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chris_tyman 2010: PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: B.S. Mathematics/Economics (Not double major). 1st and 2nd Yr : Large state university in Louisiana. 3rd and 4th Yr: Top 5 public university.
Type of Grad: None
GPA: 3.95 Overall. 4.0 Mathematics and Economics
GRE: 800Q, 570V, 4.5 AWA
Math Courses (undergrad-level):
Real Analysis I (A), II (A), Topology (A+), Introduction to Lebesgue Integration (A), Optimization (A), Game Theory (A+), ODE (A), Linear Algebra (A+), Probability (A), Calculus I - III (A), Stochastic Processes (A), Integral Transforms (A), Discrete Dynamic Systems (A)
Note: Everything before probability was taken after transfer.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level):
Into to micro (A), Intro to Macro (A), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A+), Statistics for Economists (A+), Introductory Econometrics (A), Price and Strategy (A+), Mathematical Finance I & II (A+), Honor's thesis (A+)
Note: Although I got an A+ in Honor's thesis, I do not think the quality of my thesis is high.
Letters of Recommendation:
2 Letters from my college: One from a Econ Professor Emeritus who was my thesis adviser. One from a Math Professor for my game theory class (with honors adjunct, i.e. a little project, besides doing well in class).
The 3rd one will come from my assigned economists in the Fed, who's also a professor of Finance in UK.
Research Experience: Honors thesis, 2 Years of research experience at a regional Fed.
Interests: Macro theories, Financial Economics, Monetary policies, Econometrics
Statement of Purpose: Extensively on my research experience at the Fed + a little part on projects I did in undergrad.
Concerns: 1) Low GRE verbal/writing, 2) Quality of LOR, 3) Senior thesis not exceptional, and 3) No publication, etc. VERY nervous.
Schools: UCLA, MIT, Yale, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, UCSD, Boston U.

Fantiki 2010:
Type of undergrad:
1. B.Sc. Finance from the best business school in a mid-size European country. In terms of financial research output the school is usually ranked as Top 10 European/Top 100 worldwide
2. (concurrently) B.Sc. Systems Science from the best university in the same European country
Undergrad GPA: not obvious to translate, somewhere between 3.6 and 3.9, Top 5%
Type of Grad:
1. M.Sc. Finance, same business school as above
2. (concurrently) M.Sc. Computer Science, same university as above
Grad GPA: again hard to translate, I would say between 3.8-4.0, Top 5%
GRE: 800Q, 570V, 3.5AWA
Math Courses (undergrad): Introductory mathematics I (Calculus, Linear Algebra, Analytical Geometry) (B+/A-), Introductory mathematics II (Theory of continuity, Measures and Integrals) (A), Introductory mathematics III (Functional analysis, DE) (A), Introductory mathematics IV (PDE, IE), Introduction to optimization (A), Introduction to statistical inference (A), Time series analysis (B+/A-)
Math Courses (grad): stochastic processes (A), optimization theory (B), mathematical investment theory (B+/A-), game theory (A), decision making (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad): Introductory, Intermediate micro, Intermediate macro, International economics and finance, Money & Banking - A:s
Other Courses: Finance & Computer Science (theory courses may be relevant), LSE summer school (A)
Letters of Recommendation:
1. Finance full professor, thesis advisor, many A publications
2. Computer science full professor, thesis advisor, many A publications (in comp science)
3. Circulating weakly positive letters from semi-famous full professors in finance and economics
Research Experience:
1. B.Sc. thesis in finance
2. B.Sc. thesis in systems science
3. M.Sc. thesis in finance - on decision making under information asymmetries in finacial markets (game-theoretical model+empirical evidence)
4. M.Sc. thesis in computer science - empirical part (as a chapter in an article) accepted in a top general interest journal, but the publication is not related to economics/finance (biology), I am a coauthor, but there are many others
5. RA for the computer science professor
6. Research internship at an internationally well-known company, also 1 paper from there, but published in a professional journal
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Information economics, financial economics (theory + empirical)
Statement of purpose: http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/119180-post-your-statement-purpose-sop-here.html#post789723
Other: graduated in advance, some good awards (placed third nationwide in math competition, scholarship for publishing thesis etc.), strong technical skills (Assembler and similar hardcore stuff)
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Columbia finance ($) -> accepted this offer, LBS finance ($), UNC-CH finance ($), UBC finance ($), LSE finance (external EU funding)
Rejections: Stanford finance, UCLA finance, Stern finance, Wharton finance, Haas finance, Kellogg finance, CMU finance, INSEAD finance, MIT economics, Penn economics (out of the waitlist)
What would you have done differently?
Probably not much, may be would establish better relationships with a couple of professors at my school. The application process to US universities is difficult for European applicants because information asymmetries are pretty large. I would recommend to establish good relationships with professors who have strong ties to schools you are applying (e.g. coauthoring, previous academic positions etc.). Also if you are coming from a less known educational system/school try to get short but informative course descriptions for the key courses as an attachment to your transcripts (e.g. course names like Math I-IV are not very helpful for admissions commiteas). I have received the feedback from some schools that these two things helped my case.
Overall I did much better than I expected.