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Valhalla · 03-21-2008, 10:08 AM

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA in economics in continental europe, huge public university but internationally not very well known I'd say.

Undergrad GPA: 3.72/4 (using WES-conversion table), top 5% in my university

Type of Grad: MA Economics (I'm currently in the second year)

Grad GPA: 3.77/4 until now

GRE: 790 Q, 600 V, 4.5 AWA

Math Courses:

(90% of those courses were not required in the economics-track (BA and MA) but I did those courses additionally as offered by the math department for math-students)

UG-Level: Mathematics I,II, III (dealing basically with integral calculus, differential equation systems, vector calculus...), Real analysis I, II, III, Functional Analysis I, II, Probability theory I,II,III, Linear Algebra I, II, III, Topology I, II, Differential Topology, Measure Theory, Optimization Theory,

Graduate Level: Real Analysis, Topology, Linear Algebra, Operator Theory, Recursive Methods/ Dynamic programming, Statistics I (using Casella and Berger), Statistics II (using Davidson's Stochastic limit theory)

Econ Courses: That's just an endless list... but some highlights:

UG Level: Micro I,II,III, Macro I,II,III, Game theory I, II, Evolutionary Game Theory, Cooperative Game Theory, Industrial Organization I, II, International Trade I, II, III, Monetary Economics I, II, ...

Graduate level: Micro I,II, (using MWG) Macro I,II, (using Ljungquvist and Sargent/ Stokey and Lucas), General Equilibrium Theory, Incomplete markets, Asset pricing, Public choice theory, Auction theory, Game theory, Voting theory, Industrial Organization

Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ profs, 2 are well known

Teaching Experience: TA UG Level for elementary economics, TA Graduate level in math and macro

Awards: 2 merit based awards from my UG - university, scholarship from my graduate institution, award from our central bank for my diploma thesis,

Research Interests: Micro-theory

SOP: talked about personal interests/ hobbys and connected it with some papers I read... but I don't think someone cared about it

Schools I applied to:

NW
UPenn
UCSD
Tilburg
UIUC
JHU
Purdue
U Arizona
BC
UC Davis
Toronto
IUB

RESULTS:

Acceptances:

UPenn (nada $)
Tilburg ($)
UIUC ($$)
U Arizona ($$)
BC ($$)
IUB ($$)
UC Davis (?)

Rejections:

NW... (I'm still shocked)

Pending:

Toronto, Purdue, JHU, UCSD

What would you have done differently?

A lot! I wouldn't underestimate me anymore and I would apply for some top ten universities. My tip: aim as high as possible otherwise you get a lot of acceptances from middle-ranked universities and what can you buy with that?

03-21-2008, 10:08 AM	#30 (permalink)
Valhalla Within my grasp! Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 470	PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BA in economics in continental europe, huge public university but internationally not very well known I'd say. Undergrad GPA: 3.72/4 (using WES-conversion table), top 5% in my university Type of Grad: MA Economics (I'm currently in the second year) Grad GPA: 3.77/4 until now GRE: 790 Q, 600 V, 4.5 AWA Math Courses: (90% of those courses were not required in the economics-track (BA and MA) but I did those courses additionally as offered by the math department for math-students) UG-Level: Mathematics I,II, III (dealing basically with integral calculus, differential equation systems, vector calculus...), Real analysis I, II, III, Functional Analysis I, II, Probability theory I,II,III, Linear Algebra I, II, III, Topology I, II, Differential Topology, Measure Theory, Optimization Theory, Graduate Level: Real Analysis, Topology, Linear Algebra, Operator Theory, Recursive Methods/ Dynamic programming, Statistics I (using Casella and Berger), Statistics II (using Davidson's Stochastic limit theory) Econ Courses: That's just an endless list... but some highlights: UG Level: Micro I,II,III, Macro I,II,III, Game theory I, II, Evolutionary Game Theory, Cooperative Game Theory, Industrial Organization I, II, International Trade I, II, III, Monetary Economics I, II, ... Graduate level: Micro I,II, (using MWG) Macro I,II, (using Ljungquvist and Sargent/ Stokey and Lucas), General Equilibrium Theory, Incomplete markets, Asset pricing, Public choice theory, Auction theory, Game theory, Voting theory, Industrial Organization Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ profs, 2 are well known Teaching Experience: TA UG Level for elementary economics, TA Graduate level in math and macro Awards: 2 merit based awards from my UG - university, scholarship from my graduate institution, award from our central bank for my diploma thesis, Research Interests: Micro-theory SOP: talked about personal interests/ hobbys and connected it with some papers I read... but I don't think someone cared about it Schools I applied to: NW UPenn UCSD Tilburg UIUC JHU Purdue U Arizona BC UC Davis Toronto IUB RESULTS: Acceptances: UPenn (nada $) Tilburg ($) UIUC ($$) U Arizona ($$) BC ($$) IUB ($$) UC Davis (?) Rejections: NW... (I'm still shocked) Pending: Toronto, Purdue, JHU, UCSD What would you have done differently? A lot! I wouldn't underestimate me anymore and I would apply for some top ten universities. My tip: aim as high as possible otherwise you get a lot of acceptances from middle-ranked universities and what can you buy with that? _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ "The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret, they mainly make models. By a model is meant a mathematical construct, which with the addition of certain verbal interpretations, describes observed phenomena. The justification of such a mathematical construct is solely and precisely that it is expected to work." John von Neumann Last edited by Valhalla : 03-22-2008 at 02:25 PM.