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Roll Call 2015


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The format to use is here. Please only post profiles, anything else will be deleted as these profiles are used for data analysis by one of our members.

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad:

Undergrad GPA:

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE:

Math Courses:

Econ Courses (grad-level):

Econ Courses (undergrad-level):

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation:

Research Experience:

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests:

SOP:

Concerns:

Other:

Applying to:

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Let's start

Type of Undergrad: BSc in Applied Math from Russian University unranked globally, but at least top-3 in Russia, top-1 in economics

Undergrad GPA: around 8.6 (10), where 8 is (A-)

Type of Grad: MSc in Financial Economics, same school. Very rigorous 2-year program, I will be applying during 2nd year. 9.2 (10); semester as an exchange student with RM in economics in Tilburg University (I depart there soon; won't have any transcripts or recommendations from there by the time I apply)

Grad GPA: 9.2 (10) where 9 is A

GRE: Q/V/AWA 170/NS/NS. Basically, I only did quant part. Several people who got into top-10 told me they did the same.

Math Courses: basically all of them, math undergrad; mostly A-/A/A+. However, I got C+ in optimization theory

Econ Courses (grad-level): undergrad: intro to micro and macro, intermediate micro, game theory, cooperative game theory, social choice.

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): micro (including most of MWG, game theory, contracts, mechanism design), macro (growth models, micro-founded, RBC, neo-classical), econometrics (theory in first semester, now mostly time series, panel data).

Other Courses: got CFA I (wanted to go to IB for a while), also I have a lot of cool decision-making courses on my transcript; a lot of finance, too.

Letters of Recommendation: 1st from DoGS, 2nd from my supervisor, 3rd don't know yet; both recommenders have PhDs from good schools, and have papers in top journals. However, there is no way for me to tell whether they are recognizable or not; maybe in Europe. The letters should be very strong.

Research Experience: RA for my supervisor since September, doing consumer search and IO; did a very good tems paper during 1st year of masters, will submit it as writing sample (original research, although very simplified)

Teaching Experience: a lot. Grader for 3 years in undergrad; TA (class teacher) of Game Theory, Development Economics (undergrad level semester courses), also Game Theory teacher to grad students who study political economy.

Research Interests: Game theory, including cooperative one, IO; also extremely interested in matchings and decision-making

SOP: doesn't exist yet

Concerns: that C+ in optimization is probably my biggest concern; however, I took advanced quant methods in grad school (A-), which hopefully covers that; also, I'm a little concerned about the GRE, but on the other hand I do have good TOEFL score.

Other:

Applying to: pretty much everything in top-30 in the US, except a few schools.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad:B.A Economics from Delhi University, India

Undergrad GPA: 55% (below average)

Type of Grad:M.A in Economics from the best school for econ in India

Grad GPA: 69% (top 5% of class)

GRE:yet to give (getting over 166Q in practice tests)

Math Courses: Linear Algebra (LADW), Topology (Munkres), Probability (DeGroot), Measure Theory (Stachurski), Optimization (Sundaram), Dynamic Optimization

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro (MWG) , Macro, Basic Game Theory (Gibbons), Growth Theory (Acemoglu), Basic Econometrics (Gujarati), Economic Policy in India, Advanced Game Theory (Fudenberg & Tirole),Mechanism Design & Auction Theory (Vijay Krishna), Industrial Organization, Advanced econometrics (Greene), Public Economics, Financial Markets, Issues in Economic Systems & Institutions (aka applied game theory)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro, Macro, Mathematical Econ, Statistics, Policy in India, Money & Financial Markets, Basic Econometrics, Linear Algebra & Calculus, development Econ.

Other Courses: -

Letters of Recommenda 1 from my topology and game theory professor (Princeton graduate, full prof), 1 from my Trix prof., have also being RA-ing for her (Cornell PhD, full prof), 1 from my applied game theory prof (Boston U PhD, associate Prof)--- did well in their classes but they don't know me too well (except for the one I'm RAing with)

Research Experience: RA with a prof for about 6 months

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: Game Theory, Econometric theory, Microeconometrics

SOP: haven't gotten to it

Concerns: LORs. Don't know how 'warm' (let alone glowing) they're going to be, I'm a quiet student. Undergrad grades are pretty damaging too.

Other:

Applying to: UCLA, UC-Berkley, Northwestern, U Penn, Michigan U, Michigan State, Penn State, Ohio State, British Columbia, TSE, Washington St. Louis, Boston U, Boston College, Cornell, UCSD, Minnesota, Texas A&U, NYU and a few more

 

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: T 30 Liberal Arts

Undergrad GPA: 3.74 (Econ 3.8, Math 3.3)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: V165/Q167/4.5

Math Courses: Calc 1-3 (AP test,B+,B+), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (B), Probability Theory (B), Mathematical Statistics (B+)

Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A), Intro Macro (A), Micro Theory (A-), Macro Theory (A), Econometrics (A-), Mathematical Economics (B+), Industrial Organization (A), Public Economics (A-), Thesis (A), Economic History (A-)

Other Courses: Philosophy type courses

Letters of Recommendation: 2 UG professors I know well from T40 programs, work supervisor (T50 program). Should be fine.

Research Experience: Honors thesis, antitrust econ consulting work for 2 years

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: IO, Public (Health, Environmental, Urban)

SOP: Haven't thought much about it yet. Will probably tailor to each school.

Concerns: Pretty simple, I'm a straight B math student with no Real Analysis and no grad classes.

Other: Fed Challenge

Applying to: Boston, Colorado, CUNY, Georgetown, GWU, Hopkins, Maryland, Maryland AREc, Ohio State, Syracuse, UMass, UNC,Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington

Edited by MknMomNPopProud
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Liberal Arts College in US (studied abroad at LSE)

Undergrad GPA: 3.92

GRE: Q:170 V:165 AWA:4.5

Math Courses: Topics in Single Variable Calculus (A), Linear Algebra (A), Multivariate Calculus (A), Discrete Mathematics (A), AT LSE: Real Analysis (A), AT LSE: Differential Equations (A-), Topology (A), Probability Models (A), Modern Algebra (A), Mathematical Statistics (A). GRADUATE LEVEL: Stochastic Calculus for Finance (A-)

Econ Courses: Int. Micro/Macro (A), Macroeconomic/Micro Theory (A- and A), Probability and Statistics (A-), International Finance (A), Econometrics (B+), AT LSE: Principles of Econometrics (A), Principles of Finance (A), Microeconomics II (B+), BACK in US: Industrial Organization (A), Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics (A), Senior Thesis (A)

Letters of Recommendation:

Deciding among 4:

1- Thesis adviser and co-author, young AP, top 30 PhD, but will say I'm the best he's had

2- Took Econometrics and Macro Theory from him, good "friend" to me, PhD Stanford, older, will probably say I'm one of the best, also has lots of experience with these letters

3- Boss #1 at Fed, well known in Macro literature, left Fed for very high position in Sweden, PhD from Sweden, likes me lot but is far far away and very busy

4- Boss #2 at Fed, well known in Macro literature, knows people at Chicago and Northwestern, PhD from Germany, working more with him now so should have a very good relationship by Oct.

Research Experience: Working at Fed (will leave it vague between NY and DC), entering my second year. Doing only research work with economists, no policy work

Senior thesis is now a Fed working paper, will be published in upper second-tier finance journal probably (think Journal of Portfolio Management for example)

Working on 2 new projects on Systemic risk. One of them will be ready as NSF proposal by application time, but very unlikely that I'll have anything publishable. Still, I will be able to discuss it.

Teaching Experience: TA for intro macro and intermediate micro

Research Interests: Financial economics, systemic risk (obviously), financial econometrics

SOP: Should be fine. I already have one dry run, so to speak (applied once before).

Other: Got department honors for econ, gave presentation on tiling (of all things) at a math conference, started an RA research seminar at Fed (I think this is good for SOP)... I'm also a published fiction writer if that matters in the least

Concerns: 1 grad class only, couple of B+s, not sure how to organize my letter writers, also worried that there's a bias against Liberal Arts

 

Applying to: MIT (fin and econ), Harvard (fin and econ), Chicago(fin and econ), Stanford(fin and econ), Berkeley(fin and econ), Yale, Northwestern(fin and econ), NYU(fin and econ), Columbia(fin and econ), Upenn, UCLA(fin and econ), Cornell, LSE, Duke (fin only), Cornell

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Guest Trifecta

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics from top 10 public (top 50 econ)

Undergrad GPA: 2.1

Type of Grad: MA Applied Economics from 2nd tier MA (top 100 econ)

Grad GPA: 3.9

GRE: 166Q/161V/4.0AW

Math Courses: [only listing what I’ve taken/retaken since undergrad] Calculus I-III (B, A-, A+), Economic and Business Statistics (A), Differential Equations (A-), Intro to Advanced Math (A), Honors Linear Algebra (IP), Honors RA I (spring)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Math Econ (A), Micro I and II (A, B+), Macro (A-), Econometric Methods (A), Econometric Theory (B+), Applied Policy Methods (A), Data Methods (A), Health Economics (A), Public Economics (A), PhD Econometrics I and II (A, A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): all of the usual intro and some field courses

Other Courses: n/a

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from health professor from MA, since moved to a higher ranked school (top 30 US PhD); 1 from former colleague at work, now AP at top 100 PhD program (top 4 Canadian PhD), 1 from program director at work (top 30 US PhD)

Research Experience: 3 years of health policy analysis (4 co-authored papers in top public health journals), 2 semesters as RA during MA

Teaching Experience: 1 semester as TA during MA (grading and office hours, no teaching)

Research Interests: health, labor, econometrics

SOP: standard, slightly altered for each school

Concerns: older applicant (will be 32 when I start), undergrad GPA, geographic limitation

Other: Special Sworn Status with US Census Bureau (for access to restricted microdata)

Applying to: UNC (econ, health policy), Duke (econ, public policy), NC State (econ)

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  • 2 weeks later...

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: T 30 Public

Undergrad GPA: 3.98/4.0

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: V170/Q167/5

Math Courses: Calc 2-4, Linear Algebra I & II, Modern Algebra, Intro ODEs ODEs, Intro Prob & Stats, Probability Theory I & II, Numerical Analysis, Real Analysis (Intro and graduate level), Intro Complex Analysis

Econ Courses (grad-level): 1st year Micro sequence, Game Theory, Growth

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro, Intro Macro, Micro Theory, Macro Theory, Poverty and Wealth, Econometrics I, Game Theory, plus Advanced Econometrics and Development Economics (B+) at LSE. (all As or A+s except where noted)

Other Courses: Computer Science major, French minor

Letters of Recommendation:

1) My prof for game theory and the graduate micro sequence

2) Prof that I took honors intro micro with, was his TA for two semesters. Close relationship.

3) Prof who I took micro theory, poverty and wealth, and grad growth with, current adviser for honors thesis.

Research Experience: Honors thesis on measuring poverty with Engel curves, work on empirical pricing dynamics (machine learning + game theory)

Teaching Experience: Three semesters of Micro Theory, one of intro macro, one of Data Structures (CS)

Research Interests: Game theory, behavioral models, dynamics and disequilibrium

SOP: Standard. Broadly interested in applications to development

Concerns: I come from a less prestigious university/program. No published research.

Other: I founded an Economics club at my university, and I am a peer adviser for the office of financial literacy. I'm heavily considering doing a Master's at Paris School of Economics for relationship reasons.

Applying to: APE masters at Paris School of Economics, most of the top 10 (definitely MIT / Harvard, even if its a bit of a reach) plus a few further down just to be safe.

Edited by jonthawk
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I am an Indian student, applying in the 2015 admissions cycle. My areas of interest are mainly Applied econ and Microecon

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Engineering, top 10

Undergrad GPA: 8.0/10.0 (absolute grading), I guess this will be around 3.7/4.0 scale

Type of Grad:Economics, one of the top 3 Economics depts in the country

Grad GPA: Not very Good. In the top 30% of my class

GRE: 168Q, 166V, 4.5AWA

Math Courses: Real Analysis, Point set topology, Dynamic Optimization, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, some Measure Theory. All these at the level of first year grad school

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I and II, Economic Growth I and II, applied Econometrics, some Mechanism design and Game theory

Econ Courses (undergrad-level):none

Other Courses: I have been part of 2 field experiments during during my Masters. No research paper came out of it, although the supervising profs were very positive.

Letters of Recommendation: 1 each from my game theory, Econ Growth and Maths Prof. Should be moderately to strongly positive. Also, 1 from a Resource Econ prof I am RA-ing under.

Research Experience: One field experiment that was designed and executed as part of a team

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: mostly ARE/ Applied Econ/ Applied micro etc

SOP: will try to address how my diverse experience in engineering and economics makes me a string candidate.

Concerns: Below par Grades

Other:

Applying to : ARE at Berkeley, Yale (env and natural resources econ), Uni of Maryland, Uni of Minnesota. Eco PhD at Uni of Cal Davis, UIUC, Boston College.

Also Applying to : Public Policy PhD at Duke, Columbia, UNC, USC, Uni of Michigan Ann Arbor

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  • 4 weeks later...

Type of Undergrad: Large Public School with Unranked Econ Grad Program

Undergrad GPA: 4.0

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 170V, 165Q, 5.0W

Math Courses: (All As) Honors Calc I-III, Basic Concepts of Math (Proofs Course), Business Statistics, Statistical Methods and Concepts, Probability Theory, Math Stats, Linear Algebra, Diff Eq,

Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics I

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro/Macro Principles & Intermediate. International Trade, Money and Banking, Healthcare Economics, Senior Capstone

Other Courses: Public Policy Analysis, Empirical Methods in Social Science

Letters of Recommendation: Two Econ Profs- One twice published in Econometrica, The other an MIT grad , and a Public Policy Prof at Duke.

Research Experience: Won a competitive research grant to do independent econ research

Teaching Experience: Tutor for the university in Math, Statistics, and Econ

Research Interests: Industrial Org/Applied Micro w/ macro implications

SOP: 600 words, Generic with mad-libs for school name, research interests, nods toward their program

Concerns: I know this makes me a lunatic, but I *haven't* taken real analysis.

Other:

Applying to: U Michigan, JHU, U Pitt, U Washington, Ohio State, Rutgers, Clemson, U Houston, Temple, Michigan State, Vanderbilt

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA in Economics at Public University (T40 Economics)

Undergrad GPA: 3.86/4.00

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE: 170Q 162V 5.0AWA

Math Courses: (All A's) Calc 1, Calc 2,3 (Community College), Linear Algebra, Probability, Diff Eq (Community College), Real Analysis (Currently Enrolled)

Econ Courses (grad-level): NA

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): (All A's) Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Comparative Economic Systems, International Economics, Development Economics, Econometrics, Advanced Micro, Transportation Economics

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: 4: 2 from professors at my University, 2 from PhD economists I worked with at think tank

Research Experience: 1 year as RA at my university and working for a labor think tank, 2 years at a DC based think tank working on retirement and economic growth

Teaching Experience: Economics tutor at my university for 2 years

Research Interests: Public Economics, Applied Micro

SOP: Focus on my research experience and the work I've done catching up on Math Courses since graduating college

Concerns: Not coming from a very highly ranked undergraduate institution, calc courses at community college, maybe still not enough math

Other:

Applying to: NSF, Harvard, Harvard Kennedy (Public Policy PhD), MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, U Penn, Wharton Applied Econ PhD, NYU, Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA, UC San Diego, Brown, Duke

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS Business Admin, Minor in Econ from a decent state university, online courses from different state university

Undergrad GPA: 3.72

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 166A/164Q/5.0

Math Courses: Calc I/II/III (A/A+/A), Matrices & Linear Equations (B), Linear Algebra (A), Bridge to Abstract Math (A), Real Analysis (A), Elementary Computational Methods (A+), Differential Equations (A)

Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Micro/Macro, Intermediate Micro (A+), Inter. Macro (A+), Prices and Profits (A), Intro to Econometrics (A), International Economics (A)

Other Courses: International Finance (A), Debt Securities Analysis (A), Advanced Portfolio Management (A), Financial Risk Management (A+)

Letters of Recommendation: 3 Finance professors (one with Econ Ph.D), should be decent

Research Experience: N/A

Teaching Experience: Tutoring graduate and undergrad finance students

Research Interests: Macro, Public, Development

SOP: Should be pretty standard. Will be sending in 4 transcripts, so I will probably explain that. Otherwise, most of the body will be standard, and the school- and research-specific parts will vary.

Concerns: No research experience, no grad-level econ courses. My math and econ classes come from 4 different undergrads (including study abroad), so a lot of noise. I'm hoping that my solid grades in math and my decent GRE score will give me a boost.

Other: I'm feeling pretty unsure about where (or whether) I'll get accepted, so I'm applying all across the spectrum (T20 thru T60)

Applying to: Cornell (looong shot), OSU, U Virginia, Boston College, U Pitt, U Washington, Georgetown, CU Boulder, Syracuse, U of Oregon, Stony Brook, George Washington

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Econ, Math at Large Public (top 40 econ)

Undergrad GPA: 3.6

Type of Grad: Non-degree at local large private university

Grad GPA: 3.7

GRE: 165Q 164V 4.5AW

Math Courses: Calc 2 (B), Calc 3 (B), Intro to Proofs (B+), Probability (A-), Math Stats (A), Real Analysis (A-), Diff eq (B-), Linear Algebra (A), Survey of Algebra (B+), Stochastic Processes (B+), Grad real analysis (A-), Bayesian Statistics (A-)

Econ Courses (grad-level):

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Macro (B), Intro Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), Intermediate Micro (A-), Intro Regression Analysis (A), Game Theory (B+), Public Econ (A-), Labor Econ (A), Seminar in public policy (A)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: 3 from Fed (current job), 2 from school

Research Experience: Intern at think-tank for summer, RA for professor for summer, 2 year stint at Fed, paper for undergrad seminar

Teaching Experience: Tutor in calculus I, econometrics, and intermediate microecon

Research Interests: Political economy, applied microecon

SOP: Should be good

Concerns: Mixed bag of math grades, GRE at lower range of what I'm comfortable applying with

Other:

Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford, Berkeley, Chicago, Chicago Public Policy, Yale, Columbia, NYU, Minnesota, Michigan, UCLA, UC-SD, Maryland, UVa, UMass-Amherst, Duke, Johns Hopkins, UC-Davis, Georgetown; NSF and Ford Foundation fellowships.

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  • 3 weeks later...

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 50 Undergrad, Top 15 Econ, Major in Economics (with honors), Pure/Applied Mathematics, and Computer Science (Graduated in May)

Undergrad GPA: 3.88 (3.92 Major GPA) (summa cum laude)

Type of Grad: n/a

Grad GPA: n/a

GRE: 170 Q, 163 V, 5 AW

Math Courses:Calculus 1-3 (A), Diff Eq (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Probability (A), Real Analysis 1/2 (B+), Optimization Methods (A), Stochastic Methods (A), History of Mathematics (A), Data Mining (A), Randomized Algorithms (A), Intro to Algorithms (A), Abstract Algebra (A), Combinatorics (A)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Industrial Organization (A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Macro (A-), Intermediate Micro (A), Econ Stats (A), Econometrics (A+), Game Theory (A), Economics of Information (A), Senior Thesis (A)

Other Courses: decent number of CS systems courses

Letters of Recommendation: Senior Thesis Advisor (Should be very strong), Professor who is top 50 according to IDEAS rankings - was research assistant for him and he was advisor for Fed Challenge Team one year(he told me it will be a strong letter), One from professor on thesis committee + took two classes with (should be strong), One from professor who I was a research assistant for in the stats department (should be fairly good)

Research Experience: Thesis on Game Theory/Linguistics, one summer doing research in operations research / stats, one summer doing research in financial economics (focusing on the financial crisis in 2008)

Teaching Experience: None really besides grading experience for CS systems courses

Research Interests: Mechanism Design, Game Theory, Economics of Information

SOP: Not really sure what to put here - specialized for each school - focus on why I want to pursue economics going forward and my senior thesis + research of faculty I'm interested in

Concerns: Analysis grades, took job after undergrad that isn't econ related, should have done more econ grad courses (though it was hard to fit them into my schedule)

Other: Won economics department prize for best senior in graduating class (out of ~250 people), captain of University Fed Challenge Team, started my own business that had thousands in revenues + VC funding + 6 employees in college - left after I graduated, do a lot of programming (especially web development and web scraping), after graduation I've been working as a software engineer at a machine learning startup designing and developing infrastructure for a SaaS application, top results at a few of hackathons, some politics internships

Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, LSE, Penn, Northwestern, NYU, Princeton, UChicago (hopefully I get into one of them)

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS pure mathematics, BA economics (econometrics focus)

Undergrad GPA: overall 3.3 (left school for 10 years) since returning 3.92 (all of my math and econ courses)

Type of Grad: NA

Grad GPA: NA

GRE: NA

Math Courses: A's: CalcI, CalcII, LinAl, Proof Writing, Measure Theory, Complex Analysis, Linear Analysis, Probability ; A-'s: Multivariable/Vector Calc ; B+: Into to Real Analysis

Econ Courses: (All A's) Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Comparative, Development, Basic Econometrics, Cross-Section Metrics, Time-Series Metrics, Mathematical Econ, Advanced Micro (Incentives),Int'l Finance/Trade

Letters of Recommendation: 2 endowed econ chairs, 1 endowed math chair, 1 asst prof mathematics (with whom I have a great realtionship)

Research Experience: 1 paper submitted to journals (though probably with little hope)

Teaching Experience:TA for LinAl, Abstract & grad level Cross-Setion Econometrics

Research Interests: Devevlopment Finance, Insurance Products

SOP: Focus on new research on insurance product pricing

Concerns: A B+ in real. That might be my ivy killer

Other: I worked a 50+hr/wk job while doing this (and increasing profitability every year I was there). I have a great work history preceding my time here.

Applying to: HBS, Duke, MIT, Northwestern, Wharton, Wisconsin, Michigan Ross

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Small Liberal Arts College in Top 100 Liberal Arts Colleges

Undergrad GPA: Overall = 3.76 (Graduated in three years, so all of the 4.0's I transferred in didn't count. If they did, it would've been about a 3.9.), Econ = 3.9, Philosophy = 3.9

Type of Grad: Top 25 Law School (95th percentile on the LSAT)

Grad GPA: 2.37 (Don't laugh... I had a C+ average because I found myself uninterested and exerted minimal effort. I know people who worked their butts off for that GPA.)

GRE: 159V/163Q/4.5AW (Don't ever use the legal IRAC method for your GRE essays. It's apparently too direct.)

Math Courses: Calc I-III (A's), Linear Algebra (expect 3.7), Real Analysis (taking next semester)

Econ Courses (grad-level):

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro/Macro, Environmental, Econ Stats, Econometrics, Math Econ

Other Courses: relevant from law school: Fed Tax, Int'l Business Law, Antitrust, Law & Economics, Insurance, Estate & Gift Tax, Int'l Tax, Bankruptcy, Trusts/Estates

Letters of Recommendation: 1 former undergrad econ prof (Stanford grad) who I had for 3 of the aforementioned courses (Econ Stats - 4.0, Environmental - 4.0, Math Econ - 3.7) and who had two other students in our eight person math econ class go on to PhDs in economics at MN and American. The remaining were work references, but very good ones. (Yes, I know, it's awful and probably damning. You do what you can with what you have.)

Research Experience: None in economics, though I did write a 100+ page thesis in law school regarding state approaches to implementation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Teaching Experience: None.

Research Interests: Political Economy, Environmental, Health, Education, Inequality, Gender... I'm more of the interdisciplinary type.

SOP: Concrete research ideas, noting math courses I've taken recently, explaining law school grades

Concerns: I know I don't have a truckload of math. Law school grades.

Other: I've worked in litigation since my summers in law school and am a licensed attorney in my state. (I know that means very little here.)

Applying to: UCLA, UCSB, USC, Michigan State, CalTech, Michigan, Brown, Washington, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Rochester, Johns Hopkins, Boston University, George Washington, UC Irvine, Maryland, American.

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  • 2 weeks later...

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10-20 liberal arts college, BA in Economics/Government

Undergrad GPA: 4.02 (4.08 econ major)

Type of Grad: 2 math classes

Grad GPA:

GRE: V: 170 Q: 170 AWA: 5.0

Math Courses: Statistics (A+), Linear Algebra (A+), grad-level Real Analysis (A-), Differential Equations (A), grad-level Stochastic Calculus in Finance (A)

Econ Courses (grad-level): none

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro Theory (A+), Macro Theory (A), Econometrics (A), Seminar on welfare programs (A), Money and Banking (A), Econ of Crime (A), Econ of Education (A), honors thesis (A)

Other Courses: government major, AP Calculus in high school (5 on BC Calculus so passed out of college calculus)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from boss at Fed (MIT PhD), 1 from former economist at Fed—now at Brookings (Harvard PhD), 1 from associate professor in undergrad-- thesis advisor (Michigan PhD)

Research Experience: undergraduate honors thesis, 3 years at Fed

Teaching Experience: 2 years for Micro Principles or Micro Theory

Research Interests: applied micro, specifically economics of crime, health economics, and economics of education, and public finance

SOP: standard, just talked about my research experiences and my coursework, added paragraph mentioning 2-3 professors’ research I liked for each school

Concerns: never formally took college calculus (hoping Stochastic Calculus signals that I know multivariable calculus), not a math major, others seem to think there’s a bias against students from liberal arts colleges

Other:

Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, Princeton, Yale, Michigan, Wisconsin, Brown, UCSD, Duke, and Cornell.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics (Hons) & Philosophy minor

Undergrad GPA: 3.66

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 162 Verbal, 155 Quant, 4.5 AWA

Math Courses: Business Calculus (A-), Statistics I (A), Statistics II (B+)

Econ Courses (grad-level):

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Macro/Micro (A-), Intermediate Macro/Micro (B+), Introductory Econometrics (B+), Game Theory with some Linear Algebra (A-), Behavioral and Monetary Economics (currently taking those)

Other Courses: A Few courses in Political Theory for my minor (A-), currently taking Corporate and International Finance

Letters of Recommendation: Ended up asking my math professor for a reference, took all my math courses with him, except calculus. He made me shine, I know. And I asked another teacher, senior member of the department, he taught me intro macro, Behavioral, Economic History and Econometrics, and I guess he made me shine too! He was the faculty member that knew me best, and he helped me out with the SOP as well. He also has textbooks on Managerial and Behavioral Economics out there.

Research Experience: RA for Dean of School for about a year, RA for another professor for almost two years now. Also co-edited a book on Environmental Economics in Latin America, if it's relevant here.

Teaching Experience: None.

Research Interests: Monetary Policy, Game Theory and Asymmetric information

SOP: I expressed to the adcom that I have never been good at math, but that I am working torwards becoming the best at it. My school does not offer many math courses, but I took all the available ones, and I excelled in them. I also did some solid research during my time as an undergrad. I RA'd for two members of faculty; and I there is a book on Latin American environmental economics out there I co-edited during my internship. I would say my strongest point is that I helped the dean of the Business school here to edit a chapter of a forthcoming book edited by B. Mak Arvin.

Concerns: I was initially very concerned that my poor math background would keep me from entering the program I wanted to. This was not helped by the fact I pretty much bombed my GREs, lol.

Other:

Applying to: TSE (M1 ECOSTAT), BGSE (MSc Econ Finance), Tilburg (MSc Mathematical Economics & Econometrics), Bonn (MSc Economics), Tufts (MSc Econ), UBC, Simon Fraser, U Toronto, Warwick & LSE( MSc Mathematical Economics & Econometrics).

Accepted to: TSE (only finished my Tilburg app aside from this one)

Attending: TSE (it was my top choice any way, so I am not gonna apply to the other schools I intended to.).

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Public (Top 35 Econ), BA Economics & Mathematics

Undergrad GPA: 3.55 (3.91 Econ/Math, 3.8 since start of Junior Year)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: V: 159 Q: 164 AWA: 5.0

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

Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro (A-), Micro (A), Macro (A-), Honors Game Theory (A), Econ Stats (A), Econometrics (A), I/O (A)

Other Courses: MATLAB Programming (A)

Letters of Recommendation: 2 from Economists, 1 from Mathematician. Should all be good.

Research Experience: Spent a semester and a summer as an RA for 2 Finance Professors

Teaching Experience: N/A

Research Interests: Macro, Asset Pricing, Econometrics, Micro Theory

SOP: Standard

Concerns: Not much research experience, no graduate-level coursework

Other:

Applying to: Northwestern, UPenn, Wharton AE, Yale, UCLA, UCSD, Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Texas, Boston, Wisconsin, WUSTL, Rochester Simon Finance, UNC Kenan-Flagler Finance, Arizona State, Southern Cal

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  • 2 weeks later...

Type of Undergrad: Large-sized unranked public state school (BA Economics/History-double)

Undergrad GPA: 3.56

Type of Grad: Medium-sized unranked public state school (MA Economics)

Grad GPA: 3.92

GRE: 159V/168Q/4.0AW

Math Courses: Calculus I-IV (A,A,A-,A), Differential Equations (A), Discrete Mathematics (A), Linear Algebra-non proof (A), Linear Algebra-proof (A), Introduction to Statistics (A), Math Notation and Proof (A), Linear Programming (A), Theory of Probability-calculus based (A), Advanced Calculus I (A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Introduction to Microeconomics (B), Introduction to Macroeconomics (A), Price Theory (B), Economic Data and Statistics (B), Money and Banking (A), Industrial Organization (A), Urban Economics (B), Macroeconomic Theory (A), Public Economics ©, Economic Development (B), Managerial Economics (B), Econometrics I (C+, then retook for A), Mathematical Economics (A), Business Forecasting (A)

Econ Courses (graduate-level): International Economics (A), Econometric Analysis (A), Applied Microeconomic Analysis (A), Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy (A), Economic Development (A), International Macroeconomics and Currency Crisis (A)

Letters of Recommendation: 1. Economics department chair-has publicly stated that I am one of the best students in the history of the program and that I would make an excellent doctoral student, earned an A in all three classes that I took with him. 2. Math professor-has told me personally that I am one of only few of students, in over a 20 year career of teaching, that actually stands out in his memory. Has said that he admires my work ethic and has playfully remarked that I ought to be putting my mathematical prowess to better use by pursuing a PHD in Mathematics rather than Economics, earned an A in all three classes that I took with him. 3. Economics professor-took graduate micro with him, solved a Kuhn-Tucker optimization problem as an extra credit assignment which impressed him, earned an A in the class.

Research Experience: Masters thesis (incomplete at the time of application) I hope to have it completed it by Spring 2015. Six month internship at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation-primarily data mining and report writing.

Teaching Experience: Economics graduate assistant for a quarter-graded and proctored exams as well as coordinated study sessions. Private/freelance tutoring in math and economics to junior high, high school, and college level students.

Research Interests: Applied micro, labor, development, health.

SOP: good I think but who knows :/

Concerns: Coming from relatively low ranked schools, my mediocre undergrad performance by prospective PHD student standards, my incomplete master's thesis.

Applying to: Stanford, Berkeley, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin-Madison, NYU, Columbia, Brown, Boston College, Boston University, Cornell, UCLA, Southern Cal, UCSD, UCSB, UC Davis, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, University of Pittsburgh, Duke, UC Irvine, Maryland-College Park, Johns Hopkins, UT-Austin, Rochester

Edited by azecon
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  • 2 weeks later...

Type of Undergrad: BA in International Economics, from a Top 5 National School in term of selectivity.

Undergrad GPA: 7.92 (80+ percentile). WES Evaluation around 3.5.

Type of Grad: MA Economics in an US regional institution, ranking unknown.

Grad GPA: 4.00/4.00

GRE: VQA 156/167/4.0

Math Courses:

In home country (WES Grade): Adv. Analytic (B), Adv. Algebra ©, Theory of Pr. And Stat © , Theory of Econ Stat (A).

In US: Multivariable Calculus (A), Linear Algebra (A), Intro to Real Analysis (taking), Differential Equations (taking)

Econ Courses (grad-level):

All As: Econometrics, Applied Micro. Theory, Applied Macro. Theory, Research Methods and Statistics (2 semesters), Time Series Forecasting, Health Econ., Capital Market.

Econ Courses (undergrad-level):

In home country (WES Grade): Inter Micro. (A), Inter Macro. (B), Adv. Micro. (A), Adv. Macro. (A), Environmental Econ. (B), Public Econ. (B), Development Econ. (B), Econometrics (A)

Other Courses:

10+ courses in International Business, Finance, and Marketing. Mostly As.

Letters of Recommendation:

3 to 4. From US Economics Professors. The professors know me very well outside of classroom capacity as I work closely with them as a GA and always seek consultancy on research ideas. I believe their LORs are very personalized.

Research Experience:

2 good term papers for Healthcare economics.

1 presentation award at the university's academic conference for graduate student.

Forthcoming: a master's project in healthcare economics, and a chapter in an edited volume (co-author).

GA for Econ. Dept: 5 semesters. Duties include tutoring econ. classes and teaching assistantship.

RA for Computer Information System Dept: 1 semester at the same time with the position above. Duties include programming and analyzing data for a department's project.

Teaching Experience: none.

Research Interests: health econ, foreign trade, experimental econ.

SOP: The event that leads me to Econ. Ph.D., research interest, why this school, why me.

Concerns: VERY poor math signals in undergraduate study, although the scores were very good for these classes. Some small typos in writing samples.

Others: Have one year working experience in home country, which is closely linked to research interest (mentioned in SOP). Research experience in sophomore year in private sector.

Applying to: (In Submission deadline sequence) UNC, TAMU, Notre Dame, CUNY, Georgetown, NC State, Georgia, JHU, Missouri, Tennessee, Purdue.

Edited by libre147
clarification
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top University from Turkey

Major: B.A. in Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.68/4

Type of Grad: M.A (at the same university)

Grad GPA: 3.84/4 (first in class)

Math Courses: Calc I-II, Linear Algebra A, Differential Eqn A, Mathematical Analysis B+, Real Analysis (Undergrad) C, Real Analysis (Grad) A,

Econ Courses (Undergrad): Micro, Macro, Monetary, Advanced Macroeconmics

Econ Courses (Grad): Micro I A-, II A-, Macro I A, II A, Econometrics I A II B+, Game Theory A, Mathematical Economics A

GRE: 170 Q, 162 V, 3,5 AW

Letters of Recommendation: 3 all from the Master Prog: One of them is very well known in the field

Research Experience: MA Thesis in Social Choice, working paper on financial networks presented in an international workshop

Teaching Experience: Application to Graph Theory TA, some tutoring

Concerns: Low GRE (AW), horrible toefl speaking score( 19 yet my overall score is 105 ), graduated from MA in 2013

Research Focus: Networks, Game Theory

Other: Currently working on Central Bank in international econ analysis division as a junior analyst.

Applying to: UPenn, Brown, Caltech SS, Michigan Ann Arbor, Northwestern, NYU, Carnegie, Duke, Rochester, Maryland, Princeton, Stanford GSB, MIT, Columbia

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Math/Econ double major at small LAC

Undergrad GPA: 3.96

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 167 Q, 160 V, 4.5 AWA

Math Courses: Calculus I (AP), Calculus II (A+), Multivariate Calculus (A), Linear Algebra (A), Discrete Mathematics (A+), Probability (A), Mathematical Statistics (A-), Real Analysis (A+), Abstract Algebra (A), Statistics II (A)

Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principles of Macro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A+), Managerial Economics (A+), Econometrics (A+), Health Economics (A), International Finance (A), Labor Economics (currently taking)

Other Courses: Two computer science courses (A+ in both)

Letters of Recommendation: One from my advisor who I have taken three classes with and is my research advisor; one from a statistics professor who I worked on a summer research project with; one from an econ professor who I have taken two classes with and supervised my Fed Challenge team. All should be excellent.

Research Experience: Summer research project with two professors (one econ, one stat); honors thesis

Teaching Experience: Tutoring for both econ and math

Research Interests: Applied micro - primarily labor (especially education), but also public and health

SOP: Included reasons for pursuing a PhD, research experience and interests, and touched on a few other academic/extracurricular experiences and accomplishments

Concerns: Small school, not well known letter writers

Other: Two summer internships in consulting; NCAA athlete

Applying to: Michigan (Econ & Public Policy), Cornell, Duke, CMU (Econ & Public Policy), MSU, UVA, UNC, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame

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  • 2 weeks later...

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS Economics, BS Statistics

Undergrad GPA: 3.46

Type of Grad: MA Economics

Grad GPA: 3.43

GRE: 760/530/5.0 (I think this format officially makes me old)

Math Courses: Calc 1-3 (A,A-,A), Stat 1-2 (B+,B+), Linear (A), a few other programming and stat courses (no real)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Math Econ (B+), Micro 1-2 (B+,A-), Macro 1-2 (B+,A-), Econometrics 1-3 (B+,B-,A), Money 1-2 (B+,A-), IO (A-)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All of the usual (A to B range), plus Math Econ (B+), and Game Theory (A-)

Other Courses: Too many to count and not really relevant

Letters of Recommendation: 3 LORs from former economics professors - all should be solid... I hope.

Research Experience: Thesis on new cross-hedge options model, and I currently work as a consultant and develop statistical tools.

Teaching Experience: Does teaching little kids how to play football count? N/A

Research Interests: IO, Game Theory, Econometrics, International (All mushed up into a ball)

SOP: I wrote about experiencing random hail storms in Bangladesh and my Russian friend singing happy birthday to me while I was working in Kazakhstan.True story.

Concerns: I've got 99 problems, let's hope funding is not one.

Other: Good luck, buttercup

Applying to: American, CUNY, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Mathematics (German Top 20 University)

Undergrad GPA: 3.71 Overall (4.0 Math)

Type of Grad: Mathematics for Economics (German Top 20 University)

Grad GPA: 3.68 Overall (4.0 Major)

GRE: Q:167 V:156 AW:3

Math Courses: Analysis I,II Ordinary Differential Equations, Measure Theory, Complex Analysis,

Stochastic Analysis, Stochastic Partial Differential Equations, Linear Opti, Discrete Opti, Non-Linear Opti

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Introduction to Economics,Statistics II, Introduction to Econometrics

Econ Courses (grad-level): Methods of Eonometrics,Intermadiate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics,

Panel Data Analysis, Microeconometrics, Time Series Analysis

Other Courses: some Business Administrarion courses

Letters of Recommendation:

1) Math Professor(knows me well)

2) Econometrics Professor(knows me very well)

3) Statistics Professor Professor (knows me very well)

Research Experience: 1 year working in a Central Bank and 1 Internship Central Bank (honor thesis + 2 papers)

Teaching Experience: 5 semester math lecturer

SOP: Worked a lot on it

Concerns: LoRs (prob. not known in the US), GRE-Aw, too few econ courses, and two low grades

Interests: Econometrics, IO, Netwokrs

Other: I feel I did some bad program choices.I did have the restriction to get in a T30 in order to have funding assured.

Applying to:Harvard,MIT,Stanford,Yale,Cornell,Duke,Brown,Penn State,Michigan State,Indiana University

Edited by fake22
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: midwest regional, no econ PhD program

Major: B.S. in economics and math

Undergrad GPA: 3.51/4/.... 3.45 if you include my semester abroad (oops)

Type of Grad: n/a

Grad GPA:

Math Courses: Calc I-III (B, B, A), linear (B), intro to proofs (AB), probability and statistics (B), abstract algebra I (B), real analysis I (AB), differential equations (spring 15), "topics" in linear algebra (spring 15), math-econ (IP)

Econ Courses (Undergrad): Micro, Macro, behavioral, econometrics, minorities in the US economy, international econ, FDI, All A's except for international and FDI, which i took while abroad and received Bs

GRE: 168 Q, 160 V, 5,5 AW

Letters of Recommendation: 3 unknowns. 2 econ and 1 math (real analysis prof). should all be very positive.

Research Experience: Currently working on undergrad honors thesis. Topic is unrelated to my prospective research interests. discussed in SOP.

Teaching Experience: none

Concerns: Mediocre GPA, mostly B's in math classes, coming from an unknown school.

Research Focus: macro, ideally international or monetary

Other: Probably am applying to too many MAs. Probably shouldn't have applied to Canadian MAs because it was costly and don't think i'll get in.

Applying to: Washington, BC, BU, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine, UC Davis, Oregon, CU Boulder, GWU, American, Iowa, CUNY, Illinois at Chicago, Vanderbilt, Houston, UBC MA, Toronto MA, Missouri MA (from missouri...extreme safety(I hope)), Madison MA

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