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Most Recently Selected profile:

The data below comes from testmagic forums and shows accepted, waitlisted, and rejected applicants for 2007-2009 for economics graduate school. Clicking on the graph above will make the most recent profile appear to the right of the graph.

All profiles:

Acceptances:
raamar 2008:
Type of Undergrad: International Solid University (Not in EconPhD Ranking)
Undergrad GPA: 3.76/4.00 in Business Administration
Type of Grad: International Another Solid University (Still Not in EconPhD Ranking)
Grad GPA: 3.53/4.00 Economics

GRE: Q 800/ V 370 / AWA 4.0
TOEFL: 111/120
Completed Math Courses: Not plenty
Completed Econ Courses: Micro, macro, metrics and many others (mostly solid, Grad Level)
Letters of Recommendation: Good Recommendations from some known professors of grad. school

Research Experience: Ongoing Master Thesis, (an international paper, but not at the time of application), RA
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 semesters of grad and undergrad macros
Research Interests: Macro mainly

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Maryland ($$), Pittsburgh ($$), Virginia ($ on w*itlist), Carlos III de Madrid ($$), Pompeu Fabra (No $)

Waitlists:
Rejections: Berkeley, Columbia, Minnesota, Michigan
Pending: WUSTL, UNC, Georgetown, Penn State
Attending : Maryland
What would you have done differently? Could have gone for more and better publications

Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
canecon 2008:
School: UBC

Major: Econ (Hons)
GPA: 3.5 (3.98 upper-econ, 3.98 math (excluding failed calc 1))
GRE: 800q 480v 5.0 AWA (despite the awful verbal I am native English speaker / English background)
Courses:

Econ:Hon micro/macro I (A+'s) Game Theory (Hon) A, Hon Macro II A+, + intro metrics I/II (A+) + lots electives (mostly A+)
Math: Calc 1 (F first time then A), Calc 2, linear, multivariable, ODE's, probability(calc based), intro proof A+'s intro analysis A
Now Taking: Honours Thesis, Advanced Macro, Econometrics
Research: Thesis
LOR: 3 Assistant Profs, I say mediocre since I had no special relationship, just took their classes.

SOP: Pretty bad I think... that might just be me - but I didn't have any professors read it since I thought it was crappy (very bad reason I know - I expect I might have had spelling/grammar errors as well :) ). But I guess for Master's it doesn't matter that much.
Interests: Macro, Int trade/finance/development.
Schools:
Decided to apply only for Masters:
LSE, UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, UPF, UBC, Toronto, Queens, UWO, Stockholm.


My Concerns:
First year really sucked, second year was average. Only have 1.5 years of good grades.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE Msc (1 year, Res), UCL MSc, Warwick MSc, Oxford M.Phil (??), UPF MSc($$), Queen's MA ($$), Toronto Doc. Stream MA ($$), UBC MA ($$), UWO MA ($$),

Still Waiting: Cambridge M.Phil (B), Stockholm University MSc (Research)
Rejections: None (yet)

What would you have done differently?
-known that I was going to go for grad school (in econ) earlier :p

-started preparing to apply in the summer, or early sept, or early october. (didnt start applications earlier because very math-packed semester. No time in summer though b/c courses and GRE - basically crammed all the math I needed in last 8 mths I would have grades for).
-Looked into scholarship opportunities for study in UK (many seem to have deadlines around sept/oct. ) I started looking the next february/march.
-Basically I did what I could. Maybe should have applied to some PhD straight away, but still not sure what I want to do and I didn't really have time to put together good apps.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
mamama 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Engineering-best university in my country
Undergrad GPA: 3.31/4.00
Grad GPA: 3.7/4.00 same university economics department

GRE: 800q, 400v, 3.5w
Math Courses: Calculus I,II linear algebra, differential eq. real analysis
Econ Courses: master courses and many micro courses
Letters of Recommendation: from economics department/ applied to some without master thesis advisors LOR
Research Experience: 2 years, a published article in native language and 2 ongoing

Teaching Experience: TA for a couple semesters in UG and G
Research Interests: micro,io
SOP: standard

RESULTS:
Attending: Austin

Acceptances: Austin ($$), Boston College ($$), Duke ($$), Rochester ($$), Rutgers ($$), UIUC ($$),Pompeu Fabra($$), Tinbergen ($$), Tilburg($$), Wisconsin Madison
Rejects: Upenn,Nyu,Columbia,NW
What would you have done differently? have chose another university for master Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
econphp06 2008:
Type of Undergrad: Business Major, Economics Minor
Undergrad GPA: overall GPA: 3.33 (bad freshman year, excluding freshman it is 3.55)
GRE: 800Q, 330V,AWA 4.0
Math Courses: Math for Econ I-II (AA)Calculus I-II (CB), Differential equations (CB), Linear Algebra (BB), Operations Research (AA), Decision Support Systems( AA)

Econ Courses: Int. Micro-Macro, Econometric, Financial Markets Institutions etc..
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ prof and 1 math prof
Research Experience: RA for 3 months.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Financial Economics, Financial Econometrics, Econometrics.

SOP: ok.
Concerns: Not having great grades and math courses

RESULTS:
Attending: CEMFI Master in Economics and Finance ($$)
Acceptances: CEMFI Master in Economics and Finance ($$), University of Houston Economics Phd, North Carolina State University Econ Phd, Washington State University Econ Phd($$), UPF Msc Finance, Vanderbilt GPED, Central Michigan MA Economics

Rejects: University of Virginia Econ Phd, Boston College Econ Phd, Purdue Econ Phd, Carlos III MA
What would you have done differently? Studied in freshman year, applied only masters programs... Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
PHDism 2009:
PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Business Admin and Computer Science double major. A small US University nobody has heard of. Pretty certain nobody has gone to Econ PHD from there.
Undergrad GPA: 3.9 (But that was all A's and one C)
Type of Grad: Policy oriented degree in US, one of the top of its kind.
Grad GPA: 3.6
GRE: 790/650/5.5

Math Courses: Calculus III (A-) and Linear Algebra (B+) only by US applications deadline and before Toulouse. Taking Real Analysis and ODE in Spring, and was able to show this to LSE, UPF and HEI
Econ Courses: Some in undergrad, but not rigorous. A whole bunch during the grad school - but they count as intermediate undergrad level.
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: One from econ and one from stats professor from top 10 Econ. Both very strong. Also two professional from World Bank economists, very strong.
Research Experience: Three years at the World Bank

Teaching Experience: TA for econ course.
Research Interests:
SOP: Had a lot of explanation to do for non-traditional profile. Was logical for whoever cared to read it - but I do not know if they ever do.
Other:

RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE, UPF, Geneva HEI($$)

Waitlists:
Rejections: NYU, Princeton, Yale, Toulouse M2
Pending:

What would you have done differently? Many things. But mostly taken more math. I was clueless that just third semester Calculus and Linear Algebra was not enough - till I discovered this forum in December. But by then it was too late, and my US and Toulouse applications were out. I have been out of school for 4 years, but I registered as non-degree and am taking ODE and Real Analysis now in spring. That probably helped in European applications sent in February. Maybe indicated motivation. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
securityblanket 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Economics, BA from Turkey
Undergrad GPA: 2.80/4.00

Type of Grad I: Economics, Msc
Grad GPA: 3.30
Type of Grad II: Financial Mathematics, Msc
Grad GPA: 3.85 (ranked second out of 30-40 people)
GRE: 780Q, 320V, 4.0AWA

Math Courses: (3.30 average) Calc I-II, Linear Algebra, Honour's Linear Algebra I-II, Ordinary Differential Equations, Introduction to Probability Theory, Real Analysis I-II, Game Theory (grad level course form math. department), Difference Equations, Lebesgue Integration and Measure Theory, Introdution to Functional Analysis, Functional Analysis (PhD level), Probability Theory (Grad level), Stochastic Calculus Applied to Finance (Grad level), Stochastic and Deterministic Optimal Control (PhD Level), Partial Differential Equations and these are all I guess.

Econ Courses: A lot since I am graduated and obtain my Msc fromm department of economics
Other Courses: A lot of statics and econometrics courses (even more than my math course including grad and undergrad courses).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 Econ profs plus one professional -- exceptional. 1 well known.

Research Experience: Working in a research department for 3.5 years and published one SSCI paper (D-Class but anyway) and one conference paper (ECOMOD)
Teaching Experience: TA for into to econometrics
Research Interests: Applied time series econometrics, international finance, monetary macroeconomics, macro-finance models and DSGE models
SOP: why my undergrad gpa is low, I want to be a policymaker etc (3 pages explains my professional activities etc.)


RESULTS:
Acceptances:
UNC Chapel Hill (no funding)
UC Santa Cruz (no funding)
UPF (no funding)
JHU (no funding)
Rejections: so many

Waitlists: UPENN and BU
Will be attending: JHU rocks!!!

What would you have done differently? My undergard GPA is a very big problem and even my math courses were not enough. may be this year was a disaster, who knows? but I have very close friend wişth a simlliar background that has done a lot better in two years ago. Anyway, still I am satisfied with JHU. I wish all TMers a good luck in the future. I hope you will be more lucky than me... Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
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: Rejects: Waitlists:
lightyears 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Laurea in Economia e commercio
Undergrad GPA: 26,5/30
Type of Grad: Laurea specialistica in scienze dell'economia (2-years)
Grad GPA: 29,5/30

GRE: 800/550/3,5
Math Courses: Math analysis 1/2, Math for economists (optimization, ODE), financial math (up to some stochastic calculus), Stochastic Processes, Probability theory, Statistics
Econ Courses: usual stuff, a lot. No int. micro. A lot of int. macro, monetary, banking etc.
Other Courses: History of economic thought, Modern history etc.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Math PhD profs, 1 Econ prof, pretty standard and positive I think.
Research Experience: no

Teaching Experience: no
Research Interests: Macro, monetary, international
SOP: Boring but standard I think
Other: Nothing special.

RESULTS:
Acceptances: CEMFI (attending), UPF, Tinbergen I, ULB.
Waitlists: none

Rejections: EUI
Pending: Toulouse


What would you have done differently? Nothing. Since when I realized I wanted to do a PhD (middle of my first year of Msc!), I was already in the wrong university (unknown), with no time, and with an Erasmus period starting in few months. Given that, I did all I could. I didn't apply in the UK for economic reasons, and I wanted to stay in quite a warm place. At the end of the process, I'm very satisfied. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
postgradecon 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BSc in Economics and Mathematics from a well-known but not so good in economics university in Canada.
Undergrad GPA: converts to about 3.85/4
Type of Grad: LSE

Grad GPA: not yet known
GRE: 780Q/530V/4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-II-III (A/A+'s), Linear Algebra I-II (A+'s), Real Analysis I (A+), Differential Equations (A+), Logic and Set Theory (Proofs) (B), Sampling (B+), Prob and Stats (A+), History of Logic (A).
Graduate: none
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro and Macro (A+'s), Advanced Macro (A), Advanced Micro (B+, level of grad Varian), Econometrics (A+), Labour (A), Cost-Benefit (A), Math econ (A), Development (B, abroad), Industrial Organisation I-II (A-, A)

Graduate Econ Courses: Before my masters: Time series econometrics (A), Institutional economics and China's development (A+, with a mini-thesis). Masters: econometrics, micro, macro, political economics (no grades yet).
Other Courses: A bunch of biochemistry classes before switching to econ (grades between A- and A+). Some philosophy classes as extra electives (A+ in all).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from my undergrad, all really enthusiastic (PhDs from Princeton, Queen's and from a German university). One I wrote a mini-thesis with during a graduate class. A fourth was from my graduate program, didn't know me well, was in the beginning of the first year. I sent a different combination of 3 letters to different schools (deadlines were not at the same time and got the fourth a bit later, more on this below).

Research Experience: 2 years as research assistant in a well-respected small Canadian think tank, focusing on productivity and other welfare issues.
Teaching Experience: none.
Research Interests: Political economy, microeconomics, development.
SOP: Talked mostly about my interest in economics, my research interests, and why the school would be a good fit.. pretty standard and not that good.
Other:


RESULTS:
Acceptances: UBC PhD ($$), UPF Masters ($), LSE (no $)
Waitlists: none
Rejections: Caltech, MIT, NYU, Columbia
Pending: none


Attending: UBC (did not want to do a second master's degree before re-applying next year and UPF did not recognize my masters as good enough for their PhD).

What would you have done differently?
As mentioned earlier, I have sent different sets of letters to different schools. Instead, I would have sent the 3 letters from undergrad to all schools and not bother to send a not-so-good letter from my grad teacher. At first I thought it was important, but thinking back I think this might have ruined my chances at most US schools. I was accepted at all schools that didn't receive that letter.Also, I would have applied to much more schools, but I decided late and did not have much time to think about it.

In the end, I am satisfied since UBC is well-respected in its country and on par with a lot of top30 schools in the US. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
z109620 2009:
PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics with Minor in Math and Philosophy from a mediocre state school which does have an Econ and Math PhD (NIU)
Undergrad GPA: 3.76/4.00 (Econ: 3.93/4.00 Math: 4.0/4.0)
Type of Grad: Just two masters course Econometrics and Math for Econ
Grad GPA: 3.5
GRE: 750Q, 470V, 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Diff Eqs, Undergrad Analysis I, and Prob. & Stats (also Undergrad Analysis II (W))

Econ Courses: Typical stuff, plus Grad Math for Econ (B) and Grad Econometrics (A)
Other Courses: A couple proof based logic courses (B,A)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 really good letter (Senior Prof., Wisconsin), 1 good letter (Visiting Prof., Penn) and 1 ok letter (Chair, London)
Research Experience: Senior Paper
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: My main focus is Applied Micro Development, however, within the above field I am interested in Agriculture, Trade, Behavioral, Public and Political Economics

SOP: I think it is ok, talked about my Senior Paper, my passion for research and my goals for the future.
Other: I did not get into econ until junior year

RESULTS: (all masters programs)
Acceptances: UC Davis ARE (partial tuition and job as grader), UBC (partial tuition), UPF (no$), Cornell AEM (no $), Purdue ag econ (no $), UIC (no $), U York, U Bristol, U Sussex, USF (20k over two years)
Rejections: Wisconsin AAE and Toronto Doctoral Stream

Pending: Queen’s MA

What would you have done differently?
Well I wish I would have known that I wanted to do Econ earlier, as well as gone to a more prestigious undergrad. However, besides that I feel that I did very well, especially considering the tough year. I am very happy with UC Davis ARE, I plan to work really hard and advance to their PhD, seeing as there program is probably one of the best in the world given my prefers.

Attending:
UC Davis ARE masters Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
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. Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Rejections:
grahamcoxon 2007: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics from top university in my country (who has always placed students in top US PhDs)
Undergrad GPA: Econ 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 ); Overall 28.27 / 30 ( = 3.77 / 4.0 )
Type of Grad: 2 years long MSc in Economics from the same university

Grad GPA: Econ 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 ); Overall 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 )
GRE: 790 Q, 520 V, 4.0 A
Math Courses:
Undergraduate: Mathematics (29/30; one year long course), Statistics and Probability (30/30), Econometrics (30/30)
Graduate: Multivariate Analysis (30/30), Microeconometrics (28/30)

Econ Courses:
Undergraduate: Industrial History (30/30); Microeconomics (27/30); Industrial Organization (30/30); Macroeconomics (29/30); Organization Theory (28/30); International Trade (29/30); Innovation and Industrial Dynamics (27/30); Economic Policy (28/30); Technology and Economic Development (28/30); International Monetary Economics (30 cum laude / 30)
Graduate:International Trade (30/30); Industiral Organization (29/30); Theory of the Firm and Corporate Governance (27/30); Business History (30/30); Economics of Innovation (29/30); Labour Economics (27/30); Public Economics (29/30).
Other Courses: Undergraduate: German Language, International Financial Markets, Innovation Management, … ; Graduate: Knowledge and Innovation Management, Comparative Politics, Spanish Language, …

Letters of Recommendation: associate econ professor and MSc thesis advisor (PhD UCLA); full econ professor and teacher of graduate labour econ (PhD NYU); associate econ professor and RA supervisor (PhD Northwestern); at least two of them are very very strong letters from people who know me well; two letter-writers are well-known economists and all publish on top economics journals.
Research Experience: Honors MSc thesis; started to work on co-authored paper with my MSc thesis advisor (I don’t mention it in my application but he probably talked about it in his LoR); 3 months RA at Dept of Quantitative Methods of my undergrad/grad university; 1 year RA at CHILD (Center for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics);
Teaching Experience: 1 semester of Multivariate Analysis (graduate)
Research Interests: Political Economy, Behavioral Economics, Microeconomic Theory

SOP: nothing special, talked about reasons to pursue graduate studies in economics, research experience, research interests and future plans; used almost the same text for all universities; 2 pages research proposal outline added for European programs who asked for it (LSE, UCL, Oxford, UPF)
Other: international applicant; TOEFL: 107/120; no application for external funding; honor roll student in both years of MSc; submitted everywhere MSc thesis as writing sample; at least other 10 (very very strong) students applied this same year for almost the same US top programs from my university (in this sense, this was a strong year for applicants from my country/university)

RESULTS:
Admitted : Caltech (w/ funding), BU (w/out funding), LSE MSc (w/out funding), Oxford MPhil (w/out funding)

Waitlisted: Yale (not admitted in the end)
Rejected: UCSD, Columbia, Berkeley, MIT, Princeton, Northwestern, Stanford, NYU, Chicago, Harvard, LSE MRes/PhD, UPenn, Oxford Dphil, Stokcholm School of Economics, Stockholm U, Yale
Never got an answer : UPF, UCL

What would you have done differently? I would say the standard “taken more math classes” or try the alternative version “taken more graduate econ theory classes”, but since I decided to try the path of an Econ PhD less than 12 months ago (when I had already taken all classes needed to graduate) this wasn’t an option. Maybe I should have applied to a more diverse set of schools (no European at all; some Business School or some lower-ranked school with programs/faculty in line with my interests like Stanford GSB, Northwestern MEDS, Rochester or Carnegie Mellon), because I acted clearly as a risk-loving individual (I didn’t overestimated my profile, though…I know my chances at top15 schools were thin, but just wanted to come all the way to the U.S. only if it was really worth). Anyway, in this case, it worked.
Accepts: Rejects: Waitlists:
Waitlists: