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thegunners 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Engineering. Top university in my country (Asia) and quite reputed worldwide.
Undergrad GPA: 7.73/ 10
Type of Grad: MS in Economics from a very well-known institution in my country.
Grad GPA: 82% (class rank 2)
GRE: Q800, V620, AWA 6.0
Math Courses: Math 1 & 2 (Consists of calculus, vector calculus, numerical methods), Transform calculus, ODE and PDE, Real Analysis, Linear Algebra
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro, macro, econometrics, stats, game theory etc etc.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level):
Other Courses: none relevant
Research experience: Worked with a professor at a reasonably well-known European university over the summer of 2009. Worked on political economy. Produced a writing sample.
Working as an RA since June, 2010. Working on experiments.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Game theory profs - very well known. Very famous. 1-from the prof I worked with over the summer of 2009. He is quite famous too.
Teaching Experience: None.
Research Interests: Micro theory, political economy, social choice theory.
SOP: standard
Concerns: Low undergrad GPA. Less math courses in undergrad.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UPenn (with 1st yr funding waitlist), LSE, Penn State
Waitlists: Princeton, NYU
Rejections: Yale, Duke
What would you have done differently? If I had known long ago, the importance of math courses, then I would have taken more at the undergrad level. But apart from that there is very little that I think I did wrong. However, if there was something that I could have done to counter some unfortunate events that affected my application (I can't talk about them here), tough though it was, I could have worked a bit harder on producing a research material of a better quality. I think if your recommenders are well connected, impressing them with a stunning research work would boost your chances significantly. That's a very subjective thing though.

FromTheHip 2011:
Well, time to throw out my profile, which I suspect will make my results a source of hope for many with mediocre undergraduate GPAs.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS in a science field at a highly-ranked U.S. university
Undergrad GPA: 3.34/4
Type of Grad: Part time classes at a top-5 econ program
Grad GPA: 4.0/4
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 4.5AW
Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A), Multivariable Calculus (A), Vector Analysis (B), Differential Equations (A-), Real Analysis (B+)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Two semesters of core micro (A/A), both grades near the top of the class
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A-), Intro Macro (A-), Intermediate micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A-), Two term theoretical econometrics course (B/B+)
Other Courses: A lot of very quantitative science courses.
Letters of Recommendation: All three were economists with tenure at a top-5 econ program and PhDs from top programs. One was a professor from my core micro who talked about my coursework, while another was my long-time boss (see below). The third worked as my advisor on an independent project.
Research Experience: Two years as an RA and an independent research project (still ongoing).
Research Interests: Resource/environmental, development, game theory, IO. Statement focused on resource, game theory, and development.
SOP: Fairly long. I’ve spent some time outside of undergrad and was not an econ major, so I spent a bit of time explaining how I’d come to be interested in economics and putting my non-economics accomplishments into context.
Other experience: Several years work experience before starting my economics career
Concerns: Non-economics background, low undergraduate grades
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Cornell (no $), Georgetown ($), Iowa State ($),LSE ($), Penn State ($), Rochester ($), UC-Davis ($), UC-San Diego ($), UC-Santa Barbara (no $), University of British Columbia ($), University of Colorado ($), UPenn (initially wl for $, then $), University of Wisconsin ($), Yale ($).
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Brown, Caltech, Chicago, Chicago Booth, Duke, Harvard, Minnesota, NYU, Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford, University of Maryland, University of Michigan
Waitlists: BU (withdrew), Columbia (withdrew), MIT (eventually rejected)
Withdrawn: University of Wyoming
Attending: Yale
What would you have done differently? Gotten better undergraduate grades and started as an economist sooner.
Other Comments: Given where I was coming in, I’m pretty ecstatic about my results. There was a lot of variance in my admits, and I’m grateful to all the programs which were willing to take a chance on me.

Potica 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA econ and psych from top 10 liberal arts college. Post-BA math classes in continuing studies program at top 20 University
Undergrad GPA: 3.5 (overall), 3.4 (BA institution), 3.8 (post-BA), 3.6 (econ classes), 3.6 (final two years of UG at liberal arts college)
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q780, V650, AWA 5.0
Math Courses: Calc I-III (C, A, A), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (A-), Game Theory (A-), Probability I-III (A, A, A-), Real Analysis I-III (B+, A, A-), Math Stats I (B-). All but Calc I taken post BA.
Econ Courses: Intro Micro (B+), Intro Macro (B+), Intermediate Micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A), Econometrics (B+), IO (A), Decision Making (A-), IO Seminar (A), Trade (B+), Managerial Econ (A-), Law and Econ (P)
Other Courses: lots of psychology courses, a few history classes.
Letters of Recommendation: Two young (well known) economists at top 10 econ PhD program for whom I had a 1.5 year RA job. One economist who previously had a senior position at the FTC who supervised me at a consulting firm for 5 years. Letters were clearly strong.
Research Experience: Undergrad thesis (both econ and psych), work at econ consulting firm (5 years), full time RA job at top 10 university (1.5 years), co-authored working paper with supervisors at RA job, and a little bit of very preliminary work on a couple of my own ideas
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 quarters of intro micro and 2 quarters of intro macro
Research Interests: Applied micro (changed the fields a bit from school to school)
SOP: Probably strong. Good argument for why I want to study econ and why I am prepared. Wrote extensively about two research ideas. Customization varied from school to school.
Concerns: Relatively old, weak undergraduate grades, no grad classes.
Other: Presented co-authored paper as a poster at a conference in late March (a mention that the paper was accepted for the conference made it onto about half of my apps)
RESULTS
Acceptances: UW Madison ($), Cornell ($), UT Austin ($), UVA ($), OSU (unclear), Vanderbilt ($), UC Davis ($), UC Irvine ($), Notre Dame ($)
Waitlists: U Chicago Booth econ (accepted), U Michigan Ross econ (accepted), Brown (accepted), U Maryland (accepted, no $), U Michigan (withdrawn, prob could have gotten in at last minute), UNC (withdrawn), U Minnesota (rejected)
Rejections: Yale, Harvard PEG, Berkeley ARE, Stanford, Princeton, UPenn, Wharton Applied Econ, U Chicago, Northwestern, Columbia, NYU, CMU, Duke, JHU, Rochester, University of British Columbia, UCSD, Wash U
Attending: U Chicago Booth econ
What would you have done differently?
Not much. Would have changed my mix of schools slightly and not applied to UBC (with its $150 application fee). Obviously I could have done better as an undergrad, but at the time I had no interest in graduate school. I think the RA job was hugely beneficial (for a number of reason). My results would have been much worse without it. The last five months have been very busy and stressful, so I'm happy it's done even, especially given how well it turned out.

LoveFinEcon 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics at top university in my country
Undergrad GPA: 4.0/4.0
Type of Grad: MSc Economics from UK
Grad GPA: About 3.9 equivalent
GRE: 800Q, 480V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Few, just math econ I & II and statistics
Econ Courses: Lots of both intermediate and advanced economic courses
Other Courses: Lots of finance courses
Letters of Recommendation: 2 undergrad profs and 1 master prof
Research Experience: RA after my master and 2 independent projects (undergrad and grad)
Teaching Experience: Lots
Research Interests: macro-finance, applied econometrics
SOP: standard - just my goal, academic experiences, research interests, and fitness to the school
Concerns: very very few math courses, unknown LORs
RESULTS:
Acceptances: OSU, UNC
Waitlists: WUSTL (eventually accepted)
Rejections: 11 US schools (within top 30) and 2 Canadian schools
Attending: WUSTL
What would you have done differently? Take more math. Get LORs from more famous people. And read this thread before pursuing my master.

frozenchip 2011:
PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 10 University (Overall, Econ, Math) (top 5 depending on the ranking system)
Undergrad GPA: 3.8 Math + Econ
GRE: 780M/750V/5.5A
Math Courses: Calculus (honors), Analysis (real and complex), Algebra (honors), ODE (mostly A's, couple A-/B+), some other logic type stuff
Econ Courses: Micro (Intermediate), Macro (Intermediate and Advanced), Econometrics (Honors, Topics, Advanced), some random joke topic classes (Population economics, econ of crime, etc) (mostly A's, couple A-)
Other Courses: Statistical Modeling, Probability Theory, Intermediate level CS courses
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Stanford PhD, 1 Harvard PhD, 1 Berkeley PhD (All both supervisors and professors, 2 well known, the 3rd very very well known)
Research Experience: Undergrad Thesis, 3 years as an U-Grad RA, 1.5 year econ consulting (I've heard others complain about this, but I actually run regressions, plan pricing surveys, etc...)
Teaching Experience: Math TA (3 years) for Calculus
Research Interests: IO/Micro/Dev
SOP: Generic (was told to make it as bland as possible by my profs)
Concerns: the couple B+ grades; spent waaay too much time on non-academic activities in college (but I did have a blast)
Other: Facing the academic two-body problem.
Applying to: Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Chicago(Booth), Northwestern(Kellogg), Berkeley, NYU, UPenn(Wharton), NYU(Stern)

eds 2011:
PROFILE
Type of Undergrad: South Italian University. Graduate in 2004.Major in Economics
Undergrad GPA: 110/110 cum laude (say equivalent to 4 )
Type of Grad: MSc in economics form a top 5 UK department in 2007,
Grad GPA: Master 90+%,
GRE: 800Q, 590V, 3.0AWA. I will be retaking it next month. Do not consider this result when evaluating my profile.
Math Courses: (UG)General Mathematics, Financial Mathematics, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis Multivariable Analysis(should be calculus) , Statistics I and I. ‐ All equivalent to A's or A+.
Math Courses: (Master): introductory to math and stats 90%+
Econ Courses (masters-level): Micro, Macro, monetary economics ,international monetary economics, Econometrics ,Trade theory All 90%+
Econ Courses (PhD level) About 13 course in macro fields with famous profs at PhD level. All passed with As
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro and Macro Theory, Labor, International economics, monetary economics, Industrial econ. Development economics, economic history, History of economic thought theory, econometrics, Public economics, Regional Economics, Applied economics, Economic Policy‐ All equivalent to A's or A+
Other Courses: Summer school at UPF
Letters of Recommendation: ) 1 stellar letters from a NYU PhD undergraduate thesis supervisor well connected 2) Form a guy with PhD Michigan well known in his field. I got A in his graduate course. I am now looking for the third letter.
Research Experience: A working paper in progress with one of my a letter of recommendation writers and we are talking to start working on a paper with my second letter of recommendation writer. Not sure If I will have something concrete by December 2010 . I won special merit from the evaluation committee for the quality of my u/g thesis work, presentation skills and academic performance. I also won the prize for the best u/g thesis for that year. My MSc thesis was marked (90%+) as the best among MSc students in my year. Visitor Researcher at a well know institute .Visitor Scholar at a top 20 US department (research only) for fall 2009. I have served as a visitor scholar at the research division of the ECB
Teaching Experience: TA for intro to micro (In the USA) and for Monetary economics
Research Interests: Monetary economics , International macro, .
SOP: Should be strong.
Concerns: AGE!!!! I am, currently 33. I will been turned 34 and a half by fall 2011 .. I need to get new letters of recommendation from people I currently work with . I cannot ask for a letter from my MSc because of other personal reasons nor from the US department.
Other: Applying for the usual fellowships.
Applying to: In many programs. In the US and Europe. Suggestions are welcome !

lian 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. economics (unknown west-european university with a lot of unnecessary business courses)
Undergrad GPA: 1.3 on a scale from 1.0(best possible) to 5.0, (best of my class out of ca. 350)
Type of Grad: none
Grad GPA: none
GRE: Q700, V340 (TOEFL 109), AWA pending - awful, always scored 800Q before, taking it again in october
Math Courses: math for econs (A+), stats I (A), stats II and econometrics (in progress), real analysis I (in progress), linear algebra and analytical geometry I (in progress), 2 further high math courses in spring..
Econ Courses (grad-level): none, not possible at my university
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): micro theory I (A+), micro theory II (B+), macro I (A+), macro II (A-), Public Econ (A-), Institutional Economics and Game Theory(A+), International Economics (A+), Industrial Organization (A+), development econ (A+)
Other Courses: a lot of compulsory boring business classes, mostly A's, one B, one B-..
Letters of Recommendation: two micro profs, (i work as a RA for one, the other is an american prof), one macro prof. every letter should be very strong, but they aren't known outside europe.
Research Experience: RA for approximately 1.5 years. one research paper in progress. one discussion paper co-authored.
Teaching Experience: none but private tutoring since 1st school grade . i've tried, not allowed in my university as an undergrad to teach official courses.
Research Interests: microeconomics. IO, behavioral/institutional economics and game theory.
SOP: in progress, nothing special.
Concerns: terrible first GRE scores; totally insufficient math background; unknown recommendators and unknown undergrad university. Before studying economics a was a terrible student: A-Levels were awful - 2.7, and i quit my first university study (physics major, math minor)
Applying to: Master: LSE, Cambridge, UCL, UEA, Tinbergen, Tilburg, Toulouse, Paris, Barcelona, Toronto, British Columbia. PhD: Cornell, Michigan, Minnesota, Madison, ... not yet decided, depending on second GRE and self-confidence. i am not even sure if to apply now for a phd or after making a master degree.. any advice?

thewhiterabbit 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: MIT, SB Economics, SB Political Science, LSE study abroad (General Course)
Undergrad GPA: 4.8/5.0 overall and across both majors (converts directly to 3.8/4.0). All 1st class marks on exams at LSE (4.0/4.0).
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 790Q 660V ?AWA
Math Courses: Statistics (AP), Single Variable Calculus (AP BC), Multivariable Calculus (P under P/no record - mandatory for first term), Principles of Econometrics (LSE advanced intro course, known in UK to be very hard, 1st/A), Differential Equations (credit by advanced standing, B), Linear Algebra (audited), Introduction to Analysis (pending, ~60hance A, 40hance B)
Econ Courses (grad-level): International Economics I (A), Politics and Economics (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (grad Varian, A), Game Theory (A), Intermediate Macro (B), Econ Research (A), Public Economics (LSE: 1st/A), Development (A), Principles of Micro (B), Principles of Macro (A)
Other Courses: Political Science degree, French concentration
Letters of Recommendation: 3 very recognizable names in my field. They all mentor the very top students regularly (since I'm at MIT) so it is somewhat hard for me to gauge strength of two of them. (I feel a little like a medium sized fish in a big pond)
Research Experience: Oodles: part time RA all through undergrad, full time RA since 2007. ~2 years field work. Speak Indonesian fluently. No journal publications. AAA+ Stata programmer. Best thesis award for political science thesis.
Teaching Experience: After school teacher for middle schoolers, test prep.
Research Interests: Development, behavioral, health
SOP: Have a lot of material to work with, will condense three NSF essays
Concerns: The obvious, math preparation. That I haven't had the chance to coauthor (just hasn't been an option) but some other people in RA jobs do. That I've been out of school longer than most people similar to me.
Other: I've done some cool work in technology innovation that is somewhat relevant to economics and which I wrote about for NSF. I'm really happy with my NSF app (and have been told by profs who are historically very honest with me that it was good).
Applying to:
Funding: NSF
Econ: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, NYU, Chicago, LSE, Columbia, Brown, UCLA, Caltech, UCSD, Oxford, BU, UMD, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UCL, Georgetown, BC
Other: Berkeley (ARE), Stanford (GSB), Chicago (GSB), Harvard (Public Policy), HSPH Economics

NHecon 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Math/Econ from tiny liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.54 (terrible first year, 3.73 excluding it)
Type of Grad: PhD Micro I at UNC-CH
Grad GPA: High Pass (Top 15-200f the class receives an H, more or less a 4.00)
GRE: 800Q, 800V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc II-III (A,B), Discrete Math (A), Linear Algebra I (C+, retook for A-), Intro to Proofs (A-), Math Stats I-II (B+,A-), ODE (A-), Real Analysis I (B), PhD Metrics as an independent study with a math professor for math senior research (A)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): PhD Micro I (High Pass)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A-), Intro Macro (A-), Intermediate Macro (B), Intermediate Micro (B+), International (A-), Labor (A), Environmental (A-), Development (A), Economic Statistics (A+), Metrics (A), I/O (A), Marxist Economics (A), US Banking Panics (senior seminar) (A)
Letters of Recommendation: Last year I got one from the professor I RAed for, one from a professor I took Metrics and Economic Statistics from (he was extremely impressed with my research project for the class), and one from another econ professor I didnt know all that well. All from my tiny liberal arts college, none well known.
Research Experience: Research assistant for professor at my school; her research is on the methodological shortcomings of the VSL (value of a statistical life) in common use (aggregating industry and occupation categories in various ways can cause the estimated VSL to vary wildly, and current aggregation methodology is fairly arbitrary).
Research Interests: Applied Metrics, Labor, Development, Public
SOP: a little over a page, last paragraph tailored to each school citing two or three professors, articles of theirs that I was interested in, and how they related to my research interests.
Concerns: Extremely inconsistent grades, low profile recommenders, came from a school that rarely places to Econ PhD programs.
Applying to: UNC-CH, Duke, NCSU, UVa, Vanderbilt, BU, Wisconsin, Emory, JHU, Penn State.

Sushi 2011:
Institution: Yale
Program: Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: Feb 16
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: no
Comments: 12 more... hoping I didn't shoot too high.

pollarstar 2011:
[deleted]

petecheese 2011:
Type of Undergrad: BA in Business Finance. Top Univ in middle east
Undergrad GPA: 82/100 (3.4/4.0)
Type of Grad: M.A. in Economics from same university
Grad GPA: 91/100 (4.0/4.0)
GRE: 780Q 470V 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc 1 (AP), Calc 2 (AP), Calc 3 (98/100), Linear Algebra (87/100), ODE (83/100), Econ Stats (80/100)
Econ Courses: Intermediate micro (87), Intermediate macro (99), Econometrics (80). Lots of grad courses (Micro, Macro, econometrics, monetary, etc...) Almost all 90+
Other Courses: A lot of finance courses (although lost interest in finance as field of study but had them from Ugrad)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from professor and chair, PHD York (Really good letter), 1 from assistant prof, PHD Princeton (Very enthusiastic), 1 from assistant professor PHD Toulouse (standard), 1 from visiting professor (Should be good)
Research Experience: RA for about a year. Recent conference presentation in Poland (awaiting scientific board for publication in conference proceedings)
Teaching Experience: GA/TA for 2 years (undergrad and grad econometrics)
Research Interests: Development, Applied micro (empirical mostly), and applied econometrics
Concerns: Low Ugrad GPA, No proof based math courses, semi unknown school
RESULTS:
Attending: Texas A&M (TAMU)
Acceptances: Iowa State, Virginia Tech, BGSE (UPF), Tinbergen, Uconn
Rejections: UIUC, PSU, Wisconsin-madison, Rice, Toronto (doctoral Stream), Tilburg, Arizona, BC, UNC (initially wait listed)
Comments:
Honestly, i was really happy with my results and quite surprised. I had a weak-average Undergrad performance to make up, and come from a relatively unknown Middle Eastern school.
I think what did it for me was LORS. I cannot emphasize how important LORs are, and how important it is to build good relations with professors (RA, TA, visit office hours and talk about research, etc...).
Also for some smaller programs (specifically Vtech if anyone is ever interested in that school ), i think what got me in was my SOP. Very tailored to their school. I think people underestimate the role of the SOP. Outside of the top 10, i think it can be a very useful tool and should be taken seriously (ofcourse this does not apply to all schools outside the top10, but for some of the smaller programs, "fit" is very important.
In the end, Thank GOD this whole process is done, and i am more than happy to attend TAMU , although the location i am not so ecstatic about :P.

beeconomist 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Math and Economics double major at Maryland
Undergrad GPA: 3.9 overall, 4.0 math, 3.7 economics
GRE: 770Q, 730V, AWA 4.5
Math Courses: Calc II (A+), Calc III (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Differential Equations (A), Intro to Analysis (A), Number theory (A), Probability and Statistics (A), Advanced Calculus (A-), Math of Finance (A), Stochastic Processes (A), Advanced Calculus II (A), Advanced Linear Algebra (A) , Numerical Analysis (IP)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A-), Intro Macro (B+), Intermediate Macro (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Econometrics I (A+), Development (A), Honors Thesis I (A), Risk and Uncertainty in Economics (IP), Mathematical Economics (IP), Econometrics II (IP), Honors Thesis II (IP)
Other Courses: C Programming (A), Writing for Economics (A+)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 very strong from assistant professor I've RA'd for a year and a half, 1 very strong from distinguished professor I've RA'd for a year, 1 semi-strong from professor who is director of the econ honors thesis program
Research Experience: RA for macro professor (1 and a half years), RA for environmental economics professor (1 year), received a grant to complete a math research project, 2 summer research programs for women in mathematics, honors thesis
Teaching Experience: Tutored math for a semester
Research Interests: When I applied, it was macro. Now I'm interested in learning more about public, health, environmental, and agricultural and food policy.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Maryland (graduate assistantship), NYU (fellowship), Penn (waitlist for funding), UVA (fellowship), Duke (1st year tuition), GW (fellowship)
Waitlists: Columbia, Johns Hopkins
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, UNC, Georgetown
Attending: Maryland

buno 2011:
Type of Undergrad: medium size Business College, (No Phd program though) BBA in Eco and Fin
Undergrad GPA: 3.81 (4.0 Econ) (3.97 Finance)
Type of Grad: Currently ongoing MSc. Econ in Germany wont finish though
Grad GPA: 3.1 (First semester grades only)
GRE: 730Q 490V 4.5AW; 720Q 430V 4.5AW (first)
Math Courses: 12 credit hours Math transfer from High School Transcript equivalent to Calc I-II, Linear Algebra and Probability all with grade B+,Intensive College Algebra A, Elementary Statistics A, Business/Econ Statistics A,
Econ Courses (grad): Time Series Econometrics B, Estimation of reduced forms Econometrics B,
Econ Courses (u/g): Transfer credit from High School for Micro and Macro B, Intermediate Macro A, Intermediate Micro A, Econometrics A, International Trade A, Advanced Econometrics, Public Finance A, Behavioral Finance A,
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Texas, 1 UIUC, 1 UW should be all solid
Research Experience: 3 years RA for Prof, doing research on local economic Issues. Including housing bubble, Commodity prices, VAR analysis on Unemployment and Retail Sales. Was able to do research based on my interests.
Teaching Experience: taught a German class for a while
Research Interests: Public, Labor, Macro, Environmental
Concerns: Not enough Math, low GRE Q, low Graduate GPA (even though high considering my University)
Applying to: OSU, TAMU, NCSU, UF, GSU, UNC, Rutgers, Purdue, Notre Dame, UIC, UNM, CEMFI, Tilburg, Clemson, Delaware,

blackwhite 2011:
Institution: USC
Program: PhD Economics
Decision:rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 1/15/2011
Notified through: Postal Mail
Posted on GC : No
Comments: Disappointing

kekecib 2011:
Institution: Rice
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: NA
Notification date: Feb 13
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Terrible news for me. 1st decision I got. It was one of my safeties. I do know what is wrong with my profile according to their ad. committee's view.
Institution: UIUC
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: NA
Notification date: Feb 17
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: I started to freak out. I am wondering what will happen to the rest of my applications. This one did hurt and made me pretty sad.
In: None Out: Rice, UIUC Waiting: 19 Econ PhD

centralbanker 2011:
Institution: Rochester
Program: Economics (PhD)
Decision: rejected
Notification date: 2/22/2011
Notified through: email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: I should be disappointed or feeling dejected, but all I keep thinking is thank goodness I've finally heard something!

nnweconphd 2011:
Institution: Duke University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/25
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GF: No
Comments:expected

The MAN 2011:
Type of Undergrad: BS in Economics, minor in Bus. Admin. at Illinois State Uni
Undergrad GPA: 3.38 overall, a little better in econ.
Type of Grad: MA in Applied Economics from Illinois State Uni
Grad GPA: 4.0 (still have 1 year left, but I don't expect this to change)
GRE: 800 Q, 560 V, 4.0 AWA
Math Courses: Calc I (C), Calc II (C) [both taken a decade ago when I was a freshman and not too mature], Calc III (A+), Advanced Probability Models (A), Linear Algebra (A+), Real Analysis (in progress)
Econ Courses (grad-level): MA level Micro, Macro, Econometrics (3 courses), and a few electives that probably won't factor into my admission decision (All A's)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Pretty much everything I could take: Econometrics I, II (A, A), Telecom Econ (B), Managerial Econ (A), Micro (B), Macro (A), Law and Econ (B), Money and Banking (B), Labor Econ (B), Organizational Econ (A), Enviro & Natural Resource Econ (B)
Other Courses: Standard classes needed to get a bachelor's
Letters of Recommendation: 3 that should range from good to outstanding from econ professors who's PhDs are from: U of Houston, U of Chicago, and UC-Berkley.
Research Experience: A little over a year of RA work. This includes co-authoring a paper submitted for publishing (no word back on acceptance or denial yet)
Teaching Experience: Some TA work done while in the masters program. Also, I have some tutoring experience from undergrad.
Research Interests: Health, Applied Micro, IO, maybe experimental, maybe Labor, maybe metrics (If I start thinking about a topic long enough I end up generating interest in it)
SOP: Should be pretty good. I'm going to talk about my past (since I have a little bit of an unusual profile having left school for 5 years to work), why I want a PhD, why school X fits me, and why I fit school X.
Concerns: My undergrad grades range from terrible to okay, but there is nothing outstanding. I lack some math courses (although I have killed all the recent classes I've taken).
Other: Between my undergrad and master's I spent 5 years working. Most of that time I was a Financial Consultant for a large regional bank (at the time it was the 8th largest bank in the U.S.).
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Kentucky ($) and Michigan State
Waitlists: North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Rejections: Duke, UIUC, Cornell, Iowa, Arizona, Texas-Austin,
Pending: None
What would you have done differently?
If I had known that I would ultimately go for a PhD in economics as an undergrad I would have taken more math and applied myself more in all of my classes to carry a higher GPA. But since I didn't decide to do a PhD until after I had graduated, I can't say that I would have changed much in what I did. I loved doing my master's at ISU and feel that it helped me significantly (better LORs, more math, and great GPA somewhat answered the questions my undergrad/age generated). I probably would not have applied to University of Iowa (I didn't realize how poorly I matched with the school when I was applying because I focused more on their recent placements) and applied to a different mid-ranged PhD program.

valelee 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, minor history and arts from Peking University, No.1 in China
Undergrad GPA: 86%
Type of Grad: M.S. Agricultural and Resource Economics from a flagship state university
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 780Q, 530V, 3.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus and intro statistics were taught in high school; in college, adv mathematical analysis 1 2, topo, linear algebra, prob theory, adv stats, dynamic programming, things like that (a total of about 30 hours); in grad school, adv stat, topo, real analysis
Econ Courses: In college: pretty much standard as in U.S. schools, and mostly taught by profs with U.S. PhDs (econ 101/102 was taught by a UC Berkeley prof when he was on sabbatical). In grad school: adv micro, two adv metrics, adv environmental field classes
Other Courses: My history and western arts minor classes. Some environmental science classes in grad school.
Letters of Recommendation: four very solid letters
Research Experience: A lot. Undergrad RA since sophomore year, post-undergrad full time RA (10 months), RA in grad school, etc. Have several papers published/accepted in U.S. and in China.
Teaching Experience: In undergrad, TA for intro environmental econ and micro. In grad, econ 101 sort of things for one semester.
Research Interests: Environmental economics and policies, but had also been involved in health, energy and public policies.
SOP: Nothing special, but emphasized my consistent interests and experiences in environmental economics and policies.
Concerns: GRE not so great. Not really solid GPA.
Other: It's my second application cycle. Oh, and I am sort of a writer while in China (I published about 50 articles, prose, short novels, etc., and was editor in chief of a student publication for three years )
RESULTS:
Attending: North Carolina State University
Acceptances: UC Davis ARE (waitlist $), UNC Econ (waitlist $), NCSU Econ ($$$), Wisconsin AAE ($$), Purdue ARE ($$), UMN Applied Econ ($$, declined), Oregon State Applied Econ ($$, declined), Texas A&M AgEcon ($$, declined), VT ARE ($$, declined), Iowa State Econ (waitlist $, declined), Oklahoma State AgEcon ($$$, declined), Washington State Econ ($$, declined)
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Cornell AEM, UCSD Econ, UCSB Econ
Withdrawn: MSU ARE, Ohio State ARE
No news so far: UFL Econ

bassmantin 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Accounting/Finance at a Big 10 school
Undergrad GPA: 3.97
Type of Grad: M.B.A. Accounting/Finance
Grad GPA: 3.91
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 5.0AW
Math Courses: Calculus I, II, II, Linear Algebra, Intro to Advanced Math (all A) After submission of application: Differential Equations, Real Analysis (all A expected)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Econometrics, lots of grad level business school classes that overlap somewhat: managerial econ, real options, valuation, corporate finance, international monetary systems and hedging (all A) after submission: History of Economic Thought, Monetary Theory (all A expected)
Other Courses: Lots of business
Letters of Recommendation: Accounting professor, math instructor, former employer
Research Experience: N/A
Teaching Experience: two semesters intro to managerial accounting
Research Interests: macro/monetary
SOP: addressed my somewhat unique situation
Concerns: no econ prof letter of recommendation, not too much math before submitting app
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Vanderbilt, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa State, George Mason, Missouri
Waitlists: WUSTL (eventually accepted), Minnesota (withdrew)
Rejections: Chicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, Notre Dame
Attending: WUSTL
What would you have done differently? Take more math. Get letter of recommendation from economists. Get a mentor to guide me through the process.

Potica 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA econ and psych from top 10 liberal arts college. Post-BA math classes in continuing studies program at top 20 University
Undergrad GPA: 3.5 (overall), 3.4 (BA institution), 3.8 (post-BA), 3.6 (econ classes), 3.6 (final two years of UG at liberal arts college)
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q780, V650, AWA 5.0
Math Courses: Calc I-III (C, A, A), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (A-), Game Theory (A-), Probability I-III (A, A, A-), Real Analysis I-III (B+, A, A-), Math Stats I (B-). All but Calc I taken post BA.
Econ Courses: Intro Micro (B+), Intro Macro (B+), Intermediate Micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A), Econometrics (B+), IO (A), Decision Making (A-), IO Seminar (A), Trade (B+), Managerial Econ (A-), Law and Econ (P)
Other Courses: lots of psychology courses, a few history classes.
Letters of Recommendation: Two young (well known) economists at top 10 econ PhD program for whom I had a 1.5 year RA job. One economist who previously had a senior position at the FTC who supervised me at a consulting firm for 5 years. Letters were clearly strong.
Research Experience: Undergrad thesis (both econ and psych), work at econ consulting firm (5 years), full time RA job at top 10 university (1.5 years), co-authored working paper with supervisors at RA job, and a little bit of very preliminary work on a couple of my own ideas
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 quarters of intro micro and 2 quarters of intro macro
Research Interests: Applied micro (changed the fields a bit from school to school)
SOP: Probably strong. Good argument for why I want to study econ and why I am prepared. Wrote extensively about two research ideas. Customization varied from school to school.
Concerns: Relatively old, weak undergraduate grades, no grad classes.
Other: Presented co-authored paper as a poster at a conference in late March (a mention that the paper was accepted for the conference made it onto about half of my apps)
RESULTS
Acceptances: UW Madison ($), Cornell ($), UT Austin ($), UVA ($), OSU (unclear), Vanderbilt ($), UC Davis ($), UC Irvine ($), Notre Dame ($)
Waitlists: U Chicago Booth econ (accepted), U Michigan Ross econ (accepted), Brown (accepted), U Maryland (accepted, no $), U Michigan (withdrawn, prob could have gotten in at last minute), UNC (withdrawn), U Minnesota (rejected)
Rejections: Yale, Harvard PEG, Berkeley ARE, Stanford, Princeton, UPenn, Wharton Applied Econ, U Chicago, Northwestern, Columbia, NYU, CMU, Duke, JHU, Rochester, University of British Columbia, UCSD, Wash U
Attending: U Chicago Booth econ
What would you have done differently?
Not much. Would have changed my mix of schools slightly and not applied to UBC (with its $150 application fee). Obviously I could have done better as an undergrad, but at the time I had no interest in graduate school. I think the RA job was hugely beneficial (for a number of reason). My results would have been much worse without it. The last five months have been very busy and stressful, so I'm happy it's done even, especially given how well it turned out.

kekecib 2011:
Institution: Rice
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: NA
Notification date: Feb 13
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Terrible news for me. 1st decision I got. It was one of my safeties. I do know what is wrong with my profile according to their ad. committee's view.
Institution: UIUC
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: NA
Notification date: Feb 17
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: I started to freak out. I am wondering what will happen to the rest of my applications. This one did hurt and made me pretty sad.
In: None Out: Rice, UIUC Waiting: 19 Econ PhD

centralbanker 2011:
Institution: Rochester
Program: Economics (PhD)
Decision: rejected
Notification date: 2/22/2011
Notified through: email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: I should be disappointed or feeling dejected, but all I keep thinking is thank goodness I've finally heard something!

o2fac 2011:
Institution: UCLA
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Waitlisted
Funding: uncertain
Notification date: 3/2/2011
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: The letter says, "We expect to have more information by April 5."

kmoney 2011:
Institution: UNC
Program: Ph.D. Economics
Decision: Waitlist
Funding: n/a
Notification date: April 13
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No