Index of Schools AnalysisAbout the Site 2012 20112010 20092008 2007all years
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Most Recently Selected profile:

The data below comes from testmagic forums and shows accepted, waitlisted, and rejected applicants for 2010 for economics graduate school. Clicking on points in the graph above will make the most recent profile appear in the space below the graph.


Acceptances:

fina 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top Canadian School
Undergrad GPA: 4.25/4.33
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q800/V770/AW5.0
Math Courses:Calculus I (A level), Calculus II (A+), Advanced Calculus I(aka honours vector calculus, A), Vector Calculus II(A), Matrix Algebra (A+), ODE (A+), RA I (A), Number Theory (A)
Econ Courses: Intro Micro&Macro (A level), Honours Intermediate Micro I&II (both A+), Honours Inter Macro I&II (A, A+), Maths for Econ (A+), Intro Econometrics (A), International Finance (A+), Environ Econ (A), Econ Transition (A-), Grad Econometrics (A+), Game Theory (A+), International Macro (A-), Trade Theory (A-), Market Structure [aka IO] (A+), Tax (A+)Other Courses: languages, literature classes, all A+
Letters of Recommendation: One from a young professor, one from well-known labour economist, one from well-know micro theorist, all know me well personally
Research Experience: Honours Thesis, senior research
Teaching Experience: tutor for intro and intermediate econ contracted by department; grader for maths
Research Interests: micro theory/IO/Policy
SOP: Standard
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Wisconsin($), UT Austin($), UCSD($), Minnesota($), Cornell($), Brown
Waitlists: Michigan, UPenn, CMU, NYU
Rejections: Yale, Princeton, Northwestern, Columbia
Pending: Toronto (what the hell....)
Attending: Wisconsin!!!
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Wisconsin($), UT Austin($), UCSD($), Minnesota($), Cornell($), Brown
  • Institution: Wisconsin Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TAship Notification: 2/26/12 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Nice to have somewhere to go~~~~~
Rejects:
    Rejections: Yale, Princeton, Northwestern, Columbia
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Michigan, UPenn, CMU, NYU

hebe 2012:
Type of Undergrad: Top Canada Research University
Undergrad GPA: 4.0/4.0 (We have 4.0 for 85-100 and 3.7 for 80-85)
Type of Grad: Same University DSMA
Grad GPA: All A/A+
GRE: Q168/V152/AWA 3.5
Math Courses: Calculus I (98), Calculus II (96), First-year Real Analysis (93), Linear Programming (96), Probability (98), Mathematical Stats (100), Linear Algebra I & II (89, 96), Grad Stochastic Processes (A+)
Econ Courses (grad-level): MA Micro, Econometrics,Financial Economics, Macro-econometrics, all A+, PHD macro (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Specialist in Econ, with intermediate Macro/Micro/Econometrics, Game Theory, Advanced Macro, I.O, Contract Theory, Empirical IO, Risk mgt, financial economics...etc...All 90+
Other Courses: French, Geography, Anthropology, Classics....(All A/A+..)
Letters of Recommendation: One from Chair of the department (very famous economist), One NBER fellow and One thesis supervisor
Research Experience: Almost zero except for undergrad thesis + Master thesis. Doing my first RA now with well-known macro professor
Teaching Experience: TA for numerous stats/econ courses for more than two years
Research Interests: I.O, Micro theory/Contract Theory
SOP: Pretty Standard, but customized for each school and spent a lottt time writing them
Concerns: No advanced Math courses. No ODE, Topology, upper year real analysis. Letter is not strong enough for Top 5. No research experience! Low GRE verbal and writing.
Other: Finish my undergrad in three years. Not Canadian...
RESULTS
Acceptances: Wisconsin ($), Minnesota($), Toronto($), NYU($)
Waitlists: Upenn (ask to be removed), Cornell (rejected from waitlist)
Rejections: Yale, Chicago, Northwestern, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Michigan, Brown
Attending: NYU
What would you have done differently?
I have lurked in this forum for a couple of months and recerived a lot useful info from TMers! I would like to thank you all first. Also, since a lot of TMers would like to know the placement result for my master program, I think it is useful to post my result for you guys/future TMers. What would I have done differently, maybe slow down my undergraduate a bit, taking more advanced math/stats courses and doing some RESEARCH!!! Also, I would not complain too much about the GRE, as an international (non-native English speaker), I prepared almost 3 months for the revised GRE verbal and writing part but still received low grade...at least I tried. I would say NYU is my top choice without a doubt, I am planning to take more advanced math in the summer and prepare for the new chapter of my life at NYU!! Good luck all TMers, all the best!!
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Wisconsin ($), Minnesota($), Toronto($), NYU($)
Rejects:
    rejected from
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Upenn (ask to be removed), Cornell (

mar412 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 15 US ( Top 10 Econ)
Undergrad GPA: 3.9
Type of Grad: MA from Top 20 Econ
Grad GPA: 3.9
GRE: 790 Q, 800 V, 4.5 AWA
Math Courses: Calc 3 (A), Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (A), Probability (A), Analysis (A)
Econ Courses: Lots of Undergrad Econ with A/A-s, MA Level: Micro (A-), Macro (B+), Econometrics (A), Advanced Micro (A), Computer Modeling for Policy Analysis (A); Phd Level: Real Analysis for Econ (A), Micro I (A), Econometrics I (B+)
Other Courses:Phd Stats Intro Course (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from unknown undergrad prof who knew me really well, 1 from unknown MA prof who knew me really well, 1 "institutional letter" from phd profs.
Research Experience: Worked about 2 years as RA estimating tax revenues for a state agency...if that counts
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Wasn't sure..., claimed labor topics in micro and macro
SOP: Pretty standard, I'm sure. I didn't have much time to work on it due to an illness in the family.
Other: Didn't know what I wanted to do as an undergrad and after getting some work experience, I decided to pursue my Phd. Most of my math and Phd courses were taken in my MA program
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Minnesota ($), UCSD ($), Penn (w/l but got $), UNC(?)
Waitlists:UVA, Michigan
Rejections:Princeton, MIT, Yale, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Duke, Northwestern
Pending:None
What would you have done differently?
I think in terms of my research experience and grades I did as well as I could given my circumstances. To me, being there for my family during a time of stress was the most important thing, and I still feel proud of the choices I made. In an ideal world, I would've realized that I wanted to get my Phd as an undergrad and taken as many math classes as possible then. But, it didn't happen that way. Overall I am happy with what I achieved and am excited to start my studies next fall.
Attending: Penn
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Minnesota ($), UCSD ($), Penn (w/l but got $), UNC(?)
  • Institution: UCSD Economics Phd Decision: Accepted Funding: Not mentioned Notification date: 03.14.2012 Notified through: email Posted on GC: no Comments: Automated email from the graduate admissions office. No word from the department yet.
Rejects:
    Rejections:Princeton, MIT, Yale, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Duke, Northwestern
Waitlists:
    Waitlists:UVA, Michigan

The Blueprint 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: U.S. Public University Top 50 Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.94 (4.0 Math, 4.0 Econ)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 790Q 800V 6.0 (first time) / 170Q 170V 6.0 (retake)
Math Courses: Calc I-II (exam), Intro. Computer Science (A), Linear Algebra (A), Calc III (A-), ODE (A+), UG Real Analysis (A+), Prob. and Stats (A), Grad Analysis I (A), Numerical Analysis (A), Math. Stats I (A)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I (A+)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro. Micro (A+) & Macro, Intermediate Micro & Macro, Public Sector Economics, Game Theory, Industrial Organization (A+), Intro. Econometrics, Labor Economics (A+)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: 2 well known senior faculty who advised me on research, 1 AP who taught the grad micro course
Research Experience: One year as RA, senior thesis
Teaching Experience: Math tutor
Research Interests: Theory or applied micro
SOP: Standard, but well-written
Other:
Concerns: Reputation of institution, strength of rec. letters (explained below)
Applying to: All Top 10, Some Top 20
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Penn ($$), Minnesota ($$), Duke ($), Princeton ($$$, from WL)
WL: Princeton
Rejections: Stanford, Northwestern, S. GSB, Chicago, Harvard, MIT, Yale, Berkeley, NYU, Columbia, Wisconsin, Michigan
Attending: Princeton
THOUGHTS:
First of all, I am over the moon to be attending Princeton given my background. I think that for students who come from lesser-known U.S. schools, it's incredibly important to apply to a broad range of programs; I could not have predicted, when the process began, that Michigan and Wisconsin would reject me. I was unsure that my rec. letters would be strong enough to crack the Top 10not because the content was weak, but because my recommenders (who are wonderful) might not have as much influence or credibility as "famous" people from top institutions who write many letters. However, if your recommenders are willing to go to bat for you, I think that you will have a shot at most programs.
If I had realized my ambitions in economics earlier, I would have made sure to serve as an RA for a famous professor at a top department (during a summer or academic term). I had no desire to spend time after my bachelor's researching for a top professor or for a Fed in order to dress up my resume for future application cycleswhich I am sure would have helpedbut that is personal preference.
Finally, a thought about the Princeton waitlist. I kept in good touch with the department and sent them notes intended to demonstrate (1) that the program was an excellent fit for me, and (2) my writing style, which, while trivial compared to "real" qualifications for the PhD in economics, should at least set me apart from the field of candidates. While I am sure that many waitlisted candidates send notes explaining point (1), I would encourage them also to pick out some aspect about their candidacy which is unique or different, and express that as well. It just might make a small but material difference.
Also, I should have applied for the NSF. What was I thinking?
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Penn ($$), Minnesota ($$), Duke ($), Princeton ($$$, from WL) WL: Princeton
  • Institution: U. Minnesota Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Fellowship & TAship Notification date: 2/17 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: no Comments: 1st offer :-)
  • Institution: UPenn Econ Decision: Accepted Funding: Fellowship 24k Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail Posted on GC: no Comments: great way to start my Friday!
Rejects:
    Rejections: Stanford, Northwestern, S. GSB, Chicago, Harvard, MIT, Yale, Berkeley, NYU, Columbia, Wisconsin, Michigan
  • Institution: Yale Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 02/22 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: It is what it is. Congrats to those who were admitted
  • Institution: U. Chicago Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Northwestern Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: Checked website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Stanford Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Email to check website; letter still has not been uploaded. I emailed Mandy, who sent me my letter. For anyone who cannot view their letter online--just contact Mandy. She was able to resolve this problem quickly. Posted on GC: No
  • Institution: U. Wisconsin-Madison Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 3/8/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
Waitlists:
    waitlist. I kept in good touch with the department and sent them notes intended to demonstrate (1) that the program was an excellent fit for me, and (2) my writing style, which, while trivial compared to "real" qualifications for the PhD in economics, should at least set me apart from the field of candidates. While I am sure that many waitlisted candidates send notes explaining point (1), I would encourage them also to pick out some aspect about their candidacy which is unique or different, and express that as well. It just might make a small but material difference. Also, I should have applied for the NSF. What was I thinking?
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Waitlist Funding: Notification Date: 3/8/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Excited to make the waitlist! Does anyone care to decline their Princeton offer? :-)

emanuele 2012:
Institution: California Institute of Technology
Program: Social Sciences PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Tuition waiver + 28k Stipend
Notification date: 1/28/2012
Notified through: Phone
Posted on GC: No
Comments: ​​
Accepts:
  • Institution: California Institute of Technology Social Sciences PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Tuition waiver + 28k Stipend Notification date: 1/28/2012 Notified through: Phone Posted on GC: No Comments: ​​
  • Institution: University of Chicago Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 26k Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: University of Minnesota Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 22k Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Stanford Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 34k Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Will come by email soon Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: LSE Economics (Track 1) Decision: Accepted Funding: 18590 Notification date: 5 March 2012 Notified through: email Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: UCLA Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 21k (but more if I decide to go) Notification date: 3 March 2012 Notified through: email Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: NYU Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 24k + summer fellowship Notification date: 3/5/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: no TA/RA duties for five years
  • Institution: UC San Diego Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: later by email Notified: 13 March Notified through: email Posted on GC: no Comments:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification date: 02/22 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Stanford GSB EAP PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification date: 02/23 Notified through: checked website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: MIT Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: E-mail to check website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Berkeley Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: February 24 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Penn Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: February 24 Notified Through: E-mail to check website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Chicago Booth Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: February 28 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: NYU Stern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notified: 12 March Notified through: email to check website Posted on GC: no Comments:
  • Institution: Princeton Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notified: 8 March Notified through: email Posted on GC: no Comments:
Waitlists:

bperry12 2012:
Institution: Yale
Program: Econ PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 02/22
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: No
Accepts:
  • Institution: Chicago Econ PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: Tuition/Health + $23k Notification Date: 2/28 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: ​First Acceptance
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Yes Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Nice to have options.
  • Institution: Northwestern Econ PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: ? Notification Date: 3/2 Notified Through: Randomly checked website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Stanford Econ PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Full Fellowship Notification Date: 3/2 Notified Through: Checked website after seeing chatter here Posted on GC: No Comments: Great to have good options
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 02/22 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No
  • Institution: MIT Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 2/28 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
Waitlists:


Rejections:

MathEcon12 2012:
Since it seems like the season is coming to an end for some TMers, and because last year's thread was also started on the second Saturday of March, I think it's a good time to get the annual Profile and Results Thread started.
I'll take a page out of Italos' playbook and quote asquare's post from the 2009 thread:
"This thread is meant to be a reference thread only. Please fill out the information below, but post any comments or questions in a separate thread. Other comments will be deleted from this thread. Note that you can only edit your posts for about one hour after you make them. This means that if you are still waiting on admissions decisions, you should wait to post your profile on this thread. Otherwise, your profile will be incomplete."
Without further ado,
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad:
Undergrad GPA:
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE:
Math Courses:
Econ Courses:
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation:
Research Experience:
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests:
SOP:
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
Waitlists:
Rejections:
Pending:
What would you have done differently?
Accepts:
    admissions decisions, you should
  • Institution: UCLA Economics Decision: Accepted? Funding: No first-year tuition waiver; no stipend. TA/RA yrs 2-4. Notification Date: 03/02/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Whoooooaaaaaaa! (But I fear I have now lost the "Chron Award")
  • Institution: Boston University Econ Decision: Admitted Funding: Only years 2-5. Notification date: March 12 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comment: Official decision to come in the mail.
Rejects:
    Rejections:
  • Institution: Yale Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/22/2012 Notified through: Email to check website. Posted on GC: No Comments: On to the next one...
  • Institution: Stanford GSB EAP PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification date: 02/23 Notified through: Checked website (no e-mail) Posted on GC: No Comments: Expected after all the admits were notified last Friday.
  • Institution: UPenn Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: I don't like Philadelphia anyways.
  • Institution: UC-Berkeley Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: 0 for 4 - starting to freak out.
  • Institution: Chicago-Booth Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 2/28 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Sad face emoticon.
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 2/29 Notified Through: Checked website at 1:30 a.m. EST Posted on GC: No Comments: Sincerely, thanks for the heads up gemmy.
  • Institution: UChicago Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification date: February 29 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: 0 for 7...
  • Institution: MIT Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification date: February 29 Notified through: Email to check website. Posted on GC: No Comments: ...0 for 8.
  • Institution: Stanford Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification Date: 03/02/12 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: Used to it by now...
  • Institution: Duke Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification Date: 03/02/12 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: Coach Krysheckweiskschki was one of my letter writers, wtf?
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification Date: 03/02/12 Notified Through: Website Posted on GC: No Comments: Darn it! I loved the first Mighty Ducks movies and wanted to reshoot it with my fellow Twin City dwellers.
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 3/8/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Columbia Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notified: 3/13 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: Absolutely not.
  • Institution: Harvard Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: 3/16/2012 Notified Through: Mail Posted to GC: No Comments: Had plenty of time to prepare for the inevitable.
  • Institution: Harvard Business School Business Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: 3/16/2012 Notified Through: Mail Posted to GC: No Comments: Letter dated March 9, 2012
  • Institution: NYU Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: 3/19/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Glad this is my last post in the Admissions and Rejections thread.
Waitlists:
    waiting on
  • Institution: University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Waitlist Funding: 18K stipend + health/dental insurance if admitted Notification Date: 3/9/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Want this soo bad!

delimitless 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 60 Economics UG
Undergrad GPA: 3.75 (3.85 math & econ)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 790Q/640V/5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc series; Linear Algebra; UG Analysis; Grad Analysis I; Grad Topology I-II; Dynamical Systems
Econ Courses: Grad Macro; Grad Micro; Grad Metrics; standard UG classes
Other Courses: Philosophy minor
Letters of Recommendation: Grad Macro Professor; two economists at regional fed where I worked
Research Experience: 2 Years at Regional Fed. Couple co-authored papers in the works. Felt this was instrumental to my intent/results
Teaching Experience: Tutoring and Grading at UG
Research Interests: Macro, Labor, Computational
SOP: Customized for a little while then just got lazy and sent the same one
Other: good to be moving on
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NSF; UPenn(after NSF); UCLA($); Ohio State($$)
Waitlists: Maryland (Accepted after NSF); WUSTL
Rejections: Yale; Northwestern; NYU; Chicago; Stanford; Minnesota; Columbia; Duke
Pending:
Attending: U Penn
What would you have done differently? Probably would have customized my SOP a bit more. It just got so dull. Second-guessing the past is easy...I guess work harder in UG is the easy answer; but I wasn't so sure that I wanted a PhD at that time.
Accepts:
    Acceptances: NSF; UPenn(after NSF); UCLA($); Ohio State($$)
  • Institution: Ohio State Univ. Econ PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Not decided yet Notification date: 2/3/2012 Notified through: Website status Posted on GC: No Comments: Nice to know it won't be a shutout. Thx to Smmoo's post for letting me know I should look.
  • Institution: UCLA Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 4 year fellowship Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Agree with Peot, vague language for the funding. Word fellowship is mentioned, but unclear whether it's in addition to tuition and health insurance.
Rejects:
    Rejections: Yale; Northwestern; NYU; Chicago; Stanford; Minnesota; Columbia; Duke
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Maryland (
  • Institution: Maryland Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: "some probability" Notification date: 03/08/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: the term "some probability" makes me laugh

Blerg 2012:
Thanks, TM community for being such a valuable resource. I was a lurker, but I'll submit my results for posterity and such. All of the results below are what was put on my applications, i.e. the first 6 semesters of college.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Flagship Public (Top 5 math, Top 10 econ)
Undergrad GPA: 3.63
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q/680V/5AWA
Math Courses: Intro Bus. Stats (A-)/Calc III (B+)/Linear Algebra (B)/Discrete Math (A-)/Numerical Analysis (B)/Probability (A)/Intro to Analysis (B)/Linear Algebra (B+)/Stochastic Processes (A)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro (A-)/Intermediate Macro (A)/Transition Economics (B-)/Mathematical Economics (A-)/Econometrics (A)/International Trade (A-)/Advanced Microeconomics (A)/Development (In Progress as of Fall)/International Monetary Econ (IP as of Fall)/Thesis (IP as of fall)
Other Courses: N/A
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from the guy who taught me mathematical economics/1 from a guy I was a RA for/ 1 from the guy who taught advanced micro, with whom I also wrote my thesis. All are well respected Microeconomists who are still publishing
Research Experience: Several semesters as RA for various profs, Was writing my thesis while applying
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Development, Micro
SOP: Cookie cutter, nothing special at all
Other: I had been worried about that 1 really bad grade on an econ class, as well as my rather average grades in math classes
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCSD (ATTENDING!) (full tuition, 25% TAship first year, 50% after), BU (Nothing first year, full tuition and ~18k TAship years 2-5)
Waitlists: UCLA (I asked to be removed)
Rejections: NYU, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Michigan, Penn, NW, Chicago, UCB, Columbia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Cornell, Brown
Pending: N/A
What would you have done differently?
Let me count the ways...The main point would have just been doing better in classes. I don't know that I could have gotten A's in all of those classes, as the math department is very competitive and very bright, but I'm sure I could have bumped Bs up to B+s, etc. Writing a thesis was key, as I think it got my by far my best letter of rec. I also would have lowered my expectations, and applied to some lower ranked schools.
Regardless, I am ecstatic with my outcome. La Jolla is going to be glorious.
Accepts:
    Acceptances: UCSD (ATTENDING!) (full tuition, 25% TAship first year, 50% after), BU (Nothing first year, full tuition and ~18k TAship years 2-5)
Rejects:
    Rejections: NYU, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Michigan, Penn, NW, Chicago, UCB, Columbia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Cornell, Brown
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: UCLA (I asked to be removed)

littletotoro 2012:
PROFILE
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Liberal Arts College
Undergrad GPA: Economics Major - 3.72; Cumulative - 3.69; double Philosophy and Mathematics minor
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q, 660V, 5.0 AW
Math Courses: Calc 1 (A+), Calc 2 (A), Vector Calculus (B+), Linear Algebra (B), ODE (A), Probability Theory (B-), Intro to Analysis (A-), Operations Research (A-), Combinatorics (A)
Econ Courses: Principles of Micro/Macro (A,A); Intermediate Micro/Macro (A-,A-); International Economics (A), Technology and Growth (A), Game Theory (B), Econometrics (A+), Labor Economics (A), Senior Seminar (B)
Other Courses: N/A
Letters of Recommendation: 3 Econ professors, 1 whom I co-authored a political economy paper with in a 4th tier journal
Research Experience: RA for environmental economist over a summer, co-author as mentioned above
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Behavioral Economics, Political Economy, Economics of Education, Labor Economics (Economics of Family, Unemployment)
SOP: In retrospect, not very well written, lacked direction.
Results:
Acceptances (Master's): Duke, Tufts($), UBC
Rejections: PhD - Michigan, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Minnesota, Johns Hopkins, Boston University, Cornell, Rochester, Brown, Maryland, Master's - Queen's, Toronto
Waitlists: Wisconsin (rejected)
Attending: Duke
What would I have done differently?
I really should not have been afraid of taking advanced math courses earlier, even though my comparative advantage is not in Math (because I was too obsessed with my GPA). So I should have taken Real Analysis and the Probability-Statistics sequence earlier. If I didn't do well in those courses, then it would have given me a better signal into my comparative advantage. As it stands, I'm still not sure. Should not have taken so many economics elective courses. I should also have done a computer science course (because nowadays facility with computing languages seems to be becoming more crucial for cutting edge economics research). Two words for all applicants: Mathematical Maturity. Build that up in your undergrad, while you have friends and faculty around you to help, as much as you can.
Having said that, I'm happy I got into Duke and I'm going to put myself through as many math, statistics and PhD courses as I can stomach (in the words of Greg Mankiw). My GPA has a high likelihood of tanking. But if an Econ PhD is meant to be, then taking all these technical courses will be the best preparation that I can hope for. If not, then at least I would have challenged myself and learned valuable quantitative skills in the process before heading into the private sector.
Accepts:
    Acceptances (Master's): Duke, Tufts($), UBC
  • Institution: Duke University MA Economics Decision : Accepted Funding : None Notification Date: 3/19/2012 Notified Through : E-mail Posted on GC : Yes Comments: Very happy - will definitely take the hardest classes I can to see if I can actually hack it in a PhD program.
Rejects:
    Rejections: PhD - Michigan, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Minnesota, Johns Hopkins, Boston University, Cornell, Rochester, Brown, Maryland, Master's - Queen's, Toronto
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Wisconsin (

ptf 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics (Minor: Mathematics) from an unknown SE Asian university (Top 2 in my unknown country)
Undergrad GPA: 3.83 (Econ: 3.76, Math: 3.81)
Type of Grad: MSc Economics from a Top 3 UK university
Grad GPA: Pass (Average: 58.5%)
GRE: 800Q/320V/3.5AW, 800Q/500V/3.0AW
Math Courses (Undergrad): Calculus 1-3 (A, B+, A), Logic and Set Theory (A), Abstract Algebra (B+), Linear Algebra (A), Ordinary Differential Equation (A), Partial Differential Equation (A), Mathematical Analysis (B+), Vector Analysis (A), Statistics 1-2 (A, B+)
Econ Courses (Undergrad): Principles of Microeconomics (A), Principles of Macroeconomics (A), Microeconomic Theory (A), Macroeconomic Theory (B+), Mathematical Economics 1-2 (B, A), Econometrics 1-2 (B, B+), Public Economics 1-2 (A, B+), Seminar in Public Economics (A), International Economics 1-2 (B+, A), Seminar in International Economics (A), Monetary Economics 1-2 (A, A), Industrial Organization (A), Agricultural Marketing (B+)
Econ Courses (Grad): Microeconomics (Merit), Macroeconomics (Merit), Econometrics (Pass), Public Economics (Pass)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from senior lecturer at my grad program (PhD Harvard) + 1 from assistant professor at my undergrad program (PhD ANU) + 1 from lecturer at my undergrad program (PhD Indiana)
Research Experience: 2 years of part-time RA in public economics and international economics during my undergrad
Teaching Experience: 2 semesters of TA in microeconomics during my undergrad
Research Interests: public finance, education, inequality, macroeconomics
SOP: Standard statement talking about my preparations, explaining bad grades in my master's degree, and describing my research interests with some (minor) modifications for each school (Not so specific in terms of research topics and hardly mentioned any particular names)
Other: (1) Participated in a summer internship at the central bank (2) Got funding for my graduate studies from the government scholarship (3) Had a second bachelors in political science and is currently doing a second masters in political theory
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Chicago
Waitlists: Pennsylvania, UC-Davis, Washington
Rejections: UC-Berkeley, Northwestern, Columbia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UCLA, UCSD, Duke, CMU, Marryland, Rochester, UT-Austin, Oxford, UCL
Pending: UIUC
Attending: Chicago
What would you have done differently?
Well, I've always thought that my life would be much easier if I did my undergrad in the US. Anyway, I'm more than happy -- and very surprised -- with this bizarre result.
Some advices from my experience!
If you're from an unknown country, a master's degree from a well-known program does help a lot! Coming from a university outside the US, you'll get more chance if there've been some students from that university in a program to which you are apllying. Also, things get easier if you've got external funding. Another important thing is to note that all this process is extremely subjective; therefore, you should apply to quite a wide range of schools. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, pray hard... I think it helps!
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Chicago
Rejects:
    Rejections: UC-Berkeley, Northwestern, Columbia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UCLA, UCSD, Duke, CMU, Marryland, Rochester, UT-Austin, Oxford, UCL
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Pennsylvania, UC-Davis, Washington

to2012 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Above-average state school (flagship)
Undergrad GPA: 3.0 econ / 3.0 overall
Type of Grad: US MA that has placed a couple students in top fives and regularly in top 15 - 20
Grad GPA: 3.9+
GRE: 800Q/790V/5.0 AWA
Math Courses: Calc I (HS), Calc II-III, Linear Algebra, ODE, Proofs, Numerical Analysis I (Grad.), Probability Theory (Grad.). PDE (grad) and Intro to Real Analysis I in progress. 4.0 math gpa.
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro, Macro, Metrics I (A-), Metrics II (A-), Forecasting, Math Econ. (B+), Literature-oriented electives (2). MA Thesis (in progress). A except where noted.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Not going to list. 3.0 gpa here. Not a stellar record.
Other Courses: None relevant.
Letters of Recommendation: One from professor I have served as an RA for and know very well. Should be stellar. Not a famous economist, but actively publishes in his field.
Second from another professor I worked with and took grad micro from. Should be very positive.
Third undecided -- have a few options. Should be strong.
Research Experience: At the time of application, will be three semesters and a summer of RA work. MA thesis will be completed in time to submit a writing sample for schools that request them.
Teaching Experience: TA Math. Econ, Micro, Macro, Stats.
Research Interests: Macro, finance. No more specific at this time. Not interested in hard-headed uncompromising DSGE macro because I have little faith in the value of its contributions.
SOP: Haven't started. Obviously I need to address my abysmal undergrad grades; they aren't an accurate reflection of my ability. Highlight success in math courses and upward trends in academic performance. I would like to avoid making excuses but I still feel it is in my best interest to make some remarks about my shortcomings.
Concerns: Bad undergrad grades. Institutional prestige. Will discuss B+ in grad math econ in SOP (took it first semester of grad school before necessary math requirements. 890ncurved wasn't good enough for an A- I guess) and contrast to grades in math courses.
Other:
Applying to: Undecided. A handful of 6-15s and some schools ranked slightly below that range with strong placement records. Perhaps Chicago as well and Stanford only because it is my dream school (obviously, my chance for acceptance there is very, very low). I am also applying to fin.math. and fin.eng. programs as a fallback. I am not naive about my chances at top schools; I will apply for econ phds knowing that my chance of getting admitted even to one is perhaps 50-50. This is fine with me. While econ phd is my first choice, I have interests in fields other than academic economics and I am not willing to spend 5+ years of my life in a phd program if I am unlikely to ultimately land a decent academic job. I know many disagree with this outlook on phd applications, but I have decided that in order for the investment of 5+ years of my 20s to be worth it, I must have a reasonable expectation of a good job at the end of the road. This is why I am not applying to "safety schools".
I am also considering applying to some Finance phd programs if I can get a handle on what range of schools is appropriate for me to apply to. I will more strongly consider relatively-lower-ranked finance programs than Econ.
Accepts:
  • Institution: Santa Cruz Econ Decision: Acceptance Funding: $19K with TA but this does not include tuition waiver. Notification date: 2/24 Notified through: e-mail Posted on GC: Comments: First admit. If I am correctly understanding the funding offer, it is dissapointing.
Rejects:
  • Institution: UCSB Econ Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification date: 02/15/2012 Notified through: email to check website Posted on GC: no Comments: 3.9+ MA gpa. 800Q/790V/5.0AWA. 4.0 math gpa. They were very high on my list; disappointing to say the least.
  • Institution: UChicago. Econ PhD. Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 2/29 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: It appears I wasted the last two++ years of my life taking math courses and doing a master's.
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/5/2012 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: no Comments: expected
  • Institution: University of Wisconsin Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: Grad school for mathematics is starting to look like a reality.
  • Institution: UCSD Economics PhD. Decision: Rejected. Funding: Notification Date: March 9. Notified Through: E-mail. Posted on GC: No. Comments:
  • Institution: UMD Economics PhD. Decision: Rejected. Funding: Notification Date: March 9. Notified Through: Website Posted on GC: No. Comments:
Waitlists:

highlyconfused1 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 20 math, Top 15 econ, dual honors degrees.
Undergrad GPA: 3.94 Overall, 3.99 Math, 4.00 Econ
GRE: 690+800+4.0
Math Courses(Undergrad): CalcI,III,IV(Waived), CalcII(A), Kind of Intro Proof(A), Applied Linear Algebra(A), Topology(A), ODE(A), Differential Geometry(A), Probability(A)
Math Courses(Grad): Graduate Algebra I,II(A,A), Real Analysis I,II(A,A), Complex Analysis(B), Numerical Analysis(A), Methods of Applied Math I,II(A,A), Functional Analysis I,II(A,A), Probability and Measure (A), Stochastic Processes(A), Algebraic Geometry(A)
Econ Courses(Undergrad): Intro Micro,Macro(A,A), Intermediate Micro,Macro(A,A), A random field course(A)
Econ Courses(Grad,each is half-semester): Micro TheoryI,II,III,IV(A,A,A,A), Math Econ(A), IO(A), EconometricsI,II(A,A), a few others in the spring.
Other Courses:C++(A), Phd Asset Pricing(B+), a trivial statatistics(A), PhysI,II,III(A,A,A)
Letters of Recommendation: One Math, Two Econ. Well known within their fields I think. Very nice people.
Research Experience: Attended an NSF math REU and had a peer-coauthored publication in algebraic combinatorics. A math honors thesis, and some sort of research assistant experience in econ. Currently doing an econ thesis.
Teaching Experience: N/A (does grader count?)
Research Interests: None in particular. Pretty much open to everything: Theory, macro, IO, finance, metrics, political economy, international.
SOP: Pretty bland and short. Just stated my experience and career goal.
Concerns: Lack of econ research. LORs may not be as strong as people from top 5. I am a lazy person.
Other: A couple first places in regional math contests, top100n putnam a couple times (not that well I guess). International student. I skipped undergrad real analysis.
Applying to: Top 10 and several business schools (all econ).
Accepts:
  • Institution: MIT Decision: Accepted Funding: short waitlisted Notification date: 2/27/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comment: how likely to be off the waitlist?
  • Institution: U. Chicago Econ PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: Fellowship (23k +3k summer) Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Stanford Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 34k Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Website Posted on GC: No Comments: I still want funding from MIT...
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 02/22 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: anyway, first official decision
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/5/2012 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: no Comments:
Waitlists:

northpaw 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 40 undergraduate university, not real well known for econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.94 overall/3.88 econ
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA:
GRE: 770Q, 750V, 4.5 AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-II (A), Multivariate Calculus (A), Linear Algebra (A), Intro to Math Reason (A), Real Analysis (A), Mathematical Statistics I (A), Mathematical Statistics II (Spring)
Econ Courses (grad-level): ​N/A
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Introduction to Microeconomics (A), Introduction to Macroeconomics (A), Advanced Microeconomics (A), Advanced Macroeconomics (A), Econometrics (B), Labor Economics (A), International Economics (A), Development Economics (N/A), Senior Thesis (A)
Other Courses: International Political Economy (A, technically an international affairs course), Spanish minor
Letters of Recommendation: Senior Thesis advisor (International Affairs professor), Fed Economist, Analysis professor (not from my undergraduate institution). On the whole, they should be strong, but not well known. In terms of well written vs. well known references, I am heavily skewed to the well written side (hopefully).
Research Experience: Three years as a research assistant at a regional Fed
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: macroeconomics, development economics, labor economics...really hoping to crystallize my interests after my first year
SOP:I spent a lot of time on it...does that mean anything? I had some help from people who know a fair amount about the process, so it should be fine.
Concerns: Not enough math, could have had a more rigorous undergraduate experience in econ, recommendations are not well known, less than stellar gre.
Other: I wish I would have taken more math in undergrad. I have learned a lot through this process about how little I know, which is both daunting and exciting
Applying to: Penn, UCLA, Cornell, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Duke, Maryland, UBC, Toronto, Ohio State, Penn State, Boston College, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Arizona State, UWO
Accepts:
  • Institution: Pittsburgh Ph.D. Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: To be determined at a later date. Notification Date: 2/29/2012 Notified through: e-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: Things are looking up!
  • Institution: Arizona State Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: not sure Notification Date: 3/2/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Maybe takes a little edge off the UCLA rejection.
  • Institution: University of Western Ontario Direct-entry Economics Ph.D. program Decision: Accepted Funding: $13,000/year plus $5,000 one-time after taking qualifying exams Notification date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Penn Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 2/24/2012 Notified through: e-mail to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: Disappointing, but expected
  • Institution: University of Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: March 2 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: No Comments: ​Thanks to everyone for letting me know about the website posting.
  • Institution: UCLA Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: Notification Date: 3/2/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: This one hurts.
  • Institution: Duke Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/05/2012 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: University of Wisconsin Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: ​It was only a matter of time...
  • Institution: Cornell Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 3/8/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Officially out of my top 5 choices, which was pretty much expected
  • Institution: Penn State Economics Decision: Rejected Notification Date 3/9/2012 Notified through: email Posted on GC: No Comments: Oh well
  • Institution: Georgetown Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notified: 3/12 Notified through: Checked website Posted on GC: No Comments:
Waitlists:
  • Institution: Boston College Ph.D. Economics Decision: Waitlist Funding: Not yet Notification Date: 2/29/2012 Notified through: e-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: Could be worse...could be raining
  • Institution: University of Virginia Economics Decision: Waitlisted Funding: 20k TAship if admitted Notification date: 03/06/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: University of Maryland Ph.D. Economics Decision: Waitlist Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/9/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Pleasantly surprised by this, I had given up on UMD.

huneba 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: International bachelor (me and the degree)
Undergrad GPA: ~3.7
Type of Grad: Masters
Grad GPA: ~3.9
GRE: 166Q, 156V, 4.5 AWA
Math Courses: Calculus II (A)
Econ Courses (grad-level): ​Microeconomics I (A), II (B), Macroeconomics I (A), II (A), Econometrics I (A-), II (A), Thesis (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Microeconomics (A), Macroeconomics (A-), Econometrics (B-), Advanced Microeconomics (B), Advanced Macroeconomics (B), Advanced Econometrics (A-), Time Series (A), Microeconometrics (A), Maths Econ (A)
Other Courses: N/A
Letters of Recommendation: Thesis advisor and a couple of other professors that taught me (reasonably well-known)
Research Experience: Research assistant
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Microeconomics, industrial organization, econometrics
SOP: 2 pages -- mainly discussed my research experience and interests
Concerns: Isn't it obvious? The only maths on my transcript is calc 2!
Applying to: Chicago, Northwestern, Yale, Penn, NYU, Columbia, UCSD, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Duke, Maryland, Boston, Cornell, Brown, Penn State
Accepts:
  • Institution: UT Austin Economics Decision: Admitted Funding: ?? Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: website, checked after saw reddavies post Posted on GC: No Comments: First admit!
  • Institution: University of Maryland, College Park Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 19.5k TAship Notification date: 03/06/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Waitlisted for first-year fellowship.
  • Institution: Queen's University Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TAship + other awards Notification date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Yes
  • Institution: University of Wisconsin - Madison Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: No first year funding - TA/RAship afterwards. Notification Date: 3/14/2012 Notified through: E-mail (informal) Posted on GC: No Comments: Notified 20 mins ago.
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 02/22/2012 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: First response... at least I've finally heard something!
  • Institution nstitution: UPenn Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail to check website Posted on GC: no Comments: I thought I had a decent chance here
  • Institution: Caltech Social Science Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No
  • Institution: Rochester Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 2/28 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: Yes
  • Institution: Duke Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/05/2012 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: Yes
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/05/2012 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: Yes Comments: I really don't understand why some places don't send us emails.
  • Institution: UCSD Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 3/9/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: Yes
  • Institution: Columbia Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notified: 03/13/12 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: Yes
  • Institution: Brown Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/15/12 Notified through: E-mail to check website
  • Institution: Michigan Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/15/12 Notified through: E-mail
  • Institution: NYU Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 3/19/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Expected
  • Institution: Boston University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 3/19/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Not expected
  • Institution: Cornell Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 04/05/12 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Anyone care to explain this?
Waitlists:
  • Institution: Cornell Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification date: 04/04/12 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: See below.

Anon1 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: 1st BA in French (Minors in Russian and Spanish) from Top 10 US Liberal Arts College; 2nd BA in Economics and Management from Oxford
Undergrad GPA: 3.87/4 in US. Formal Oxford examinations in May/June.
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 760Q, 690V, 6AW
Math Courses: Mathematical Methods (covers Lin Al., Differential Equations, Probability and Multivariable Calculus - not Real Analysis or Proofs)
Econ Courses (grad-level):
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro, Macro, Game Theory, Quantitative Econ, Econometrics, Microeconomic Theory
Other Courses: Typical liberal arts stuff; a ton of languages in my first degree
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from Oxford professors (not super well-known, but quite respectable), 1 from US Liberal Arts Professor/Thesis Advisor in French Department
Research Experience: Independent Research Fellowship in Mali on Literary Topic. Published translation. Nothing in economics.
Teaching Experience: TA in French and Tutor in Russian
Research Interests: Game Theory, Time Inconsistency, Bounded Rationality
SOP: Short and direct. Research focused, with some customization for each program.
Concerns: 760Q was done a couple of years ago, and I'm confident I'd do better now. That said, it might hurt. Lack of research in Econ another big issue. Can they be sure that I have the mathematics and passion necessary for economics PhD? I do, but that might not be self-evident from the application.
Other: I thought I was a pretty atypical candidate, but looking at other profiles, I've noticed that many have non-standard paths to PhD in Econ
Applying to: PhD: Carnegie Mellon (SDS), Caltech (Social Science), MIT, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan; MA: Queen's, UBC, UWO
Accepts:
  • Institution: Wisconsin Economics Decision: Admitted Funding: None first year, guaranteed thereafter conditional on progress Notification Date: 03/03/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: What was starting to look like a disastrous year for me ends up with me getting into one of my top choices. Unbelievable!
Rejects:
  • Institution: Caltech Social Science Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Oof...
  • Institution: MIT Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: 2/29/2012 Notified Through: Email to check webpage Posted on GC: No
  • Institution: University of Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: March 2 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: Yes Comments:
  • Institution: Carnegie Mellon Ph.D. Social and Decision Sciences Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: Yes Comments: A little disappointed as it was first choice, but now that I have one great offer, nothing is particularly painful.
  • Institution: Michigan Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/15/12 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Means I'll definitely be accepting Wisconsin's offer - sorry to those on the wait list.Go Badgers!
  • Institution: Queen's MA Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification date: 4/2/12 Notified through: email Posted on GC: No Comments: Same thing here with the waitlist.
  • Institution: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification date: 3/30 Notified through: email Posted on GC: no Comments: ​Congrats to the winners.
Waitlists:

SpontDisorder 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: MA Economics Single Honours from top Scottish University (MA technically but pretty much recognized as a bachelor's)
Undergrad GPA: On a weird 20-point scale, but essentially translates to 3.65-ish
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 162Q (87%), 157V (77%), 4.0 AWA
Math Courses: MV Calc, Advanced Statistics, Econometrics, Advanced Econometrics
Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Macro, Intro to Micro, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Advanced Micro, Advanced Macro, Economics of Social Life, Labour Economics, Economics of Innovation, Economic Analysis (advanced course combining game theory and macro growth theory), Contemporary Issues, Law and Economics, Dissertation in Economics
Other Courses: Some, but only economics classes taken junior and senior year
Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors, two of which I built close relationships with and the other was my assigned advisor.
Research Experience: 12,000 word dissertation on inter-industry wage differentials, competitive internship at education reform think tank, other research internship at policy think tank
Teaching Experience: Currently a middle school math tutor
Research Interests: Labour economics, economic history
SOP: Pretty good, talked about my demonstrated love of the subject and how I did a "single-honours" degree in undergraduate to take the maximum number of economics courses possible and to be able to write a substantial dissertation.
Concerns: GRE quant score could be better, grades could always be better and I'm not sure how they'll interpret my university's weird grading scale. Recommendations were from professors who knew me well but aren't too well-published. I took all the possible econ courses I could, but was it enough math?Applying to: PhD: Vanderbilt (rejected), UC-Davis, UCSD, U Texas, Minnesota, NYU, Michigan
Accepts:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Vanderbilt Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 2/10/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: Really, really, really disappointed. Considered it one of the "sure-thing" schools I applied to. No idea what happened. Feel like an NYU, Michigan, or Minnesota is definitely impossible now...
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: NA Notification Date: 03/02/12 Notified Through: Checked website Posted on GC: No Comments: A stretch anyways
  • Institution: University of Texas Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: 3/8/2012 Notified Through: Checked Website Posted on GC: Nope Comments: Well, looks like I might have to wait another year to go to grad school...
Waitlists:
  • Institution: UC Davis Economics Decision: Waitlist Funding: Not gonna happen Notification Date: 03/02/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Kind of encouraging?

lessgiraffe 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N.A.
Notification Date: 2/10/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: -
Accepts:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Vanderbilt Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 2/10/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: University of Virginia Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 2/17/2012 Notified through: E-mail to check application status Posted on GC: No Comments: E-mail sent at 12:44 a.m. U.S. central
  • Institution: University of Pennsylvania Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 2/24/2012 Notified through: E-mail to check Web site Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: California Institute of Technology Ph.D. Social Science Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 2/24/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: University of Chicago Booth School of Business Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 2/28/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: University of Chicago Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 2/29/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: Northwestern University Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 2/29/2012 Notified through: Application Web site Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: Duke University Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/2/2012 Notified through: E-mail to check Web site Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: University of California, Los Angeles Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/2/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: University of Minnesota Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/5/2012 Notified through: Checked Web site Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: Johns Hopkins University Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: University of Texas at Austin Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/8/2012 Notified through: E-mail to check Web site Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: University of California, San Diego Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/9/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/12/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: Boston University Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/19/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: -
  • Institution: Harvard University Ph.D. Business Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/19/2012 Notified through: Post mail Posted on GC: No Comments: Letter dated 3/9/2012
  • Institution: The Ohio State University Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/20/2012 Notified through: Checked Web site Posted on GC: No Comments: -
Waitlists:

jzir11 2012:
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification Date:2/15/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Comments: Let the rejections begin!
Accepts:
  • Institution: UC Davis Economics Decision: recommended for admission Funding: Find out in March Notification date: 2/17 Notified through: email from department official acceptance to follow Posted on GC: no Comments: A VERY pleasant surprise!
  • Institution: UC Irvine Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: Out of State Tuition Remission + 17k TA stipend Notification date: 2/18 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: no Comments:
  • Institution: UC Santa Cruz Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Tuition Reimbursement + 16K Notification: 2/24/12 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Washington University in St. Louis Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date:2/15/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: no Comments: Let the rejections begin!
  • Institution: Stanford GSB EAP PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification date: 02/23 Notified through: checked website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Berkeley Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail Posted on GC: no Comments:
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 2/29/12 Notified Through: Application website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Stanford Economics Decision: rejected Funding: n/a Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: This was the one school where I really hoped to say "Holy s t, they actually let me in!" Such is life.
  • Institution: UCLA Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: Notification Date: 3/2/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/5/2012 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: no Comments: expected
  • Institution: UC San Diego Ph.D. Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N.A. Notification Date: 3/9/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: That's all she wrote. Funny, my first three notifications were acceptances, all the rest rejections...
Waitlists:

wbuelow 2012:
Institution: Yale
Program: Econ PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 02/22
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: No
Comments: First decision. 12 more to go. Too bad, I wanted to do metrics.
Accepts:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 02/22 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: First decision. 12 more to go. Too bad, I wanted to do metrics.
  • Institution: UPenn Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail to check website Posted on GC: yes Comments:
  • Institution: Northwestern Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: Checked website Posted on GC: Yes Comments: ugh
  • Institution: Chicago Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: One acceptance would be nice...
  • Institution: Stanford Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: Yes Comments:
  • Institution: Duke Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: Yes Comments: One admit would be nice
  • Institution: University of Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: March 2 Notified through: Website Posted on GC: Yes Comments: FML
Waitlists:

miles 2012:
Institution: Minnesota
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 03/06/2012
Notified through: E-mail to check web
Posted on GC:
Accepts:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Minnesota Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 03/06/2012 Notified through: E-mail to check web Posted on GC:
  • Institution: Brown Economics PhD Decision: rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/15/12 Notified through: email to check website Posted on GC: no Comments: Expected...
Waitlists:


Waitlists:

backtowork 2012:
Type of undergrad: BA in Econ and Math from non-HYP Ivy
Undergrad GPA: 3.94/4.00
GRE: 800Q/710V/5.0W
Math courses: honors calc (B), honors linear (A), honors ODE I and II (A, A), operations research (A), statistical inference (B), information theory (A), real analysis (A+), grad stochastic processes (A-)
Econ courses (all undergrad): intro (A), micro (A), macro (A), health (A), int'l (A), financial institutions (A), corp finance (A), honors econometrics (A), economic growth (A), theory of general equilibrium (A), public econ (A), Labor (1st-taken at an oxbridge), Political Econ (1st-taken at an oxbridge)
Other courses: mostly random poli-sci
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from my thesis adviser (not well known). 1 from my former boss as an intern at the Fed Board (pretty well known, but I only worked there for a couple months and he didn't know me all that well). 1 from my current boss at regional fed who is somewhat well known and knows me quite well.
Research Experience: thesis, a little RA work in UG, internship at the Fed BoG, currently an RA at a Fed Bank. No publications.
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interest: Macro, labor, IO, pretty much open to anything
SOP: eh
Other: elected phi beta kappa junior year, magna cum laude, honors;
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Penn (wl for funding, asked to be removed), UCLA ($$$), Princeton($$$)
Waitlists: Minnesota (asked to be removed)
Rejections: NYU, Harvard, HBS, MIT, Stanford, Stanford GSB, UC Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Chicago, Columbia,
Attending: Princeton!
What would you have done differently?
I would have decided during college that this is what I wanted to do and made an effort to work with some of the big name professors at my UG institution. I was very fortunate to get such favorable results without having done so. After going through the whole admissions process, it has become abundantly clear that it's all about the letters; not just what's in them, but also who writes them. Not that your letter writers have to be famous or anything, but they need to be well-connected. Looking at my admissions results, the process looks almost random (rejected from Columbia, accepted at Princeton?), but in fact my results were quite predictable; if one of my letter writers personally knew someone on the admissions committee, I was accepted. If they did not, I wasn't. Simple as that. So my advice to the next generation of applicants is the same that has been given all over this board: LETTERS ARE EVERYTHING! If I had followed that advice a little earlier, I might have cracked the Harvard/MIT barrier, but Im certainly not complaining!
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Penn (wl for funding, asked to be removed), UCLA ($$$), Princeton($$$)
Rejects:
    Rejections: NYU, Harvard, HBS, MIT, Stanford, Stanford GSB, UC Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Chicago, Columbia,
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Minnesota (asked to be removed)

EconHopeful2012 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 liberal arts, LSE General Course
Undergrad GPA: 3.55 under grade deflation policy
Type of Grad: 2 semesters of Mathematical Statistics
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 168Q, 169V, 5.5W
Math Courses: Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Real Analysis
Econ Courses: Intro Micro, Macro; Intermediate Micro, Macro, Metrics; Personal Finance; Public Economics; Economic Integration of the EU; Monetary Economics; Comparative Economic Development; Urban Economics; Advanced Health Economics; Finance Theory & Applications
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Chicago PhD, Harvard PhD, Michigan PhD. Good mix of well-connected and well-known.
Research Experience: Thesis, Fed Intern, Fed RA 3 years, coauthoring 2 papers
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests: Applied Micro, Micro Theory, Urban
SOP: Generally standard, tried to tailor to different schools and mentioned professors I would like to work with.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Chicago Harris ($), USC Price ($), Wisconsin ($), UVA ($), Wharton AE ($)
Waitlists: Michigan (withdrawn), Minnesota (withdrawn)
Attending: Wharton !!
What would you have done differently?
There's a lot I could say here and I have often thought to myself that it's too bad that most of us only do this once because you learn so much by doing. (1) I would like to have As in some of the classes where I got Bs. I wasn't remotely aware of how competitive this process is while I was in undergrad. Just assumed that as long as I was one of the top dogs at my undergrad I would be competitive anywhere. (2) I wish I had done more research ahead of time about where I really was a great fit since this turned out to be a strong predictor of where I got in. There were some schools that I probably should have applied to and didn't. (3) I wish I could have found a way to break my addiction to this forum. Although there's lots of great advice and support to be had, checking for updates every 5 minutes during the months of February and March probably just made me super stressed out and unfocused.
Despite these lessons, Wharton was a top choice for me going in and there's a good chance I would have gone even if I had gotten into some other highly ranked schools. I can't wait to get started in the fall!
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Chicago Harris ($), USC Price ($), Wisconsin ($), UVA ($), Wharton AE ($)
  • Institution: University of Virginia Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: TA + $20K Notification Date: 3/5/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Glad I don't have to check my online status anymore!
  • Institution: Wisconsin Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: None for first; TA/RA afterwards Notification date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: I feel like my luck is definitely turning!
  • Institution: Wharton Applied Economics Phd Decision: Accepted Funding: 26K Fellowship Notification date: 03/14/2012 Notified through: email Posted on GC: no Comments: Couldn't be happier!!
Rejects:
Waitlists:
    Waitlists: Michigan (withdrawn), Minnesota (withdrawn)
  • Institution: University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Economics PhD Decision: Waitlist Funding: 18K stipend + health/dental insurance if admitted Notification Date: 3/9/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: I think I'm going to pass out I'm so happy I at least made it on the wait list.

meatweaver 2012:
Profile:
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 LA - Economics and Biology
Undergrad GPA: 3.70
Type of Grad: M.S. Resource Conservation, did a non-market valuation study in a forestry department
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 770 Q, 680 V, 4.0 AWA
Math Courses: Multivariate calculus (A-, at college level--previous calc was in high school), Statistics (A), Econometrics (A), Econometrics (A, at graduate level).
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro, Econometrics
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A), Intro Macro (A-), Intermediate Micro (B+), Intermediate Macro (A), Econometrics (A), Environmental Economics (A), Poverty & Public Policy (A-), Tax Policy (A), Public Economics Seminar (A)
Teaching Experience: Taught 1 1/2 undergraduate-level courses following my Masters. Taught 4 8-hour days of an undergraduate-level economics class US Forest Service employees.
Research Experience: Master's thesis and 1 1/2 year of research experience with the USFS
Research Interests: environmental and resource, behavioral and experimental
SOP: About my long varied path toward deciding I wanted to pursue a PhD
Letters of recommendation: Master's advisor (PhD - University of Queensland), Master's econometrics professor (PhD - University of Oregon), current supervisor (PhD - Oregon State University), none of them well known
Concerns: Math
Applying to: University of Washington, Oregon St Applied, Berkeley ARE, Davis ARE, UCSB, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin AAE, Texas A&M ARE
Results:
Accepted: University of Washington ($), Oregon St ($), UCSB ($, funding off waitlist), Wyoming ($), Minnesota (?), Wisconsin AAE ($), Texas A&M ARE ($)
Rejected: Davis ARE (rejected off waitlist), Berkeley ARE
Attending: UCSB
What would you have done differently?
I would have started following this forum earlier. Seriously, this forum was an invaluable source of information for me. I found this place in August of last year and at that point I was relatively clueless about the level of competition I would be facing in applying to graduate school. This forum guided me through the admissions process and helped me choose a school that I feel will be a very good fit.
Accepts:
    Accepted: University of Washington ($), Oregon St ($), UCSB ($, funding off
  • Institution: Texas A&M ARE Decision: Accepted Funding: RA Notification date: 1/27/12 Notified through: Phone call Posted on GC: No Comments: I think this department looks good, but its reputation and placements aren't as impressive as I would hope for, and the location isn't ideal for me. They gave me a respond by date of March 15. I'm hoping to hear from some other schools before I decide.
  • Institution: Oregon State University Applied Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: ? Notification date: 2/17/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: UCSB Decision: Accepted Funding: ??? Notification Date: 2/21/2012 Notified through: email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: Excited! No mention of funding though...
  • Institution: U. Minnesota Applied Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Not mentioned Notification date: 2/24/12 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Wisconsin AAE PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: Yes Notification date: 2/24/12 Notified through: E-mail from professor Posted on GC: No Comments: Surprised, excited
Rejects:
    Rejected: Davis ARE (rejected off
Waitlists:
    waitlist), Wyoming ($), Minnesota (?), Wisconsin AAE ($), Texas A&M ARE ($)

snowyday 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA magna cum laude in Econ and History from top 30 US undergrad, top 30 econ dept
Undergrad GPA: 3.8
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800Q / 800V / 6.0 AWA
Math Courses: AP BC Calculus 5, AP Statistics 5, online courses in Linear Algebra and Multivariate Calculus, both As
Econ Courses: Honors Micro Theory A-, Honors Macro Theory A-, Econometrics B+, Game Theory A, Money Banking & Financial Markets A-, Capital Markets A-, Monetary Theory & Policy B+, Senior Thesis A
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Thesis adviser (econ professor, not well known), director of economics honors program for undergraduates (economics professor), senior administrator at another University (PhD in social work)
Research Experience: Received thesis prize for best economics thesis senior year
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests: Various, capital markets, Monetary Theory, Macro - subject to change
SOP: Discussed my current situation, and how I came to be seriously interested too late in my undergrad career to pursue more math
Other: Working for last two years in finance job.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Duke (tuition remission for 1st year), Brown (MA offer w/ no funding), Wisconsin (no funding 1st year), UCSB (waitlist for funding), BU (no funding 1st year)
Waitlists: Minnesota
Rejections: Yale, MIT, Berkeley, UCSD, Stanford, Caltech, WUSTL, UVA, Michigan
Pending:
What would you have done differently? No regrets, and am extremely pleased with my results all things considered. I had been thinking about applying to RA jobs to beef up the profile, but am not sure with offers from some top 20 schools if it would be worth another 2 years of my life. If I had been thinking of this possibility during my formative years in undergrad, I would definitely have taken more math, and probably some grad econ classes / pursued other research opportunities, but I didn't really become interested in econ until my junior year. Take heart all those with little formal math preparation! Some admissions committees will be willing to take a chance!
Attending: Duke (!!)
Accepts:
    Acceptances: Duke (tuition remission for 1st year), Brown (MA offer w/ no funding), Wisconsin (no funding 1st year), UCSB (
Rejects:
    Rejections: Yale, MIT, Berkeley, UCSD, Stanford, Caltech, WUSTL, UVA, Michigan
Waitlists:
    waitlist for funding), BU (no funding 1st year) Waitlists: Minnesota

whatdoido 2012:
I think its time to start the Roll Call for 2012. After reading last year's roll call introduction, it seems as though it is easiest for untitled to scrape the profiles for analysis if all three sections of the GRE are reported here, and the GPA is reported as first on a 4-point scale, and then in your native scale. So, let's get it going, here's the template.
EDIT: Also, let's do our best to keep this thread clean of everything except profiles.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad:
Undergrad GPA:
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE:
Math Courses:
Econ Courses (grad-level):
Econ Courses (undergrad-level):
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation:
Research Experience:
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests:
SOP:
Concerns:
Other:
Applying to:
Accepts:
  • Institution: BU Economics Phd Decision: Accepted Funding: Years 2-5 Notification date: 03.14.2012 Notified through: email Posted on GC: No
  • Institution: UBC MA Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: ~11K + partial tuition waiver Notification Date: 3/19/2012 Notified Through: Email Comments:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: $36K, They're paying me NOT to go, Notification date: 2.22.2012 Notified through: Checked website after posts here. Posted on GC: no Comments: Hey, it sucks, but what can you do! On to the next one!
  • Institution: UPenn Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: NA Notification date: 2-24-2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Sad, I thought I had a good shot here.
  • Institution: MIT Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: Princeton University Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: 3/8/2012 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No
  • Institution: Columbia Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: --- Notified: 3/13 Notified through: email to check website Posted on GC: no
  • Institution: Brown Economics PhD Decision: rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/15/12 Notified through: email to check website Posted on GC: no
  • Institution: UMich Economics PhD Decision: rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/15/12 Notified through: email Posted on GC: no
  • Institution: Harvard Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: 3/15/2012 Notified Through: Mail Posted to GC: No
  • Institution: NYU Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 3/21/2012 Notified Through: E-mail Posted to GC: nope Comments:
  • Institution: Queen's MA Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: n/a Notification date: 4/2/12 Notified through: email Posted on GC: No Comments: Apparently I was on an unofficial waitlist.
  • Institution: University of Toronto Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: --- Notification date: 5/4/12 Notified through: email Comments:
Waitlists:
  • Institution: University Of Minnesota Econ PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: NA Notification Date: 3/1/12 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: At least its not a rejection.
  • Institution: NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Decision: Honorable Mention Funding: No Notification date: 3/30 Notified through: email Posted on GC: no Comments:

gemmy 2012:

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 50 undergrad, top 40 in Econ, top 30 in Math
Undergrad GPA: 3.84 (Econ 3.85, Math 3.85)
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 670 V, 800 Q, 4.0 W
Math Courses: Cal I-III (A, A, A-), Differential Equations (B+), Linear Algebra (A-), Linear Analysis (A), Math Reasoning (Intro to Proof) (A-), Multivar Cal I-II (A, A), Real Analysis I (A), Discrete Modeling (A), Statistics (A), Prob Theory I-II (A, A), Stochastic Cal (A-)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I (A-), Macro I (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): a lot
Other Courses: Computer Programming (Java)
Letters of Recommendation:
1. Grad Macro Prof: Ph.D from Harvard, very very well-known. I did well in the class, and he knows me well. The letter should be strong.
2. Econ Prof: Ph.D from Chicago, very well-known. I did well in his undergrad class and talked to him a lot about this whole process. Hi is really enthusiastic and supportive. The letter should be very strong.
3. Research Advisor: Assistant Prof, Ph.D from Harvard. I have been working with her for more than a year. She knows me very well. The letter should be strong.
4. Econ Prof: Ph.D from Columbia, well-known. I did well in his undergrad class, but he doesn't know me that well as compared to the other Profs.
Research Experience: RA'd for more than a year.
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests: International Macro (Trade and Finance), Macro
SOP: Standard, about two pages long.
Concerns: I'm not sure how strong the letter from recommender 4 will be. No grad-level Math classes.
Other:
Applying to: Harvard, Chicago, Berkeley, Northwestern, UPenn, Columbia, Minnesota, NYU, Michigan, UCLA, UCSD, Wisconsin, Cornell, Brown, Duke, Maryland, BU, JHU, Penn State.
Accepts:
  • Institution: University of Virginia Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: TAship, 20k Notification date: 03/05/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Finally, I'm out of Chron Award!!!!! Thanks a million to everyone who wished me the best of luck! :-)
Rejects:
  • Institution: Washington University in St. Louis Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification Date: 02/15/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: no Comments: Well... 19 more to go...
  • Institution: Yale Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: - Notification date: 02/22 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: Well...
  • Institution: UPenn Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail to check website Posted on GC: no Comments: Three down.... quite depressing;;;
  • Institution: UC Berkeley Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail Posted on GC: no Comments: Four down.... even more depressing;;;
  • Institution: Northwestern Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 2/29/12 Notified Through: Application website Posted on GC: No Comments: Where would I go???? T.T
  • Institution: UCLA Economics Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification Date: 03/02/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Where would I go seriously...
  • Institution: Penn State Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/08/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Well well well... more rejections.... -.-
  • Institution: University of Wisconsin - Madison Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/08/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: 5 minutes after the Penn State rejection.... T.T
  • Institution: UC San Diego Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/09/2012 Notified through: Email (After the email, I went online to check the application. The status has been updated) Posted on GC: No Comments: Am I gonna end up going to UVA...?
  • Institution: University of Maryland Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/09/2012 Notified through: Website(testudo) Posted on GC: No Comments: higher chance that I'm going to UVA
  • Institution: Columbia Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notified: 03/13/12 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: no Comments: I'm counting on NYU now...
  • Institution: Brown Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 03/15/2012 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comment: Expected... UVA looks shinier and shinier..... It's good, isn't it? it is........... good.....!
Waitlists:
  • Institution: University Of Minnesota Econ PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification Date: 03/01/12 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: My first 'semi-positive' result!!! Half happy half sad;;;
  • Institution: UC-Davis Economics. Decision: Waitlisted Funding: Definitely nothing Notification Date: 03/02/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Another waitlist... I guess I would not take this offer even if I get admitted later since the funding seems really difficult even after year 2.

Anexpor 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: Economics, PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: First year fellowship followed by TAing
Notification date: 2/9/2012
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: Yay, cool to know that after all this time/effort I really will be going to grad school!
Accepts:
  • Institution: Vanderbilt Economics, PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: First year fellowship followed by TAing Notification date: 2/9/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments: Yay, cool to know that after all this time/effort I really will be going to grad school!
  • Institution: University of Virginia Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: TAship Notification date: 03/05/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Yay, puts me at two so I'll actually get to make a decision!
Rejects:
  • Institution: Chicago Econ PhD. Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 2/29 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: Unsurprisingly it looks like the lottery ticket didn't pay off.
  • Institution: MIT Econ Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: 2/29/12 Notified Through: Email to check the website Posted on GC: No Comments: Can't blame a guy for dreaming, right?
  • Institution: Stanford Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No Comments: It would have been cool, congrats to the admits though!
  • Institution: Duke Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 3/5/2012 Notified through: Checked website Posted on GC: No Comments: Strangely, not as sad about this one as the others.
Waitlists:
  • Institution: Minnesota Econ PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: Notification Date: 3/1/12 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: Cool, I had honestly already written them off as an implicit rejection. Excited to be a sorta/kinda MN quality applicant!

salatariov 2012:

Institution: LSE
Program: MSc in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/17/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment:.... Unexpected... waiting for 16 more...
Accepts:
  • Institution: LSE MSc in Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: N/A Notification date: 02/17/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: Yes Comment:.... Unexpected... waiting for 16 more...
  • Institution: UPenn Econ Decision: Accepted Funding: "Very high" on the waitlist for fellowship Notification 2/24/12 Notified through: e-mail Posted on GC: no Comments: $$$ please....
  • Institution: Duke Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 18k Notification date: 2/28/12 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: Yes Comments:
  • Institution: Maryland Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: 19500 for the first year. TA/RA for two to five Notification date: 03/05/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
  • Institution: UCLA Economics Decision: Accepted Funding: NA Notification date: 03/02/2012 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Yale Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 2/22/2012 Notified through: Email to check website Posted on GC: YES Comments:
  • Institution: UChicago Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: NA Notification Date: 2/29/12 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No
  • Institution: MIT Econ PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: February 29 Notified Through: E-mail to check website Posted on GC: Yes Comments:
Waitlists:
  • Institution: Minnesota Econ PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: Notification Date: 3/1/12 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: Yes Comments: ​

kinzaman 2012:
Institution: University Of Minnesota
Program: Econ PhD
Decision: Waitlisted
Funding: N/A
Notification Date: 03/01/12
Notified Through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: After four straight rejections, a welcome change.
Accepts:
Rejects:
  • Institution: Stanford Economics Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification Date: March 2 Notified Through: Email to check website Posted on GC: No
  • Institution: University of Wisconsin Economics Ph.D. Decision: Rejection Funding: N/A Notification date: 3/7/2012 Notified through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: ​Unexpected. Looks like it's going to come down to WUSTL, who appear to have forgotten about my application, and getting in off the UMN wait list...
Waitlists:
  • Institution: University Of Minnesota Econ PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification Date: 03/01/12 Notified Through: E-mail Posted on GC: No Comments: After four straight rejections, a welcome change.
Admit summary statistics:
As submitted and recoreded from Test Magic:
There were 6 accepted out of 30 applicants.Of those accepted, average GPA was 4.02, average GREQ was 800.0.
From the Department webpage in 2010 (please send me a link if this is wrong!)
Last year there were approximately 410 applicants to our program and 51 were accepted to fill 19 positions. We offered financial support--departmental assistantships and Graduate School or department fellowships--to about 47 applicants... Normally we consider applicants only with Graduate Record Examination (GRE) - quantitative scores above 750, though particularly strong credentials of other kinds (e. g., research papers, strong letters of evaluation from professors familiar with top-rated U.S. graduate programs, grades) can offset a lower score. The GRE subject exam in economics has been discontinued, but if you have taken it in the past, we are naturally interested to hear about high scores...Normally we consider only applicants whose undergraduate grade point average (GPA) exceeds 3.5 on a 4 point scale (A=4.0, A-=3.67, B=3.00, and so forth.) For both this and other grading systems, we are looking for students who are in the top 5 percent or so of their class. The same caveat as above applies here: in unusual cases, we will admit a student who does not meet this standard...The University of Minnesota program builds on rigorous mathematical foundations. The minimum mathematical prerequisites, multivariable calculus and linear algebra, are barely enough to survive first year theory courses. In fact, no student has been admitted in the past several years with training limited to this level of mathematics. Real analysis, or any course in abstract mathematics which teaches the skills needed to construct a careful proof, is particularly helpful. Courses in differential equations, optimization, topology, probability, or measurement theory can all be applied to economic work. All help develop the mathematical sophistication that helps prepare the student to understand new mathematical concepts that they will meet in graduate work. A course in mathematical statistics is not required for admission, but satisfies an important prerequisite for the econometrics course sequence. Previous course work in statistics may enable you to take econometrics sooner than you otherwise could.
(Source)

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Last Updated: 14:58:10, Fri May 11, 2012