Roll Call 2011

[econm]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Public Ivy, Double Major: Math, Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.04
Type of Grad: -NA-
Grad GPA: -NA-
GRE: Q: 800, V: 590, AW (waiting)

Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Probability Theory, Non-Euclidean Geometry, Proof Writing, Differential Equations, Real Analysis, Advanced Statistics I-II, Number Theory, Abstract Algebra.

Econ Courses (grad-level): Urban, Development, Game Theory all cross-listed with grad classes.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): International, Macro Policy
Other Courses: Legal Environment of Business, Philosophy of Engineering
Letters of Recommendation: None yet, I have plenty of prospects.
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Monetary Theory, Game Theory, (lesser extent) Development
SOP: Pretty Good so far.
Concerns: GPA: 3.04
Other: I have consistently taken the hardest classes available, and my GPA reflects it.
Applying to: Duke (MSc.), Cornel Ag., Iowa St., Michigan St., Wisc Ag., NYU (MSc.), SUNY, Syracuse, Georgetown, Penn St., Northeastern, Boston College.

For whatever reason, I feel confident.

[kt253]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics and Philosophy Dual Major - 170s ranked National University, Top 100 Econ PhD program
Undergrad GPA: 3.97 Cumulative, 4.0 in both majors (only 1 B, in irrelevant course)
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 770Q, 550V, 5.0 AWA
Math Courses: Calc I and II (A, A+), Currently in Multivariate Calc and Linear Algebra, will take Differential Equations in the spring, along with Intro to Stat and Prob.
Econ Courses: Intro Micro, Intro Macro, Econ Stats, Inter Micro, Inter Macro (in progress), Econometrics, Mathematical Economics (in progress), various elective courses.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ Professors right now, 1 relatively recent PhD from Emory (will be co-authoring a paper and starting RA job with him soon), 1 well known professor from Florida State, and trying to figure out a third.
Research Experience: Will start RA job soon, currently researching philosophical debate regarding organ markets, and will soon be evaluating the institutions underlying organ markets in various countries.
Teaching Experience: Tutored students in various math, accounting, philosophy, social science courses, TA for an intro level philosophy course, but no real teaching involved with that.
Research Interests: Public Economics, Political Economy, Development, Microeconomics, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Health Economics, Austrian Economics
Concerns: GRE score, Who to get a third recommendation from (Math Econ professor who does not know me very well outside of the class I'm currently taking with him (only 3 weeks in), or philosophy professor who will write a stellar recommendation), lack of advanced math preparation (Real Analysis, Probability Theory, etc)
Will be applying to: Carnegie Mellon (Econ and PP), Maryland, Brown, Wash U of St. Louis, U of Virginia, George Mason, Florida State, Clemson, West Virginia, U Penn Wharton Applied Econ, Syracuse, Tufts (master's), Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, NC State

Any words of advice? Am I applying to a good range of schools?

[Kinmanjaro]

Profile:
Type of Undergrad: BS in econ from directional state university, but took my intermediate micro and macro classes at a top 15 university
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4 (from degree-granting institution)
Type of Grad: JD/MBA from Big Ten university
Grad GPA: JD: 3.4 MBA: 3.9
GRE: 780Q, 700V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc 1 and 2, A's (community college); Calc 3 4.0/4, linear algebra 3.5/4 (big ten university). Elementary stats, B (top 15 university); Intro to Prob and Stats, A (directional state university). Starting a masters in pure mathematics program this fall at directional state university to beef up math background (Adv. Algebra (abstract algebra book), Adv. Calc (intro to analysis book), DiffEq).

Econ Courses:
Intro Micro and Macro, A's (community college); Intermediate Micro, B, Intermediate Macro, A (top 15 university); monetary policy, environmental econ, international econ, econometrics, A's, labor econ, B, grad-level game theory, A (directional state university). Other: law and economics at law school, A.
Letters of Recommendation: One from my MBA program (Princeton econ ph.d.), one from my game theory professor, one from law school professor with whom I have a good rapport (Yale JD), one from another law school professor with whom I wrote my thesis-type paper (Columbia JD and global business law expert)
Research Experience: Highly lacking in this, unless you count my legal paper on Chinese bankruptcy law.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Law and econ, behavioral, political economy, managerial economics
SOP: I'm a pretty good writer and, as evidenced by my school track record, have had lots of practice.
Concerns: No research, non-traditional LORs, bounced around in undergrad (community college, two top 25 schools, finished at directional state university to be closer to home/money issues), yet-to-be-determined strength of math background, older applicant.
Applying to: UW-Madison, Kellogg's MECS program, Berkeley, Vanderbilt's L&E program, Stanford GSB political economics, Michigan State, maybe Iowa (this list will probably change quite a bit)

[philecon]

Type of Undergrad: Business Economics, Southeast Asian university, not Singapore, graduated April 2010
Undergrad GPA: I don't know how to convert it, but I graduated magna cum laude
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: taking it on October 2010, will edit my profile when I get my score
Math Courses: (lower division) Calc I-III, Introduction to Proofs; (upper division) Linear Algebra, Math Stats, Differential Equations, Real Analysis
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro and Macro, Mathematical Economics, Econometrics, Game Theory, IO, Public Econ, International Econ, Money and Banking, Development Econ, Thesis, audited a grad Micro course (but it won't show up in the transcript, I was told)
Other Courses: a whole bunch of Business courses
Letters of Recommendation: (not yet final) 1 Ohio State PhD (my thesis adviser); another from a prof I am RA-ing for (PhD from my undergrad uni, but publishes in internationally-refereed journals); 1 Northwestern PhD; 1 Columbia PhD
Research Experience: currently working as an RA in health economics project for a prof in my uni (1 year term), resulting journal article to be submitted in an internationally-refereed journal next year; senior thesis (won undergraduate thesis award, will present it in annual convention of economics society in my country, forthcoming in local journal); 1 year stint as an RA for a local think-tank, but work was macro-related (time series analysis and stuff); participated in research workshop in undergrad uni
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Public Economics, Health Economics, IO, Econometrics
SOP: the usual I guess
Others: came from Accounting program in my uni, left school for a year to travel and "know myself" better, went back and shifted to Economics
Concerns: Though my uni has recently placed students to Northwestern, Columbia and Michigan, most of them completed master's degrees in economics; might be the first to apply to US programs as an undergrad. (Someone got into Toulouse M1 2 years ago with only an undergrad in her belt. She's now in M2.) 1-2 of my letters of recommendation will come from profs who don't come from Top 20 US schools, but know me very well. Dunno how my grades will be evaluated too since we have a weird grading system.
Applying to: Northwestern, Stanford GSB (Economic Analysis & Policy), Columbia, Duke, Carnegie Mellon (Economics and Public Policy), Michigan, Penn, UPF, Toulouse, Tilburg, Tinbergen, UAB, CEMFI

I am quite aware that I will need a miracle to get into ANY of the US schools I'm applying to, seeing as I'm the first from my uni to apply directly as an undergrad. But these are the only schools I would be willing to attend, so if I don't get in anywhere (though I hope to get into one of the European master's), I will reapply next year with a better profile. Crossing my fingers too.

[papachara]

papachara
Type of Undergrad: B.S. in Economics from unknown Latin-american university
Undergrad GPA: N/A (First place from class)
Type of Grad: M.S. Economics from well-known Latin-american University
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q / 570V / 4.0AWA, Taking it again.
Math Courses: Real Analysis I and II (A+), Measure Theory (A+), Topology (A), Convexity and Optimization (A), Dynamic Sistems (A-), Probability (A), Intro to Stochastic Processes.
Econ Courses (grad-level): Microeconomic Theory (A+), Game Theory (A), Macro I and II (A+), Mechanism Design (A), Political Economy, General Equilibrium, Macroeconometrics, Microeconometrics (A-)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro I and II, Macro I and II, IO, International Economics I and II, Growth, Development, Econometrics I and II, Topics in Micro Theory, Topics in Mathematical economics, Monetary, Econometrics I and II, Public Economics. Basically A's and A+'s
Other Courses: Agent-Based modelling
Letters of Recommendation: 1 prof from NYU, 1 from UCLA and 1 from Urbana-champaign (knows me very well and should be an excellent letter)
Research Experience: RA in political economy research for 3 years, thesis in political economy
Teaching Experience: TA in econometrics, microeconomics and computational economics
Research Interests: Micro theory, computational economics and development
SOP: Not started, but should not be a problem
Concerns: Hoping that LORs are strong.
Other:
Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, NYU, Columbia, Chicago, Caltech, Berkeley, Northwestern, UPenn, Carnegie Mellon. Maybe: Brown, Boston, Washington at St. Louis. Maybe some europeans: UPF and Toulouse. Maybe some in Canada: UBC and Toronto.

[eds]

PROFILE

Type of Undergrad: South Italian University. Graduate in 2004.Major in Economics
Undergrad GPA: 110/110 cum laude (say equivalent to 4 )
Type of Grad: MSc in economics form a top 5 UK department in 2007,
Grad GPA: Master 90+%,
GRE: 800Q, 590V, 3.0AWA. I will be retaking it next month. Do not consider this result when evaluating my profile.
Math Courses: (UG)General Mathematics, Financial Mathematics, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis Multivariable Analysis(should be calculus) , Statistics I and I. ‐ All equivalent to A's or A+.
Math Courses: (Master): introductory to math and stats 90%+
Econ Courses (masters-level): Micro, Macro, monetary economics ,international monetary economics, Econometrics ,Trade theory All 90%+
Econ Courses (PhD level) About 13 course in macro fields with famous profs at PhD level. All passed with A’s
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro and Macro Theory, Labor, International economics, monetary economics, Industrial econ. Development economics, economic history, History of economic thought theory, econometrics, Public economics, Regional Economics, Applied economics, Economic Policy‐ All equivalent to A's or A+
Other Courses: Summer school at UPF
Letters of Recommendation: ) 1 stellar letters from a NYU PhD undergraduate thesis supervisor well connected 2) Form a guy with PhD Michigan well known in his field. I got A in his graduate course. I am now looking for the third letter.
Research Experience: A working paper in progress with one of my a letter of recommendation writers and we are talking to start working on a paper with my second letter of recommendation writer. Not sure If I will have something concrete by December 2010 . I won special merit from the evaluation committee for the quality of my u/g thesis work, presentation skills and academic performance. I also won the prize for the best u/g thesis for that year. My MSc thesis was marked (90%+) as the best among MSc students in my year. Visitor Researcher at a well know institute .Visitor Scholar at a top 20 US department (research only) for fall 2009. I have served as a visitor scholar at the research division of the ECB
Teaching Experience: TA for intro to micro (In the USA) and for Monetary economics
Research Interests: Monetary economics , International macro, .
SOP: Should be strong.
Concerns: AGE!!!! I am, currently 33. I will been turned 34 and a half by fall 2011 .. I need to get new letters of recommendation from people I currently work with . I cannot ask for a letter from my MSc because of other personal reasons nor from the US department.
Other: Applying for the usual fellowships.
Applying to: In many programs. In the US and Europe. Suggestions are welcome !

[crabchef]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 50 Public University
Major: BS in Economics, BA in Mathematics
Undergrad GPA: Overall 2.90/4 (Econ GPA: 3.58 – A’s in nearly all advanced classes)
GRE: Taking mid/end of November
Math Courses: Calc I/II/II (B, C+, B), Linear Algebra (B), DiffEq (C), MVC I (B-), Math Proofs (B), Probability I (B+)
Econ Courses: Intro Micro/Macro (A-), Intermediate Micro/Macro (A-, A-), Investments & Capital Finance (A+), Computational Finance (A), Advanced Macro (A-), Monetary Policy I&II (A+, A+), Cost-Benefit Analysis (A+), Econometrics (B)
Other Courses: Intro Stats (A-)
Letters of Recommendation: Very strong letter from a professor I have a great relationship with. Another very strong letter from another prof that I took two classes with (Two A+’s). However, both are not tenured.
Research Experience: None
Research Interests: Econometrics
SOP: Haven’t written yet. I’m guessing there’s going to be this huge part about how I’ve become a more competent student.
Concerns: Low math grades, lack of research experience, LORs not unknown professors
Applying To: UBC, SFU, McGill, McMaster, U of Toronto, Tufts, U Colorado @ Denver, CEMFI, Barcelona GSE, LSE, UCL, CSU

[Elliephant]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: business admin, specialising in econ (top Canadian b-school)
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0 or 3.98/4.0, depending on conversion scheme
Type of Grad: none
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q800, V790, AWA pending
Math Courses: calc I and II (A, A), stats (A+), algebra I and II (A+), calc III (multivariate - in progress), real analysis I (in progress), real analysis II (spring)
Econ Courses (grad-level): none
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): intro micro, intro macro, international econ, advanced micro, advanced macro, metrics (all A+); supply-side macro (B+); did a term in China's top econ department (roughly speaking, >85 = A): international trade (90), information econ (91), Chinese development (93), urban and regional econ (98); applied metrics and forecasting (spring); managerial econ (spring)
Other Courses: none relevant
Letters of Recommendation: micro prof (reasonably well-known in IO and a past department chair); research supervisor in Beijing (used to be tenured at UNC, well-connected in health policy); and one not sure, possibly a fresh Princeton PhD
Research Experience: summer fellow at an econ think tank in Beijing, one RAship at my home school, two conference presentations of my sole-authored papers
Teaching Experience: TAing micro and business statistics this fall
Research Interests: still fluid; currently economics of human capital (education, health), transition economies, other applied micro
SOP: standard
Concerns: credibility of LORs; insufficient math background; low visibility of UG econ department
Other: skipped the entire intermediate econ sequence and some lower-division maths, still did fine in advanced courses
Applying to: SSHRC (Canadian version of NSF), Toronto MA, UBC MA, Queen's MA, assorted top 15 PhD (still populating list; will include a couple of health policy programmes)

[jaymerchi]

Attending US NEWS Top 40 East Coast Liberal Arts college.
Major: Economics and Public Policy. Minor: Applied Math
Rising Senior. GPA So far : 3.88 (Major 3.94)
Class Rank: 15/565
Study Abroad at Oxford University. Two 2:1, two firsts out of 4 tutorials.
Omicron Delta Epsilon Honors Society (for whatever its worth)
GRE: Q 780, V 600, AWA 5.5

Econ So far: Intro Macro (A), Intro Micro (A), Inter Macro(A), Inter Micro(A-), Econ Stats(A), Econ of China's Growth and Trade (A-), Marxian Economics and Perspectives (A), Money and Banking (A) Public Economics (A) Welfare Economics (A-)
Taking:Macroeconomic Stabilization, Impact of Trade Liberalization
Will Take: Econometrics

Math So far: Calc 1(A), Calc 2(A), Calc 3(A), Dynamic Optimization (A), Stats (A)
Taking: Linear Algebra & Diff Equations, Prob Stats 2
Will Take: Advanced Stats

Research Exp: Authored one research paper on unemployment and incarceration with a professor last summer.

Other Stuff: Did a course on global trade and development this summer.

Recommendations: Professor at Oxford. Well known here. Would definitely help with my application for the Oxford Mphil program. (professor taught at LSE and attended a top 10 institution in the USA)
Another from a not so well known professor at my college. The professor knows me very well and the recommendation should be excellent.
The third one is from a top professor from my department who attended a top 10 institution in the USA

SOP: Should be decent.
Research Interests: Trade, FDI,

[lian]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. economics (unknown west-european university with a lot of unnecessary business courses)
Undergrad GPA: 1.3 on a scale from 1.0(best possible) to 5.0, (best of my class out of ca. 350)
Type of Grad: none
Grad GPA: none
GRE: Q700, V340 (TOEFL 109), AWA pending - awful, always scored 800Q before, taking it again in october
Math Courses: math for econs (A+), stats I (A), stats II and econometrics (in progress), real analysis I (in progress), linear algebra and analytical geometry I (in progress), 2 further high math courses in spring..
Econ Courses (grad-level): none, not possible at my university
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): micro theory I (A+), micro theory II (B+), macro I (A+), macro II (A-), Public Econ (A-), Institutional Economics and Game Theory(A+), International Economics (A+), Industrial Organization (A+), development econ (A+)
Other Courses: a lot of compulsory boring business classes, mostly A's, one B, one B-..
Letters of Recommendation: two micro profs, (i work as a RA for one, the other is an american prof), one macro prof. every letter should be very strong, but they aren't known outside europe.
Research Experience: RA for approximately 1.5 years. one research paper in progress. one discussion paper co-authored.
Teaching Experience: none but private tutoring since 1st school grade . i've tried, not allowed in my university as an undergrad to teach official courses.
Research Interests: microeconomics. IO, behavioral/institutional economics and game theory.
SOP: in progress, nothing special.
Concerns: terrible first GRE scores; totally insufficient math background; unknown recommendators and unknown undergrad university. Before studying economics a was a terrible student: A-Levels were awful - 2.7, and i quit my first university study (physics major, math minor)
Applying to: Master: LSE, Cambridge, UCL, UEA, Tinbergen, Tilburg, Toulouse, Paris, Barcelona, Toronto, British Columbia. PhD: Cornell, Michigan, Minnesota, Madison, ... not yet decided, depending on second GRE and self-confidence. i am not even sure if to apply now for a phd or after making a master degree.. any advice?