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gbt321 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Liberal Arts
Undergrad GPA: 3.9 overall, 3.9 Econ major
Type of Grad: n/a.
Grad GPA: n/a.
GRE: 770/610/5.5 (taken as an undergrad, never bothered retaking it).
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Alg, Complex Analysis, Real Analysis, Math Econ, Stats
Econ Courses: All undergrad required for the major, including econometrics
Letters of Recommendation: 1 undergrad advisor, 2 economists from my consulting firm. All are PhD economists, none extremely well known, but all know my abilities very well and they write convincingly.
Research Experience: undergrad research assistant, 3 years with an economic consulting firm doing applied micro
Teaching Experience: undergrad TA
Research Interests: environmental economics
SOP: stressed research experience, quantitative abilities, and research interests
Other: experience in SAS and Stata programming.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: MSU Ag Econ ($RA), Wisconsin AAE ($RA), Maryland AREC ($RA), Oregon State ARE ($RA), Penn State AERS ($RA), NC State Ag Econ
Waitlists: waitlisted for funding at NC State
Rejections: None
What would you have done differently? Retake GRE. I would have applied to Berkeley or a traditional econ program to get my letter writers off my back about going the ag econ route .

Streetmage 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Liberal Arts
Undergrad GPA: 3.9 overall, 3.9 Econ major
Type of Grad: n/a.
Grad GPA: n/a.
GRE: 770/610/5.5 (taken as an undergrad, never bothered retaking it).
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Alg, Complex Analysis, Real Analysis, Math Econ, Stats
Econ Courses: All undergrad required for the major, including econometrics
Letters of Recommendation: 1 undergrad advisor, 2 economists from my consulting firm. All are PhD economists, none extremely well known, but all know my abilities very well and they write convincingly.
Research Experience: undergrad research assistant, 3 years with an economic consulting firm doing applied micro
Teaching Experience: undergrad TA
Research Interests: environmental economics
SOP: stressed research experience, quantitative abilities, and research interests
Other: experience in SAS and Stata programming.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: MSU Ag Econ ($RA), Wisconsin AAE ($RA), Maryland AREC ($RA), Oregon State ARE ($RA), Penn State AERS ($RA), NC State Ag Econ
Waitlists: waitlisted for funding at NC State
Rejections: None
What would you have done differently? Retake GRE. I would have applied to Berkeley or a traditional econ program to get my letter writers off my back about going the ag econ route .

averageaverage 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad:
B.A. (Economics + General Math + Sociology)
150th-ish ranked Econ PhD Program.
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0
GRE: not taken yet (worried so much)
Undergrad Courses:
Calc I - III, Linear Algebra, and Math Reasoning (All As)
Diff Eq (In Prog); Real Analysis, and Probability Theory (this Fall)
Intermediate Mico and Macro (Both As)
Grad Courses:
Master's Micro + Econometrics (this Fall)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors (Not well known...)
Research Experience: Summer Research (Not going well...)
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Development Economics and Public Policy
Concerns: Academic background is too poor to hit top 20... Want to get into top 50 at least...
Applying to: U. Maryland, Johns Hopkins, U. of Washington, and Lower Ranked Schools...

baj393 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin
Undergrad GPA: 4.00
Type of Grad: 500f a MA in Economics from Duke University (not going to finish)
Grad GPA: 4.00
GRE: 740Q, 560V, 6.0AW
Math Courses: Cal I-III, Linear Algebra, Applied Differential Equations, Economic Statistics, Intro. to Statistics, Applied Data Analysis, Real Analysis
Econ Courses: Intro. Macro, Intro. Micro, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Industrial Organization, Political Economy, Health Economics, Labor Economics. GRADUATE LEVEL: Advanced Microeconomics, Environmental Economics
Other Courses: Bunch of philosophy courses
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Princeton, 1 Yale, 1 Cornell, and 1 MIT
Research Experience: RA for a semester with a top environmental economist at Duke
Teaching Experience: Supplemental instructor for an intro. microeconomics course
Research Interests: Environmental economics
SOP: 2.5 pages. Reflected my goals, ambitions, and specific research interests. I know that this was the most important part of my application, which enabled me to overcome my low GRE score. This was told to me by several adcoms. Thus, the SOP is the difference for those of you with terrible GRE scores. MAKE IT COUNT!
Other: Was not expecting too much given my low GRE.
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
Arizona State University ($21.5k stipend, full tuition, and health insurance)
NC State University ($18k stipend, $5k fellowship, full tuition, health insurance)
Penn State University ARE (don't know the specifics, but ~20k stipend, full tuition)
Virginia Tech Applied Economics ($19.7k stipend, full tuition, and 80% health insurance)
Rejections: Duke Environmental Policy PhD (no adviser for my research interests)
Pending: Michigan State ARE. Would not go even if accepted at this point.
What would you have done differently? Very little. GRE score was low, but I got into my reach school, ASU. I really wanted to work with Kerry Smith, so am very happy to have such an opportunity. I suppose that I could have applied to a few more reach schools higher up in the rankings (like UCSD), but I doubt that I would get in.
Again, SOP is the most important part of your application. I spent a month on mine going over every little detail. It really made the difference for me and I could not have gotten into ASU without it. Spend lots of time on your SOP and make it great!!!