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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.

Dr. Who 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Big state school
Undergrad GPA: 3.2 BES
Type of Grad: MBA (2008) and MA Economics (anticipated 2009)
Grad GPA: 3.98 MBA, 3.97 MA
GRE: 770Q, 680V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Recent math GPA (3.78) all taken in my spare time while in MBA and summer. Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Grad Math Stats, Grad Real Analysis
Econ Courses (MA level): Micro, Math Econ, IO, Econometrics I & II, Macro, Environmental, some other electives, and finance courses
Econ Courses (undergrad): Macro and mirco only (took as prereq’s for the MA)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ from masters and 1 math
Research Interests: Labor and HR, IO, Business economics
SOP: probably adequate
Research Experience: GA for economic forecasting shop
Concerns: MBA to Econ, older than your average student, less math than some
Attending: WUSTL
Accepted: Missouri ($), CU-Boulder ($WL), Indiana (no $), WUSTL ($)
Waitlisted: WUSTL (with $ if accepted), Vanderbilt
Rejections: Northwestern, UMich, MSU
Never heard so assumed rejection: OSU and UIUC
What I would have done differently: I should have spent more time on my SOP. I think for someone like me, who is older, it could have made all the difference in the world, especially on funding decisions. It was a lot harder than I anticipated talking about myself and articulating my goals. Also, I don’t think I did a very good job matching myself up to programs strengths.
If you are in school, take a lighter load in the spring semester. Dealing with school decisions has been a HUGE time waster and I haven’t been able to concentrate for months.
I didn’t appropriately account for the economic downturn…My reaches were unattainable and seeing the decline, I should have added in a couple more safeties. Also, I should have taken more care with the safety choices. Out of the top 50 it gets a lot harder to get good info on the programs. For my interests I think KY and WY would have been solid.
Advice: For older candidates…don’t let people intimidate you into thinking there is a “ceiling” on how old you can be when you go back to get your PhD. You might not get into the top 5, but top 50 is achievable.
Find advisors that are familiar with the PhD process and what it takes to get in to a good school TODAY. My school does not grant PhD’s in business/econ and I found my advisors to be out of touch with the process. Hunt down the newer faculty and hit them up for advice.
I think the recent math background was crucial in my outcomes. Take the math. It’s never wasted.
When I returned to school, I had no idea I would end up following this path. If you are planning on a terminal masters, choose your graduate institution carefully. It will make things easier just in case you decide to continue your education.

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.

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.

italos 2009:
In this thread please post only your results.For further comments please refer to other threads in the forum
Institution:
Program:
Decision:
Funding:
Notification date:
Notified through:
Comments:

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:

sunshine88 2009:
Institution: George Washington University
Program: Economics MA
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: 3/26/09
Notified through: Website
Comments: Submitted application on 2/25/09

3ohto4oh 2009:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, large top 25 U.S. Public research university
Undergrad GPA: 3.0 (rounding up LOL)
Type of Grad: M.A. Economics, terminal degree within department
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 790Q, 570V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II (AP credits), Math Stats (A), Discrete Math (A), Math for econ (undergrad and grad, A, A)
Econ Courses: Tons. Sloppy undergrad grades, All A's in MA.
Other Courses: Random stuff like Japanese
Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors of econ
Research Experience: MA thesis, submitted for publication (fingers crossed!)
Teaching Experience: Tutoring
Research Interests: Macro, applied macro, forecasting.
SOP: Suggested a couple of potential research topics.
Concerns: No serious math courses hurt me in applications, could make things more difficult in my studies.
RESULTS:
Attending: City University of New York, Graduate Center. $18k "Enhanced Chancellor's Fellowship," guaranteed for 5 years.
Admitted, Declined: American U ($-WL), Northeastern U ($$), Suffolk U ($), and the New School ()
Waitlists: Boston C, U Washington, U North Carolina, Georgetown U
Rejections: Johns Hopkins U, U Maryland, Boston U, George Washington U, Michigan U
What would you have done differently?
Very happy with this outcome. I spread my applications far and wide, so I am sure that I got into the best program that I could have - and then I fell in love with CUNY on a campus visit. As for advice to others, I have a huge hole in my transcript where there should have been upper-level math courses, and I should have corrected that.

EconJames 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: International students. Good university in my home country but not well known.
Undergrad GPA: Major in Econ, minor in Math, GPA 3.8
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q 570V 4.0A
Math Courses: Mathematical analysis, Advanced algebra, Numerical analysis, Analytical Geometry, ODE, Real analysis, Complex analysis, Functional analysis, Probability theroy, Mathematical statistic, Dynamic optimization, Stochastic process
Econ Courses: many, all basic courses including intermediate marco,micro,metrics.
Grad Econ Courses: Advanced macro, Game theory, Advanced finance
Letters of Recommendation: Not famous professors, but know me well
Research Experience: Two papers published in domestic journals
Teaching Experience: No
Research Interests: Macro
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UMN, JHU, OSU, UBC, IOWA, IUB, ASU
Waitlists: Princeton UPenn (rejected on April 15)
Rejections: UCLA, UCSD, Michigan, Cornell, WUSTL, Rochester, Duke, CMU
What would you have done differently? Perhaps attend a MA first. Or maybe should prepare a paper with a DSGE model.
Comments: The undergraduate school's reputation matters a lot. If you cannot change this, try to get strong letter of recommendation then.

ecuaecon 2009:
Type of Undergrad: international student with a a degree from a local university
Type of Grad: MS econ from a mid-size private american university
Undergrad GPA: 3.6/4
Graduate GPA: econ 3.6, econ + math 3.4
GRE: 770Q, 470V, 4.0 AW
Math Courses: Calculus I, II, III. Statistisc I, II. Linear Algebra. Math for econ (undergrad and grad). Advanced Calculus (Analysis). Not so great grades
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro (A-) and econometrics (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ profs (graduated at UT, Brown, Cornell), I think these will be good recommendations.
Research Experience: RA for a professor, RA local central bank, master's thesis
Teaching Experience: instructor (econometrics)
Research Interests: Institituions, Econ history, behavioral econ
Concerns: I don't have a 800-gre, not so great grades for math courses
Applying to: Caltech, Michigan, Maryland, WUSTL, Barcelona School of Econ, Warwick, Oxford, European University Institute, Queen's, British Columbia, Toronto.

bellman 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: top uni in my country in south asia, unknown outside. BSc Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.87 Overall, 3.97 Econ, 3.82 Math
Type of Grad: MA Economics (on-going, top prog in Canada)
Grad GPA: Average 85%
GRE: 790Q, 730V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I (A-), Calc II (A), Vector Calc (A-), Linear Algebra (A), Probability (A), Statistics (A), Adv Stats (A) , Real Analysis (B+), Functional Analysis (B+), Set Theory (A-), ODEs (A), Number Theory (A-), OR-I (A)
Econ Courses (grad institute): Micro(MA) (B+) (this is gonna hurt me alotttt), Macro(MA) (A+), Econometrics(MA) (A+), Math for Econ(MA) (A),
Econ Courses (undergrad institute): Micro-I, II, grad (A+, A, A), Macro I, II, grad (A+,A, A), Econometrics I,II,grad (A+,A, A+), Adv Game Theory (A), Adv Math Econ (A) and various other courses of undergrad level.
Letters of Recommendation: diff combo of profs 2 from masters and 2 from undergrad prog.
Research Interests: Applied Econometrics, Labor, IO
SOP: Was told to not exceed one page by my referee. standard I'm sure
Teaching Experience: TA for econometrics for an entire year at my undergrad institute. currently TAing at my grad school but wasnt able to include this in my app file.
Concerns: My B+s in real and functional plus esp my B+ in grad Micro are gonna hurt me big time. its strange how one bad day can jeopardize things so badly.
Applying to: Yale, Michigan, Austin, Cornell, Wisconsin, Duke, Virginia, WUSTL, Rochester, Vanderbilt, Queens, UWO, Maryland, Minnesota
Rejections: Cornell, Duke, Yale

buckykatt 2009:
Institution: Caltech
Program: PhD Social Sciences
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/27/09
Notified through: Email
Comments: Not really a surprise. I wish I had done a better job on my application so I'd know it wouldn't have made a difference, though.

econominee 2009:
Institution: Columbia
Program:Economics PhD
Decision:Extreme unwillingness to accept
Funding:-Application Fee
Notification date:March 5
Notified through:E-Mail
Comments: I have no idea why I applied to Columbia. I wish I had used the application fee to apply to somewhere else. This is the second rejection which further brought me down. I also contacted Rice and they told me that they already made the first rounds and they would wait till April 15th for the second round. In short, two official and one unofficial rejections so far!

rafos 2009:
Institution: UNC-CH
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Decisions by mid-march
Notification date: 3/6
Notified through: Letter by E-mail
Comments: Dont know what to do... Need to answer to the SSE offer by next Tuesday...

Nebuchadrezzar 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: european, gpa scale
Undergrad GPA: 3.8/4.0
Type of Grad: european masters
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800 q, 440 verbal, 4.0 awa
Math Courses: calculus 1, 2, 3, diff eq, real analysis 1 2, topology, lin alg
Econ Courses: int mic, int mac, labor, game theory, io, phd micro 1 2, phd macro 1,2 , phd metrics 1, 2, optimization
Other Courses: -
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from home inst, at least 2 of them should be good
Research Experience: term paper, honors thesis
Teaching Experience: ta in several courses
Research Interests: micro-macro theory, game theory
SOP: standard sop summarizing my profle
Other: -
RESULTS:
Acceptances: rochester($), wisconsin(no $), michigan($)
Waitlists: wustl
Rejections: harvard, mit, chicago, nw, upenn, nyu, columbia, stanford, berkeley, caltech, cornell, yale, princeton...!!
Pending: -
going to: university of michigan
What would you have done differently?
i could study more in masters and send my transcript and get a letter of recommendation from there maybe. i don't know if that would help with the top 10. but i am happy to go to michigan!

Dr. Who 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Big state school
Undergrad GPA: 3.2 BES
Type of Grad: MBA (2008) and MA Economics (anticipated 2009)
Grad GPA: 3.98 MBA, 3.97 MA
GRE: 770Q, 680V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Recent math GPA (3.78) all taken in my spare time while in MBA and summer. Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Grad Math Stats, Grad Real Analysis
Econ Courses (MA level): Micro, Math Econ, IO, Econometrics I & II, Macro, Environmental, some other electives, and finance courses
Econ Courses (undergrad): Macro and mirco only (took as prereq’s for the MA)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ from masters and 1 math
Research Interests: Labor and HR, IO, Business economics
SOP: probably adequate
Research Experience: GA for economic forecasting shop
Concerns: MBA to Econ, older than your average student, less math than some
Attending: WUSTL
Accepted: Missouri ($), CU-Boulder ($WL), Indiana (no $), WUSTL ($)
Waitlisted: WUSTL (with $ if accepted), Vanderbilt
Rejections: Northwestern, UMich, MSU
Never heard so assumed rejection: OSU and UIUC
What I would have done differently: I should have spent more time on my SOP. I think for someone like me, who is older, it could have made all the difference in the world, especially on funding decisions. It was a lot harder than I anticipated talking about myself and articulating my goals. Also, I don’t think I did a very good job matching myself up to programs strengths.
If you are in school, take a lighter load in the spring semester. Dealing with school decisions has been a HUGE time waster and I haven’t been able to concentrate for months.
I didn’t appropriately account for the economic downturn…My reaches were unattainable and seeing the decline, I should have added in a couple more safeties. Also, I should have taken more care with the safety choices. Out of the top 50 it gets a lot harder to get good info on the programs. For my interests I think KY and WY would have been solid.
Advice: For older candidates…don’t let people intimidate you into thinking there is a “ceiling” on how old you can be when you go back to get your PhD. You might not get into the top 5, but top 50 is achievable.
Find advisors that are familiar with the PhD process and what it takes to get in to a good school TODAY. My school does not grant PhD’s in business/econ and I found my advisors to be out of touch with the process. Hunt down the newer faculty and hit them up for advice.
I think the recent math background was crucial in my outcomes. Take the math. It’s never wasted.
When I returned to school, I had no idea I would end up following this path. If you are planning on a terminal masters, choose your graduate institution carefully. It will make things easier just in case you decide to continue your education.

brettm84 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: U.S. Large Public University, maybe top 150 econ. B.A. Philosophy and History (2007), B.S. Economics (2008)
Undergrad GPA: 3.96/4.00 (4.00 Econ and Math)
Type of Grad: 1 yr. masters at same university as undergrad.
Grad GPA: 3.70/4.00
GRE: 780Q, 630V, 5.0 AW
Math Courses: Undergrad: Calc. 1-3, Linear Algebra, ODE, Intro to statistical methods (I & II), finite math, discrete math.
Graduate: Probability theory (B), Intro to stochastic processes (in progress)
Econ Courses: The usual undergraduate classes.
Graduate Econ Courses: Math for Economics (A-), Micro theory I (A), Macro theory (A), Econometrics (A), Micro theory II (in progress), Econometrics seminar (in progress), Monetary Economics (in progress).
Other Courses: the first 75% of my transcript is largely irrelevant (mostly philosophy and history courses).
Letters of Recommendation: All 3 from econ professors. Only 1 is from someone who is active researching/publishing.
Research Experience: none
Teaching Experience: grader/TA for math department.
Research Interests: macro, development, financial
SOP: straightforward and informative. I am uncomfortable saying anything nice about myself, so it may have been too "humble".
Other: My undergraduate career got off to a rocky start, and includes being suspended for disciplinary reasons. I included an explanation of the "incident" in each application. Six years having elasped probably reduced the negative impact. UNC, however, did make me pay for a criminal background check.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UNC($), Duke (Tuition only), UVA (no $), Univ. Wash. (no $)
Waitlists: WUSTL
Rejections: UPenn, Yale, JHU
Pending:
Attending: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
What would you have done differently? I have only been doing economics for a year and a half, and my pre-econ career included no math, so my record is limited. Obviously, if I had decided to pursue a PhD in Econ earlier, I could have done more to improve my application. I should have chosen my reach schools from a little further down the rankings, since it probably took Upenn and Yale all of 2 min to toss my application in the trash. When I submitted the applications I gave myself a 1hance to get into Upenn and Yale, a 10hance for JHU and Duke, and 50 0.000000or the rest, so E[# of acceptances]=2.22. I exceed my expectations so I am very happy, and I'm sure I'll love UNC.

SeabrookSpecial 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Econ and Math (Double Major), Top 40 Undergrad and Econ (U.S. News)
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4 CGPA, 3.8 Econ, 3.9 Math
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800Q, 710V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc II &III, Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra at UG & Grad levels, Probability, ODE (A's), Real Analysis (A-), Complex Analysis(B)
Econ Courses: MicroTheory (A-), MacroTheory(A), Stats and Econometrics (B+), Advanced Econometrics (A-) Bunch of upper level electives (A's)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ, 1 Math, all senior faculty
Research Experience: 2 semesters as an RA, random term papers.
Teaching Experience: n/a
Research Interests: Micro Theory and IO
SOP: A yawner
Concerns: B+'s in Stats and Econometrics, no math stats (taking this semester), B in Complex, unsure how good my letter of recommendation's will be. Somewhat low AWA score.
Other: I got really good grades in history, philosophy, and english
Applying to: BC, CalTech, Chicago, Columbia, Duke, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, NWU, Penn, WUSTL, Yale... Some MA's: LSE, Queen's, Toronto, UBC