notification date: received by mail today Notified through: postal service Comments:
  • Institution: U Penn Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: tuition, fees, health insurance, plus $21,630 stipend for 5 yrs Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: e-mail Comments:
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: ?? Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail Comments: short mass email without any details. official letter of admission and other information will be sent via US mail tomorrow
  • Institution: Princeton Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 28,5k+tuition waiver+TA Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Admitted Notification date: 3/6 Funding: forthcoming Notified through: email Comments :
  • Institution: Michigan Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: ? Notification date: 3/11 Notified through: Email Comments: the offer letter wasn't attached to the email as it should have been. I'm emailing them back about it.
  • Institution: UCSD Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Like the others, no mention. Notification date: 3/11 Notified through: Email
Rejects:
    Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Yale
  • Institution: Yale Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: email directing to website Comments:
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: e-mail Comments:
  • Institution: Harvard Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Postal Service Comments: Letter dated March 13
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Brown
  • Institution: Brown Economics PhD Decision: waitlisted Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: e-mail Comments:

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.
letter of recommendation:
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:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Unknown Notification date: 2/27/09 Notified through: Checked apply yourself @ midnight Comments: Incredibly happy and relieved!!
  • Institution: NYU Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: ~30K 1st / 25K 2nd Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email
Rejects:
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: e-mail Comments:
  • Institution: Princeton Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: There goes the dream.
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: NWU or NYU it is!
  • Institution: UPenn Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail to check website Comments: Didn't give me the pleasure of rejecting them, oh well.
  • Institution: Stanford Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/13 Notified through: Post Comments: My second Stanford rejection!!
  • Institution: U Chicago Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/13 Notified through: Post
  • Institution: LSE Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/30 Notified through: Checked Website Comments: Ha, very interesting considering this was supposed to be a 'safety' of sorts.
Waitlists:
  • Institution: Columbia University Economics, PhD Decision: Waitlist Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail

jnaecker 2009:
Institution: Caltech
Program: Social Science Ph.D.
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 28k plus tuition and fees
Notification date: Feb 5, 4 pm PST
Notified through: Email
Comments:
Institution: UCLA
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Tuition and fees totaling 10,000 in year 1, plus eligible for department supplementary fellowship. Tuition, fees, and living expenses in years 2-4.
Notification date: 2/10/09, 1 pm PST
Notified through: email
Notes: 2 for 2!
Accepts:
  • Institution: Caltech Social Science Ph.D. Decision: Accepted Funding: 28k plus tuition and fees Notification date: Feb 5, 4 pm PST Notified through: Email Comments:
  • Institution: UCLA Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Tuition and fees totaling 10,000 in year 1, plus eligible for department supplementary fellowship. Tuition, fees, and living expenses in years 2-4. Notification date: 2/10/09, 1 pm PST Notified through: email Notes: 2 for 2!
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 20.5 K fellowship Notification date: 2/25/09, 1:22 pm Pacific Time Notified through: Email with attached pdf. Comments: Back to a winning average!
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TBA Notification date: 3/3, 3:43 pm Pacific Notified through: E-mail Comments: short mass email without any details. official letter of admission and other information will be sent via US mail tomorrow
  • Institution: Penn Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: High on waitlist for fellowship Notification date: 3/5, 2:00 pm Pacific Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Admitted Notification date: 3/6, 4 pm pacific time Funding: info coming in letter Notified through: email Comments : hells yeah
  • Institution: UC San Diego Economics Ph.D. Decision: Admitted Funding: Not mentioned Notification date: 3/12, 9:20 am Pacific time Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Wharton Applied Economics Ph.D. Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: Email
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09, 9:30 am Pacific Notified through: Email directing me to status on website Comments: My first rejection.
  • Institution: Stanford GSB Organizational Behavior Decision: Rejected Notification date: 2/23/09 Notified through: Email directing me to status onwebsite Comments: Oh well.
  • Institution: MIT Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3, 12:19 pm Pacific Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5, 11:45 am Pacific time. Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5, 5:00 pm PST Notified through: E-mail directing me to website. Comments: Phooey.
  • Institution: Chicago Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/9 Notified through: Postal service.
  • Institution: Harvard Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Postal Service Comments: Letter dated March 13.
Waitlists:

Econ_applicant 2009:
Institution: UCLA
Program: EconomicsPh.D.
Decision: Accepted
Funding: No stipend or tuition waiver for now, it seems.
Notification date: Feb. 13
Notified through: e-mail
Comments: Financial aid is very important for me, so let`s see how it goes.
Accepts:
  • Institution: UCLA EconomicsPh.D. Decision: Accepted Funding: No stipend or tuition waiver for now, it seems. Notification date: Feb. 13 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Financial aid is very important for me, so let`s see how it goes.
  • Institution: Yale Economics PhDDecision: Accepted Funding: 36.5K Notification date: 2/19 Notified through: e-mail (official letter will come through regular mail) Comments: Oh My GOD!!!So relieved by now...
  • Institution: Northwestern University Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 20K Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Great option to choose from!
  • Institution: Wisconsin Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: to be worked out if I respond with serious interest in attending Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: email Comments: Very kind and honest e-mail.
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Lawrence Klein Scolarhip, almost 29k first year! Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: "Short waitlist" Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Yahooooooooooo!
  • Institution: Princeton Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: , 28k for 5 year! Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: E-mail from Faruk Gul Comments:Great option!!
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Admitted Notification date: 3/6 Funding: info coming in letter Notified through: email Comments :Very Nice!
Rejects:
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Sh%!*%!*t...
Waitlists:

soloakewlstick 2009:
Institution: Yale
Program: Econ Ph.D.
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/20/09
Notified through: Email to check website
Institution: Stanford GSB
Program: EA&P
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/23/09
Notified through: Email to check website
Comments: two in a row... how depressing
Accepts:
  • Institution: Northwestern University Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 20K Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: So relieved!!!
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale Econ Ph.D. Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Email to check website
  • Institution: Stanford GSB EA&P Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/23/09 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: two in a row... how depressing
Waitlists:

zappa22 2009:
Institution: Northwestern
Program: Ph.D. Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Wait-listed for first year funding (funding for subsequent year assured).
Notification date: 2/26/09
Notified through: E-mail
Comments: Received the e-mail half an hour ago.
Accepts:
  • Institution: Northwestern Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Wait-listed for first year funding (funding for subsequent year assured). Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Received the e-mail half an hour ago.
  • Institution: UW-Madison Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No 1st Year Funding Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Email Comments:
  • Institution: BU Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: e-mail Funding:$18700+tution waiver+summer stipend($5000)
Rejects:
Waitlists:

confusedgrad 2009:
Institution: Duke University
Program: Economics, PhD
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: 03/02
Notified through: E-mail
Funding: Will be informed by the department
Comments: Will decline soon.
_ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _
In: Minnesota (fellowship), UCLA (no 1st year funding), Boston College (TA), Duke($?), CEMFI (10K)
Out: Yale
Pending: Many many....
Accepts:
  • Institution: Duke University Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Funding: Will be informed by the department Comments: Will decline soon. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota (fellowship), UCLA (no 1st year funding), Boston College (TA), Duke($?), CEMFI (10K) Out: Yale Pending: Many many....
  • Institution: University of Maryland Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 18K fellowship Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota, UCLA, Duke, Maryland, Boston College, CEMFI Out: Yale, Northwestern Pending: A lot more
  • Institution: Tinbergen Institute Economics, MPhil Decision: Accepted Funding: Full scholarship Notification date: 3/9/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Even though amsterdam is an appealing city, I have to decline the offer...
  • Institution: Goethe University, Frankfurt Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Tuition+stipend Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Email Comments: I do not even know why I ever applied...
Rejects:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Website Comments: i knew it from the very beginning... _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota, UCLA, Boston College, Duke, CEMFI Out: Yale, Northwestern Pending: many more...
  • Institution: Princeton Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comment: Totally expected... _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota, UCLA, Duke, Maryland, Boston College, CEMFI Out: Yale, Northwestern, Princeton Pending: A lot more
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision:Rejected Notification date:March 6 Notified through:E-Mail Comments: My dream school and my dream city has gone. It hurt for the first time... _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota, UCLA, Duke, Maryland, BC, CEMFI Out: Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Northwestern Pending: A lot more...
  • Institution: UPENN Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I am really not sad. The only thing to upset me is the fact that I could not receive even a single acceptance from the top of my list.
  • Institution: Johns Hopkins University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: March 11 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Now this one was really suprising for me...
  • Institution: London Business School Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: March 11 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Two surprising rejections at one night... God, I was at least expecting an interview....
  • Institution: University College London Economics, MPhil/Phd Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: Postal service Comment : seems like i am not type of london...
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: Website Comments: i never wanted this school indeed...
  • Institution: UCSD Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/19 Notified through: E-mail Comments: already expected...
  • Institution: London School of Economics Economics, Mres/Phd (Track 1) Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/30 (?) Notified through: Website... Comments: No e-mail. Just checked the website. This is how far you can go with a pretty weak research proposal. No London for me...
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/15/2009 Notified through: E-Mail Comments: Finally good to know...
Waitlists:

Econ_TCC 2009:
Institution: Northwestern
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Waitlisted
Notification date: 2/26
Notified through: E-mail from Mercedes
Comments: Really hope to get funding!
Institution: U Penn
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: High on waitlist
Notification date: 3/4
Notified through: E-mail
Comments: -
Institution: WUSTL
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 18,000, possibly 30,000
Notification date: 3/5
Notified through: E-mail
Comments: -
Institution: NYU
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Waitlisted
Funding: ?
Notification date: 3/5
Notified through: E-mail
Comments:-
Institution: Columbia, UCLA, Princeton, Yale, Berkeley
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding: yeah, right!
Notification date:
Notified through: E-mail
Comments:
Accepts:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Waitlisted Notification date: 2/26 Notified through: E-mail from Mercedes Comments: Really hope to get funding!
  • Institution: U Penn Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: High on waitlist Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: E-mail Comments: -
  • Institution: WUSTL Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 18,000, possibly 30,000 Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: -
  • Institution: Chicago Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 0 Notification date: 3/11 Notified through: Snail mail Comments:- Completely unexpected. Thought they were done with admissions!
Rejects:
  • Institution: Columbia, UCLA, Princeton, Yale, Berkeley Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: yeah, right! Notification date: Notified through: E-mail Comments:
Waitlists:
  • Institution: NYU Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: ? Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments:-


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:
    Acceptances: UChicago (waiting to hear about funding), UMaryland (18k), Penn State (25k)
  • Institution: Penn State Decision: Accepted Funding: 25k Notification date: Today Notified through: Email Comments: Very happy
  • Institution: UMaryland Economics PhD Decision: Accepted, 18k Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Third admit!
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Columbia, NYU, Brown Total Score: 10-1-3
  • Institution: Northwestern Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: Website Comments:The battle rages on
  • Institution: Yale Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: a few days ago Notified through: E-mail to check website. (Kinda worried that not only top-5 is impossible, but top-10 is a stretch too)
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Comments: They should never complain that I didn't give them a second chance . These days I celebrate the anniversary of the last rejection they sent me!!!
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Another donation to support the top 10 schools
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail directing me to website. Comments: Same sweet letter
  • Institution: Harvard Business School Business Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Letter Comments: Not a surprise...
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Wharton AE

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:
    Acceptances: UCLA, Yale, Berkeley, Brown
  • Institution: UCLA Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: nominated for Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship Notification date: Feb 13, 2009 Notified through: Website, email
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 36.5K altogether Notification date: 2/19/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I am still in shock...
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: no first year funding, then TA Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I almost cried from happiness!
  • Institution: Brown Economics, PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: 19k + summer stipend Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: e-mail (personal) Comments: I will probably decline soon though.
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, NYU
  • Institution: MIT Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: HA! Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail Comments: 20-22 spots, 700 or so applicants
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: U Penn

Canuckonomist 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A (Hons.) Economics, Math Minor with Distinction, Queen's University
Undergrad GPA: Overall: 3.75/4.0, Econ: 4.0/4.0, Math: 3.65/4.0
Type of Grad: M.A Economics, Queen's University
Grad GPA: 3.9/4.0
GRE: 790Q 530V 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-III (A+/A+/B), Linear Algebra (B), Differential Equations (B), Probability (C), Abstract Algebra (B), Statistics (A+), Analysis I & II (B+/B), Stochastic Models in Operations Research (A+)
Econ Courses (MA/PhD-level): Micro (A-), Metrics (A), Money and the Macroeconomy (A), Mathematical Economics (A+), Finance Theory (A+) Continuous-Time Finance (A+), Risk Management (Audit), Cost-Benefit Analysis (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro (A), Macro (A+), Metrics I & II (A/B+), Finance (A+), History (B+), Corporate Finance (A),
Letters of Recommendation: 1 ANU, 1 JHU, 1 Harvard, 1 BU
Research Experience: R.A for three semesters. Co-authoured paper published in REE, 2008. Working paper with same author
Teaching Experience: UG Finance (fall), Tutor for department in mathematics for economists, Micro and stats.
Research Interests: Financial Economics, Micro, Credit
SOP: Working on it all summer
RESULTS:
Attending: University of Toronto ($$$)
Acceptances: Queen's University ($$), BU (no $)
Rejections: Chicago, NWU, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Rochester, Michigan, Minnesota
Pending: Cornell (will withdraw)
What would you have done differently? The only things I could have done differently would have been to start liking math before second year, and to know economics was the thing for me before second year. So really, outside of changing the fabric of my very being earlier in life, all the decisions on the equilibrium path were correct. Very happy to be attending UToronto. Would I be a true Canuckonomist if I didn't do a Ph.D in Canada? I like to think not.
Accepts:
    Attending: University of Toronto ($$$) Acceptances: Queen's University ($$), BU (no $)
  • Institution: Queen's University Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: $25K first year, minimum $20K every year after. Notification date: Feb 18 9:24 AM EST Notified through: Email Comments: First offer. It's nice to have some kind of future. NB: One of the early offers. I imagine they will likely make more.
  • Institution: University of Toronto Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: $27K first year, $23K years 2-4 pending satisfactory progress. Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email with an attached letter Comments: Now that's an offer. Bickety-Bam.
  • Institution: Boston University Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: E-mail Funding: None Comments: It's kind of nice to be in somewhere in the US. The no funding offer makes this one kind of a no-brainer-declining.
Rejects:
    Rejections: Chicago, NWU, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Rochester, Michigan, Minnesota
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Website Comments: Onwards, upwards.
  • Institution: Minnesota Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/a Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: 9 Left, not looking good for NWU.
  • Institution: Northwestern Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: Website Comments: Still needing that one.
  • Institution: Rochester Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: This does not seem like my year at all.
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail directing me to website. Comments: Same letter. Count 'em up.
  • Institution: U Chicago Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: If admitted, funding. Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Post Comments: No worries.
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Website Comment: This is becoming habitual.
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/23 Notified through: e-mail Comments: was just waitin' on that one, really.
  • Institution: Cornell University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/6/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Ditto, Wind up.
Waitlists:
    Pending: Cornell (will withdraw)

treblekicker 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ (Honors I think) and Math Double Major; U.S. Private University ranked 35th overall by US News (the one that isn't a top 20 Econ School)
Undergrad GPA: Overall: 3.65/4.0, Econ: 3.71/4.0, Math: 3.89/4.0 (at time of application)
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 790Q 590V 4.0AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-III (B+/A/A), Linear Algebra (A), ODE (A), Probability (A), Math Stats (A), UG Analysis (A-), Complex Variables (A), Topology (took in the fall, B, did not submit the grade), PhD Analysis (W), Abstract Algebra (currently taking), Intro to Proof Writing (currently taking)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A-), Money and Banking (A-), Labor (B+), Antitrust and Regulation (A), International Trade (A-), Econ Stats I & II (B, A), Metrics (A), PhD Micro (took in the fall, A, did not submit)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 PSU, 1 Duke, 1 UNC; All three knew me very well, two I have had significant research experience with; I am sure all were strong.
Research Experience: Independent Study on Nonparametric Statistics; Senior Thesis on Monetary Policy; Research Assistant for Health Econ.
Teaching Experience: n/a
Research Interests: Metrics Theory
SOP: nothing special
RESULTS:
Attending: University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (Fellowship)
Acceptances: UNC
Rejections: Stanford, Princeton, NWU, Yale, Penn, Columbia, UCSD, Duke, Berkeley
Waitlist: PSU (will withdraw)
What would you have done differently? I knew I wanted to do a PhD early enough that I could have transferred to a Top 15 department. However, I would never in a million years regret staying at my current school. I love my professors and have made some fantastic friends and memories.
I would not have taken the course load that I did in the past fall. I would have taken Financial Calculus and PDEs instead of Topology and PhD Analysis. That way, I would have better grades in the fall (and no W) and I could have gotten the chance to submit my PhD Micro A. That probably would have gotten me into at least one school that I got rejected from, but whatever.
Accepts:
    Attending: University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (Fellowship) Acceptances: UNC
  • Institution: UNC Chapel Hill Econ PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: Will be notified in Mid-March Notification date: Feb 3rd; Feb 13th Notified through: By Email from Econ Dept.; By Mail from Grad School Comments: Hooray!
Rejects:
    Rejections: Stanford, Princeton, NWU, Yale, Penn, Columbia, UCSD, Duke, Berkeley
  • Institution: Duke Econ Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: Feb 18 9:07 AM EST Notified through: Email Comments: Knew a rejection was going to come, but it still stinks.
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Website Comments: Another one bites the dust
  • Institution: Northwestern Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: Website Comments: Same as previous posters. I'm drunk and loren connors is playing so i don't care.
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I never really liked Krugman's Op-Eds anyway
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail directing me to website. Comments: at least they finally got around to sending it out.
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09, 2:45 PM EST Notified through: E-mail Comments: well that was expected.
  • Institution: UPenn Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Come on UCSD, give me your decision so I can be over with this horrible process.
  • Institution: UCSD Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: E-mail Comments: 'bout time.
Waitlists:
    Waitlist: PSU (will withdraw)
  • Institution: PSU Econ PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: ? Notification date: 3/2 Notified through: email Comments: "I am writing to update you regarding your application to the Economics Ph.D. program at Penn State for Fall 2009. Our admissions committee has finished the first-round of evaluations. We have found you to be certainly well qualified for our program but due to the many applications we received, have placed you, for the moment, on our waiting list. We hope to communicate a final decision to you by April 1 once we have a better idea of how many of our first-round of offers are likely to be accepted. In the meantime, please let us know if receive an offer of admission from another university, and whether or not you wish to continue to be on our waiting list."

FilleNouvelle 2009:
I'll post this now, since my decision is not going to be made especially soon, and it could eventually change.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Economics MA (Hons), Scottish University (ranked overall #23 in the world)
Undergrad GPA: 1st Class (distinction), ranked 1 (tied with one other student) out of 98.
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800Q, 580V, 5.5 AWA
Math Courses: Mathematical Methods (A), Applicable Mathematics (A), Linear Algebra (A), self-study of Real Analysis, private tutoring (Economics classes were very math-based as well)
Econ Courses: Everything there was to take, pretty much
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Oxford, 1 Cambridge, 1 LSE (2 with US teaching experience)
Research Experience: Econometrics research papers, senior thesis on convergence
Teaching Experience: TA for Econometrics
Research Interests: Development, Applied Econometrics, IO
SOP: standard
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UNC ($$), UVA ($?), UT-Austin (no $), BU (no $), Michigan (no $, off waitlist)
Rejections: Stanford, Princeton, NWU (initially waitlisted), Columbia, Berkeley, NYU, MIT, Harvard, Cornell (assumed), UChicago
Waitlist: UPenn, Georgetown
Withdrawn: LSE
What would you have done differently? Obviously, when choosing my undergraduate institution, I didn't know I wanted to do a PhD. If I had known, I probably would have chosen a different undergrad. Also, I think staying in the US may have made things a bit easier. My results show that it's very possible to get good results when your institution is international and perhaps not that well-known, but that sometimes schools do not know how to view you. I ended up with 4 waitlists this cycle and a few unfunded admits. Anyway, other than that, wouldn't have done anything differently.
Accepts:
    Acceptances: UNC ($$), UVA ($?), UT-Austin (no $), BU (no $), Michigan (no $, off
  • Institution: UNC-Chapel Hill Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: TBD Notification date: 02/03/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments:
  • Institution: University of Virginia Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: UT Austin Decision: Accepted Funding: Not at this time Notification date: 3/10 Notified through: Email Comment: Fiddlesticks...I love UT, but I need $$!
  • Institution: Boston University Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: E-mail Funding: None Comments: Really needed money...doesn't sound like there's any chance of funding
  • Institution: University of Michigan Programme: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification Date: 31/03/2009 Funding: None Comments: They said their budget makes it 'impossible' to offer me even a tuition waiver. I don't know what to do here.
Rejects:
    Rejections: Stanford, Princeton, NWU (initially
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Couldn't care any less...Berkeley was probably my top choice, but I was drunkenly celebrating handing in my dissertation, so nothing could've knocked me down, lol.
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Good to know
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: check the website Comments: Soooo disappointed
Waitlists:
    waitlist)
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email First waitlist...dunno how I feel about that!
  • Institution: Georgetown Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted for admission Notification date: 3/6 Funding: Full funding if accepted Notified through: email Comments: Gah...admissions make no sense to me!
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics, PhD Decision: Waitlisted Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: Phone Comments: That makes 4 waitlists I've received this cycle...

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, letter of recommendation 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:
    Acceptances: Caltech($$$), Northwestern(WL$), UCSD(No$), BU($$$), University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign($$), UNC-Chapel Hill (?$), Boston College($$), UW-Seatte(WL$)
  • Institution: Caltech Social Sciences PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 28k fellowship first year, TA/RA next four years Notification date: Feb 5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Still stunned and ecstatic.
  • Institution: UNC Chapel Hill Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Will be decided in March, apparently. Notification date: 2/26/09 11:14 am Notified through: E-mail Comments: Surprised again. It'll take the edge off Athey not calling me too
  • Institution: University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Tuition waiver + fellowship Notification date: 3/09/2009 Notified through: Post
  • Institution: UC San Diego Economics Ph.D. Decision: Admitted (Provisionally) Funding: Not mentioned Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Yay!
  • Institution: BU Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: e-mail Funding:$18700+tution waiver+summer stipend($5000)
Rejects:
    Rejections: Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Chicago, UCLA, Cornell
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/a Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: website Comments: Not surprising, hehe
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Well at least they were snappy about it.
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: email
  • Institution: UCLA Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Heh. Notification date: Today (5 minutes ago) Notified through: E-mail Comments: Man, UCLA really hates me. Second time I've been rejected. Luckily I MUCH prefer Caltech.
  • Institution: Chicago Economics Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/9/09 Notified through: Mail
  • Institution: Harvard Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Postal Service Comments: Letter dated March 13
  • Institution: Cornell University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/6/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Wasn't gonna go here anyway!
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: None! Awesome.

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
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:
    Acceptances: Maryland ($),Texas ($) Withdrawn: UC Davis
  • Institution: UT- Austin Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: TBD Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: Email Comments: Relieved!
  • Institution: Maryland - College Park Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: $18+(5K first year)+tuition waiver+health insurance Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Some wiggle room for me!!!
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Yale, Chicago, UPenn, Berkeley, Michigan, NYU, Cornell, Northwestern, UCSD, Brown, Penn State
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Email directing me to status on website. Comments: My first rejection.
  • Institution: PSU Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Good luck!
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Commentsevastated...
  • Institution: MIT Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Good luck, everyone
  • Institution: Princeton Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Don't really care at this point...
  • Institution: UPenn Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail to check website
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: -100$ Notification date: 3/13 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Email to Marjorie
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Website Comment: It is becoming clearer where I am going to be.
  • Institution: Harvard Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: postal Comment: Guess I will not be naming my dog Elle Woods!
  • Institution: Chicago Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: Postal dated Comments: Would not have gone even if I gotten in, whatever....
  • Institution: UCSD Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: E-mail Comments: No surprise at this point
  • Institution: Brown University Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/20 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution nstitution: Cornell Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/14/2009 Notified through: E-Mail Comments: As if I care...JA
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:
    Attending: Virginia Admitted, Declined: Michigan State, Boston College, Florida
  • Institution: University of Virginia Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No word on funding should be last week of march though Notification date: 2/13/2009 Notified through: WEBSITE Comments: ITS MY FIRST ADMIT!!!!!!! Tears in my eyes
  • Institution: University of Florida Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No word but historically fund all candidates Notification date: Feb 18 Notified through: Mail Comments: 2 for 3 so far. Admitted student day March 27th
  • Institution: Boston College Economics Ph.D Decision: Accepted Funding: $$$ 15.6K RAship Notification date: 02/28 Notified through: Email. with a formal letter in the mail
  • Institution: Michigan State Economics Ph.D Decision: Accepted Funding: tuition+health insurance+13.4Kmin TAship Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: email from dept.
Rejects:
    Rejections: Northwestern, NYU, Penn, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maryland, Texas-Austin, Cornell, Duke
  • Institution: Duke Econ PhD Decision: Rejection Funding: I funded their loss endowment Notification date: 2/17/09 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: sigh... Had connections there too...
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/01 Notified through: checked apply yourself Comments: sigh there goes my number one choice
  • Institution: UPenn Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail to check website Comments: sigh.... another rejection
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: Website Comments: soul crushing....
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: E-mail, personalized though eh figured as much
  • Institution: Texas Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/19 Notified through: Website Comments: glad I didnt pick them in my march madness bracket
  • Institution: Cornell Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/15/2009 Notified through: E-Mail Comments: UVA thats all sorry Cornell
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: none

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 ($$), Pittsburgh ($), Ohio State ($), U of Washinton ($), Maryland (stiffed me)
Waitlists: Minnesota, BU
Rejections: Top 10, NYU, Columbia, UCLA, Michigan, JHU, Wharton (but it doesn't count in my mind cuz I hardly showed up for the interview)
Never heard back from: USC (not that I care anymore, but seriously WTF?)
What would you have done differently?
Nothing really. I had a huge black spot on my record with that one atrocious year, and nobody knew how that would affect me. My letter writers were extremely supportive in helping me apply to as many places as I could afford, and cover a broad spectrum of programs. I thought UCSD was a long shot heading into this process, and I am thrilled to be going there. I can honestly say that I would have been happy at just about any of the programs that I was accepted to, and it was incredibly difficult for me to turn down so many attractive offers. Obviously, this is a problem that I am happy to have, but you'd be surprised how gut wrenching it is to turn down a fellowship offer from a school that you had been day-dreaming about attending just a few weeks earlier. Still, I would advise everyone who isn't a superstar with stellar letter of recommendation's to adopt a similar strategy and apply to as many places as you can afford.
Accepts:
    Attending: UCSD ($) Admitted, Declined: Stanford GSB Marketing ($$$$$$$$), Penn State ($$), WUSTL ($), UNC ($/2), UVA ($), Texas ($$), ASU ($$), Arizona ($$), Pittsburgh ($), Ohio State ($), U of Washinton ($), Maryland (stiffed me)
  • Institution: Penn State Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding:24k Assistantship Notification date: Feb 18 Notified through: Email Comments: Suck on that Duke!
  • Institution: Washington University, St. Louis Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Fellowship Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: email
  • Institution: UNC Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: TBA Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: email
  • Institution: Univ. British Columbia MA Decision: Accepted Funding: No word yet Notification date: 3/9 Notified through: email
  • Institution: University of Maryland Decision: accepted Funding: waitlist Notification date: 3/10/2009 Notified through: email
Rejects:
    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)
  • Institution: Duke Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: Feb 18 9:07 AM EST Notified through: Email Comments: Easier to take since I already have some other options.
  • Institution: Northwestern Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: Website Comments: Decision available through ApplyYourself website - not the separate link they sent for decision status.
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Comments:
  • Institution: Chicago Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/9 Notified through: snail mail
  • Institution: NYU-Stern Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: checked website after seeing other posts here (no email)
  • Institution: Wharton Applied Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: randomly checked website Comments: Not at all surprised. I had lost interest in this program prior to my interview, and I pretty much let that be known to them.
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Website
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Minnesota, BU
  • Institution: Minnesota Ph.D. Economics Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: E-mail

boiboi1986 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: Overall 3.91; Math 4.0; Econ 3.92
Type of Grad: -
Grad GPA: -
GRE: 800Q, 690V, 6.0AWA
Math Courses(undergrad): Multi, Diff Eq, Probability, Statistics, Stochastic Processes, Real Analysis I (Taking while applying in the fall), Taking in the spring: Measure Theory + Abstract algebra
Math Courses(PhD): -
Econ Courses: Standard sequence, Public Finance, Experimental Econ, History Econ Thought, Honors Thesis
Other Courses: Liberal artsy stuff
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ (MIT, Yale, both young assistant profs), 1 Math (Stanford fairly senior profs). The math one didn't know me much (took 2 classes with him). The other two I'd done research for, so should've been fairly good.
Research Experience: 2 summers
Teaching Experience: 2 semesters at homework tutoring sessions.
Research Interests: broad
SOP: terrible, i picked a bad topic to write about.
Other:
RESULTS:
Attending: UMich (Ann arbor)
Accepted: UMich ($$ on apr 15th!), Wisconsin (TA$ on apr 15th too!), UC Davis (TA$+Fellow$, but with only a approx 1/2-tuition reduction) [not sure what one $ =?]
Wait List: Upenn, presumably rejected in the end.
Rejections: "Almost everywhere" (top 10 + a few other top 11-20's)
What would you have done differently? a lot. i messed up my applications cuz i did it very last minute, i pretty much did it all over 3 very intense nights before the collective deadline (dec 15). so my SOP was a disaster, apparently i picked the completely wrong topic to write about. and also my letter of recommendation writers didn't have too much time to write it.
In any case, while i was initially quite disappointed, im now very happy to be going to michigan!
Accepts:
    Attending: UMich (Ann arbor) Accepted: UMich ($$ on apr 15th!), Wisconsin (TA$ on apr 15th too!), UC Davis (TA$+Fellow$, but with only a approx 1/2-tuition reduction) [not sure what one $ =?]
  • Institution: UC Davis Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: funding decisions will apparently be made "before the end of march" Notification date: 2/4/09, 4:47pm ET Notified through: Email first, later on website too Comments: also invited me to an open house w/ up to $300 reimbursement.
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No idea! from the looks of it i doubt im getting much funding. all it says is "We are happy to report that the Admissions Committee of the Department of Economics has enthusiastically recommended to Rackham Graduate School that you be admitted to our PhD program. A letter outlining the specific details of this offer is being sent to you shortly. Congratulations!" Notification date: Just checked it this morning (3/17) Notified through: Website
Rejects:
    rejected in the end. Rejections: "Almost everywhere" (top 10 + a few other top 11-20's)
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09, 12:28pm ET Notified through: Email directing me to status on website Comments:
  • Institution: Cornell Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 1/26/09, 11:45am ET Notified through: Email Comments: was pretty shocked to be rejected just 11 days after the deadline
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: Morning 2/25 Checked on website myself, no emails, nada.
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 2/25 4:58pm email
Waitlists:
    Wait List: Upenn, presumably
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification date: 3/4 15:13 ET Notified through: Email

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:

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 ($$), Arizona State ($$)
  • Institution: Arizona State Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TA/RA, $17,500 for 9 months Notification date: Feb 5, Feb 16 for funding Notified through: Website, email
  • Institution: Carnegie Mellon Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: ? Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Website Comments: Hooray.
  • Institution: UT Austin Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: None for now, reevaluated April 15 Notification date: 3/10/09 Notified through: Email Comments: Bummed about funding, but I understand there's a lot less to go around this year.
  • Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Economics, PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: Fellowship for 3 semesters and TAship afterward ($17k) Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: Email Comments: I'm much happier with my options now, but I'm still very disappointed being shut out of the top ten.
  • Institution: University of Minnesota Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TA, $20k, first year teaching duties Notification date: 4/15/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I'm really excited about this! Now I have a decision to make. They want to hear from me by April 17/18. Yikes!
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Berkeley, Yale, Stanford, U Penn, U Chicago, Northwestern (on the
  • Institution: Duke Econ PhD Decision: Rejection Funding: Notification date: 2/17/09 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: I am extremely disappointed. I thought I had a good shot at Duke, and would have been very happy to attend.
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Email directing me to status on website Comments: Crap.
  • Institution: Duke Decision Sciences, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 02/25 Notified through: E-mail Comments: No love from Duke this year. I doubt I would have accepted an offer anyway.
  • Institution: Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-Mail Comments: Uggh
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: email
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email with an attached letter
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I really liked the idea of studying with Kyle Bagwell, but apparently Stanford thinks there are 72 applicants that are better than me. I'm not too happy about that.
  • Institution: U Chicago Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Ha! Notification date: 3/10/09 Notified through: Snaily mail Comments: This is a crappy year to apply
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: check the website Comments: F@%#! There goes my last shot at the top ten. I don't know what more I could have done.
Waitlists:
    waiting list, briefly), Duke Economics, Duke Decision Sciences
  • Institution: Minnesota Ph.D. Economics Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Happy to not be rejected.
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics PhD Decision: Waiting list Funding: No idea Notification date: 3/6 Notified through: E-mail response from Mercedes Comments: This is unofficial and there are several others in this same situation, but I'm so happy to still be in consideration.

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: -

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 dont 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, Im 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, Queens 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 Im happy.
Attending:
Boston University
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Boston University (
Rejects:
    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)
Waitlists:
    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

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:
    Acceptances: U Michigan (off
  • Institution: University of Michigan Programme: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification Date: 31/03/2009 Funding: None Comments: Now 1 for 15!
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Princeton, Chicago, Chicago Booth, Northwestern, Wharton, U Penn, NYU, Columbia, Duke
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: Did Yale and Duke have to be my first two responses?
  • Institution: Chicago Booth Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Getting frustrated ...
  • Institution: Northwestern Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: ApplyYourself Website, No email
  • Institution: Wharton Applied Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Checked website Comments: Probably was my last shot: 800Q, 3.9 GPA, Math/Econ double major, and 3 years at the FRB -- but no graduate school in the Fall. $#@!
Waitlists:
    waitlist, after 0-14 start) Waitlists: NA
  • Institution: Michigan Economics, PhD Decision: Waitlist Notification date: 3/20 Notified through: snail mail Comments: Tease! Just when I got past anger and denial and into acceptance ...

sihnt2307 2009:
profile evaluation
Profile evaluation and advice please!
Undergrad: small but good liberal arts college
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
letter of recommendation: 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:
  • Institution: Duke Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: full tuition waiver and health insurance, no stipend as of now Notification date: 03/02 (Letter was mailed Feb 26th) Notified through: Snail Mail (I guess NC schools have something against emailing me?) Comments: Finally! Also invited to the flyout on March 30-31
  • Institution: Michigan State Economics Ph.D Decision: Accepted Funding: tuition+health insurance+24K (no teaching/ra for yrs 1 and 5) Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: phone call from prof
Rejects:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/01, checked at 2 am central Notified through: checked apply yourself Comments: Yes thats right, I'm that crazy that I check my status at 2 am on a Saturday night.
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!!!
Accepts:
  • Institution: Brown Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: e-mail Comments: fellowship covering tuition fees, health insurance,... + 19K in the first year.
  • Institution: Chicago Econ PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No funding first 2 years Notification date: April 15 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Can't believe it. But where should I take all that money from
Rejects:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: ApplyYourself Website Comments:
  • Institution: Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-Mail Comments:
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments:
  • Institution: Upenn Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: Link on website Comments: After sending them an e-mail, link appeared without any other reply
Waitlists:
  • Institution: U Chicago Economics, PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: If admitted, funding. Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Letter dated 3/06 Comments: Same text as for other wailisted people

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:
  • Institution: Duke Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: details will be sent by mail Notification date: 2/26/09, 11:30 EST Notified through: email Comments: I can breathe now! :-)
Rejects:
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: MIT Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail directing me to website. Comments: at this point, FML! big time
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics, PhD Decision: rejected Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: check the website
Waitlists:
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email with an attached letter
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: waitlisted Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: e-mail

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, 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:
  • Institution: Boston College Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Full tuition + 15.6K RAship Notification date: 03/01 Notified through: E-mail Comments:
  • Institution: Michigan State Economics Ph.D Decision: Accepted Funding: tuition+health insurance+13.4Kmin TAship Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: E-mail with an acceptance letter attached Comments: Very happy, it's good to have options!
  • Institution: Washington University in St. Louis Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Full tuition plus 9K fellowship Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Cornell Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification date: Feb 5th Notified through: E-mail Comments: Expected because they were rejecting a lot of internationals, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: Feb 20th Notified through: Email and website. Comments: T-13 and counting...
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: 0-3 so far...
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Comments:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Website Comments: At least I don't have to wait anymore...
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email with an attached letter
  • Institution: UCLA Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail/attachment Comments: Completely expected by now....
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail directing me to website. Comments: No surprise here...
  • Institution: UPenn Economics PhD Decision: Rejected again Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I had already received an email with an attached letter, now I get an email asking me to check the website!
  • Institution: Maryland Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/13 Notified through: Website Comments: By now, it was completely expected...
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Boston University Economics Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/27 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Finally!
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 ****-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:
  • Institution: University of Washington, Seattle Economics Ph.D Decision: Accepted (Unofficial) Funding: No word, but according to the email "I would be very happy if we could induce you to join us in Seattle." Notification date: 02/27 Notified through: Email from Fahad Khalil, Graduate Program Director. 1.5/5 so far.
  • Institution: University of Maryland - College Park Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/5 Funding: Fellowship $18,000 + Tuition Remission + Health Insurance 1st year, TA years 2-4. Notified through: email Comments: Leverage, maybe?
  • Institution: University of Wisconsin - Madison Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/5 Funding: First-year TAship, continued support for 3 more years with progress. Notified through: email, unofficial Comments: Awesome. I cried a little. Got this today, so Madison can't be totally finished with admits.I am gonna rock the out of this place.
  • Institution: Michigan Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Rackham Merit Fellowship: $2100/month + tuition waiver + health insurance + $4000 summer stipend. Years 2&3 TA, Years 4&5 fellowship. Notification date: 3/11 Notified through: Email Comments: This is it. I finally have at least one offer that I will definitely be happy taking. Also, this is leverage to use against Wisconsin. Now I'm definitely going to be an economist. Wow. EDIT: Removed extraneous text.
  • Institution: UCSD Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No word. According to my friend who went to UCSD, this likely means no guaranteed funding. However, the funding decision normally comes from the department and this email was from the Graduate School. Notification date: 3/11 Notified through: Email Comments: Holy ing this is awesome.
Rejects:
  • Institution: Duke University Economics Ph.D Decision: Rejected Notification date: 02/18 Notified through: Email
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Ph.D Decision: Rejected Funding: Surprisingly, I was offered a $35l/year fellowship to use at a different institution. No, not really. Notification date: 02/20 Notified through: Email.
  • Institution: Northwestern University Economics Ph.D Decision: Rejected Notification date: 02/25 Notified through: Website - checked my status and it was updated. I did not get an email.
  • Institution: Tons of Great Schools (Princeton, UCLA, Columbia, MIT, Berkeley, etc.) Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5, 3/4 or thereabouts Funding: Haha yeah right. Notified through: email Comments: I'm not helping anybody by posting these but I wanted to be transparent - I've done a lot of failing. Comments: Currently 3.5 for 11, 4 to go, plus 6 places that have admitted everyone they want and will reject me when they get around to it. Edit: Formatting up, Wisconsin & Maryland ran together.
  • Institution: UCLA Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: Email
  • Institution: UCLA Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/9 Notified through: Email
  • Institution: UCLA Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/11 Notified through: Postal Service Comments: I get it. You don't want me. Quit sending me . I already got into your superior sister school down in La Jolla, where the weather is warmer, the girls are hotter and the metrics is way better. Eat me.
Waitlists:
  • Institution: University of Minnesota Economics Ph.D Decision: Waitlisted - on the "weak" waitlist. Notification date: 02/24 Notified through: Email.

canadaaplly 2009:
Institution: Duke
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: Feb 18
Notified through: Email
Comments: Who do they think they are?
Accepts:
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Very High on the waitlist. Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email with an attached letter Comments: I'm flying right now.... To the guys who are sure that they wouldn't attend Upenn (The MIT, Harvard people): Please decline your fellowship offers from Upenn.
Rejects:
  • Institution: Duke Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: Feb 18 Notified through: Email Comments: Who do they think they are?
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Email directing me to status on website. Comments: It wasn't a good match anyway...
  • Institution: Cornell Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: Email Comments:
  • Institution: Columbia Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: Was eagerly waiting to receive it.
  • Institution: Northwestern Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/11 Notified through: website Comments: I contacted them last week, and they told me that I was on a waitlist, but now I saw the rejection. Anyway, there is not much difference between rejection and waitlist.
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/13 Notified through: I e-mailed and asked Comments:If you haven't heard I would recommend e-mailing Marjorie, she replied in short time and said to take one of my other offers (which I didn't say I had any)
  • Institution: NYU-Stern Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: e-mail to check the website Comments: I guess I am the first one to be rejected...
Waitlists:
  • Institution: U Chicago Economics, PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: If admitted, funding. Notification date: 3/13 Notified through: Letter dated 3/06 Comments: Same text as for other wailisted people. It's literally my dream school. I really hope to get in....

sappy 2009:
Institution: Yale University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/20/09
Notified through: Website
Comments: first rejection...
Accepts:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Website Comments: first rejection...
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/01 Notified through: checked through apply yourself Comments: D'oh
  • Institution: University of Chicago Decision: Rejected Cost: Pride(ish) Notification date: Today, Letter dated March 6 2009 Notified through: postal service
  • Institution: Cornell University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 7/4/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments:
  • Institution: Boston University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 7/4/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments:
Waitlists:

crime_dog 2009:
Institution: Yale University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/20/09
Notified through: Email to check website
Comments: I love the smell of burnt ego in the morning.
Accepts:
  • Institution: UT Austin Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: looks like yes - more formal details to come Notification date: 3/3/09 Notified through: email Comments: incredibly stoked
  • Institution: Univ. of Rochester Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/6 Funding: Yes ($) Notified through: email Comments: Very happy - great program
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: I love the smell of burnt ego in the morning.
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: phone call to Mercedes Thomas Comments: meh
  • Institution: Cornell Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: email Comments: first American to be rejected - bad omen
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification date: 3/2/09 Notified through: email Comments: expected
  • Institution: MIT Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification date: 3/3/09 Notified through: email Comments: knew this as soon as i clicked 'submit' on the application
Waitlists:
  • Institution: Georgetown Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted for admission Notification date: 3/6 Funding: Full funding if accepted Notified through: email Comments:

macro dude 2009:
Institution: Northwestern
Program: Ph.D. Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -100
Notification date: 2/26/09
Notified through: Checked ApplyYourself Website @ 8am
Only rejects so far... this is not looking good.
Accepts:
  • Institution: Boston College Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 15.6k RAship Notification date: Feb. 28th Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: Duke Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: In the mail Notification date: March 2nd Notified through: E-mail
Rejects:
  • Institution: Northwestern Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: -100 Notification date: 2/26/09 Notified through: Checked ApplyYourself Website @ 8am Only rejects so far... this is not looking good.
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: March 2nd Notified through: E-mail Good luck to everyone! Stay positive!
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: March 3rd Notified through: e-mail Comments: n00b pwnage.
Waitlists:

Jaktu 2009:
Institution: Caltech
Program: Social Science, Ph.D
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 02/27
Notified through: Email
Institution: Penn State
Program: Economics, Ph.D
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 02/25
Notified through: Email
Institution: Minnesota
Program: Economics, Ph.D
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 02/25
Notified through: Email
I miss the days when I was applying to engineering schools. I felt like a king with all the funded offers and flyouts.
Accepts:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Caltech Social Science, Ph.D Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 02/27 Notified through: Email
  • Institution: Penn State Economics, Ph.D Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 02/25 Notified through: Email
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics, Ph.D Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 02/25 Notified through: Email I miss the days when I was applying to engineering schools. I felt like a king with all the funded offers and flyouts.
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: email
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/4/09 Notified through: Website
  • Institution: Rochester Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Not looking good
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Would be sad if I don't get in anywhere. It's not looking good at all .
  • Institution: Chicago Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/9 Notified through: Mail
  • Institution: Maryland Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Website
  • Institution: University of Michigan Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: phone
  • Institution: UCSD Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/19 Notified through: E-mail
Waitlists:
  • Institution: UT-Austin Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Notification date: 3/20 Notified through: E-mail Comments: First non-rejection. Really hoping I will be able to study economics in the fall.

confusedgrad 2009:
Institution: Duke University
Program: Economics, PhD
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: 03/02
Notified through: E-mail
Funding: Will be informed by the department
Comments: Will decline soon.
_ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _
In: Minnesota (fellowship), UCLA (no 1st year funding), Boston College (TA), Duke($?), CEMFI (10K)
Out: Yale
Pending: Many many....
Accepts:
  • Institution: Duke University Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Funding: Will be informed by the department Comments: Will decline soon. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota (fellowship), UCLA (no 1st year funding), Boston College (TA), Duke($?), CEMFI (10K) Out: Yale Pending: Many many....
  • Institution: University of Maryland Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 18K fellowship Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota, UCLA, Duke, Maryland, Boston College, CEMFI Out: Yale, Northwestern Pending: A lot more
  • Institution: Tinbergen Institute Economics, MPhil Decision: Accepted Funding: Full scholarship Notification date: 3/9/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Even though amsterdam is an appealing city, I have to decline the offer...
  • Institution: Goethe University, Frankfurt Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Tuition+stipend Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Email Comments: I do not even know why I ever applied...
Rejects:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Website Comments: i knew it from the very beginning... _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota, UCLA, Boston College, Duke, CEMFI Out: Yale, Northwestern Pending: many more...
  • Institution: Princeton Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/5 Notified through: E-mail Comment: Totally expected... _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota, UCLA, Duke, Maryland, Boston College, CEMFI Out: Yale, Northwestern, Princeton Pending: A lot more
  • Institution: Columbia Economics PhD Decision:Rejected Notification date:March 6 Notified through:E-Mail Comments: My dream school and my dream city has gone. It hurt for the first time... _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ In: Minnesota, UCLA, Duke, Maryland, BC, CEMFI Out: Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Northwestern Pending: A lot more...
  • Institution: UPENN Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I am really not sad. The only thing to upset me is the fact that I could not receive even a single acceptance from the top of my list.
  • Institution: Johns Hopkins University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: March 11 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Now this one was really suprising for me...
  • Institution: London Business School Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: March 11 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Two surprising rejections at one night... God, I was at least expecting an interview....
  • Institution: University College London Economics, MPhil/Phd Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: Postal service Comment : seems like i am not type of london...
  • Institution: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: Website Comments: i never wanted this school indeed...
  • Institution: UCSD Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/19 Notified through: E-mail Comments: already expected...
  • Institution: London School of Economics Economics, Mres/Phd (Track 1) Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/30 (?) Notified through: Website... Comments: No e-mail. Just checked the website. This is how far you can go with a pretty weak research proposal. No London for me...
  • Institution: NYU Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/15/2009 Notified through: E-Mail Comments: Finally good to know...
Waitlists:


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:
    Attending: Minnesota ($$) Acceptances, declined: Carnegie Mellon ($$$), U Texas at Austin ($), U Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ($$), Arizona State ($$)
  • Institution: Arizona State Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TA/RA, $17,500 for 9 months Notification date: Feb 5, Feb 16 for funding Notified through: Website, email
  • Institution: Carnegie Mellon Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: ? Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Website Comments: Hooray.
  • Institution: UT Austin Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: None for now, reevaluated April 15 Notification date: 3/10/09 Notified through: Email Comments: Bummed about funding, but I understand there's a lot less to go around this year.
  • Institution: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Economics, PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: Fellowship for 3 semesters and TAship afterward ($17k) Notification date: 3/18 Notified through: Email Comments: I'm much happier with my options now, but I'm still very disappointed being shut out of the top ten.
  • Institution: University of Minnesota Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TA, $20k, first year teaching duties Notification date: 4/15/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I'm really excited about this! Now I have a decision to make. They want to hear from me by April 17/18. Yikes!
Rejects:
    Rejections: MIT, Berkeley, Yale, Stanford, U Penn, U Chicago, Northwestern (on the
  • Institution: Duke Econ PhD Decision: Rejection Funding: Notification date: 2/17/09 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: I am extremely disappointed. I thought I had a good shot at Duke, and would have been very happy to attend.
  • Institution: Yale University Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/20/09 Notified through: Email directing me to status on website Comments: Crap.
  • Institution: Duke Decision Sciences, PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 02/25 Notified through: E-mail Comments: No love from Duke this year. I doubt I would have accepted an offer anyway.
  • Institution: Berkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-Mail Comments: Uggh
  • Institution: MIT Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/3 Notified through: email
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/4 Notified through: Email with an attached letter
  • Institution: Stanford Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/6/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: I really liked the idea of studying with Kyle Bagwell, but apparently Stanford thinks there are 72 applicants that are better than me. I'm not too happy about that.
  • Institution: U Chicago Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Ha! Notification date: 3/10/09 Notified through: Snaily mail Comments: This is a crappy year to apply
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: check the website Comments: F@%#! There goes my last shot at the top ten. I don't know what more I could have done.
Waitlists:
    waiting list, briefly), Duke Economics, Duke Decision Sciences
  • Institution: Minnesota Ph.D. Economics Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/24/09 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Happy to not be rejected.
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics PhD Decision: Waiting list Funding: No idea Notification date: 3/6 Notified through: E-mail response from Mercedes Comments: This is unofficial and there are several others in this same situation, but I'm so happy to still be in consideration.

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:
  • Institution: University of Virginia Economics PhD Decision: Admit Funding: TBA? Notification date: 2/18/2009 Notified through: Website Comments: Anyone know of their funding schedule?
  • Institution: Washington University, St. Louis Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Fellowship Notification date: 2/25/09 Notified through: email. By coincidence, I am actually in STL this week and I was studying in their library yesterday. The campus and facilities are top notch!
  • Institution: Duke University Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: details in the mail Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Long enough in limbo???
  • Institution: UW-Madison Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No first year funding Notification date: 3/12 Notified through: Email
  • Institution: Cornell Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Sage Fellowship Notification date: 3/13 Notified through: Email Comments: jeepers, I'm happy!
  • Institution: University of Illinois - UC Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Fellowship Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: Snail Mail
  • Institution: University of Michigan Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Notification date: 3/17 Notified through: website Funding: details in the mail.
Rejects:
  • Institution: UC Snerkeley Economics, PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 03/02 Notified through: E-mail Comments: My grandpa will be happy...he's an old school nuclear engineer, and every time I mentioned Berkeley on my list he would say something about those damn hippies!
Waitlists:
  • Institution: Northwestern Decision: Waitlisted Notification date: 3/9 Notified through: email Comments: joining the club!
  • Institution: Brown Economics, PhD Decision: Waitlist Notification date: 3/16 Notified through: e-mail Comments: Said they fund everyone and sort of implied they are expecting some people to turn them down, so I plan to to check them out while I am up visiting Cornell.
Admit summary statistics:
As submitted and recoreded from Test Magic:
There were 15 accepted out of 43 applicants.Of those accepted, average GPA was 3.83, average GREQ was 795.6.
From the Department webpage in 2010 (please send me a link if this is wrong!)
Most successful applicants to our program have math and analytic GRE scores above the 90th percentile. Applicants receiving financial aid generally have math and analytic GRE scores above the 95th percentile. The Graduate School indicates that scores on the verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE should typically be well above 600, and the analytical writing section score should be above 5 on the 6-point scale. These scores do not represent rigid requirements, and many applicants with lower scores have been accepted and given financial aid because of other outstanding characteristics, such as superb reference letters or excellent performance as undergraduates...The program receives approximately 600 applications each year. Each year, the department's entering class is about 18 to 25 students.
(Source)

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Last Updated: 14:57:51, Fri May 11, 2012