Profiles and Results 2010

[untitled]

Hi all,

 

I'm not sure the best way to do this. I try to keep a version of the profiles and results all as one file, so I can scan through them when I want, and so my perl script has one place to look for everything. This file overlaps what we do here, and to me, it makes searching almost too fast, and thus I've kept it a bit of a secret. But, since most of this information is somewhat lost, I wanted to provide the links (as always, feel free to let me know if you want your info removed).

 

Here is the profiles.

 

And here is the results.

 

I'm not sure the best way to integrate this in terms of putting the info back on urch servers. Further, I don't think Erin is done fixing things, and I have no idea what will exist at the end of the day. For now, starting new threads sounds fine to me, but don't feel obligated to repost your results for my sake.

 

I actually wrote a whole bunch more, but I realize that whatever happens will be fine, and if th eoutage gives people the chance to re-evaluate how they use this site, so much the better. If/when profiles and results are posted again, I'll be able to handle it with little additional work on my part (especially when compared with everything Erin has and continues to put into this site [thanks Erin!]).

 

Good luck everyone, still over a month until April 15, so there is plenty of time for more great news!

[untitled]

P.S. I don't have any idea how much more up-to-date Erin might be able to get the site as it might affect all of this. Has he mentioned anything that I missed? If there is any "best way" for all of this, I don't know what it may be. For instance, if people have to re-register, and for whatever reason do not keep the same username, that complicates things for me slightly, and I'm not sure right now the best way to handle this - but again, whatever happens will be fine by me, I'm just thinking ahead a bit.

 

P.P.S. For my convenience, I will be attaching the new profiles and results to the old ones. You should be able to figure out where the old ends and new begins, if you are interested.

[OutOfGame]

Since many people have received all of their decisions, I'll go ahead and start this traditional thread of the year..

 

Quoted from asquare from profiles and results 2009,

 

"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 due...

 

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?

Edited March 13, 2010 by OutOfGame

[OutOfGame]

I'll Start.

 

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 LAC

Undergrad GPA: 3.95

Type of Grad: none

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 800Q 580V 5.5 AWA

Math Courses: Calc, Linear Algebra, Intro to Proofs, Real Analysis I, Measure Theory, Functional Analysis, Complex, Number Theory, Abstract Algebra, Combinatorics, Stochastic Processes

Econ Courses: Principles, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Econometrics, Game Theory, Finance

Other Courses: Data Structures, Data Mining, Algorithms

Letters of Recommendation: 3 good but not well-known (Two econ, one math).

Research Experience: One summer independent (with paper), 2 terms RA

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Monetary, IO, Finance

SOP: Good

Other: graduating in 3 years

RESULTS:

Acceptances: None

Waitlists: None

Rejections: All. Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Chicago, Penn, Columbia, Northwestern, Berkeley, Yale.

Pending: None

What would you have done differently?

I would re-evaluate my profile greatly, and re-calculate the competition for the next admission cycle. Pretty sad, but life goes on. I am taking an RA position for the next two years. Good luck with everyone who's coming back in the following years' admissions!

[artuj]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: 4-year B.A. Economics from Best Lithuanian University

Undergrad GPA: 8,9/10 (10 excellent, 9 very good, 8 good, 7 satisfactory) (my results gradually improved since my first year in university)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 800Q, 340V, 3.0AWA (TOEFL iBT 113)

Math Courses: Advanced Mathematics (7) (linear algebra, matrix, vector spaces, differential calculus, integrals, differential equations), Optimization Methods (8), Operation Research (10), Quantitative Analysis of Economics (9), Business Mathematics (1.0 German)

Econ Courses (Undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro I-II (9,8), Intermediate Macro I-II (8,9), Public Economics (8), Economics of Social Security (8), Money and Credit (9), Higher Microeconomics (9), International Economics (9), Macroeconomic Models (10, State Economic Policy (10), Industrial Organization (9), Theory of Economic Growth (10), Game Theory (spring), Comparative Economics (10)

Statistics Courses: Statistics (8), Economic Statistics (excellent), Econometrics I-II (10,10)

Other Non credit courses (all spring semester): Higher Macroeconomics, Mathematical Analysis, Probability Theory, Time Series Econometrics with R, Mathematics for Economics Analysis, Asymptotic Statistics(PhD level)

Letters of Recommendation: None of them known outside the country

Research Experience:

Nothing special except of econometric research related with stock markets

Teaching Experience: TA during seminars of Econometrics for undergraduates ( Eviews software, GLS, Time Series)

Research Interests: Economic of Education, Health, Social Security, Public Economics, Labour Economics

Statement of purpose: concentrated over my interests and explained my skills in econ and math courses

Concerns: Quality of my school, my low GRE verbal/writing scores. Not excellent results within some modules. Exchange semester in University of Applied Sciences in Germany (I got excellent-very good results there). Many business related modules (most of them from first and second year)

Applying to: Mphil Tinbergen, Mphil Tilburg

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Tinbergen Institute ($$$)

Rejections: Tilburg RM1

What would you have done differently? Nothing

 

Attending:

Tinbergen Institute

[baj393]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin

Undergrad GPA: 4.00

Type of Grad: 50% of a MA in Economics from Duke University (not going to finish)

Grad GPA: 4.00

GRE: 740Q, 560V, 6.0AW

Math Courses: Cal I-III, Linear Algebra, Applied Differential Equations, Economic Statistics, Intro. to Statistics, Applied Data Analysis, Real Analysis

Econ Courses: Intro. Macro, Intro. Micro, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Industrial Organization, Political Economy, Health Economics, Labor Economics. GRADUATE LEVEL: Advanced Microeconomics, Environmental Economics

Other Courses: Bunch of philosophy courses

Letters of Recommendation: 1 Princeton, 1 Yale, 1 Cornell, and 1 MIT

Research Experience: RA for a semester with a top environmental economist at Duke

Teaching Experience: Supplemental instructor for an intro. microeconomics course

Research Interests: Environmental economics

SOP: 2.5 pages. Reflected my goals, ambitions, and specific research interests. I know that this was the most important part of my application, which enabled me to overcome my low GRE score. This was told to me by several adcoms. Thus, the SOP is the difference for those of you with terrible GRE scores. MAKE IT COUNT!

Other: Was not expecting too much given my low GRE.

RESULTS:

Acceptances:

Arizona State University ($21.5k stipend, full tuition, and health insurance)

NC State University ($18k stipend, $5k fellowship, full tuition, health insurance)

Penn State University ARE (don't know the specifics, but ~20k stipend, full tuition)

Virginia Tech Applied Economics ($19.7k stipend, full tuition, and 80% health insurance)

Rejections: Duke Environmental Policy PhD (no adviser for my research interests)

Pending: Michigan State ARE. Would not go even if accepted at this point.

What would you have done differently? Very little. GRE score was low, but I got into my reach school, ASU. I really wanted to work with Kerry Smith, so am very happy to have such an opportunity. I suppose that I could have applied to a few more reach schools higher up in the rankings (like UCSD), but I doubt that I would get in.

Again, SOP is the most important part of your application. I spent a month on mine going over every little detail. It really made the difference for me and I could not have gotten into ASU without it. Spend lots of time on your SOP and make it great!!!

[LazyStudent]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.Sc. in Math, Economics and Humanities honors program, from a top 50 or so university (international)

Undergrad GPA: 95.4/100 (cum laude)

Type of Grad: M.A. in Economics and Game Theory, same university

Grad GPA: 98.1/100 (cum laude)

GRE: 800Q, 620V, 5.0AWA

Math Courses: Lots of undergrad courses (most of them A+, some A), auditing grad courses.

Econ Courses: Many undergrad courses (all A+), micro, macro, econometrics, and many game theory courses at grad level (all A+)

Other Courses: A lot of humanities undergrad courses, some in social sciences

Letters of Recommendation: All from well-known professors, and according to what I was told, they were all stellar.

Research Experience: Lots of algorithms research in Hi-Tech industry, two unpublished papers (MA thesis and another one) in microeconomics.

Teaching Experience: TA for Microeconomics and Game Theory (grad level) and for Math for economics (undergrad level)

Research Interests: Microeconomics, Game theory

Statement of purpose: Pretty standard, almost non-customized.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Harvard (HBS and Economics), NWU, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Stanford (GSB and Economics), Berkeley, Chicago.

Rejections: None.

 

What would you have done differently?

In retrospect, I might have applied only to my top 5 places (like I was advised by one of my recommendation letter writers), but I guess there was no way to really predict how much impact the recommendations would have.

[Pedxs]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 LAC (It used to be top 5!!) - Double Major Math & Econ - Graduated in 3 years

Undergrad GPA: 3.96/4.00

GRE: 800Q/650V/4.5AWA

Math Courses: lots of statistic courses + a few applied math + Calc + RA + Abstract Algebra

Econ Courses: the usual undergrad with emphasis on finance courses

Other Courses: two years equivalent of undergrad physics

Letters of Recommendation: 1 each from home institution econ prof and math prof + 1 from prof at top econ phd program

Research Experience: College Math Thesis + College Econ Thesis + 0.5 year at economic consulting (I think this is meaningless) + 1.5 years RA at top econ phd program

Teaching Experience: TA for lots of math and econ classes in college

Research Interests: Finance, Development

SOP: Quite long -my full version was 1500 word. It was necessary for me because I was out of school for 2 years. I felt that I was able to make my SOP interesting enough that they will spend the time to read the entirety. I talked about what inspired me to become interested in finance/development. What I did to gain exposure to these fields and to prepare myself for grad school.

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: MIT, Chicago, Minnesota, Cornell, Brown, JHU, BU

Waitlists: Harvard

Rejections: a couple in the top 5

Pending:

 

What would you have done differently?

Nothing much. I got into my top choice.

Edited March 16, 2010 by Pedxs

[zurich_econ]

PROFILE:

Degrees Licentiate (=MA+BA) in economics, summa cum laude, GPA 5.8/6; B.Sc. math, GPA 5.7/6 both from large Swiss university

GRE: First go: 770Q 510V 5.5 AWA, Second go: 800Q 610V 4.5AWA

TOEFL 119

Math Courses: Analysis I-III (equivalent to real analysis, plus measure theory, integration on manifolds etc.) linear algebra I-II, abstract algebra, probability theory, measure theoretic probability theory, differential geometry (fall), topology (fall), functional analysis (fall)

Econ Courses: Micro I-IV (III and IV used Jehle/Reny and MWG), Macro I-IV (III used Obstfeld/Rogoff, IV used Romer), Growth and distribution theory, public economics, money and credit, monetary economics, behavioral economics, behavioral macroeconomics, behavioral finance (used Shleifer), experimental economics, statistics, econometrics (used Wooldridge), analysis of microdata, mathematical statistics and time series analysis, environmental economics, microeconomic theory of the firm, topics in international finance, finance and the macroeconomy, business economics.

Other Courses: Motivational psychology, psychology of perception, social psychology I-II, social neuroscience

Letters of Recommendation: 1 famous econ, 1 well known econ, 1 less well known econ, one math

Research Experience: RAing for 2 years, two theses (developped a game theoretic model in each of them)

Teaching Experience: Teaching exercise classes in undergrad micro, undergrad macro, public economics

Research Interests: Micro, behavioral, game theory, experimental, public econ

Other Fulbright

Concerns Adcoms not knowing how to interpret Swiss grades, relatively unknown university (though we got a handful of visiting profs from the top 5 every year here), the IIE handling some of my applications (but I'll be happy if they assessed my chances correctly!), ...and of course the insane competition

Applying to Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Chicago, NYU, NWU, Caltech, Cornell, CMU SDS, LSE, Oxford, UCL, Zurich (so much for the hypothesis that we international applicants choose our safeties at home)

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Yale, Stanford, NYU, Berkeley, Chicago, Caltech, Northwestern, Oxford (PhD, PRS), UCL (PhD), all with good or great funding

Waitlists: None (great!)

Rejections: Cornell, Tilburg, Harvard

Pending: LSE, Carnegie Mellon SDS

 

What would you have done differently? Not much, really. Maybe I should have applied to Princeton, but I certainly can't complain! I think two things boosted my application: 1. The fact that I showed commitment by getting a BS in maths after finishing my MA in econ to do econ theory, and 2. the fact that I did independent research for my MA-thesis and spent sufficient time and energy on it to impress my advisor

[Morxjez]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: University of Chicago

Undergrad GPA: 3.83

Type of Grad: n/a

Grad GPA: n/a

GRE: Q800 V540 W4.0

Math Courses: Analysis in Rn 1,2,3 , Abstract Algebra 1,2 , Numerical Analysis, Complex Analysis, Theory of ODE (involved use of complex variable) All A's except complex analysis (A-)

Stat Courses: Mathematical Statistics (A-), and mathematical probability (A)

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro and Macro (all A's), International trade and finance (A-,A), Econometrics (intro and advance) (A, B+,A), Advanced Macro 1, 2 (A+,A+), Auction Theory (A), Game Theory (A), a graduate class in numerical methods in economics (A)

Other Courses: Computer Science (A,A)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 Harvard, 1 Minnesota, 1 Princeton (They are all pretty strong)

Research Experience: 1 Year part time RA, 1 Summer RA at central bank in my country

Teaching Experience: TA for math and econ

Research Interests: Asset pricing and macro

SOP: normal with customized to each program

Other: I am currently a junior year student.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago($), Northwestern (WL), UPenn ($$), Columbia($$), Minnesota ($$), Wisconsin($$), Boston U($$)

Waitlists: MIT

Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, UMich

Pending: nothing

 

What would you have done differently? I should not apply this year. I should instead work as an RA for a year or two and then apply. I think then I would have a clear shot at top 5 schools. But well, graduating in three years save me 50,000US worth of tuition fee and now I am happy with Penn, which is very good at Asset Pricing.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Morxjez

[slightlyconfused1]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 overall, top 20 econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.99/4.00

GRE: 800Q, 740V, 5.5 AW

Math Courses: Topology (A), Algebra I (A), Analysis II (A+), Math Modeling (A+)

Math Courses (Grad): Ordinary Differential Equations (A+), Real Analysis (A), Functional Analysis (A), Complex Analysis (A+), Algebraic Topology (A)

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A+), Econometrics (A+), Random Field Course (A+), Research Seminars (A+ and A)

Econ Courses (Grad): Micro I (A), Micro II (A+), Macro I (A+), Macro II (A-), Econometrics I (A), Econometrics II (A)

Other Courses: 4 additional PhD courses in compsci and physics. (A+s and As)

Letters of Recommendation: One from very well-known prof (research), one from decently well-known prof (research + did an independent study with him), one with younger associate prof (took a 2nd year grad module with him + unofficial adviser)

Research Experience: Financial econometrics research for senior thesis; micro theory + cs research earlier. Nothing too extraordinary, although my advisors want me to submit the financial econometrics work to a top field journal.

Teaching Experience: Various TA gigs over the years.

Research Interests: Everything. Applied micro and econometrics if I had to narrow down a little.

Statement of Purpose: Pretty bland (except for the Berkeley SOP, which was the first one I wrote and included lots of details about papers I liked, etc.). Narrated my interest in econ, advanced coursework, research, etc.

Other: Various awards in math/programming contests. Some "best academics in university" awards given to 2-3 students.

Concerns: Undergrad research was not focused and had little to do with my actual interests?

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: MIT ($$), Harvard ($$), Yale ($$$), Princeton ($$), Stanford ($$), Berkeley ($$), Chicago ($$), Northwestern ($$), Duke ($$)

Rejections: None

[Arinamay]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Small LAC

Undergrad GPA: 3.96

Type of Grad: MA in Economics

Grad GPA: 4.0

GRE: 780Q, 610V, 5.0

Math Courses: Calculus I (A+), self taught other applicable math concepts

Econ Courses: Many, all A's.

Grad Econ Courses (MA level): Micro I (A+), Macro I (A), Micro II (A), Macro II (A), Advanced Statistics (A), Econometrics (A)

Other Courses: A wide variety of courses, including a semester abroad

Letters of Recommendation: One from a very well known professor, one from my MA thesis adviser, one from another strong professor. I asked my letter writers to emphasize that, while I don't have a lot of formal math I did quite well in the math-heavy MA program.

Research Experience: Undergrad thesis(presented at a regional conference), collaborative research project with undergrad adviser, MA thesis

Teaching Experience: TAed for an intro course

Research Interests: Economics of the family, feminist economics, labor economics

SOP: Very specific to my research interests

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Duke ($$, public policy concentration in economics), UMass Amherst ($, economics)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Harvard (public policy), Chicago (public policy)

Pending: Cornell (economics)

 

What would you have done differently? I had a family crisis that prevented me from taking any math courses during the second year of my MA program. However, Duke was my top choice so really there was nothing lost by not taking more math courses.

[saucyapples]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 LAC, majored in Math and Econ (class of 2008)

Undergrad GPA: 3.69

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 800Q, 630V, 5.5AW

Math Courses: The usual , plus some high level statistics classes. Mostly As, some B's.

Econ Courses: 12 or so, mostly A's and some A-'s.

Other Courses: Some random classes, several about law since when I got to college I wanted to be a lawyer. A's and B's.

Letters of Recommendation: Only from people who know me well and (I think) like me. Two from econ professors with PhD's from top-5 places and one from a reasonably famous math prof.

Research Experience: Undergrad thesis (won an award), RAed for two summers including once abroad, and did field research in Latin America for almost two years after graduation

Teaching Experience: TAed and tutored a couple of math and econ courses. I've also tutored at an underachieving elementary school near my house (which is remarkably similar to tutoring underachieving college students, actually)

Research Interests: Development, IO, Game Theory, Education

SOP: Had it vetted by various economists, they said that it was fine. I wrote about three pages and then for each school only kept the 1-1.5 pages that were most relevant to that program. I'm not really sure how much it matters

Concerns: Had no idea what my LORs actually said.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: HBS($$$, pretty sure that I'm going to take it), Harvard ($$), Cal($$), Michigan ($), BU($), Maryland()

Waitlists: None

Rejections: Duke, Yale, Northwestern, Stanford GSB, Columbia, NYU, Stanford, MIT

 

What would you have done differently? I got into my dream school, so I'm ecstatic.

[DerPumuckl]

Undergrad: Top 3 in Germany, BA in Economics

Undergrad GPA: 1.45/5.00 (the nearer to 1, the better)

Exchange: UW, Seattle

Exchange GPA: 3.86/4.00

GRE: 800Q/560V/4.5AWA

Math Courses: 2 Math courses for Economists, 2 Statistics Classes, Game Theory

Econ Courses: A lot including Micro I & II, Macro I & II as well as Econometrics I & II.

Grad courses: None - even though advanced German courses are well above Econ 400 level.

Letters of Recommendation: 3 from Profs with PhDs from Columbia, Chicago and Harvard. All should be strong.

Research Experience: RA for one Semester (for one of my LoR writers).

Teaching Experience: TA for one Semester.

Research Interests: International Macroeconomics, Finance.

Statement of Purpose: Good. :)

Other: Applying for Masters.

Concerns: Maybe not good enough grades.

 

RESULTS (Masters only):

Acceptances: Cambridge, UCL, Tinbergen ($$$) and Warwick

Still waiting for response: SSE, UBC

Rejections: LSE, Oxford

 

What would you have done differently? I'm attending Cambridge for my MPhil - very happy! :)

[tommyg28]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top UK BA econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.85(ish) equivalent

Type of Grad: MA econ, same uni

Grad GPA: 3.9

GRE: 800Q, 720V, 5.5AW

Math Courses: The usual (real analysis I, II, Topology, functional analysis, linear algebra, ODE I, II, advanced statistics and probability theory, etc.) Mostly As, one A-

Econ Courses: Many: Micro I-IV; Macro I-IV; Econometrics I, II; Economic theory; IO, etc. All As, some A+

Other Courses: None, econ all the way

Letters of Recommendation: From people who knew me well, but alas, few people know them. Nice letters though.

Research Experience: Undergrad thesis and Grad dissertation - they were OK.

Teaching Experience: Coached various sports, but pretty sure this counts for squat

Research Interests: Everything. Probably IO, stock-flow macro dynamics and labour if I had to narrow it down.

SOP: Bland

Concerns: Interpretation of UK grades

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Duke ($$), U Washington-Seattle ($), Georgetown ($$)

Waitlists: UCLA

Rejections: A lot: MIT, Princeton, Stanford, NYU, Columbia, Michigan, Yale, Penn, etc.

What would you have done differently? it's been said many times before, but I didn't pay sufficient heed: LORs matter! Unless you have Slightlyconfused's profile you need to get well-known profs to write decent enough LORs. I'm a little disappointed with my outcome. My faculty is pretty weak at the mo, so I don't think I could've done much better. But I should've done my MA elsewhere to get access to better LOR writers. Shucks.

[daniel.k]

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.

[dale_albo]

Type of Undergrad: Economics, Top South American University.

Undergrad GPA: 6.02/7 (Highest in my Class)

Type of Grad: MSc, Economics, Top South American University.

Grad GPA: 6.5/7 (Highest in my Class)

GRE/TOEFL: 790Q/780V/5.5AWA. 120 TOEFL.

Math Courses: Calculus I-III, Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Inference, Mathematics for Economists (Linear Algebra, some Dynamic Optimization), Advanced Calculus (Should be Real Analysis I), Real Analysis. All A's, except for Calculus I.

Econ Courses (u/g): Intro Micro, Intro Macro, Micro I-II, Macro I-II, Industrial Organization, International Economics, Econometrics. All equivalent to A's or A+

Grad courses: Macro Theory I, Micro Theory I-II, Econometric Theory I-II-III. In my university, I is a joint M.Sc. and Ph.D. course, while the others are Ph.D. courses. Also, Industrial Organization, Public Economics, Enviromental Economics. All equivalent to A's or A+, except for IO, B+.

Letters of Recommendation: All strong, I believe/hope. I moved them around according to the program, but the summary is 2 MIT, 2 Chicago,1 Harvard, 1 UCLA, 1 Georgetown.

Research Experience: Honors thesis, won the poster contest in the annual meeting of my country's economic society. A co-authored working paper, with a classmate, that I have presented a few times and has been submitted for publication. Also, a couple of other co-authored working papers, including one with a professor from my university. Also, a year and a half of being a research assistant for that professor.

Teaching Experience: Been a TA since 2nd year of undergrad for a bunch of courses. Of note, TA for a core Ph.D. econometrics course and for a graduate enviromental economics course. Also, have been teaching Introduction to Economics for a year.

Research Interests: IO, mostly empirical work.

Statement of Purpose: The usual, I talk about my research, what I have done and what I want to do.

Concerns:

No published or in the pipeline research. Just submitted one working paper to a journal, but I haven't heard back from them so I decided not to mention that I had submitted it.

 

Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Chicago, Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, UPenn, Northwestern, UCLA, Yale.

 

RESULTS:

Will Attend: MIT.

Acceptances: Chicago, Northwestern ($?), UPenn ($$), UCLA. All declined.

Waitlists: Yale, declined.

Rejections: Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, NYU.

What would you have done differently? Would´ve tried harder to get published last year. Still, I got into my top choice, which is all that matters.

Edited March 26, 2010 by dale_albo
Update info

[triple_sec]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: MA in Econ in a small country in Eastern Europe; univ is among the best in the country but has little, if any, international renown

Undergrad GPA: 4.92/5.00, 1st out of 182

Type of Grad: MPhil Econ at another, English-speaking, univ in the same country

Grad GPA: 3.94/4.00

GRE: 800Q, 660V, 4.0AWA (Nov 2007); 800Q, 630V, 4.0AWA (Nov 2009)

TOEFL: 112/120 (30R, 27S, 27L, 28W)

Math Courses: Calculus (actually, it was more like real analysis; 5/5), Linear Algebra, Linear Programming, Multivariate Analysis (4/5, the last three went under the same course), Probability Theory (5/5), Operations Research (5/5), Advanced Math (A, actually Measure Theory)

Econ Courses: Micro (A,A,A), Macro (A,A), Metrics (A,A,A-,5/5), Monetary Theory (5/5), Recursive Macro (5/5), Time Series Analysis (A,5/5), Intl Macro (5/5), Game Theory (5/5), Public Econ (A), Behavioral (A), Metrics Intro (5/5), Public Econ (5/5), Labor (5/5,4/5), IO (5/5), Micro (5/5,5/5), Macro (5/5,5/5), Corporate Finance (5/5)

Other Courses: Statistics minor, plus some Political Science, Accounting, Law (the first two years of my undergrad were rather a joint social sciences—business—econ program before specialization to econ)

Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ professors (1 MIT PhD, 1 Harvard PhD), 1 math prof; I guess they were solid

Research Experience: MA thesis (mainly a survey but contains also a standalone RBC model) plus a preliminary project for a series of research seminars

Teaching Experience: a lot, TA for 7 courses altogether (4 math, 1 grad macro, 1 undergrad micro, 1 undergrad macro) and much, much tutoring

Research Interests: econ of information, mechanism design, macro

SOP: Enthusiastic as it should be, emphasizes eagerness for research

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Yale, Berkeley, NYU, Northwestern, Duke (declined)

Waitlists: Princeton, UPenn (asked them to take me off)

Rejections: MIT, MIT Operations Research, Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, Stanford

 

What would you have done differently? I don't know. What could I have done differently to get into my absolute, unsurpassable dream school, MIT? Probably nothing. I have to come to terms with the fact that either I'm not *that* good or this year has been unusually competitive (or both). Anyways, I'm extremely delighted with my actual offers—I would be a moron if I weren't, of course.

Edited March 19, 2010 by triple_sec
minor changes

[Biarien]

I'll post some information for anyone in my situation (looking into MA/MS programs).

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS Environmental Economics, top 25 US Univ. (top 3 public as far as I know)

Undergrad GPA: 3.74

Type of Grad: n/a

Grad GPA: n/a

GRE: 690V, 800Q, 5.0AW

Math Courses: 2 semesters of calculus, 1 semester of statistics, 1 semester of econometrics.

Econ Courses: microeconomic theory, environmental economics, natural resource economics, & a few other applied econ. courses, one macroeconomic theory course

Other Courses: environment & development, public policy analysis, energy & resources (more of an engineering course really), general electives.

Letters of Recommendation: One from employer (MS in Econometrics & PhD in Forest Economics), two from UCB professors (public policy & ag. econ.).

Research Experience: None.

Teaching Experience: Limited (taught software applications to UCB staff; unrelated to coursework).

Research Interests: General interests in the field: renewable natural resource economics, land use economics, possibly development.

SOP: I gave a bit of general background about my interest in economics & desire to apply it towards environmental issues in particular, & discussed my work goals. I didn't discuss research interests but did mention my specific interests (above).

Other:

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UC Davis (MS Agricultural & Resource Economics); Cornell University (MS Applied Economics & Management); University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (MS Policy Economics); Boston University (MA Economic Policy); Tufts University (MA Economics; offered tuition waiver & TA position); Northeastern University (offered TA position)

Waitlists: None

Rejections: None

Pending: None

What would you have done differently? Overall, I'm pretty happy with my results (no reason to complain). Looking further back, I would have tried to do more work with my professors while doing my undergrad, but they were happy to write me good letters despite my lack of personal interaction with them. It all comes down to asking the right professor, I think, or at least it seemed to in my case. I might not have applied to Northeastern and saved a bit of money, though I wasn't sure what to expect going in.

Edited March 24, 2010 by Biarien

[dreck]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA in Economics (summa cum laude), BA in Math (summa cum laude), large state school, not well known for economics

Undergrad GPA: 4.00/4.00

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 790Q, 630V, 5.5 AW

 

Math Courses: Multivariate Calc, Linear Algebra, Diff. Eq., Abstract Linear Algebra, Numeric Analysis, Set Theory & Proofs, (Analysis and Topology not reflected in the application)

Econ Courses: Intermediate Macro/Micro, Game Theory, Labor Economics, Discrimination Seminar, Colloquium on Poverty, Two Undergraduate Econometrics courses, PhD-level Econometrics, PhD-level Micro

I made an A in each of these. My school does not use +/-.

Other Courses: A lot of psychology,

Letters of Recommendation: Three professors at my school. Did research and classes with one, taught with the other, just class with the third. None are famous, but two are reasonably well-known in their field. One is the department chair.

Research Experience: Two Honors Theses, one term paper in econometrics. Wasn't able to secure a publication before application season.

Teaching Experience: TA for two years, Intro to Micro and Intermediate Micro

Research Interests: Applied Micro, Micro Theory, Development

SOP: Pretty standard, just outlined my progress through an undergraduate degree and my research interests

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Michigan (no $(?)), Illinois Urbana-Champaign ($$), Texas at Austin ($$ if I wanted it)

Waitlists: Princeton ($$ if admitted)

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, NYU, Columbia, Duke, Northwestern, Berkeley

Pending: LSE (applied later)

 

What would you have done differently?

Started math classes sooner. Considered more seriously a Masters program abroad. I also wish that I had discovered these forums earlier! So much good advice...

If I could go even further back, I would have attended a undergraduate institution with a stronger economics program. That said, I'm still happy. I'm leaning toward Michigan, but keeping my fingers crossed for Princeton.

Edited March 23, 2010 by dreck

[good_tea]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA, Joint Econ/Math at Top 30 Econ department (I am an international student, though)

Undergrad GPA: 3.83/4.00

GRE: 760Q/670V/4.5A

Math Courses: Calculus (B, B, A), Linear Algebra (B+), Differential Equations (A), Analysis (A,A), Operations Research (A), MA Statistics in economics department (A).

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (B), Econometrics (A), Economics of Information (B+), MA Micro (A), MA Macro (A), and many electives (As).

Letters of Recommendation: One famous economics prof., wrote term paper (not sure about strength of the letter but not bad), one somewhat famous economics prof., senior thesis advisor (should have been quite solid), one analysis professor (should have been very good).

Research Experience: Senior thesis.

Teaching Experience: None.

Research Interests: Development, trade.

SOP: Nothing special.

Other: Had been working for an international organisation for a few months during the time of application.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Cornell AEM MS (no $), UVA (wl-$), UMD AREC ($$), Michigan (no $), BU (wl-$).

Rejections: Yale, Harvard KSG, UCB ARE, Princeton, PSU, UMD, Brown, NYU, UCSD.

 

What would you have done differently?

 

I am very happy with my outcome but realise that with a bit of bad luck, it could have been a lot worse. I am answering this question not so much in retrospect but in terms of how my a priori thinking/information could have been better (e.g. in retrospect it wouldn't make sense to apply to Princeton but a priori it was reasonable to do so just in case my recommendation letters were extremely strong).

 

1. I would not have applied to Maryland Economics b/c it really didn't match my interests very well. I would not have applied to Cornell AEM b/c it turns out it is very difficult to get admitted directly into the PhD program and I didn't want to do a MA/MS. I might have applied to Cornell's economics instead, though. I would have applied to at least one more place outside the top-20, maybe University of Washington.

 

2. A higher GRE score would have been good but I tried and didn't manage (canceled my score after taking it the second time), so it is not something I regret. I am not so good at that kind of test.

 

3. In terms of the longer run, I should have considered how I could do better in math classes earlier on. I am naturally quite good at math but had been doing only ok since late high school and never really thought about how I could improve. I learned (while studying for my Linear Algebra final exam, which took my grade for that class from a B- to a B+), that it is very useful to study by writing/typing out explanations to make sure one understands everything properly. Studying in this way, I did very well in all my subsequent math classes.

[askua]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A. (honours)-Econ and Math, large Canadian University

Undergrad GPA: Overall: 3.85, excluding first year: 4.0

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: NA

GRE: 780Q 580V 6.0AWA

Math Courses (undergrad-level): Calc 1-4, Math stats 1-2, analysis 1-2, linear 1-2, analysis for econ, math for econ 1-2 (if this counts?); All A's or A+

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro 1-4, macro 1-4, econometrics 1-2, IO 1-2, international trade 1-2, money and banking; All A's or A+

Econ Courses (PhD-level): IO (A)

Other Courses: a few German courses

Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ profs (1 Berkeley, 1 Minnesota, 1 Toronto) ... all taught me one or more courses.

Research Experience: Barely any ... just one paper for the grad IO.

Teaching Experience: tutor for 4 years

Research Interests: applied micro (health, IO)

statement of purpose: Preparation, goals, research interests

Concerns: reputation of undergrad

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UC Davis (no first year funding), UW Madison (no first year funding), UBC (PhD, $$) Toronto MA (doctoral stream, $$)

Waitlists: None

Rejections: Yale, Columbia, Michigan, Berkeley, Stanford, UCSD

Pending: None

What would you have done differently? I would have only gone to a different undergrad if I had known four years ago that I wanted to do a PhD in Economics. However, in retrospect, I might have tried to get more RA experience and done a double degree in Math and Econ rather than just a minor in math. Although I am pretty happy with my results given what type of a student I was in high school (not good). I am very lucky and not complaining. I think out of most of the top 20s, UBC and Madison are the best two fits for me so I think I was appropriately placed. Good luck to everyone in future cycles!

Edited March 27, 2010 by askua

[heraclitus_junior]

Profile

Type of Undergrad: B.S. Double Major in Math/Econ. OK Research university in very small, isolated country.

Undergrad GPA: 3.94 out of 4.00 (converted)

Type of Grad: Honours degree (British system)

Grad GPA: 3.92 out of 4.00 (converted)

GRE: 780Q, 750V, 4.5AWA (only took once)

Math Courses: First year math, second year multivariate calculus and differential equations, second year linear algebra, second year inference, second year probability, second year real analysis (continuity, sequences, series, limits, etc.), third year dynamical systems, third year complex variables, third year matrix algebra, third year analysis (metric spaces, normed spaces, open sets, compactness), third year multivariate stats, honours measure theory, honours probability theory, honours mathematical economics (Arrow-Debreu, Kakutani, Brouwer, existence of competitive equilbria), honours combinatorics (matroids), honours topology (point set topology).

Econ Courses: second year macro, second year micro, third year micro, third year econometrics, third year game theory, honours macro, honours welfare economics, honours empirical macroeconomics.

Other Courses: first year computer science done informally.

Letters of Recommendation: 1 professor of pure mathematics (chaired), 1 econ senior lecturer (associate professor) from my uni. They knew me very well, so their letters should've been good. 1 world-renowned economist who isn't from my university and didn't know me as well as the others.

Research Experience: Paid summer math project. Paid summer internship at my country's central bank with their research team. An honours dissertation on mathematical economics.

Publications: one single author publication in a mid-tier North American Journal (accepted for publication mid-feb 2010). one working single author paper on cooperative game theory.

Teaching Experience: Tutor for first year math and third year microeconomics.

Research Interests: Economic theory.

Statement of purpose: I talked about my research experience and my goals.

Concerns: My GRE score was a real worry; I was concerned my application would not even be looked at. Also, I did a 4 year degree in 3 years, and I'm relatively young. I wasn't sure if this was an asset or a liability.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Princeton, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, Stanford, San Diego.

Waitlists: Harvard, MIT, UPenn.

Rejections: Yale, NYU.

What would you have done differently? Nothing comes to mind.

[Cartman84]

I made some slight changes in my profile (that is I tried to convert my grades to GPA used by the US universities and explained in further detail my Maths - I was kind of freshman-to-the-forum when posting my profile)

 

Type of Undergrad: MA (top grade/summa cum laude) in Econometrics from the top Polish business schol, BA (expected June 2010) in Maths, Warsaw University

Undergrad GPA: 4.7/5.5 (this is extremely hard to get on Econometrics, like 3,9 - 3,95/4 GPA) at my MA program, excellent grade on my thesis, rather poor grades at Maths (I study and work part-time as a freelancer so it's hard to be the top student now, GPA like 3,0/4 but I got very good grades on courses that are most closely related to economics)

Grad GPA: I did a 5 year program, consider it equivalent to Undergrad and some Grad courses too

GRE: V-530, Q-790, A-4.0(I think I was too nervous and solved some problems too fast, better use time they give you in 100%)

TOEFL: 112

Math Courses: Linear algebra, Calculus I-IV, Topology, ODE, Probability Theory I-II, Abstract Algebra, Control Theory, Time Series, Measure Theory, Functional Analysis, Computational Maths I-II, Complex Analysis, Statistics I-II, - mostly C and B but I consider the program very demanding as for a BA level, due to the reform of Polish university education system some of them is on the grad level

Econ Courses: Macro (4 semesters), Micro (3 semesters), Econometrics (lots of small lectures, let's say Theory and Applied with good understanding), Growth Theory, Game Theory I-II, Public Finance Theory, Monetary Policy, Mechanism Design

Other Courses: C++,

Letters of Recommendation: One from Economics Professor affiliated at one of the top10 US universities (get to know him during his lectures in Poland), one from my MA thesis supervisor (that's a really great letter, he recommended succesfuly some students to the top US and Europe programs), one from Maths Professor (PhD NYU, currently at Warsaw University, published in top Maths journals)

Research Experience: worked 2 years as a research economist, did some policy analyses for various Polish government agencies, also one paper for OECD/World Bank on pension funds performance; now working for a financial risk consultancy - mostly forecasting and programming

Teaching Experience: 4 years of TA - macro and micro for undergrads (started during my MA program)

Research Interests: Macroeconomics, focus on pension systems, DSGE models, exchange rates

statement of purpose: I aimed at presenting how professional and educational experience made me prepared well for the program, focus on strong mathematical background and teaching experience

Other: 26yr old male, Polish nationality

Concerns: late application to UMN, late reference letters

Applying to: UMN, Tinbergen, Tilburg, Stockholm Uni, Stockholm Sch. of Econ., Goethe, Universidad Carlos 3 Madrid, EUI Florence

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UMN, TI, Tilburg, SU, SSE, Goethe, EUI

Waitlists:

Rejections: UC3M (withdrawn application after being admitted to UMN, never really wanted to go there)

What would you have done differently? Nothing, I guess. Maybe if I had different preferences I would have speeded up my TOEFL/GRE and applied to some more US programs

[sperners lemma]

Type of Undergrad: Top 3 Canadian University (in economics)

Undergrad GPA: 95 cumulative, ~97 for math/econ courses

Type of Grad: Taking first year PhD Micro

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: Q800,V730,W5.5

Math Courses: Calc I-IV , Lin Alg I-III, Differential Eq, Metric Topology, General Topology, Real Analysis I-II, Intro. to Probability and Stats

Econ Courses: standard honors sequence in Micro/Macro/Metrics, and some Math of Econ

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: One well known in his field, Two semi-known. I have taken classes from the two semi-known ones. I have RAed for the well-known one for the summer. They all know me well.

Research Experience: RAed during third year summer. Did matching/social network stuff.

Teaching Experience: N/A

Research Interests: Applied Game theory, IO

SOP: Spent a lot of time on it. Looking back now, it was probably too much (I didn't know about TM back then). But I think it may have helped, especially for getting me admission from Chicago since I mentioned I am a Libertarian and big fan of Friedman (both are true statements).

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: (Full funding): Stanford, NWU, UPenn, NYU, UMN, UMichigan (Partial Funding)Chicago

Waitlists: MIT

Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley

 

 

What would you have done differently?

Nothing really, other than taking more math courses (especially in Probability theory). I am very surprised by my result. My LOR writers must have gone all the way for me. I am very very grateful for their help.