Profiles and Results 2012

[MathEcon12]

Since it seems like the season is coming to an end for some TMers, and because last year's thread was also started on the second Saturday of March, I think it's a good time to get the annual Profile and Results Thread started.

 

I'll take a page out of Italos' playbook and quote asquare's post from the 2009 thread:

 

"This thread is meant to be a reference thread only. Please fill out the information below, but post any comments or questions in a separate thread. Other comments will be deleted from this thread. Note that you can only edit your posts for about one hour after you make them. This means that if you are still waiting on admissions decisions, you should wait to post your profile on this thread. Otherwise, your profile will be incomplete."

 

Without further ado,

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad:

Undergrad GPA:

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE:

Math Courses:

Econ Courses:

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation:

Research Experience:

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests:

SOP:

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances:

Waitlists:

Rejections:

Pending:

 

What would you have done differently?

[MathEcon12]

Maybe we're ready for this now....

 

[sticky please]

[intrepidtravels]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BSc Top 5 UK, major in Statistics, minor in Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.75

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: Q780, V530, AW5.5

Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A-), Real Analysis (A+), Calculus (B)

Stats Courses: Introduction to Statistics (A), Further Statistics (A), Practical Statistics (A), Probability and Inference (B), Linear Models (B), Applied Probability (B+), Statistical Inference (B), Stochastic Systems (B), Decision and Risk (A+), Optimisation Algorithms (A+)

Econ Courses: Microeconomics (A), Macroeconomics (A), Econometrics (A), Game Theory (A), Environmental Economics (B)

Other Courses: Finance (B)

Letters of Recommendation: Two unknown professors

Research Experience: Undergraduate thesis

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Development

SOP: Linking research interests, relevant work experience, and undergraduate thesis

Other: Lots of relevant international work experience (including 4 internships and one full-time job for a year)

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Yale MA International and Development Economics (IDE), UCL MSc Economics

Waitlists: Cambridge MPhil Economics

Rejections: UC Berkeley PhD Agricultural and Resource Economics, Oxford MPhil Economics

Pending: Oxford MSc Economics for Development

 

Attending: Yale MA International and Development Economics (IDE)

What would you have done differently?

Not too much, got into my dream master's program so am really very excited. UK schools rarely (if ever?) give TA/RA positions to undergraduates so I am not too worried about lacking experience there.

 

If I had to mention something, I would say improve my grades. A's across the board, in difficult subjects, is absolutely essential.

Edited April 11, 2012 by intrepidtravels

[lily714]

Zapzorred, by request. Edited May 10, 2012 by Erin
By request of author.

[delimitless]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 60 Economics UG

Undergrad GPA: 3.75 (3.85 math & econ)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 790Q/640V/5.5AWA

Math Courses: Calc series; Linear Algebra; UG Analysis; Grad Analysis I; Grad Topology I-II; Dynamical Systems

Econ Courses: Grad Macro; Grad Micro; Grad Metrics; standard UG classes

Other Courses: Philosophy minor

Letters of Recommendation: Grad Macro Professor; two economists at regional fed where I worked

Research Experience: 2 Years at Regional Fed. Couple co-authored papers in the works. Felt this was instrumental to my intent/results

Teaching Experience: Tutoring and Grading at UG

Research Interests: Macro, Labor, Computational

SOP: Customized for a little while then just got lazy and sent the same one

Other: good to be moving on

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: NSF; UPenn(after NSF); UCLA($); Ohio State($$)

Waitlists: Maryland (Accepted after NSF); WUSTL

Rejections: Yale; Northwestern; NYU; Chicago; Stanford; Minnesota; Columbia; Duke

Pending:

Attending: U Penn

 

What would you have done differently? Probably would have customized my SOP a bit more. It just got so dull. Second-guessing the past is easy...I guess work harder in UG is the easy answer; but I wasn't so sure that I wanted a PhD at that time.

Edited April 11, 2012 by delimitless

[Kevs]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Econ/Math BS double major. Small private Midwest university. Unknown econ dept.

Undergrad GPA: 3.85

GRE: 164 Q, 156 V, 5.5 AWA

Math Courses: Calc I (B), Calc II (A), Calc III (A), Discrete I (A-), Discrete II (A), Differential Equations (A), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (A), Probability and Statistics (A), Statistics (A), Abstract Algebra (A-)

Grad Math Courses: Game Theory (in progress)

Econ Courses: standard UG sequence with econometrics

Letters of Recommendation: Nobody famous. Thesis adviser and guy I was an RA for, was very strong. Another econ prof I had a few classes with, was strong. Math prof w/ phd from Berkeley who taught me calc III and real analysis.

Research Experience: RA, did a senior thesis that applied game theory to IO. Theoretical paper.

Teaching Experience: tutored econ and calc for 3 semesters. Was a TA for diff eq and calculus.

Research Interests: At time of application, game theory and IO. Now I've added behavioral and experimental.

SOP: It was an SOP alright.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UCSD ($--will attend), UT-austin

Waitlists: None

Rejections: Kellogg MECS, Caltech, HBS, NYU, Boston U, Maryland, Penn State

Pending: Funding decision from UT, but I don't care what it is. EDIT: No funding at UT.

 

What would you have done differently? Applied to significantly more schools because I'm from an unknown and small econ program. We do not even have a PhD program. For anyone in a similar situation who doesn't wish to transfer, here is some advice. If you want to breach the top 25, you have to get very good grades. This isnt enough though. When your good grades are compared to the same grades from someone from Yale, guess who theyre going to choose. So you need something that separates you from the pack. For me, I think that was my thesis and my LORs were very strong (despite coming from nobody famous). Apply to a lot of schools as the variance for someone with this background will be high. Just look at my case--outright rejection from Penn State, but got into UCSD. I got lucky.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Kevs

[Gouverneur]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics, minor in Mathematics (Rutgers: >50 econ department)

Undergrad GPA: 2.9 (cumulative of four colleges); 3.7 (school I will graduate from)

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE: 161Q, 159V, 4.0AW

Math Courses: Calc I-III, Intro Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Intro to Proofs, Probability Theory, (Abstract) Linear Algebra, Intro Real Analysis

Econ Courses: Intro/Intermediate Micro/Macro, Econometrics, Industrial Organization, Financial Economics, Market Discipline, Development, Game Theory

Other Courses: intro stats

Letters of Recommendation: All 3 from econ professors who I took 1-2 classes with

Research Experience: none

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: game theory, io, labor, development

SOP: brief

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Warwick, Oregon, Western Ontario ($), Cornell ($$)

Waitlists: Washington

Rejections: Tilburg, Queen's, Cemfi

Attending: Cornell

 

What would you have done differently?

For undergrad studies, not failing out of college twice would've been better. Also, it would've been nice to have taken more than two econ classes before the spring semester of my junior year. For the application process, I should've applied to more schools. But I am very pleased with the school I will be attending.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Gouverneur

[MathEcon12]

Sorry, but I can no longer edit the original post. Can everyone please add what school they are attending. I think this would be helpful.

[Peot]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Math/Econ double major at a Top 40 Econ, top something US News... too lazy to check. We like experimental econ and college basketball.

Undergrad GPA: 3.9

Type of Grad: Just classes

Grad GPA: 3.9

GRE: 760Q/640V/4.0 Attempt #1, 165Q/161V/5.0 Attempt #2

Math Courses: Calc 1-3, Intro to Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Honors Linear Alg, Honors ODEs, Applied Stat, Probability Theory, Math Stat, Stochastic Processes, Grad Analysis I, Topology, Combinatorics, Number Theory. All A's except an A- in ODEs and a B in Grad Analysis

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I, Micro II, Political Economy, Topics in Micro Theory. All A's except an A- in Micro II

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): A whole bunch

Other Courses: A bunch of English classes

Letters of Recommendation: 1 extremely well known (multiple publications in AER/'metrica/JET), 1 very well known (publications in AER, 'metrica, JET), 1 not as well known. All 3 are micro theorists and have had me for at least one grad Econ class and at least two are advising me with my thesis/research projects.

Research Experience: 2 summer research grants from my university to work on independent projects in micro theory/game theory, another grant to work on that same project during this academic year, some independent studies over the years, all of which will be aggregated into a special degree/honors thesis

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests: Game Theory, Mechanism Design, Formal Political Theory, Algorithmic Game Theory. How information affects games and how mechanisms can incentivize information acquisition.

SOP: Cookie cutter with one paragraph tailored to each place.

Other: Varsity letterman/spent 4 years on a perennial top 15-25 Division I team in my sport. That made this all so much harder than it needed to be!

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Caltech, Wisconsin, Kellogg MECS, UT-Austin, UCLA, NYU, Berkeley (no first year fellowship), Penn (wl for first year funding)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Stanford GSB Econ Analysis + Policy

Attending: Caltech

 

What would you have done differently?

Can't say I could have changed anything drastically. Maybe done marginally better in a course or two, or not messed up my first GRE. But those are ninth or tenth order concerns. RA or a Masters wouldn't have done anything for me. I'm thrilled and fortunate to be where I am!

[Econfan]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics from a top 10 LAC

Undergrad GPA: 3.53 (3.1 freshman year, 3.8 sophomore-senior years)

Type of Grad: Non-degree math coursework at a top 10 math department

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 790 Q, 670 V, 4.5 AW (New Scoring: 164 Q, 164 V)

Math Courses: Undergrad: Calc II electives (C+/B), Linear Algebra (B), Calc III (A), Diff Eq (A), Analysis (B), Bridge to Advanced Math (A-), Probability (B+) Grad: Probability (A-), Linear Algebra (B)

Econ Courses: Econ Principals (A-), Intro Macro (A), Intermediate Macro (A-), Econ Stats (A-), Intermediate Micro (A), Intro Econometrics (A), International Econ (A), Advanced Macro (A), Thesis (A-/A), Advanced Econometrics (A), Advanced Micro (W)

Letters of Recommendation: 2 economics professors from undergrad, one of whom I was very close with (RAed, TAed, thesis adviser); economics professor at a top 50 econ department who's active in research (top 5% or something on IDEAS)

Research Experience: RA for two summers for a professor in college doing labor research; senior thesis; worked for 3 years at a top econ consulting firm after graduation

Teaching Experience: TAed for Intro Macro and Intro Econometrics during undergrad

Research Interests: IO, ???

SOP: Pretty standard; I didn't personalize it by department.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Wisconsin ($), UT-Austin ($)

Waitlists: UVA (withdrew)

Rejections: Penn, Northwestern, Duke, NYU, Columbia, Maryland, Brown, Michigan, Wharton (after interview), Cornell

Attending: Wisconsin!!

 

There were plenty of things I would have done differently (not withdrawing from advanced micro, not taking analysis while taking 5 classes, working 2 jobs, and interviewing for jobs senior year), but there is one thing I definitely wouldn't have done differently. I made the decision to take a consulting job over a job at the Fed after college, knowing that it wouldn't be as good for my application, because it felt like a better fit. It turned out to in fact be a great fit for me, and I've grown from the experience in a lot of ways that have made me better prepared for grad school. My advice from this is that you should definitely make sure you have everything you need to get into grad school (math, research, etc.), but you shouldn't base all of your decisions on getting into grad school, because it may be the thing you do that doesn't help your resume that may indirectly make you better a better student in grad school or a better researcher later in life.

 

Despite the painfulness of the process, I'm very happy with the end result. I can't say there weren't times when I wished I'd never heard of this forum (for example, when I was neurotically checking posts at 2 am), but I'm glad this great group of people was hear to take away some of the pain from the horror that is economics phd applications.

Edited April 15, 2012 by Econfan
typo

[laca]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Econ from top 10 US, top 5 econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.77/4.00

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE: 800Q 690V 4.0AWA

Math Courses: Honors Calculus I-III (A,B-,A), Real Analysis I-III (A-,B+A-), Math Probability (A-), Stat Methods/Theory (A-)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Price Theory I (B), Social Interactions and Inequality (A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate micro (A-,A), intermediate macro (A,A-), game theory (A-), IO (A), honors metrics I-II (B+, A), macro modeling (B+), reading/research (A,A)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: 1 econ, 1 finance, 1 accounting prof, all highly regarded in their field. I have RAd for at least a year for each, two of them have seen me in a classroom setting as well. Coauthored an unpublished working paper with two of them. They all reassured me that the letters would be strong.

Research Experience: 1 year undergrad RA, 1.5 year as full time researcher at highly ranked business school.

Teaching Experience: for a short while I tutored math to freshmen in college

Research Interests: applied micro

SOP: Nothing too exciting.

Concerns: Math grades could be stronger; GRE AWA could be better. Hoping that research experience and strong LORs will compensate for it.

Other: Some poli sci electives and required college core courses

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago Booth finance ($$), Chicago ($), Stanford GSB political econ ($$), NYU Stern finance ($$), UCLA ($)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Berkeley, Brown, Columbia GSB finance and econ, Cornell, Harvard, Kellogg finance, MIT, NYU, Princeton, Stanford, Yale

Attending: Chicago Booth finance

 

 

What would you have done differently?

 

Overall, I am very happy with my results, although I was really not expecting the composition of the acceptances to be so tilted towards finance instead of econ - I originally applied with the expectation that I would end up at an econ program. I think that the take home point is that recommendations matter; having two biz school recs provided me with excellent results at other business schools, but possibly doomed my applications at econ departments. So in hindsight I should have added an additional econ recommender. I also wonder a bit if I somehow messed up my econ sop, despite the fact that I have much less familiarity with finance research topics.

 

However, I am quite excited to take a step outside of my comfort zone, and learn about a whole new field!

[Sheldor]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics at top 10 liberal arts college

Undergrad GPA: 3.2

Type of Grad: M.A. in Economics at top 20 econ phd school

Grad GPA: 3.43

GRE: 166 Q 170 V 5.0 AW

Math Courses: Calc II (B) Calc III (A) Linear Algebra (A) Differential Equations (A+)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro (B) Macro (B-) Econometrics (B+) Statistics (B+) Labor Economics (B+) Environmental Economics (A-) Public Economics (B+) Financial Economics (A-)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro (B) Macro (A-) Stats (B) Econometrics (B) International Econ (B) Money and Banking (A-) Current Issues in Money and Finance (B+) Public Finance (A-) Law and Economics (B) Investments and Valuation (B+)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: One from a very well known economist from M.A., one from an economist from B.A., one from economist at work

Research Experience: 3 years working as a research analyst for an economic research organization

Teaching Experience: 1 year TA

Research Interests: Applied micro econometrics- primarily labor and public economics

SOP: Talked mostly about my reasons for wanting to be an economist, why I thought I would succeed, some research interests, and tailored a bit to each school

Concerns: low undergrad GPA is a major concern. Also, I have done well in the math I have taken, but haven't had the opportunity to take a lot of it.

Other: Senior undergrad thesis on connection between strength of financial systems and economic growth

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: ColoradoWaitlists: Washington

Rejections: Brown, Boston U, Boston College, Maryland, UCSB, UCSD, UCLA, USC, UT-Austin, Vanderbilt, Virginia

Pending: none

Attending: Colorado

 

 

What would you have done differently?

I guess there are two different periods of time where I could have changed things. Going back prior to the application process, it would have been nice to realize I wanted to do a PhD sooner as well as get much better grades. I think taking mathematical statistics and real analysis (and doing well) would also have shown my math skills better. Going into the process, I thought my Master's and verbal GRE scores would matter, even though they have been discounted on many forums and information pages. It's hard to know whether my recommendations and SOP could have been better without feedback from the departments, but I definitely think I aimed too high on my school selection. My weaknesses are pretty obvious (low undergrad GPA, decent if not stellar performance in my Master's). If I went through the application process again, I would have eliminated the top 20 programs and focused more on the 30-50 range. However, I am ecstatic to be going to Colorado and I may have picked it even if I had gotten into more schools.

[OutOfGame]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 LAC

Undergrad GPA: 3.96

Type of Grad: Part-time student at a top 5

Grad GPA: 4.0

GRE: Q800/ V580/ AWA 5.5

Math Courses: Calc, Modeling, Linear Algebra, Intro to Proofs, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Measure Theory, Functional Analysis, Topology, Abstract Algebra, Combinatorics, Number Theory, Probability, Stats, Stochastic Processes, Math Problem Solving

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

Other Courses: Intro to CS, Data Structure, Algorithms, Data Mining

Letters of Recommendation: 3 research supervisor (top young professors in econ / finance), 1 PhD Metrics professor (department chair at top 5), 1 undergrad professor (took 3 classes with, and TAed for).

Research Experience: ~2 years full time RA at top 5

Teaching Experience: TA for intermediate macro

Research Interests: using empirical methods to answer macro / finance questions; IO

SOP: professors say it's very good

Other: rejected by all top 10 schools two years ago

 

RESULTS:

Attending: MIT

Acceptances: MIT, Harvard, Stanford GSB, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Berkeley, Chicago, NWU, Columbia, NYU, Booth (finance / joint), Sloan (finance)

Waitlists: Penn, Wharton (finance), Michigan

Rejections: None

Never heard back after interview: Stern (finance)

[packerdevil]

I guess this profile shows some good things with some "what-ifs" on my mind. A few regrets, but nonetheless I'm in to a few PhD programs, so my goals are being met.

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS Econ/Math, ASU

Undergrad GPA: 3.43

GRE: 155/161/4.5 (Equiv: 530/770/4.5; V/Q/W)

Math Courses: Calc I (HS), Calc II (B+), Honors Calc III (B), Lin Alg (B), Diff Eq (A), Real Analysis (B), Adv. Lin. Alg ©, Lin. Opt. ©, Chaos Theory (B+), Probability (B+), Stochastic Processes (currently taking)

Econ Courses: Beg/Int/Adv Macro (A+/A-/A+), Honors Micro (B+), International Econ/Trade (B+), Health Care Econ (B), Honors Behavioral Econ (A), Game Theory (A), Econometrics ©, Law & Econ (currently taking)

 

Letters of Recommendation: One Nobel Laureate Economist, Behavioral Econ/Law & Econ professor/Thesis Director, Diff Eq/Chaos Theory Professor/Thesis Second Reader

Research Experience: My undergraduate thesis, which focused on the behavior of people in BitTorrent and the economic efficiency of such behavior. I also did a research project on stochastic modeling of the Black-Scholes Financial Model, a project on networking in basketball to predict outcomes of games, and helped with a project on people's behavior on incentives and cheating.

Teaching Experience: Tutoring math and economics courses

Research Interests: Microeconomics, maybe Econometrics. Really into how individuals in certain markets behave efficiently (comparison/contrast of different types of markets)

SOP: How I always wanted to seize any (research) opportunity that came my way, or really any opportunity that gives me more knowledge and gets me a push forward to reach my goals

Concerns: Obviously my overall GPA. If I could do undergraduate studies again, I would have worked harder in school, and put a lot more effort into making those B's into A's. Also, I would have chosen some different professors and classes. Adv. Lin. Alg. and Lin. Opt. were simply no fun because the professors did a bad job teaching, plus Adv. Lin. Alg. was just way too difficult for me. As far as Econometrics, I should have waited until this semester to take it with a professor who was really good at teaching it, instead of who I had who just used powerpoint slides and told us what formulas to use. He did not explain what he expected us to take from this course at all except "money tree." I'm working hard right now and on pace of getting straight A's. Also my GRE scores are to be somewhat desired.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Colorado, Oregon (funding "unlikely"), George Washington (no funding)

Waitlists: Colorado (funding)

Rejections: Vanderbilt, UVA

Pending: ASU, V Tech (has anyone heard from any of these two schools?)

Attending: As of now Colorado, unless some funding offer comes from left field.

 

What would you have done differently?

Stated with Concerns.

Edited April 18, 2012 by packerdevil

[Blerg]

Thanks, TM community for being such a valuable resource. I was a lurker, but I'll submit my results for posterity and such. All of the results below are what was put on my applications, i.e. the first 6 semesters of college.

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Flagship Public (Top 5 math, Top 10 econ)

Undergrad GPA: 3.63

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 800Q/680V/5AWA

Math Courses: Intro Bus. Stats (A-)/Calc III (B+)/Linear Algebra (B)/Discrete Math (A-)/Numerical Analysis (B)/Probability (A)/Intro to Analysis (B)/Linear Algebra (B+)/Stochastic Processes (A)

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro (A-)/Intermediate Macro (A)/Transition Economics (B-)/Mathematical Economics (A-)/Econometrics (A)/International Trade (A-)/Advanced Microeconomics (A)/Development (In Progress as of Fall)/International Monetary Econ (IP as of Fall)/Thesis (IP as of fall)

Other Courses: N/A

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from the guy who taught me mathematical economics/1 from a guy I was a RA for/ 1 from the guy who taught advanced micro, with whom I also wrote my thesis. All are well respected Microeconomists who are still publishing

Research Experience: Several semesters as RA for various profs, Was writing my thesis while applying

Teaching Experience: N/A

Research Interests: Development, Micro

SOP: Cookie cutter, nothing special at all

Other: I had been worried about that 1 really bad grade on an econ class, as well as my rather average grades in math classes

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UCSD (ATTENDING!) (full tuition, 25% TAship first year, 50% after), BU (Nothing first year, full tuition and ~18k TAship years 2-5)

Waitlists: UCLA (I asked to be removed)

Rejections: NYU, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Michigan, Penn, NW, Chicago, UCB, Columbia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Cornell, Brown

Pending: N/A

 

What would you have done differently?

Let me count the ways...The main point would have just been doing better in classes. I don't know that I could have gotten A's in all of those classes, as the math department is very competitive and very bright, but I'm sure I could have bumped Bs up to B+s, etc. Writing a thesis was key, as I think it got my by far my best letter of rec. I also would have lowered my expectations, and applied to some lower ranked schools.

 

Regardless, I am ecstatic with my outcome. La Jolla is going to be glorious.

[Guest buzios]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS in Econ/Math

Undergrad GPA: 3.9 (4.0 Econ , 3.9 Math)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 800Q 730V 5.5 AWA

Math Courses: Calculus (1-3), Probability, Math Stats, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Real Analysis I , Real Analysis II. All As except an A- in Analysis 1 and a B+ in Probability

Econ Courses: Standard courses + some electives (A), Phd Micro (A) , Phd Metrics (A), Phd Math for Econ (A)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: 2 well-known, pretty strong. 1 probably somewhere between lukewarm-strong, in retrospect.

Research Experience: RA'd for two summers + a few papers

Teaching Experience: TA'd a couple of courses

Research Interests: Education, IO, Health, Development ... in that order

SOP: A little too standard

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Michigan ($), Duke ($), BU (none first year), Texas ($) , UVa ($)

Waitlists: Maryland

Rejections: Harvard, Yale, MIT, UPenn, Princeton, Stanford, NYU

 

What would you have done differently?

Would have started writing this paper I have due in 2 hours, last night... Apart from that, not much.

I pulled schools I expected to get into, and got shafted at places I didn't. Yale stung a bit, but I'm otherwise quite happy with how the cycle turned out.

To future generations of TMers, temper your expectations, it really makes the cycle a lot more tolerable.

Edited April 12, 2012 by buzios

[backtowork]

Type of undergrad: BA in Econ and Math from non-HYP Ivy

Undergrad GPA: 3.94/4.00

GRE: 800Q/710V/5.0W

Math courses: honors calc (B), honors linear (A), honors ODE I and II (A, A), operations research (A), statistical inference (B), information theory (A), real analysis (A+), grad stochastic processes (A-)

Econ courses (all undergrad): intro (A), micro (A), macro (A), health (A), int'l (A), financial institutions (A), corp finance (A), honors econometrics (A), economic growth (A), theory of general equilibrium (A), public econ (A), Labor (1st-taken at an oxbridge), Political Econ (1st-taken at an oxbridge)

Other courses: mostly random poli-sci

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from my thesis adviser (not well known). 1 from my former boss as an intern at the Fed Board (pretty well known, but I only worked there for a couple months and he didn't know me all that well). 1 from my current boss at regional fed who is somewhat well known and knows me quite well.

Research Experience: thesis, a little RA work in UG, internship at the Fed BoG, currently an RA at a Fed Bank. No publications.

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interest: Macro, labor, IO, pretty much open to anything

SOP: eh

Other: elected phi beta kappa junior year, magna cum laude, honors;

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Penn (wl for funding, asked to be removed), UCLA ($$$), Princeton($$$)

Waitlists: Minnesota (asked to be removed)

Rejections: NYU, Harvard, HBS, MIT, Stanford, Stanford GSB, UC Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Chicago, Columbia,

Attending: Princeton!

 

What would you have done differently?

I would have decided during college that this is what I wanted to do and made an effort to work with some of the big name professors at my UG institution. I was very fortunate to get such favorable results without having done so. After going through the whole admissions process, it has become abundantly clear that it's all about the letters; not just what's in them, but also who writes them. Not that your letter writers have to be famous or anything, but they need to be well-connected. Looking at my admissions results, the process looks almost random (rejected from Columbia, accepted at Princeton?), but in fact my results were quite predictable; if one of my letter writers personally knew someone on the admissions committee, I was accepted. If they did not, I wasn't. Simple as that. So my advice to the next generation of applicants is the same that has been given all over this board: LETTERS ARE EVERYTHING! If I had followed that advice a little earlier, I might have cracked the Harvard/MIT barrier, but I’m certainly not complaining!

[resource]

Type of Undergrad: BA, Economics, English -- LAC

Undergrad GPA: 3.6

Type of Grad: MS, Economics -- Top 50 Econ

Grad GPA: 3.1

GRE: 166Q / 165V / 5.5A

Math Courses: Calc I-III, Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, Intro Stat, Math Stat I-II.

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I-II (PhD), Macro I-II (PhD), Econometric Theory I (PhD), Applied Microeconometrics (PhD), Env. & Resource Econ (PhD), Agri. Prod & Supply (PhD)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All of them.

Letters of Recommendation:

(1) Exceptional, MS thesis co-adviser, very well-published in Env Econ.

(2) Exceptional, MS thesis co-adviser, among top students in his Env Econ course, very well-published in Env Econ.

(3) Exceptional, UG adviser, served as his TA, took 3 courses with him, not well-known.

Research Experience: 3 working papers, 1 paper published in conference proceedings, MS Thesis (will be submitted to field journal co-authored with LOR writers 1&2), Summer RAship with well-known environmental economist at mediocre econ department, UG honors thesis. Several presentations (1 of them at a good field conference). Co-investigator on $40k grant for applied work in my field.

Teaching Experience: TA in UG for Principles of Micro, Environmental Econ, and Market Experiments.

Research Interests: Environmental and Resource Economics, Applied Econometrics.

SOP: Discussed research and faculty with whom I'd like to work.

Concerns: C+ in Ph.D. Macro. Failed macro prelim.

Other: Fellowship at graduate institution. MS Thesis won interdisciplinary award.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Maryland AREC ($$ -- originally waitlisted for funding), Wisconsin AAE ($$), Georgia State ($$)

Rejections: Duke, Duke UPEP, Berkeley ARE, Davis ARE, Cornell AEM, Yale FES, Oregon

 

Attending: Maryland AREC

 

What would you have done differently? Nuthin' -- I had fun.

Edited April 13, 2012 by resource

[revilo]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top Australasian University, BA/BE(Hons) in Economics and Engineering Science (Operations Research)

Undergrad GPA: 7.8/9 on my university’s scale (about 3.8 on US scale)

Type of Grad: Same university, BA(Hons) in Economics, MA in Economics

Grad GPA: 8.25/9 on my university’s scale (about 3.88 on US scale)

GRE: V 164, Q 167, AWA 5 (on third attempt...)

Math Courses: Engineering Maths 1-3, Real Analysis 1-2, Measure Theory, Functional Analysis

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro Theory 1-2, Macro, Econometrics, Energy Economics

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro, Macro, Econometrics, Trade, Game theory, Environmental, Financial Economics

Other Courses: 4 Grad operations research courses, 3 grad statistics course (inc time series and probability theory), Some other engineering stuff

Letters of Recommendation: Emeritus Professor at Northwestern, Head of Department, Thesis Supervisor

Research Experience: 1.5 years of RA work on electricity markets for two different professors includes co-authoring two papers. One summer of RA work on nutrient trading schemes. Honours Dissertation on climate change IAM modelling.

Teaching Experience: Two semesters introductory micro, Three semesters introductory macro, One semester introductory programming for engineers

Research Interests: Applied Micro, IO

SOP: full of typos!

Concerns: a smattering of crappy grades

Other: Semester on exchange to Hong Kong

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UChicago (attending), Columbia, UC Berkeley ARE, U British Columbia, U Toronto

Rejections: Stanford, Yale, Northwestern, NYU, Penn, Michigan, Duke, Maryland

[Aha]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: University in Australia; B Ec/LLB

Undergrad GPA: N/A; first class honours

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE: 790 Q; 610 V; 5.0

Math Courses: Linear algebra, vector calculus, real analysis

Econ Courses: Grad equivalent courses, particularly micro theory and econometrics

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: probably strong

Research Experience: undergraduate honours thesis, published paper in a low ranked journal; various small research projects from work

Teaching Experience: Taught intro micro, macro; various econometrics courses

Research Interests: various

SOP: nothing special

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, NYU, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Cambridge, Oxford, Toulouse, UBC, Penn

Attending: Harvard

 

What would you have done differently? Nothing really...

Edited April 13, 2012 by Aha

[EconHopeful2012]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 liberal arts, LSE General Course

Undergrad GPA: 3.55 under grade deflation policy

Type of Grad: 2 semesters of Mathematical Statistics

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 168Q, 169V, 5.5W

Math Courses: Multivariable Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Real Analysis

Econ Courses: Intro Micro, Macro; Intermediate Micro, Macro, Metrics; Personal Finance; Public Economics; Economic Integration of the EU; Monetary Economics; Comparative Economic Development; Urban Economics; Advanced Health Economics; Finance Theory & Applications

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: Chicago PhD, Harvard PhD, Michigan PhD. Good mix of well-connected and well-known.

Research Experience: Thesis, Fed Intern, Fed RA 3 years, coauthoring 2 papers

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests: Applied Micro, Micro Theory, Urban

SOP: Generally standard, tried to tailor to different schools and mentioned professors I would like to work with.

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago Harris ($), USC Price ($), Wisconsin ($), UVA ($), Wharton AE ($)

Waitlists: Michigan (withdrawn), Minnesota (withdrawn)

Attending: Wharton !!

 

What would you have done differently?

 

There's a lot I could say here and I have often thought to myself that it's too bad that most of us only do this once because you learn so much by doing. (1) I would like to have As in some of the classes where I got Bs. I wasn't remotely aware of how competitive this process is while I was in undergrad. Just assumed that as long as I was one of the top dogs at my undergrad I would be competitive anywhere. (2) I wish I had done more research ahead of time about where I really was a great fit since this turned out to be a strong predictor of where I got in. There were some schools that I probably should have applied to and didn't. (3) I wish I could have found a way to break my addiction to this forum. Although there's lots of great advice and support to be had, checking for updates every 5 minutes during the months of February and March probably just made me super stressed out and unfocused.

 

Despite these lessons, Wharton was a top choice for me going in and there's a good chance I would have gone even if I had gotten into some other highly ranked schools. I can't wait to get started in the fall!

Edited April 13, 2012 by EconHopeful2012

[chatlunatique]

Type of undergrad: BA in Econ, minor in Math, from large public school in the midwest (top 60 econ)

Undergrad GPA: 3.85/4.00

GRE: 170 Q /160 V /6.0 AWA

Math courses: Multivariate calc (A), Vector calc (A), Diff EQ (A), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (A+; taken at Ivy)

Econ courses: Econometrics I-II (A,A), Honors thesis (A), Financial econ (A), Trade (A), Development (A), Seminar in Monetary econ (A), Seminar in trade/devo (A), Statistical analysis (A), Intermediate Macro/Micro (A,C+), Intro Macro/Micro (A,A+)

Other courses: Some African studies, some French, others from across the humanities/social science spectrum

Letters of recommendation: 2 from professors who I have managed field research projects for in the past 2 years (I am co-authoring a paper with one; both are junior but fairly well known in their sub-fields and earned their PhDs from top programs). 1 from undergrad professor who I took two classes with and excelled.

Research experience: UG thesis; 6 months RA at a regional Fed; 2 years RA managing research projects in an African country; co-authoring paper with one of my current bosses.

Teaching experience: 2 semesters TA for Intro to Micro

Research interest: Development, IO, Personnel, Micro

SOP: Talked about my research interests and how they developed, and explained my grade trajectory.

Other: Phi Beta Kappa, Summa cum laude, econ departmental honors

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: NSF ($$$$), HBS Bus-Ec ($$$$), Stanford ($$$$), LSE ($$$), Northwestern ($$$), UCSD ($$$), UCLA ($$$), Duke ($$), Michigan ($$), Maryland ($$)

Rejections: Harvard econ, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Stanford GSB, Chicago, Chicago GSB, Columbia, Columbia GSB, NYU, NYU Stern, Penn, Penn Wharton, UCL, Berkeley, Brown

Attending: HBS!

 

What would you have done differently?

Nothing? I’m thrilled with my acceptances, and managed to get into my top 2 choices, even with such high variance in outcomes. Above all else my results show that even with a shaky and unfocused first couple years of undergrad, it is possible to get into good programs. I did not take any math or serious econ courses until my fourth year of university, and ended up overcoming some poor early grades (including a C+ in intermediate micro) to finish strong in my last two years, and then go on to earn RA positions where I was able to work with top economists on research that fascinated me. Should be a fun few years ahead!

[manfromthemoon]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA (Honors) in Philosophy

Undergrad GPA: 3.4

Type of Grad: MA in Economics

Grad GPA: 4.0

GRE: Q800; V 760

Math Courses: Math for Econ (A); Statistical Analysis (A). Both were graduate courses.

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I (A); Micro II (Research based) (A); Macro I (A); Macro II (A); Econometrics I (A); Econometrics II (A). Econ Courses (undergrad-level): None.

Other Courses: Wrote a thesis for the masters degree.

Letters of Recommendation: All very strong, but none of the recommenders are high-profile.

Research Experience: Did an independent research project on the classical Post-Ricardian theories of value and distribution..

Teaching Experience: Graduate Assistant for three semesters

Research Interests: Macroeconomics; International Political Economy

SOP: Focused on my research interests and career plans beyond the PhD

Other: There hardly is a proper math course on my transcript.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UMKC, Oregon, Utah, UMass Amherst

Waitlists: None

Rejections: Princeton, Claremont

Pending: None

 

Attending: UMKC for Interdisciplinary PhD in Econ and PolSci

 

What would you have done differently?

It was quite difficult to do well in the masters program, considering that my undergrad background was in Philosophy. So in that sense there was a lot of "catching up" to do with economics and I'm happy that I got out of it alive. I really wanted to get into UMKC because there really is no other school in the US with so many faculty with whom I share my research interests. I ended up applying to fewer schools than I intitally planned to. But that's okay, I guess, and I am quite excited about going to UMKC.

[greenrebelette]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA in International Studies and Chinese, Minor in Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.95

Type of Grad: MA in Economics at top 20 Econ Department, PhD-Track

Grad GPA: 3.49

GRE: Q800, V720, AW5.5

Math Courses: Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Advanced Calculus, Probability

Econ Courses: Econometrics I & II at PhD level, lots

Other Courses: first course in Stat PhD sequence

Letters of Recommendation: 1 excellent (well-known economist), 1 great (unknown instructor), 1 excellent (from political scientist), 1 of unknown (and suspect) quality.

Research Experience: 1 paper, presented at a conference & published on conference website

Teaching Experience: TA for Master’s level class, TA for introductory Chinese course

Research Interests: Environmental Economics, International Economics (Trade)

SOP: Told it was excellent by several profs

Other: none

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Michigan Econ, UMD AREC, UC Davis ARE, MSU AFRE, Ohio State AEDE, Duke UPEP, Iowa State Econ, Wisconsin AAE

Waitlists: Michigan Econ (originally)

Rejections: UC San Diego Econ, Harvard PEG, Brown Econ, Cornell AEM, Berkeley AREC, Georgetown Econ

 

Attending: Michigan Econ

 

What would you have done differently? Figured out what kind of career I wanted (in an econ dept or ARE dept) BEFORE I applied!

[hulk86]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS Econ (top 25, top 50 econ)

Undergrad GPA: 3.69

Type of Grad: MA Econ (Top 20 econ)

Grad GPA: 3.81

GRE: 800Q 710V 5.5AWA

Math Courses: Calc I-III (A, A, A), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis I-II (A, A-)

Econ Courses (Ph.D.-level): Micro I (A-) Macro I (A-) Metrics I (A)

Econ Courses (MA-level): Time Series (A-), Micro theory (A+), Macro I-II (A, A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Typical undergrad econ major with political economy electives, mostly A-/B+ with some As

Other Courses: (All Stat Ph.D.-level) Probability (A), Stat. Inference (B), Probability and Measure Theory (A)

Letters of Recommendation: 2 from profs that taught me, 1 from prof I RAed for

Research Experience: Undergrad thesis, 2 semesters RA + current full-time RA job

Teaching Experience: Private tutoring in math and econ

Research Interests: Political economy, growth, development, social choice, public economics

SOP: Standard

Other: n/a

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: U Virginia ($$), Michigan State ($$$)

Waitlists: Duke, Johns Hopkins

Rejections: Yale, Berkeley, MIT, Wisconsin, Princeton, Maryland, UCSD, Michigan, Brown, Harvard, NYU, Cornell

 

Attending: Michigan State

 

What would you have done differently?

I would have been more careful about selecting letter writers. I expected to bag a few more admits (as did my adviser)--especially target schools like Maryland or Wisconsin--and I suspect one reason why I didn't was because one of my letters was weak. I overestimated the signalling power of good grades in hard classes and didn't fully appreciate the primacy of LORs until the process was underway. Nonetheless, I'm very pleased with my great offer from MSU, which became my top choice yesterday (without hearing about my waitlists) due to external, personal/geographic factors. Really excited to get started in August!

Edited April 13, 2012 by hulk86
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