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canecon 2008:
School: UBC
Major: Econ (Hons)
GPA: 3.5 (3.98 upper-econ, 3.98 math (excluding failed calc 1))
GRE: 800q 480v 5.0 AWA (despite the awful verbal I am native English speaker / English background)
Courses:
Econ:Hon micro/macro I (A+'s) Game Theory (Hon) A, Hon Macro II A+, + intro metrics I/II (A+) + lots electives (mostly A+)
Math: Calc 1 (F first time then A), Calc 2, linear, multivariable, ODE's, probability(calc based), intro proof A+'s intro analysis A
Now Taking: Honours Thesis, Advanced Macro, Econometrics
Research: Thesis
letter of recommendation: 3 Assistant Profs, I say mediocre since I had no special relationship, just took their classes.
SOP: Pretty bad I think... that might just be me - but I didn't have any professors read it since I thought it was crappy (very bad reason I know - I expect I might have had spelling/grammar errors as well ). But I guess for Master's it doesn't matter that much.
Interests: Macro, Int trade/finance/development.
Schools:
Decided to apply only for Masters:
LSE, UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, UPF, UBC, Toronto, Queens, UWO, Stockholm.
My Concerns:
First year really sucked, second year was average. Only have 1.5 years of good grades.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE Msc (1 year, Res), UCL MSc, Warwick MSc, Oxford M.Phil (??), UPF MSc($$), Queen's MA ($$), Toronto Doc. Stream MA ($$), UBC MA ($$), UWO MA ($$),
Still Waiting: Cambridge M.Phil (B), Stockholm University MSc (Research)
Rejections: None (yet)
What would you have done differently?
-known that I was going to go for grad school (in econ) earlier
-started preparing to apply in the summer, or early sept, or early october. (didnt start applications earlier because very math-packed semester. No time in summer though b/c courses and GRE - basically crammed all the math I needed in last 8 mths I would have grades for).
-Looked into scholarship opportunities for study in UK (many seem to have deadlines around sept/oct. ) I started looking the next february/march.
-Basically I did what I could. Maybe should have applied to some PhD straight away, but still not sure what I want to do and I didn't really have time to put together good apps.

mamama 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Engineering-best university in my country
Undergrad GPA: 3.31/4.00
Grad GPA: 3.7/4.00 same university economics department
GRE: 800q, 400v, 3.5w
Math Courses: Calculus I,II linear algebra, differential eq. real analysis
Econ Courses: master courses and many micro courses
Letters of Recommendation: from economics department/ applied to some without master thesis advisors letter of recommendation
Research Experience: 2 years, a published article in native language and 2 ongoing
Teaching Experience: TA for a couple semesters in UG and G
Research Interests: micro,io
SOP: standard
RESULTS:
Attending: Austin
Acceptances: Austin ($$), Boston College ($$), Duke ($$), Rochester ($$), Rutgers ($$), UIUC ($$),Pompeu Fabra($$), Tinbergen ($$), Tilburg($$), Wisconsin Madison
Rejects: Upenn,Nyu,Columbia,NW
What would you have done differently? have chose another university for master

econphp06 2008:
Type of Undergrad: Business Major, Economics Minor
Undergrad GPA: overall GPA: 3.33 (bad freshman year, excluding freshman it is 3.55)
GRE: 800Q, 330V,AWA 4.0
Math Courses: Math for Econ I-II (AA)Calculus I-II (CB), Differential equations (CB), Linear Algebra (The GRE Big Book), Operations Research (AA), Decision Support Systems( AA)
Econ Courses: Int. Micro-Macro, Econometric, Financial Markets Institutions etc..
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ prof and 1 math prof
Research Experience: RA for 3 months.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Financial Economics, Financial Econometrics, Econometrics.
SOP: ok.
Concerns: Not having great grades and math courses
RESULTS:
Attending: CEMFI Master in Economics and Finance ($$)
Acceptances: CEMFI Master in Economics and Finance ($$), University of Houston Economics Phd, North Carolina State University Econ Phd, Washington State University Econ Phd($$), UPF Msc Finance, Vanderbilt GPED, Central Michigan MA Economics
Rejects: University of Virginia Econ Phd, Boston College Econ Phd, Purdue Econ Phd, Carlos III MA
What would you have done differently? Studied in freshman year, applied only masters programs...

PHDism 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Business Admin and Computer Science double major. A small US University nobody has heard of. Pretty certain nobody has gone to Econ PHD from there.
Undergrad GPA: 3.9 (But that was all A's and one C)
Type of Grad: Policy oriented degree in US, one of the top of its kind.
Grad GPA: 3.6
GRE: 790/650/5.5
Math Courses: Calculus III (A-) and Linear Algebra (B+) only by US applications deadline and before Toulouse. Taking Real Analysis and ODE in Spring, and was able to show this to LSE, UPF and HEI
Econ Courses: Some in undergrad, but not rigorous. A whole bunch during the grad school - but they count as intermediate undergrad level.
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: One from econ and one from stats professor from top 10 Econ. Both very strong. Also two professional from World Bank economists, very strong.
Research Experience: Three years at the World Bank
Teaching Experience: TA for econ course.
Research Interests:
SOP: Had a lot of explanation to do for non-traditional profile. Was logical for whoever cared to read it - but I do not know if they ever do.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE, UPF, Geneva HEI($$)
Waitlists:
Rejections: NYU, Princeton, Yale, Toulouse M2
Pending:
What would you have done differently? Many things. But mostly taken more math. I was clueless that just third semester Calculus and Linear Algebra was not enough - till I discovered this forum in December. But by then it was too late, and my US and Toulouse applications were out. I have been out of school for 4 years, but I registered as non-degree and am taking ODE and Real Analysis now in spring. That probably helped in European applications sent in February. Maybe indicated motivation.

securityblanket 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Economics, BA from Turkey
Undergrad GPA: 2.80/4.00
Type of Grad I: Economics, Msc
Grad GPA: 3.30
Type of Grad II: Financial Mathematics, Msc
Grad GPA: 3.85 (ranked second out of 30-40 people)
GRE: 780Q, 320V, 4.0AWA
Math Courses: (3.30 average) Calc I-II, Linear Algebra, Honour's Linear Algebra I-II, Ordinary Differential Equations, Introduction to Probability Theory, Real Analysis I-II, Game Theory (grad level course form math. department), Difference Equations, Lebesgue Integration and Measure Theory, Introdution to Functional Analysis, Functional Analysis (PhD level), Probability Theory (Grad level), Stochastic Calculus Applied to Finance (Grad level), Stochastic and Deterministic Optimal Control (PhD Level), Partial Differential Equations and these are all I guess.
Econ Courses: A lot since I am graduated and obtain my Msc fromm department of economics
Other Courses: A lot of statics and econometrics courses (even more than my math course including grad and undergrad courses).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 Econ profs plus one professional -- exceptional. 1 well known.
Research Experience: Working in a research department for 3.5 years and published one SSCI paper (D-Class but anyway) and one conference paper (ECOMOD)
Teaching Experience: TA for into to econometrics
Research Interests: Applied time series econometrics, international finance, monetary macroeconomics, macro-finance models and DSGE models
SOP: why my undergrad gpa is low, I want to be a policymaker etc (3 pages explains my professional activities etc.)
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
UNC Chapel Hill (no funding)
UC Santa Cruz (no funding)
UPF (no funding)
JHU (no funding)
Rejections: so many
Waitlists: UPENN and BU
Will be attending: JHU rocks!!!
What would you have done differently? My undergard GPA is a very big problem and even my math courses were not enough. may be this year was a disaster, who knows? but I have very close friend wişth a simlliar background that has done a lot better in two years ago. Anyway, still I am satisfied with JHU. I wish all TMers a good luck in the future. I hope you will be more lucky than me...

freecon 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.90/4.0 (gpa in math&econ 3.96) Top ranked out of 150
Type of Grad: No grad degree
GRE: 780Q
Math Courses: Calculus I-II, Linear Algebra, Math for economists, Math Analysis, Graph Theory and Networks, Probability and Statistics I-II
Econ Courses: Many...Macro and micro theories, Game Theory I-II, Growth and Development, International Trade I-II, Public Finance, Monetary, Econometrics I-II, Time Series
Other Courses: Java, Matlab, Management courses...
Letters of Recommendation: I used five different recommenders. One was a famous prof, one was department chair, others were associate profs knowing me well.
Research Experience: non
Teaching Experience: Tutoring in Econ 101&102 for two years, assisting in CS 123 for a semester
Research Interests: Game theory, Macroeconomic theory, macroeconomic policy games
SOP: I have sent a standard SOP to each school by just changing the name of institution. It is neither bad nor well-prepared, although I spent great time on it.
Other:
RESULTS:
Attending: BU ($$$)
Acceptances, declined: UMD ($$$), JHU ($$), Brown, LSE-MSc, UPF-MSc ($$$)
Waitlists: Brown funding list
Rejections: MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Yale, UCLA, UPenn, Northwestern, NYU, UCSD
Pending: UWM
What would you have done differently? Firstly, I didn't study for GRE assuming that the quantitative part was easy. Yes, it was easy. But I should have studied to gain speed. Further, the verbal part was horrible for me as an international student. If I had studied, I may do well. Secondly, I didn't apply to Cornell, Columbia, Michigan, Chigago and Minnesota. I should have made a better combination of schools instead of applying Princeton,MIT,Berkeley,Yale and so on. Thirdly, it is the important one: I should have written more specific SOPs. But, it was impossible for me since I still haven't know exactly my research interests.

lightyears 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Laurea in Economia e commercio
Undergrad GPA: 26,5/30
Type of Grad: Laurea specialistica in scienze dell'economia (2-years)
Grad GPA: 29,5/30
GRE: 800/550/3,5
Math Courses: Math analysis 1/2, Math for economists (optimization, ODE), financial math (up to some stochastic calculus), Stochastic Processes, Probability theory, Statistics
Econ Courses: usual stuff, a lot. No int. micro. A lot of int. macro, monetary, banking etc.
Other Courses: History of economic thought, Modern history etc.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Math PhD profs, 1 Econ prof, pretty standard and positive I think.
Research Experience: no
Teaching Experience: no
Research Interests: Macro, monetary, international
SOP: Boring but standard I think
Other: Nothing special.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: CEMFI (attending), UPF, Tinbergen I, ULB.
Waitlists: none
Rejections: EUI
Pending: Toulouse
What would you have done differently? Nothing. Since when I realized I wanted to do a PhD (middle of my first year of Msc!), I was already in the wrong university (unknown), with no time, and with an Erasmus period starting in few months. Given that, I did all I could. I didn't apply in the UK for economic reasons, and I wanted to stay in quite a warm place. At the end of the process, I'm very satisfied.

postgradecon 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BSc in Economics and Mathematics from a well-known but not so good in economics university in Canada.
Undergrad GPA: converts to about 3.85/4
Type of Grad: LSE
Grad GPA: not yet known
GRE: 780Q/530V/4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-II-III (A/A+'s), Linear Algebra I-II (A+'s), Real Analysis I (A+), Differential Equations (A+), Logic and Set Theory (Proofs) (B), Sampling (B+), Prob and Stats (A+), History of Logic (A).
Graduate: none
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro and Macro (A+'s), Advanced Macro (A), Advanced Micro (B+, level of grad Varian), Econometrics (A+), Labour (A), Cost-Benefit (A), Math econ (A), Development (B, abroad), Industrial Organisation I-II (A-, A)
Graduate Econ Courses: Before my masters: Time series econometrics (A), Institutional economics and China's development (A+, with a mini-thesis). Masters: econometrics, micro, macro, political economics (no grades yet).
Other Courses: A bunch of biochemistry classes before switching to econ (grades between A- and A+). Some philosophy classes as extra electives (A+ in all).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from my undergrad, all really enthusiastic (PhDs from Princeton, Queen's and from a German university). One I wrote a mini-thesis with during a graduate class. A fourth was from my graduate program, didn't know me well, was in the beginning of the first year. I sent a different combination of 3 letters to different schools (deadlines were not at the same time and got the fourth a bit later, more on this below).
Research Experience: 2 years as research assistant in a well-respected small Canadian think tank, focusing on productivity and other welfare issues.
Teaching Experience: none.
Research Interests: Political economy, microeconomics, development.
SOP: Talked mostly about my interest in economics, my research interests, and why the school would be a good fit.. pretty standard and not that good.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UBC PhD ($$), UPF Masters ($), LSE (no $)
Waitlists: none
Rejections: Caltech, MIT, NYU, Columbia
Pending: none
Attending: UBC (did not want to do a second master's degree before re-applying next year and UPF did not recognize my masters as good enough for their PhD).
What would you have done differently?
As mentioned earlier, I have sent different sets of letters to different schools. Instead, I would have sent the 3 letters from undergrad to all schools and not bother to send a not-so-good letter from my grad teacher. At first I thought it was important, but thinking back I think this might have ruined my chances at most US schools. I was accepted at all schools that didn't receive that letter.Also, I would have applied to much more schools, but I decided late and did not have much time to think about it.
In the end, I am satisfied since UBC is well-respected in its country and on par with a lot of top30 schools in the US.

z109620 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics with Minor in Math and Philosophy from a mediocre state school which does have an Econ and Math PhD (NIU)
Undergrad GPA: 3.76/4.00 (Econ: 3.93/4.00 Math: 4.0/4.0)
Type of Grad: Just two masters course Econometrics and Math for Econ
Grad GPA: 3.5
GRE: 750Q, 470V, 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Diff Eqs, Undergrad Analysis I, and Prob. & Stats (also Undergrad Analysis II (W))
Econ Courses: Typical stuff, plus Grad Math for Econ (B) and Grad Econometrics (A)
Other Courses: A couple proof based logic courses (B,A)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 really good letter (Senior Prof., Wisconsin), 1 good letter (Visiting Prof., Penn) and 1 ok letter (Chair, London)
Research Experience: Senior Paper
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: My main focus is Applied Micro Development, however, within the above field I am interested in Agriculture, Trade, Behavioral, Public and Political Economics
SOP: I think it is ok, talked about my Senior Paper, my passion for research and my goals for the future.
Other: I did not get into econ until junior year
RESULTS: (all masters programs)
Acceptances: UC Davis ARE (partial tuition and job as grader), UBC (partial tuition), UPF (no$), Cornell AEM (no $), Purdue ag econ (no $), UIC (no $), U York, U Bristol, U Sussex, USF (20k over two years)
Rejections: Wisconsin AAE and Toronto Doctoral Stream
Pending: Queen’s MA
What would you have done differently?
Well I wish I would have known that I wanted to do Econ earlier, as well as gone to a more prestigious undergrad. However, besides that I feel that I did very well, especially considering the tough year. I am very happy with UC Davis ARE, I plan to work really hard and advance to their PhD, seeing as there program is probably one of the best in the world given my prefers.
Attending:
UC Davis ARE masters

chestnut.cc 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergraduate: BA Economics from a Top 10 college in my country (south east Asia) with math and stat minors
Undergraduate GPA: Currently (Final Year) 84%. We don't use the GPA system so I'm unsure of how much that translates to. It's similar to a UK percentage system though
Type of Graduate: NA
Graduate GPA: NA
GRE: 760V, 800Q, 5.5 AWA
TOEFL: 119
Math Courses: Three Year long Industrial Mathematics courses. Audited Real Analysis, Linear Algebra of the more rigorous sort.
Statistics Courses: Three Year long Applied Statistics courses.
Economics Courses: Economics Specials I II III IV. Basically intermediate micro, macro, international trade, history of economic thought, monetary, development economics.
Letters of Recommendation: Head of Department, Senior Lecturer, no one known, will serve my purposes.
Research Experience: NA
Teaching Experience: NA
Research Interests: Political Economy, Game Theory, Mechanism Design, Micro theory.
SOP: Short, Simple, just tried to signal course content, courses audited, interests.
Applied to: LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Toulouse, UPF BGSE, Tilburg, Erasmus Mundus
Acceptances: LSE EME(2 yr), Toulouse M1, UPF, Tilburg (MPhil), Erasmus Mundus MMEF1, Cambridge PG Dip (Econ)
Rejections: Oxford, UCL, Erasmus Mundus QEM
Attending: LSE

y_satir 2009:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ from the top university of Turkey (international private university, education language is English)
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4 and 3.95 in Econ and Math
GRE: 780Q, 330V, 4.0AWA
TOEFL:100 ibt
Math Courses: Math Analysis, Graph Theory, Math for Econ, Calc I & II, Stats and Probability I&II, Linear Algebra
Econ Courses: Intro to Micro and Macro, Intermediate Micro and Macro, Econometrics I&II, Monetary Economics, Fiscal Econ, International Econ I&II, currently taking Game Theory, Theories of Growth And Development, History of Economic Thought
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors who know and like me substiantally
Teaching Experience: tutoring for Econ 101&102 Courses
Research Interests: Game Theory, Macroeconomic Policy games, Macroeconomic Theory (seems unrelated with Game theory which is micro
Concerns: My GRE scores are not as high as they could be and I will have taken only undergrad degree
SOP: Done with all the basics covered
Other:Some Honors from domestic academic centers and Fulbright OI Grant
Applying to: Princeton,MIT,Chicago(just for fun), Berkeley, Yale, UCLA, NYU, PENN,UCSD,Maryland, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Brown,Pompeu Fabra

ecuaecon 2009:
Type of Undergrad: international student with a a degree from a local university
Type of Grad: MS econ from a mid-size private american university
Undergrad GPA: 3.6/4
Graduate GPA: econ 3.6, econ + math 3.4
GRE: 770Q, 470V, 4.0 AW
Math Courses: Calculus I, II, III. Statistisc I, II. Linear Algebra. Math for econ (undergrad and grad). Advanced Calculus (Analysis). Not so great grades
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro (A-) and econometrics (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ profs (graduated at UT, Brown, Cornell), I think these will be good recommendations.
Research Experience: RA for a professor, RA local central bank, master's thesis
Teaching Experience: instructor (econometrics)
Research Interests: Institituions, Econ history, behavioral econ
Concerns: I don't have a 800-gre, not so great grades for math courses
Applying to: Caltech, Michigan, Maryland, WUSTL, Barcelona School of Econ, Warwick, Oxford, European University Institute, Queen's, British Columbia, Toronto.

leguan 2009:
Institution: UPF
Program: MSc
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Full Tuition Waiver & TA
Notification date: February 5
Notified through: E-Mail
Comments: Tons of luck, mostly with my recommenders.
And thanks to Italos for this thread.

daniel.k 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top Brazilian BA Econ
Undergrad GPA: 8.4/10 (2nd in my cohort so far - graduating in June)
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 800Q, 460V, 3.5AWA (Toefl 113)
Math Courses: Calculus I & II, Mathematical Econ I & II, currently auditing Linear Algebra, Stat I & II, Econometrics I, II & III (A's or A+)
Econ Courses: many, Micro I & II, Game theory, Info & Corporate Governance, Macro I & II, Monetary Econ, Economic history, Brazilian Econ history I & II, Financial Math, International econ, Institutional Econ, Development
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Very good, I guess. One got his PhD at UCLA (my thesis supervisor) and the other did his Post Doc at LSE (did pretty well in his class and kept in touch since then)
Research Experience: Currently writing undergrad thesis
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests: Development, Info, IO, Financial Econ (Corporate Governance)
SOP: Standard, I suppose.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE MSc Econ, Tilburg MSc Econ, Barcelona GSE MSc Econ (half TAship), Toulouse M2 Eco-Math, CEMFI Masters ($$)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: None
Pending: None
What would you have done differently? At the beginning I care nothing about grades. The first year is supposed to be the easiest at my uni and I didn't take advantage of that. Had no idea I'd be willing to get a masters or PhD. It's particularly easy/simple to take more math because math courses are offered by another department and I wouldn't get fully accredited for that. Anyway, should have taken more. At least Linear Algebra and maybe Analysis. Other than that, I think it's almost impossible to go straight from undergrad to top PhD's coming from a Uni which is outside the Europe-US axis. Most of the people from Brazil that go to top PhD's did their masters at a top school at home.

icebear 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics, Colorado State University
Undergrad GPA: 3.89 (magna cum laude)
Type of Grad: courses during UG: Foundations of Quant Econ Analysis, Political Economy 1
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 790/560/6.0 (2009), 750/570/4.5 (2006)
Math Courses: Calc 1 (A), Calc 2 (B+), Statistical Methods (A), Matrices and Linear Equations (A), Foundations of Quant Econ Analysis (8 week grad math-econ course which covered Simon & Blume) (A+)
Econ Courses: Micro Prin & Inter, Macro Prin & Inter, Econometrics, Independent Study x 2, Comparative Economic Systems, Recent Economic Thought (i.e. History of Academic Economics), Transformation of Central and Eastern European Countries, Privatization and Foreign Capital (B), Globalization - Social and Economic Aspects (B), Games and Decisions (B), Senior Seminar on Globalization and Trade, Political Economy I (graduate level) [Note: all A's except where noted].
Other Courses: Java Programming, freshman year of Electrical Engineering sequence (A's)
Letters of Recommendation: PhDs from MIT, Cambridge, Harvard, Kansas. 1 is a Lead Economist at a international organization, other three are professors; two recent and enthusiastic (regarding research), two enthusiastic but dated (regarding coursework, especially math ability).
Research Experience: Consulting in the private sector and international organizations for ~ 2.5 years, always in close collaboration/supervision with PhD economists.
Teaching Experience: ~1 year teaching English.
Research Interests: International (trade/finance/macro)
SOP: Standard, with a few lines on my grad econ-math course and how my working experience shaped my interests
Other: Intermediate level Chinese, strong experience/knowledge of Chinese development and trade policy, international trade policy, international organizations.
Knew my chances were almost zero at top 10s, but was strongly encouraged to apply to some anyway, given the relatively low costs of additional apps.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: CEMFI ($$), UBC MA ($), Barcelona GSE MSc, Toulouse M2, Carlos III MA ($$)
Waitlists: -
Rejections: Duke PhD, Columbia PhD, JHU PhD, Harvard PhD, UVa PhD, UCSD PhD, NSF GRFP
Pending: Georgetown PhD
Attending: CEMFI
What would you have done differently?
I probably should have taken grad micro/metrics following my grad math-econ course (as typical grad students did), as that signal would have been much stronger than Political Economy 1. More formal math, of course, but I didn't realize that in UG and have never found a schedule complimentary with my working hours since then (I've lived in non-English speaking countries since graduating, so math courses taught in English are pretty limited). Those two things would have done the most to improve my profile, although I wasn't too concerned about it at the time and am happy with how my UG and professional experience has been since then.
That said, I've had talks with my LORs and done some soul searching and am not exactly certain that sinking 5 years into a PhD is the best way to get me where I want to go. Academia is one interesting career path to me, but economic policy research (government, international orgs) or working in China again (in consulting or similar) also hold my interest, and for the later two a MA coupled with 3 more years of working experience and/or language training make more sense. I initially was set on UBC, unfunded, over UC3M, funded, for reputation issues and a better fit with regards to research interests (plus a bad feeling on UC3M's faculty responsiveness from my interactions with them and students), but had a last minute change...
...long after assuming CEMFI had implicitly rejected me I received a invitation to Madrid for an interview in early May to clear up some question marks in my profile (several years of professional experience and goals with pursuing the MA). Apparently I made a good impression, because I was admitted with the standard (?) CEMFI scholarship and stipend. CEMFI made a great impression on me also, with the faculty very warm, responsive and expressing a genuine interest in and support for my several competing career goals and providing clear examples of how CEMFI is well placed to get me there. I was really impressed with the detail they could provide on professional and academic placements relative to most other master's programs' vagueness at this question. So, the main take away is that it isn't over till its over and I'm very pleased to be moving to Madrid next fall!

keano 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ, top 5 UK university
Undergrad GPA: First (not sure how this translates)
Type of Grad: MSc in Competition Economics, part-time UK university
Grad GPA: On course for distinction
GRE: 800Q, 790V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Maths for economists courses: calculus, linear algebra etc
Econ Courses (Ma-level): A lot of micro-based + econometrics: mostly As
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Lots
Letters of Recommendation: 2/3 econ professors (not well known) Current Employer (Economic consultant with Econ PhD). Hopefully v.positive but names probably won't be known in US.
Research Experience: 3.5 years in economic consultancy
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro theory, IO
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Caltech (from waitlist), EUI, LSE (MSc), Oxford (MPhil), BGSE (MSc), Toulouse (M2)
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Stanford GSB, Kellogg, Wharton (Applied Econ), MIT, UCSD, Berkeley, Wisconsin-M, PSU, Chicago, NYU
What would you have done differently? At the time of the applications process not sure I could done have lot a lot more. Looking at my results, I was a lot more successful in Europe which I would speculate is due to a lack of formal maths courses. So going back a few years, I would have tried to address that somehow.

benfica 2010:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: MSc Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: tuition waiver
Notification date: 3/26
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Nice.

keano 2010: keano<

troll2 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BSc Economics from a swedish uni.
Undergrad GPA: we don't calculate gpa over here
GRE: 790/490/4.0
Math Courses: One var calculus, Multivar calculus, Linear Algebra, Maths for econ
Econ Courses: Intermediate micro/econometrics/macro, labor, game theory, IO, environ. econ
Letters of Recommendation: Thesis advisor (unkown), Political Science prof at UCSD (somewhat known)
Research Experience: Mandatory BSc thesis
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: No idea
SOP: Who reads them anyways?
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE (MSc EME), Barcelona GSE (MSc Econ), Tilburg (Msc Econ)
Waitlists: Cambridge (MPhil Econ)
Rejections: N/A
Pending: SSE (MSc Econ)

teddypicker 2011:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics from a somewhat-known non-US, non-EU university, (ranking 100+ in Times Higher Education)
Undergrad GPA: 3.89/4.0 (Class Rank:5)
Type of Grad: none
Grad GPA: none
GRE: Q800 V450 AWA4.5
Math Courses: Calculus I&II (A, which is the highest grade you can get), Mathematics for Economists (A), Introduction to Linear Algebra (A), Probability and Statistics I&II (A), Programming for Social Sciences (A)
Econ Courses: Macro-Micro Theory (A), , International Economics I&II (A), Econometrics I&II (A), Transition Economics (A), Theories of Growth and Development (A), Institutions and Development (A), History of Economic Thought (B+, A), Finance (A), Principles of Accounting (A-), Fiscal Economics (A), Monetary Economics (A-), World Economy in 20th Century (A), Analytical Writing for Economists (A), Game Theory I (A), Advanced Economic Theory (A), International Political Economy (A), Political Economy of Natural Resources (A), International Money (A-), Seminar in Macroeconomic Policy (A)
Other Courses: Selected Topics in Law (C+ basically why my GPA got lower), Social Transformation and Political History of my country (both A), History of Civilization (B-), Sociology and Social Psychology (both A)
Letters of Recommendation: All three are macro-economists. One got his PhD from Princeton (among top 6ited economists), one from Minnesota (considered to be the top economist of my country) and one from Maryland.
Research Experience: Currently conducting one with the professor who got his PhD from University of Minnesota. (A proposal on the Brazilian capital controls). I also wrote some papers for my previous professors; the most "credible" one is something I wrote for Sweder van Wijnbergen when I was an exchange student in the University of Amsterdam.
Teaching Experience: Worked as a TA for Introduction to Economics and Macroeconomic Theory classes over the summer.
Research Interests: Macroeconomics, Growth and Development, Political Economy
SOP: Talked about my previous research, my extra-curricular activities and my interests. Took 3 pages. It might have been shorter.
Others: TOEFL ibt: 114 (26R, 30L, 28S, 30W)
Concerns: Math courses are not sufficient.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE (MSc Economics -Research-), BGSE (MSc Economics), Warwick (MSc Economics), CEMFI Madrid (MSc Economics and Finance), King's College London (MA International Political Economy), University of Bristol (MSc Economics, Management and Finance), University of Edinburgh (MSc Economics)
Waitlists: UCL (MSc Economics)
Rejections: Warwick (MA International Political Economy)
What Would You Have Done Differently?
I like the outcome of my results, as my only rejection is from a program I considered to be of low priority. Still, I would have
-taken more math courses during my undergraduate
-wouldn't be so scared of getting a rejection so maybe applied for some US Universities as well as Oxbridge
-would have pressured my professors for an RA position.
-would have studied more for the verbal section of GRE

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

philecon 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS Business Economics, relatively unknown university in Southeast Asia
Undergrad GPA: no idea how to convert it, but I graduated magna cum laude (Rank: 7/150)
GRE: 800Q, 590V, 5.0AW
TOEFL:112/120
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis and Math Stats
Econ Courses: the standard Econ courses, nothing special
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Northwestern PhD, 1 Ohio State PhD, 1 PhD from my uni
Research Experience: undergrad thesis (won an award, forthcoming in local journal), RA for six months
Research Interests: Health Economics, Industrial Organization
SOP: Pretty standard
Concerns: I shifted from Accounting to Economics, and I took a leave for a year to take a break; first to apply as an undergrad from my school (never been done ever)
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Georgetown, LSE EME, BGSE MS Economics, CEMFI MSc Economics and Finance, PSU (from waitlist)
Waitlists: PSU (eventually admitted, but without funding), Michigan (rejected off the WL though)
Rejections: Northwestern, Columbia, Brown, Penn, Virginia, Stanford, Duke, Singapore Management
COMMENTS:
I wasn't an economics major when I entered college, and I left school for a year after sophomore year (since something happened to me) to evaluate myself, and the direction I was going. I accidentally stumbled upon economics, and I found out that I loved it. Like the previous poster, however, I decided to do a PhD only around my junior year, so I had to cram a lot of math during my last two years, plus take the economics classes. I knew it was a huge risk, applying with only an undergrad degree, as most students from my university had at least a year of graduate coursework before applying to even European masters. I am very pleased with my results, though, and I look forward to attending the program that I chose. The only things that I probably would've done differently are: (1) I would've probably majored in math when I first thought about it (since my Math average is significantly higher than my Business average), or that I would've done my undergrad in the US when I had the chance and (2) I would've probably applied to mainly masters programs.
I guess I'll be back again for Fall 2013 PhD admissions.

economics girl 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 50 undergrad
Undergrad GPA: 3.42
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 740Q, 590V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II (B, A-), Math for Economists (A), Linear Algebra (proof-based) (B+), Currently taking Diff EQ, and plan to take Real Analysis over the summer
Econ Courses (grad-level): Took applied economics (A), microeconomics (A), and econometrics (A+) at the AEA Summer Program (these courses are supposedly taught at a "graduate" level)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): intermediate microeconomics (B+), intermediate macroeconomics (A), labor economics (A+), urban economics (A), applied econometrics I-II (A, B), managerial economics (B)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: well-known labor economist (PhD Harvard), an assistant director of AEA (PhD U. Chicago), my employer (PhD UF)
Research Experience: I am currently working as a full-time RA at a public research center. Before that, I worked as an RA for a PhD student for one quarter. At AEASP I did a research project on replication & added to it by updating the paper with newer data. Lastly, during my senior year I was part of the honors program and wrote a senior thesis.
Teaching Experience: I am a certified tutor (CRLA) and tutored microeconomics during my senior year
Research Interests: labor economics, education economics and urban economics.
SOP: Should be fine. I talked about why I had a low GPA, discussed what I have done since graduating (AEASP, RA), and talked about my future plans
Concerns: low grades, GRE score & GPA
Other: I'm only applying to Master's programs and later plan on applying to PhD programs with a better profile and a master's under my belt.
Applying to: Barcelona GSE MSc Economics, LSE MSc Economics, UIUC MSPE, NYU MA Economics, Tufts MS Economics, USC MA Economics, Duke MA Economics, Michigan MA Applied Economics, BU MA Economics

2011applicant 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 US liberal arts college (Economics and Political Science double major). Graduated more than 2 years ago.
Undergrad GPA: 3.87 (3.9 in majors)
Type of Grad: Math Certificate Program
Grad GPA: 3.6
GRE: 790 Quant. 800 Ver. 5.5 Writing
Math Courses: Linear Algebra (Pass), Multi-Var (Pass), Real Analysis I (A-), Real Analysis II (A-), ODE (A-), Masters Level Math Stat I (B+), taking Masters Level Math Stat II
Econ Courses (grad-level):n/a
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): all the basics, except only intro to econometrics. Took advanced IO seminar (A) and advanced Micro theory seminar (B+/A-)
Other Courses: Lots of Political Science, History, and Philosophy courses.
Letters of Recommendation: Professors: One MIT graduate and UMD graduate, who both know me well, but only from classes. One Penn State professor who doesn't know me well. Supervisor at work (economic consulting firm) who has a PhD in Econ from UVA.
Research Experience: research position at think tank, analyst/associate position doing antitrust work at economic consulting firm, 1.5 years doing non-quant research for political science professor.
Teaching Experience: TAed three economics classes.
Research Interests: Industrial organization and Public Finance. Plan to do joint JD/PhD.
Concerns: Letters of Recommendation, Lack of academic research experience, inadequate econometrics background.
Decided to apply to no safeties for PhD programs (all schools I would definitely want to go) and Masters programs as my backups. I also may consider taking econometrics and doing research over the summer and going to a law program next year (since I want to get the law degree too), and then reapply next year from law school.
Applying to: Berkeley, Stanford GSB (Political Economics), Harvard Political Economy, Yale, Michigan, Maryland, Duke, Minnesota, Northwestern, Chicago; Cambridge MPhil, Oxford Mphil, LSE Msc EME, U Toronto Mphil (Doctoral track), UPF/Barcelona GSE + many associated law schools.

Mellow13 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Top university in the Middle East
Undergrad GPA: 3.5
Type of Grad: MA Econ
Grad GPA: 3.88
GRE: 770Q 530V 5AW
Math Courses: calculus (I,II,III), linear algebra, ODE, Stat
Econ Courses (grad): Econometrics, Macro, Price Theory, etc....
Econ Courses (u/g): Too many
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Princeton (very personal), 1 UCSB (also personal), 1 from Chairman of department (good)
Research Experience: 2 conference presentations (also in conference proceedings), RA for 3 teachers, Undergrad and MA theses
Teaching Experience: Graduate assistant (TA) for intermediate macro, taught intro to macro at local university
Research Interests: Development, Labor, Growth
Concerns: low undergrad GPA and GRE
Applying to: MA: BGSE, Queen's, Tillburg, Tinbergen, PhD: UCSB, USC, UT Austin, Duke, OSU, UW-Seattle, UVA, Georgetown, Syracuse, UC Irvine, McGill, ASU

illuminatus 2011:
Type of Undergrad: BSc in math from a regular less known Midwest university
Undergrad GPA: 3.95
Type of Grad: MA in Econ
Grad GPA: 3.95
GRE: 560V / 800Q / 4.0 awa
Math Courses: lots, grad level: RA, CA, differential geometry, optimization (1st course, so not too rigorous), categorical data analysis, Bayesian statistics.
Econ Courses (grad-level): econometrics, time series, microeconometrics, micro theory, macro theory, forecasting,
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): basic and intermediate theory and econometrics
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from econ ans 1 from a math less known professors. All of them are probably pretty good.
Research Experience: senior thesis, masters thesis
Teaching Experience: TA for 1.5 years
Research Interests: macro, development, econometrics
SOP: standard 1.5 pages.
Concerns: not a lot of experience in research and teaching. (partly concerned about low verbal and awa scores on GRE).
Other: I have a pretty high credit score.
Applying to: LSE MSc EME (2nd year), Oxford Mphil, Toulouse 2nd year ECOMATH, BGSE Masters in econ. PhD in econ: Minnesota - Twin Cities, Columbia, Northwestern, UMich, Wisconsin - Madison, U Washington, UCSD, U Toronto.

Neshamah 2011:
Institution: Warwick
Program: MSc Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Will know more in March/April
Notification date: 12 January 2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: No
Comments: Good to get some feedback. Quite expensive course, will only attend with funding...

llama 2011:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: Masters in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Partial tuition waiver
Notification date: 01/17/2011
Notified through: email
Posted on GF: ???
Comments: They want an anwser to their admission offer within a month.

Irrational 2011:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: MSc in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Partial tuition waiver (9,000 €)
Notification date: 01/24/2011
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GC: no
Comments: Decision until 23/02/2011, which is very early. Still, it's my first admit, so I am kind of happy :-)

mmohsen 2011:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: MSc in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: No
Notification date: 01/24/2011
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GC: no
Comments: A weird mixture of happiness thanks to commencement of admission season with acceptance and disappointment due to leaving unfunded!! Anyway the time constraint of reply is bounding because by that time I will not receive the result of PhD programs!

echericia 2011:
Institution:Barcelona GSE
Program: Master in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: No
Notification date: 23/12/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: I paid deposit fee since it seems like the perfect combination of great city and good school..Fun!!

WesternEuropean 2011:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: MSc Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 50% tuition waiver
Notification date: 2/14
Notified through: E-mail
Comments: My first admission yet (I am only applying for Masters). Will wait to hear from UCL and LSE, but I am inclined to accept the offer.

3yellowroses 2011:
I'm an international applicant that has been lurking around. Time to disclose my results:
Accepted:
Institution: American University
Program: Phd Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: will be notified mid march.
Notification date: 9 March 2011
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GF: No
Comments:
Waitlisted:
Institution: Tilburg University
Program: Research Master, Economics
Decision: Waitlisted. will hear from them in mid april
Funding: there's a chance to get a TA if admitted
Notification date: 14 March 2011
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GF: No
Comments:
Institution: Cambridge University
Program: DPhil Economics
Decision: Waitlisted. will hear from them in mid april
Funding: haven't heard a word
Notification date: 10 Feb 2011
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GF: No
Comments:
Rejections: NYU, Columbia, Berkeley, MIT, Brown, Maryland, Tinbergen, Oxford.
Haven't heard of: Umass, Cornell, WUSTL, Michigan State, Paris School of Economics, Bonn GSE, LSE (Econ & Phil Msc)

AusEconGuy 2012:
Another data point (for Australians)
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad:Econ with first class honours from Go8 Australian Uni
Undergrad GPA: 3.8 for standard Bachelor, 4.0 in Honours (Converted to US scale)
Type of Grad: M Phil in Economics
Grad GPA: Coursework: 4.0 (US converted)
GRE: 159V, 168Q. 5.0 AW
Math Courses: Math for Economists (B, undergrad), econ students dont do pure math courses in my institution
Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro (A+), Micro (A), Metrics (A+)
Econ Courses (honours-level): Macro (A+), Metrics (A+), Advanced Math Econ (A+); Behavioural Game Theory (A+); Micro (B; whoops!)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro I/II (B+; A+); Macro I/II (A+, A+); Metrics I/II/II (A+;A+;B); Econ Theory (B); Trade II/II (A+;A+); Econ History (A); Development (A); Money & Banking (A); Public Econ (A);
Other Courses: Finance I/II (A+;A) and some politics stuff
Letters of Recommendation:
- thesis supervisor for Hons and MPhil thesis, also taught me
- Prof I RA'd for over 2 years
- Assist Prof whom i tutored with for three years
- Head of School .... All should be positive
Research Experience: 6 years as RA for various profs (since 2nd year undergad); 3 conference presentations in 2011 for MPhil thesis; 2 thesis in experimental econ
Teaching Experience: TA for 4 years in range of courses from first year through third year
Research Interests: Behavioural Econ and Experiments, Political Econ, Information Econ
SOP: These are hard work! But its over
Concerns: Lack of obvious maths training (hons and Mphil courses are all at graduate level... LORS hopefully mention this), occasional B's in theory classes - These aren't horrible grades, I was still in top few students in these courses but no scaling
Applying to:
Phd: Northwestern, NYU (Econ and Stern), Cornell, Brown, UCSD, UC Berkeley, Princeton, Stanford ,Caltech, U Penn
Masters: Oxford; U College London; Autonoma, UC3M; Barcelona GSE; LSE; Toronto

golden_bears 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top Public University
Undergrad GPA: 3.43
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE:
Math Courses: Applied Math double major
Econ Courses (grad-level):
Econ Courses (undergrad-level):
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation:
Research Experience:
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests:
SOP:
Concerns: Weak gpa
Other:
Applying to: LSE(MSc. Econ-L1U3), UCL(MSc.),Tufts(MS),BGSE(MSc.),Tufts, McGill(MA),

pavlemihajlovic 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Unknown Easter-European University, Economics (major: Economic Analysis and Policy - EAP)
Undergrad GPA: 9,23 (scale 5 to 10) best at my major; top 5 0n Faculty generation
Type Grad: Master in Economic Analysis and Policy (M.A.)
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 168 Q ; 151 V ; 4.0 AW
Quantitative courses: Mathematics (Intermediate Calculus, Linear Algebra and Analysis, Probability), Mathematical-Economic Models, Statistics, Econometrics, Econometric Methods and Models - all 10s (A)
Econ courses (grad level): Micro Analysis (Advanced level), Macro Analysis (Intermediate level), Labor, International Finance, Economics of Regulation, Public Choice, Institutional Economics - all 10s
Econ courses (undergrad): Principles of Economics (10), Price Theory (Intermediate Micro) (9), Monetary (10), International (10), Industrial Organization (8), Public Finance (8), Contemporary Economic Systems (10), Transitional Economics (8), Austrian Economics (10), Institutional Economics (10), Public Choice (10), Agrarian Economics (10),
Other courses: Financial Accounting, Business Finance, Strategic Management, Business Organization, Marketing Research
TOEFL: R30, L29, S29, W24 (total score 112)
Letters of Recommendation: Three professors, two faculty one from additional one year multidisciplinary program (graduation paper mentor). All exceptionally written. All prominent professors in the country not known abroad.
Research Experience: Very Little , 2 months - but wrote good scientific paper (uploaded to adcom as writing sample) on economic freedom index and growth - panel data econometrics
Teaching Experience: 1 semester TA for International Economics,
Interests: Monetary Economics, International Finance
SOP: two pages, motivation for Ph.D. seems to me well written
Concerns: Unknown referrers. Unknown university. SOP might not suit every application perfectly
Applying to: Tilburg (M.Res.), Tinbergen Institute (M.Phil.), GSEFM Frankfurt (Ph.D.), Touluse (M2), Maybe applying: CEMFI, Bonn,
Admitted: BGSE (no $ - but applied without GRE, maybe that was the thing)

araujo1987 2012:
Institution: BGSE
Program: MSc in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Partial Tuition Waiver (6000 euros)
Notification date: 02/03/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: NO
Comments: This was my first response. Very happy about it. Just worried about the Spanish economy, since my wife is coming with me.

economist26 2012:

Institution: BGSE
Program: MSc in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Partial Tuition Waiver (6000 euros)
Notification date: 02/03/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: NO
Comments: Won't be attending, definitely not with a further 6000 euros to pay, in addition to living expenses.

ucrphd 2012:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: None
Notification date: 13/02/2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: dunno
Comments: First notification, very excited. Lack of funding may be a problem. Let's see what the other programs have to offer.

Fohlen 2012:
Institution: Maastricht University
Program: Research Master in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: not sure
Notification date: 2/24/12
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: no
Comments: Glad, but I don't know what to think about the program...

Wadders 2012:
Institution: LSE
Program: MSc EME (Research)
Decision: Accepted
Funding: (no decision)
Notification date: 02.15.2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: yes
Comments:
Institution: UCL
Program: MSc Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: (no decision)
Notification date: 03.02.2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: yes
Comments:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: MSc Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: (no decision)
Notification date: 01.16.2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: yes
Comments:
Institution: Cambridge
Program: MPhil Economics (Research)
Decision: Accepted
Funding: (no decision)
Notification date: 02.15.2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: yes
Comments:
Institution: York (UK)
Program: MSc Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: (no decision)
Notification date: 01.26.2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: yes
Comments:
Institution: Manchester
Program: MSc Economics and Econometrics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: (no decision)
Notification date: 02.10.2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: yes
Comments:
Institution: Birkbeck, University of London
Program: MSc Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: (no decision)
Notification date: 02.25.2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: yes
Comments:

franz86 2012:
Institution: Arizona State University
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: full waiver + Assistanship 20k
Notification date: 13th March
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC:
Comments:

grahamcoxon 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics from top university in my country (who has always placed students in top US PhDs)
Undergrad GPA: Econ 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 ); Overall 28.27 / 30 ( = 3.77 / 4.0 )
Type of Grad: 2 years long MSc in Economics from the same university
Grad GPA: Econ 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 ); Overall 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 )
GRE: 790 Q, 520 V, 4.0 A
Math Courses:
Undergraduate: Mathematics (29/30; one year long course), Statistics and Probability (30/30), Econometrics (30/30)
Graduate: Multivariate Analysis (30/30), Microeconometrics (28/30)
Econ Courses:
Undergraduate: Industrial History (30/30); Microeconomics (27/30); Industrial Organization (30/30); Macroeconomics (29/30); Organization Theory (28/30); International Trade (29/30); Innovation and Industrial Dynamics (27/30); Economic Policy (28/30); Technology and Economic Development (28/30); International Monetary Economics (30 cum laude / 30)
Graduate:International Trade (30/30); Industiral Organization (29/30); Theory of the Firm and Corporate Governance (27/30); Business History (30/30); Economics of Innovation (29/30); Labour Economics (27/30); Public Economics (29/30).
Other Courses: Undergraduate: German Language, International Financial Markets, Innovation Management, … ; Graduate: Knowledge and Innovation Management, Comparative Politics, Spanish Language, …
Letters of Recommendation: associate econ professor and MSc thesis advisor (PhD UCLA); full econ professor and teacher of graduate labour econ (PhD NYU); associate econ professor and RA supervisor (PhD Northwestern); at least two of them are very very strong letters from people who know me well; two letter-writers are well-known economists and all publish on top economics journals.
Research Experience: Honors MSc thesis; started to work on co-authored paper with my MSc thesis advisor (I don’t mention it in my application but he probably talked about it in his letter of recommendation); 3 months RA at Dept of Quantitative Methods of my undergrad/grad university; 1 year RA at CHILD (Center for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics);
Teaching Experience: 1 semester of Multivariate Analysis (graduate)
Research Interests: Political Economy, Behavioral Economics, Microeconomic Theory
SOP: nothing special, talked about reasons to pursue graduate studies in economics, research experience, research interests and future plans; used almost the same text for all universities; 2 pages research proposal outline added for European programs who asked for it (LSE, UCL, Oxford, UPF)
Other: international applicant; TOEFL: 107/120; no application for external funding; honor roll student in both years of MSc; submitted everywhere MSc thesis as writing sample; at least other 10 (very very strong) students applied this same year for almost the same US top programs from my university (in this sense, this was a strong year for applicants from my country/university)
RESULTS:
Admitted : Caltech (w/ funding), BU (w/out funding), LSE MSc (w/out funding), Oxford MPhil (w/out funding)
Waitlisted: Yale (not admitted in the end)
Rejected: UCSD, Columbia, Berkeley, MIT, Princeton, Northwestern, Stanford, NYU, Chicago, Harvard, LSE MRes/PhD, UPenn, Oxford Dphil, Stokcholm School of Economics, Stockholm U
Never got an answer : UPF, UCL
What would you have done differently? I would say the standard “taken more math classes” or try the alternative version “taken more graduate econ theory classes”, but since I decided to try the path of an Econ PhD less than 12 months ago (when I had already taken all classes needed to graduate) this wasn’t an option. Maybe I should have applied to a more diverse set of schools (no European at all; some Business School or some lower-ranked school with programs/faculty in line with my interests like Stanford GSB, Northwestern MEDS, Rochester or Carnegie Mellon), because I acted clearly as a risk-loving individual (I didn’t overestimated my profile, though…I know my chances at top15 schools were thin, but just wanted to come all the way to the U.S. only if it was really worth). Anyway, in this case, it worked.

Econ_ 2009:
Institution: Stockholm School of Economics
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: ~15k eur
Notification date: 2/25
Institution: Tilburg University
Program: MPhil 2nd year
Decision: Accepted
Funding: not yet decided
Notification date: 2/25 email

ecpfdq 2011:
Institution: Michigan
Program: Ph.D. in Economics
Decision: Rejected off of waitlist
Notification date: 04/15/2011
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: I do not have a single offer..I am only hopping to European programs...

CorcoranCadet 2012:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date:1/13/2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: no
Comments: A bit surprised at this one. I knew my profile was pretty bad with some low grades in key courses and most of my upper math being taken this semester. Still expected to at least get accepted...

raamar 2008:
Type of Undergrad: International Solid University (Not in EconPhD Ranking)
Undergrad GPA: 3.76/4.00 in Business Administration
Type of Grad: International Another Solid University (Still Not in EconPhD Ranking)
Grad GPA: 3.53/4.00 Economics
GRE: Q 800/ V 370 / AWA 4.0
TOEFL: 111/120
Completed Math Courses: Not plenty
Completed Econ Courses: Micro, macro, metrics and many others (mostly solid, Grad Level)
Letters of Recommendation: Good Recommendations from some known professors of grad. school
Research Experience: Ongoing Master Thesis, (an international paper, but not at the time of application), RA
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 semesters of grad and undergrad macros
Research Interests: Macro mainly
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Maryland ($$), Pittsburgh ($$), Virginia ($ waitlist), Carlos III de Madrid ($$), Pompeu Fabra (No $)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Berkeley, Columbia, Minnesota, Michigan
Pending: WUSTL, UNC, Georgetown, Penn State
Attending : Maryland
What would you have done differently? Could have gone for more and better publications

keano 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ, top 5 UK university
Undergrad GPA: First (not sure how this translates)
Type of Grad: MSc in Competition Economics, part-time UK university
Grad GPA: On course for distinction
GRE: 800Q, 790V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Maths for economists courses: calculus, linear algebra etc
Econ Courses (Ma-level): A lot of micro-based + econometrics: mostly As
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Lots
Letters of Recommendation: 2/3 econ professors (not well known) Current Employer (Economic consultant with Econ PhD). Hopefully v.positive but names probably won't be known in US.
Research Experience: 3.5 years in economic consultancy
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro theory, IO
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Caltech (from waitlist), EUI, LSE (MSc), Oxford (MPhil), BGSE (MSc), Toulouse (M2)
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Stanford GSB, Kellogg, Wharton (Applied Econ), MIT, UCSD, Berkeley, Wisconsin-M, PSU, Chicago, NYU
What would you have done differently? At the time of the applications process not sure I could done have lot a lot more. Looking at my results, I was a lot more successful in Europe which I would speculate is due to a lack of formal maths courses. So going back a few years, I would have tried to address that somehow.