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Profiles and Results 2017


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I suggest that you should post in this thread only after you have received all or most of your offers. Also, please mention how accurate or inaccurate the predictions were if you had a profile assessment commented on by the forum members.

 

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:

Attending:

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently?

 

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

Edited by tm_member
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After so many years of lurking, it seems only fair to finally fill this out.

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top-50-ish private school

Undergrad GPA: 3.85

Type of Grad: NA

Grad GPA: NA

GRE: 167Q/165R/5.5W

Math Courses: Three semesters of calculus (A,A,A) linear algebra (A), ODE (A-), Intro to Proofs (A), Real Analysis (A), Graph Theory (A), plus many statistics classes (all A)

Econ Courses: Principles of Micro/Macro (A, A), Intermediate Micro/Macro (A,A), Financial Econ (A), Law and Econ (A), Int' Trade (A), Game Theory (A), Labor (A), Econometrics (A), Proseminar (A)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: Three economists I RA'ed for.

Research Experience: Two years as a full-time RA in macro

Teaching Experience: Some tutoring in undergrad, not much.

Research Interests: Macro

SOP:

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Penn ($$), Columbia ($$), UCLA ($$)

Waitlists: None

Rejections: Harvard, HBS, MIT, Stanford, Chicago, Booth, Princeton, Berkeley, Michigan, Northwestern, Yale

Pending:

Attending: Penn

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently?

All things considered, I'm happy with how it shook out. I had a steep hole to climb out of, having not attended a prestigious undergrad with a well-known econ program. I would definitely recommend others in my situation to also take on a full-time RA position, as I'm certain I wouldn't have placed as well without it.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

My letter writers were surprised that I didn't place better, but I'm very happy with the outcome.

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I can get things started off. I found the responses from past years really helpful so I'd encourage others who are reading to post their results!

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS Math Econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.52

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE:165/155/4.5 Q/V/A

Math Courses: Analysis 1, Topology, Calc 1-3, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Probability, Mathematical Statistics (Mix of A/B)

Econ Courses: Standard Econ Major, Game Theory, Mathematical Economics

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: Undergrad Advisor, Undergrad Professor, Work Supervisor (decently connected industry Economist)

Research Experience: Two years at a health economics consulting firm.

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests: Open ended, but in my SOP I put Applied Micro because that's where my background is the deepest.

SOP: Talked about interests and preparation, etc.

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Oregon ($), NCSU ($$), UNC-Chapel Hill (off waitlist) ($$), Minnesota Applied

Waitlists: UNC-Chapel Hill, Boston University (rejected later)

Rejections: UW-Seattle, Boston University, NW-Kellogg, UC-Irvine, UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Santa Clara

Pending:

Attending: UNC-Chapel Hill!

Comments: Honestly, I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten into UNC. I was really excited and set to attend Oregon after the visit day, but got an offer off the waitlist the Wednesday before April 15th. Also, I think the only reason I didn't get straight rejected from BU was because I had a letter writer with a connection there, I don't think my profile is competitive enough to have gotten close to getting in.

 

What would you have done differently?

I am glad I applied to a wide breadth of schools and would have applied to even more if I had the resources to do so, like maybe apply to all schools in the 20-50 range that were appealing. I also would have maybe tried to get a job that would have given me a stronger application, like working for the Fed, but I don't know if that would have even been feasible for me.

 

One thing I would not have done differently was email the schools I was waitlisted at expressing my high interest in their program and telling them that I had offers that would expire soon. I did this with UNC and Boston and received responses very quickly afterward, one positive, one negative.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions? People who haven't been involved in the admissions process in a long time are completely clueless as to how competitive it is. One of my letter writers regularly writes for students at my undergrad institution and I think he gave me the best outlook on where I should be applying. I felt like my profile would be competitive enough to confidently expect offers at certain places for 45-60, which I think it was after looking at my outcomes.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Econ, BS Math & CS in 2015 @ Large State School Top 25 Econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.90

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: NA

GRE: 167/159/4.5 Q/V/A

Math Courses: Diff EQ, Lin Alg, Advanced Calc (~Analysis), Intro Algebra, Probability Theory,

Econ Courses: Microeconomic Analysis (Phd Seq), Econometrics I, II, International, Development, Labor, Game Theory

Other Courses: Lots of CS (was primary major)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 CS Prof (thesis adviser), 2 Econ Prof (thesis adviser and honors program director)

Research Experience: CS UG thesis and Econ UG thesis

Teaching Experience: TA for undergraduate CS course (basic Java, algorithms, data structures, etc)

Research Interests: Mechanism Design, Game Theory, Micro

SOP: Thought it was decent

Other: Working as software engineer at an investment bank for last 2 years (weird, right?)

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Columbia ($$$), UCLA ($)

Waitlists: Northwestern

Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Stanford-Biz, Berkeley, Princeton, Yale, Penn, NYU, Caltech

Pending: NU I guess, but I told them to take me off the WL

Attending: Columbia~

Comments: Can't complain, Columbia will be awesome. Plus I already live here.

I got distracted by a software dev job offer after school and took it since it looked like easy money. I'm sure this had admissions committees scratching their heads and questioning how serious I am. I only applied to top 15ish since I have a job I (mostly) like, so I feel fortunate to even get 1 acceptance. Though the rejections did sting!

 

What would you have done differently? Meh. I'm sure the weird gap hurt a lot. Given I got into CU, I don't regret taking the job after school since it solidified that I miss research, but I'd be singing a diff tune if I struck out I'm sure.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

Seems to be a common theme but most people who aren't in academia or haven't applied to it before were quite surprised as to how competitive admissions are for PhD programs! They thought it was silly that I was concerned I may not getting into any...it was close!

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.Eng. in Computer Engineering (1st Class Honours), best in the nation, unknown worldwide

Undergrad GPA: 3.60

Type of Grad: M.Econ. in Economics (1st Ranked), same school

Grad GPA: 3.74

GRE: 170Q/154V/3.5AW

Math Courses: Calculus I & II, Linear Algebra, Differential Equation, Statistics, Adv Mathematical Economics

Econ Courses: Advanced Micro, Advanced Macro, Adv Econometrics, Game Theory, Labor, Health, Education

Letters of Recommendation: 2 from advisors, 1 from Adv Micro lecturer, all should be very strong

Research Experience: 1.5 years RA at policy institute, 1 year RA for my advisors

Teaching Experience: Adv Math Econ

Research Interests: Labor, Education, Applied Micro

SOP: Detailed on my motivation and experience, preparedness, research interest and career path

Other: I'm graduating grad degree this year. Except Adv Econometrics, I get the top score in all classes. I'm an SEA student, not Singaporian, by the way.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: LSE (MSc), U of York

Waitlists:

Rejections: Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA, UCSD, Cornell, Brown, Texas, JHU, Rice, LSE, UCL, Warwick

Pending:

Attending: LSE (MSc)

Comments: This is my 3rd cycle applying to US schools but 1st for UK schools. Not so surprise for UK schools outcome but totally unexpected for US schools.

 

What would you have done differently?

Not applying to US schools and save money for the LSE degree.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

Completely wrong. It was unexpected how different it could be. Most said I have good chance for top 30 in US but it turns out perfectly opposite.

Edited by DDQuanta
Edit school to reduce ambiguity
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 15 USNWR/Top 30 Econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.97

Type of Grad: US Master's Program

Grad GPA: TBD

GRE: 164/170/5.0

Math Courses: Analysis I-II; Linear Algebra; Abstract Algebra; Topology I-II; Probability and Stochastic Processes; Stochastic Calculus

Econ Courses: Standard UG + PhD Math Methods; PhD Micro I-II; PhD Metrics I; PhD Information Economics (since application: Metrics II, Development field course)

Other Courses: A smattering of French and Anthropology

Letters of Recommendation: 1) UG major advisor (PhD Math Methods; Micro I), Harvard PhD; 2) UG game theory professor (PhD Micro II), Princeton PhD; 3) UG math research mentor (Topology I-II; summer thesis); 4) MA thesis advisor, Yale PhD.

Research Experience: UG: 2 years part time in math; summer math thesis. MA: thesis; development RA work.

Teaching Experience: Calculus peer mentor for two years in college.

Research Interests: Microeconomic theory; political economy; development economics

SOP: Fairly standard.

Other: NA

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Princeton, Northwestern Kellogg, Caltech, UCSD

Waitlists: Chicago (declined), Chicago Harris (declined), NYU, UPenn (subsequently rejected)

Rejections (selected): HYSM, Berkeley, Chicago Booth, Brown, Penn State

Pending: NA

Attending: Princeton

Comments: Relieved!

 

What would you have done differently? 1) Taken more statistics/programming classes earlier in my career; I haven't used any algebraic topology in my Master's program but I've cleaned data in STATA a fair bit.

2) Applied to an RA job in the NBER/on the west coast.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions? Reasonably accurate, though probably a bit too optimistic.

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I benefited a lot from reading past profiles and results. I second jklimek. We should help future applicants by keeping threads like this going. Here's to Antichron!

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: US TOP 20

Undergrad GPA: 3.99

Type of Grad: US TOP 20

Grad GPA: 4.0

GRE: Q170 V161 W4.5

Math Courses: Calculus (all A and A+), Linear Algebra (Honors A+), Real Analysis (Honors A-, A), Probability Theory (A, A+), Numerical Methods (A, A+), Differential Equation (A), Discrete Mathematics (A)

Econ Courses: Undergrad: Micro. macro, metrics (all A+). Grad: Phd micro (all A)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: Two from research, and one from a PhD micro course

Research Experience: TA a year and a half for two professors. Honors thesis

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: IO and labor

SOP: very standard. Talked about why interested in economics, preparation, research experience, and faculty at each school

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Berkeley, and Northwestern

Waitlists:

Rejections: Harvard, HBS, MIT, Stanford GSB, Chicago, NYU, and Brown

Pending:

Attending: Stanford

Comments:

1. GRE verbal/writing not important as long as it doesn't raise a red flag.

2. The outcome of my admission results coincide almost perfectly with my prior. And my prior is from reading profiles and results of past years. 3. GPA is necessary but not sufficient for top programs.

4. Taking grad classes is a risky strategy. Things could have gone very wrong for me had I messed up in a PhD class that I took.

5. PM me if any specific questions. I'll be more than happy to help.

 

What would you have done differently?

 

The only thing I could have done to improve my profile is to work for NBER or Fed for some time before applying.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BSc Economics from UK in 2007

Undergrad GPA: First Class Honours (4.0 equivalent)

Type of Grad: MSc Economics from UK in 2008

Grad GPA: Distinction (4.0 equivalent)

GRE: 165V / 168Q / 6.0 AW

Math Courses: Covered things like real analysis, calculus, dynamic programming during both undergrad and Masters

Econ Courses: Advanced macro and micro, advanced econometrics, IO, etc.

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from my Masters dissertation supervisor, 1 from head of another uni in the UK, 1 from an early career researcher at BSGE

Research Experience: 8-9 years in competition economics

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Empirical IO, applied econometrics

SOP: Explained I'd kept up my maths skills despite not being in academia for a while, rest was fairly standard

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: OSU (Fellowship for first year)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Stanford, Berkeley, Northwestern, NYU, Minnesota, UMich, UCLA, Brown, Duke, Boston, UIUC, UCL, LSE

Pending:

Attending: OSU

Comments: Rather disappointed , but at least I got in somewhere - had been informed my profile was more than strong enough for the likes of Northwestern, and had an outside shot at Harvard.

 

What would you have done differently?

 

Applied to a few more places (Princeton, Columbia)

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

 

Not accurate at all!

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Regional, mid-ranked liberal arts / year abroad at LSE

Undergrad GPA: 3.9

Type of Grad: Analysis course at top 10 econ

Grad GPA: B+

GRE: 170Q/170V/6.0AW

Math Courses: (liberal arts, As) Calc II/III, Linear Algebra, Probability, Math Stats, Diff Eq, Topology, Analysis I, Big Data Analysis; (LSE, As) Game Theory, Discrete Math; (NYU Grad, B+) Analysis II

Econ Courses: standard econ major route at undergrad, nothing very advanced; (LSE, A) Principles of Econometrics

Other Courses: little bit of CS, little bit of economic history

Letters of Recommendation: (1) undergrad senior thesis advisor, excellent; (2) main economist at Fed, very good; (3) function head economist at Fed, good (probably)

Research Experience: 2 years as RA at Federal Reserve working in financial economics, following summer internship there; senior thesis (honors); student-led research group (sophomore summer); volunteer RA with development research startup (freshmen and sophomore summer)

Teaching Experience: TA for probability, calc III, and real analysis

Research Interests: Maybe financial economics, maybe experimental/behavioral, maybe education, maybe labor. Honestly, I'm very open to anything

SOP: Standard, and maybe I should have spent more time on this.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Minnesota, Wisconsin, UCSD, BU, Cornell (off waitlist), Wharton Applied Economics (off waitlist)

Waitlists: Michigan, Penn

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Chicago, Stanford, Booth, HBS, Sloan, Berkeley, Yale, NYU, Stern, Columbia, Columbia GSB, Northwestern, UCLA, Caltech, Brown, Duke

Attending: Wharton Applied Economics

Comments: It was a tough season emotionally (I'm coordinating with a partner headed to law school), but things turned out great. I'm thrilled to be headed to Wharton - I think that as a small, research focused program that invests in its students, it'll be a very good fit for me.

 

What would you have done differently?

 

I made some sloppy mistakes in my application that probably made me look unprofessional. These would have been the easiest to fix. Getting an A in Analysis would have been nice (obviously).

 

General advice: apply for the NSF and apply to lots of programs. If you had told me one year ago that I would be attending Wharton Applied Economics, I would have said "what?" The expected value of an extra application is pretty high if you don't have a slam dunk application.

 

Advice to applicants from lower ranked liberal arts schools: you are dealing with some disadvantages, but they are completely surmountable. Don't fall into complacency if things are easy for you in undergrad. Push yourself into places where you will be challenged and uncomfortable and definitely not the smartest person in the room. Admission committees will be hesitant to trust your letters and grades because they're unfamiliar with your program and, if you're honest with yourself, because you were not being challenged as much as students at more selective places. Use your program as a stepping stone to take more challenging courses and enter a rigorous RA program where you can prove yourself and become affiliated with a trusted name.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Econ/Math BA from top 200 US

Undergrad GPA: 3.97 (4.0 in both majors)

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 170Q, 160V, 5.0A

Math Courses: Calc 1-3, linear algebra, differential equations, intro proofs, analysis 1-2, stochastic processes, probability theory, statistical theory, continuous statistics, probability and statistics, math modeling

Econ Courses: principles/intermediate micro, principles/intermediate macro, econometrics, international monetary relations, money and banking, public finance, economic research seminar, history of economic thought, economic history of the us

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: all letters should have been pretty strong as I have close relationships will all 3 and have done very well in their classes 1) department chair, top 5% repec, known me since sophomore year and supervisor for RA; 2) grad director at my uni, took research class from him and supervisor for independent paper; 3) another professor, went to top 30 econ and knows me really well

Research Experience: RA for department chair before junior year, turned project from research class into paper (accepted at undergrad journal)

Teaching Experience: N/A

Research Interests: Applied micro

SOP: I think it was good, talked about why I want to study economics, my research experience and interests, and various extracurricular things I have done that are related. Made each customized by reading the webpages and saying why I was applying, and looking up all of the professors and mentioning whose research was of interest to me.

Other: another professor that I didn't get a letter from wrote emails to people he knew at the schools I was applying to, which was super nice. Don't know if it helped or not.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: University of Washington ($), UCSC ($$), University of North Carolina-CH ($), University of Wisconsin-Madison ($), Coumbia (MA), Boston Universtiy (MA)

Waitlists: University of MD-CP ("priority")

Rejections: Stanford, Berkeley, Northwestern (03/22), NYU (03/16), Columbia, UCSD, Michigan (04/14)

Pending: UC Davis (no news by the time I accepted WI so I withdrew my application)

Attending: Univeristy of Wisconsin Madison!!!

Comments: Applying straight from undergrad, especially a low ranked one, is really hard. Advantage is you will be much younger when you get a phd! It's becoming a small minority that do it this way, without first doing masters or working. As one admissions director told me, you are competing against people with undergrads from top unis. Also, don't stress too much when you start to hear back, and probably just avoid internet forums for as long as you can... The grad school websites that say "March 15th you will hear back" are liars! I heard back as early as mid February and everything I heard after March 15 was bad news. Of course, this is just my experience. Yours could be different. May the odds be ever in your favor, and I wish you the best of luck. (P.S. summer before senior year was spent doing math classes and studying for GRE)

 

What would you have done differently?

Not much. Story would be different without Wisconsin, though. Still not sure if that is just lucky or not. I guess I overestimated my competitive range, so I would've not applied to NYU and Columbia and instead more schools in 30-15 range. I had lots of extracurricualr hobbies like clubs, etc. throughout college that I enjoyed but probably doing reserach would've helped my application more. But I have had so much joy from that part of my life that really helped me get through college. I would've started applications earlier. The applications was the workload of another class for me, and I really couldv'e started way earlier and finished way earlier as well instead of having finals and grad apps all bunched together.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BSc Economics and Finance in HK

Undergrad GPA: 3.85

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 170Q/162V/5.0A

Math Courses: Calc I-III (A-,B+,B), Linear Algebra (A-), Intro to ODE (B+), Theory of Calculus (A), Intro to Probability (A), Real Analysis (B)

Econ Courses: Standard undergrad courses, MA Macro, PhD Micro Sequence

Other Courses: N/A

Letters of Recommendation: Two letters from professors at home institution and one from professor at exchange institution.

Research Experience: RA for two different projects (one in trade and one in environmental econ)

Teaching Experience: N/A

Research Interests: Applied Micro

SOP: Talked about preparation, motivations for doing PhD, research interests (very vaguely as I don't know what exactly I want to do), why I chose the school

Other: Did an exchange semester at a top 15 department (USNews) in the Midwest. Canadian citizen.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Maryland ($$), Virginia ($$), WUSTL ($$), Toronto Doctoral MA ($$), Queen's MA ($), UBC MA ($)

Waitlists: Vanderbilt

Rejections: UT-Austin, Penn State, UCLA, Wisconsin, Boston U,

Pending: UC Davis, Rice (had interview)

Comments:

Very happy with the result.

 

What would you have done differently?

Work harder for math courses or take more math courses in the US.

Apply to a few more schools in the 15-25 range.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

Was expecting to do an MA in Canada first. Didn't think I could make any decent PhD programs in the US.

Edited by okc
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 5 Canada

Undergrad GPA: 3.98

Type of Grad: Top 5 US Masters Finance

Grad GPA: 5.0 / 5.0

GRE: 160 V, 170 Q, 4.5 AW

Math Courses: Calculus 3, Adv Calc, ODE, Analysis 1 and 2, Algebra 1 and 2, Linear Algebra, Probability, Stochastic Processes, Mathematical Finance

Math Courses (grad-level): Mathematical Statistics 1 and 2, Generalized Linear Models, Sampling Theory, Adv Stochastic Processes (in progress)

A in all math courses

 

Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics 1 and 2 (taken at my undergrad institution), Stat Method in Economics (Phd level taken during my masters), Econometrics (Phd level taken during masters, in progress).

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Honors Micro 1 and 2, Honors Econ Stats 1 and 2, Honors Macro 1 and 2, Honors Econometrics 1 and 2, Game Theory, Advanced Economics 1 and 2, Monetary Economics (A-)

A in all econ courses except monetary economics (won undergrad award for top honors econ student)

 

Other Courses: Financial Engineering, Financial Markets, Advanced Corporate Finance, Data Structures, Other Finance Courses

Letters of recommendation: Tenured Professor in Econometrics with whom I took 2 classes and received A's. Wrote large paper for the grad class. Tenured Professor in Macro. Received A in class and he also coached our Governor's Challenge (Canada's version of Fed Challenge) team which one first place. Professor in Macro with whom I took 2 courses and did small independent research project with.

Research Experience: Limited. Did small independent research project

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Econometrics, Financial Economics

SOP: Standard

Concerns: Lack of research experience

Applying to: Harvard , HBS , MIT , Sloan, BC, Chicago, Columbia, CBS, NYU, Stern, Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Wharton, Brown, CMU, JHU, Duke, UVA, Michigan, Wisconsin, WASHU, Stanford, Berkeley

 

Accepted: Princeton ($$$), Sloan ($$$), Northwestern (unfunded year 1), Berkeley (Low funding), Wisconsin, Michigan, Duke, UVA, Washu

Declined to Pursue: CMU, JHU, BC

Rejected: the rest

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Long-time lurker, first time poster...

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Math/Econ major, private top 10 econ dept.

Undergrad GPA: 3.64 - but wait, there's more!

Type of Grad: MA in the same department (see below)

Grad GPA: 3.39

GRE: 169V / 170Q / 5.0 AW

Math Courses: Mostly honours courses in the math department. Linear Algebra and Multivariable Calc (B, A, A-), Real Analysis (B, A-, A), Probability (A-, A, A), some seminar courses (A)

Econ Courses (undergrad): Intermediate Micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A), Intermediate Econometrics (B+, A-), other fields.

Econ Courses (grad): PhD Micro (B, B, A-), PhD Macro (A-, B), PhD Metrics (B). Took some field courses during my RA period with A's.

Other Courses: Poli Sci and 1-2 Stats courses. I took the minimum number of econ field courses so would have time to explore other things.

Research Experience: Undergraduate grant in the summer before senior year; senior thesis; 1-2 part-time RA tasks for undergrad faculty; 2 years full-time RA at B-school.

Teaching Experience: TA/grader for intro calculus sequence and an MBA class once.

Research Interests: Household finance; labour, specifically macro-labour and personnel/contracts.

Letters of Recommendation: All well-published APs. RA supervisor (financial economist), supervisor/my coauthor (macroeconomist), thesis advisor (econometrician). Strong enough that they advised me to apply "as high as possible."

SOP: Spent way too much time on this. In the end, just mentioned I know what I'm getting into with academic research, mentioned my bad grades are due to taking hard classes, and ensured my research interests aligned with the department

Other:

1) The "MA" was due to me taking a lot of first-year PhD courses my senior year.

2) I started out being a principal RA on one of my supervisor's papers but was "promoted" to co-author status on a follow-up

paper. This paper is starting to form nicely, but only recently after admissions season finished.

RESULTS (in chronological order):

Acceptances: CMU Tepper, Maryland, Wharton Applied Econ, BU, Northwestern (off waitlist). All with funding.

Waitlists: Penn Econ, UCSD, Penn State (I think)

Rejections: All of the "Top 7," plus Chicago Booth and Brown.

Attending: Wharton Applied Econ

 

Comments:

1) About the GPA thing: while I tried to explain it as the result of taking hard classes, some of which were curved down (especially with PhD micro), my grades really are bad. As a result, I cast my net widely in terms of rankings. I wasn't planning on applying at all to the top 7 (i.e. ranking higher than Northwestern, Columbia, Penn, NYU), but I was egged on by my rec letter writers. The results signal I was screened out at those departments anyway.

 

2) Digression on my RA experience: it seems this forum has an ongoing debate on the value-added of RA positions. I think my RA experience was immensely helpful to me, where I learned to code much better and think on the spot. That said, barring co-authoring a paper and getting a R&R during my stint, I don't think I could've done enough in just two years to make myself competitive for top departments. It does seem like certain departments weigh RA experience more highly than others; at Wharton, I think 7 of the 9 visiting students had a 2-year RA stint.

(My plan is to stick around the forum in the future and clear up people's questions about the RA path to grad school in particular. Also note that among all RAs I interacted with at my school, my placement is definitely below average: others have received offers from Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford and HBS.)

 

What would you have done differently?

Planned my course load better. In terms of playing the admissions game, one of the worst decisions I made was to try and take the hardest math and econ courses when I should have applied for a PhD prep track at my university, or focused on advanced undergrad field courses and do well in them. Do I regret what I did? Not necessarily, since I still retain all the cool stuff I learned in those courses. That said, the gain from this early exposure is likely smaller than the lifetime loss of not attending a top econ department in the counterfactual.

 

I apologize if I sound ungrateful for my placement; I chose Wharton because I found out it is a great fit. I think it's established, however, that undergraduate pedigree plays a big deal in admissions. Attending a top 10 econ school is a privilege; those who were truly top of the class in my cohort, i.e. those with perfect GPAs, received top 10 and even top 5 PhD offers. The same cannot be said for equally credentialed people at state flagships, for example. I feel like I've squandered my opportunity somewhat, but such is life I suppose.

 

 

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad:
BS Finance and Mathematics, NYU Stern

Undergrad GPA:
3.83/4

Type of Grad:
MBA at IIM A/B/C (top B school India)

Grad GPA:
6.92/9

GRE:
Q: 168, V: 162

Math Courses:
Calc 1-3, Linear Algebra, ODE, Analysis 1, Algebra 1, Math Modeling, Vector Analysis

Econ Courses:
Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics

Letters of Recommendation:
3 Professors from MBA program

Research Experience:
Undergraduate Thesis at NYU Stern

Teaching Experience:
TA - Marketing and Math Tutor at NYU

Research Interests:
International Economics and Finance

SOP:
My SOP was well structured and I managed to tie in all my achievements, extracurricular activities, research and teaching experience to create a narrative about why I wanted to pursue a Masters and a PhD. The key, I think is to explain why you did what you did and how it relates to the various aspects of a PhD in economics and life thereafter.

 

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances:
Oxford MPhil, Cambridge MPhil, LSE EME, UCL MSc, UoT MA (TAship)

Rejections:
UBC MA

Attending:
Oxford MPhil

Comments:
Was surprised to get rejected by UBC

 

What would you have done differently?

I wish I had applied to some programs in the top 30, would have saved me two years and lots of money. But at the beginning of the application season, I honestly did not feel confident of cracking a funded offer at any of the top 30 programs. I also wish I had applied to CEMFI as the program would have offered the same benefits as Oxford MPhil but at a significantly lower cost.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

Fairly accurate, as most posters predicted that I would crack one or two of the aforesaid institutions.

 

 

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BSc Economics, top ranked institution in home country (little known elsewhere)

Undergrad GPA: Top 3%

Type of Grad: M. Econ., top ranked institution in home country (little known elsewhere)

Grad GPA: Top 2%

GRE (Q/V/A): 170/166/6.0

Math Courses: Calculus I & II, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Real Analysis (PhD course)

Econ Courses: pretty standard; intermediate-to-advanced microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, plus some field courses

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: (1) master thesis advisor, PhD @ Top 5 US; (2) PhD @ Top 5 US, did well in two of his classes; (3) young researcher whom I TA'd for. Strong letters all around I suppose, although my referees aren't world-renowned scholars

Research Experience: None, other than my masters' thesis

Teaching Experience: TA for 3 years (undergraduate macroeconomics courses)

Research Interests: Macro, Migration

SOP: standard; talked mostly about research questions that interested me

Other: NA

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Minnesota ($$), Columbia ($$), Maryland ($), Rochester ($$), Bocconi ($)

Waitlists: Boston U (rejected right away once I got the email)

Rejections: Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, NYU, Penn, Chicago, UCLA, UBC, Cornell

Pending: Toronto (asked me whether I was still interested, replied that I wasn't)

Attending: Columbia

Comments: Pretty happy with the way this turned out, given my lack of research experience and having a master's from a relatively unknown school in Europe. Applying to the top 5/6 schools in US was admittedly a stretch.

What would you have done differently?

being more proactive in finding RA opportunities, maybe doing a master's degree in a more prestigious institution somewhere else in Europe

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions:

Like other posters have said, most people underestimate the competitiveness of the PhD application process. My master thesis advisor expected me to have a top 5 offer - I surely didn't. anyway, thrilled to be going to Columbia, and best of luck to everyone applying next year!

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PROFILE: Canadian student in mediocre school ranked 200-300 in the world.

Type of Undergrad: B.Math Double Honours in Math and Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.91/4.0

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: N/A

Math Courses: Real analysis, Differential equations, Statsitics and Probability, Other less popular heavy math courses

Econ Courses: Advanced Econ,

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from the dean, 2 from the regular faculty

Research Experience: 1 year with econ faculty

Teaching Experience: 2 years as TA since first year summer

Research Interests: Flexible

SOP: Standard

Applied: U of Toronto, UBC, Queen's, Paris School of Economics, LSE

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Everywhere I applied

Waitlists: None

Rejections: None

Pending:

Attending: PSE

Comments: Decided to attend PSE to see Piketty and Paris.

I might transfer to US if I don't find a good supervisor at PSE.

I agree entirely with the guy above who said applying from non-high ranked schools directly to these top schools in Canada and UK was not easy. I was fortunate to have references who attended MIT. Otherwise, I doubt that I would've been accepted at PSE and LSE, two schools that are harder to get into among the schools I applied.

The downside is that even though I got admissions from everywhere with "full funding", they weren't exceptional. They all offered me standard funding at around $20000. Someone from good university with my profile would probably receive a lot more funding.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Econ BA from top Latin American University

Undergrad GPA: 7 out of 10

Type of Grad: Econ Masters from same undergrad Uni

Grad GPA: 3.7 (or close to that)

GRE: 169Q, 160V, 3.5A

Math Courses: Calc 1-2, linear algebra and differential equations from undergrad; real analysis, probability and intro to measure theory and optimization at grad level

Econ Courses: all main courses at undergrad; micro, macro, econometrics, labor at grad level

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: One letter from my master's thesis advisor, PhD from major UK uni but unknown. pretty good letter, but perhaps the weakest out of the bunch. Other letter from labor professor at my university, recent PhD from top UK uni with few but good publication, perhaps known at her specific field, probably the strongest letter since she co-advised my master's thesis, did very well in her grad course and knows me pretty well. Last letter from famous professor in my country. Although not having strong international publications he might be known by name in his area. RA'd with him during my undergraduate and graduate years. PhD from top UK uni also.

Research Experience: RA for two years with this professor, one during undergraduate, one during graduate, no papers resulted from it.

Teaching Experience: TA for Probability and Intro to Measure Theory (grad level) and Microeconomics II (grad level)

Research Interests: Applied micro, labor, structural econometrics

SOP: Very standard, but changed last paragraph accordingly, mentioning specific professors and strong areas from each university I applied

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Rice ($$)

Waitlists: Maryland, Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Rejections: Northwestern, Berkeley (ARE), NYU, Columbia, Yale, UCL, LSE, Vanderbilt, UNC, Brown, Duke, Wharton Applied Econ

Attending: Rice

Comments: I probably aimed way too high, I thought my letters would be stronger. Not really sad though, as I am very excited with my (only) result. I feel like I could have been accepted at Illinois off the waitlist, as they asked if I was still interested close to the April 15th deadline, but I had already accepted my offer from Rice

 

What would you have done differently?

Not sure. Maybe wait another year to get stronger letters, but not sure what I could have done about it. I am very happy with Rice, but I would have probably aimed a little bit lower. I though I had good chances of being accepted at UCL or LSE, since all my letters are from the UK and at least two of those professors still maintain some kind of contact with them. Also Yale had my hopes up for a bit, as one of my letter writer's advisor is there and I was promised that he would be contacted, but it was a very long shot.

 

I guess my undergrad GPA is not very good, but I heard that for foreign students, it is mostly ignored when masters GPA are available. I slipped in some of the core courses in my master's, and I think that definitely made a difference.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

My letter writes told me my list was pretty good and I would have a pretty good shot at those. I don't blame them for saying that though, I knew I was aiming high. I think my profile would be better suited for a 35-60 ranking.

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Type of Undergrad: Top 50 State School

Undergrad GPA: 3.55

Type of Grad: NA

Grad GPA: NA

GRE: 165Q/159V/3.5AW

Math Courses: Calc I(A)/ Calc II(A)/ Calc III(B+), Linear Algebra (B+), Diff Eq (A), Into to Proof ©, Advanced Calculus (A), Real Analysis (A), Topology (A), Intro Stats (A), Probability (A), Stochastic Processes (B+)

Econ Courses: Intro Micro/Macro, Intermediate Micro/Macro, Advanced Micro/Macro, International Econ, Econometrics, Math Econ, IO (All A's)

Other Courses: Programming

Letters of Recommendation: Math Econ Prof - I think was very good, Econometrics prof - was probably fine, Research Advisor - I think was excellent.

Research Experience: Worked as undergrad research fellow with well known prof in environmental. Python/R.

Teaching Experience: Economics tutor for 3 years

SOP: Took some time with it - I thought it was pretty good.

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UC Irvine, U Washington, UC Santa Barbara, UNC Chapel Hill. All full funding

Waitlists: CMU, UC Davis, UMD

Rejections: UCLA, Boston College, Yale, Berkley ARE, Brown, Columbia, Duke, Johns Hopkins,

NYU, UCSD, Vanderbilt.

What would you have done differently?

Taken first year Phd Micro sequence in undergrad. Take the GRE much earlier and do better.

 

How accurate were others' predictions?

Pretty accurate.

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PROFILE

Type of Undergrad: Econ from top 100 international liberal arts-like university (top 5 in home country)

Undergrad GPA: 4.00

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 170/170/6.0

Math Courses: Intro Calculus (A+), Intro Statistics / Probability (A+), Mathematics for Economics (A+), Mathematical Economics (Grad, A+)

Econ Course: Principles (A+), Corporate Finance I/II/III (A+), Intermediate Micro (A+), Asset Pricing (A+), Applied Econometrics (A+), Advanced Macro (A+), Advanced Micro (A+), Econometric Theory (A+), Monetary Econ (A+)

Letters of Recommendation: Evidently very strong given placement - few students go to PhD, so professors tend to enthusiastically support those who do and I had strong relationships with all three professors. (1) Grad Mathematical Economics Prof, Top 5 PhD, (2) Corporate Finance Prof, Top 5 PhD, (3) Thesis Advisor, top 100 PhD.

Research Experience: Senior Thesis

Teaching Experience: TA for various courses in junior and senior year

Research Interests: Macro

SOP: Assume it was standard - talked about why I was interested in my specific topics and pointed out what about each school made it a good fit for those interests.

Concerns: Far less math on transcripts than peer group (judging by these forums)

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago ($$$), Princeton ($$$), Berkeley ($$), Columbia ($$) various schools in home country (N/A to $)

Waitlists: N/A

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, UPenn, NYU, Northwestern, HBS, Minnesota, Chicago Booth

 

Comments: Frankly, I placed higher than my profile probably deserves - especially given the relative dearth of mathematics on my transcripts. My saving graces were that (1) I believe I was the only student in my year applying to top PhDs, so I had the undivided support of my recommenders, and (2) my grad mathematical economics prof could attest that my transcripts understate my mathematical preparation. Although it is obviously unwise to generalize from one data point, my case at least disproves that you must have real analysis or must have RA experience to get into top PhD programs.

 

What would you have done differently? In terms of the process, nothing. I'm thrilled with how it turned out - I'm very fortunate to have gotten the placements that I did. In terms of my undergraduate degree? Taken more mathematics - it would have made applications marginally less stressful and first year considerably less painful.

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PROFILE

Type of Undergrad: Economics, National University of Singapore (top Asian university, and practically doxxing myself)

Undergrad GPA: equivalent to 3.33/4.00 (overall, including retaken class with initial F grade, otherwise 3.41), 3.46/4.00 (econ)

Grad GPA: NA

GRE:168 Q, 168 V, 4.0 AW

Math Courses: Calculus(B+), Multivariable Calculus(F, B+), Linear Algebra I-II (B+, A-), Probability (B), Intro to Real Analysis (B)

Econ Courses (grad): Policy Impact Evaluation (A+)

Econ Courses (undergrad): Intro Econ (A-), Micro I-III (A, B, B), Macro I-III (A-, A-, B+), Econometrics I-III (A-, A+, A-), Labor I-II (C+, B+), Development I (A-), International I-II (B-, A), Public I-II (B, B+), Financial I (B-), Money and Banking I (B-), Mathematical Econ (B), Game theory (B), Environmental I (A+), Senior Thesis (A+)

Other courses: Innovation and Productivity (A+), Labour Law (A), Math of games (A+), Intro politics (A)

Awards: Achieved an average grade among the top 5% (3.67/4.00) in my second semester, and among the top 1% (4.00/4.00) in my final semester (when I wrote my senior thesis).

Letters: 3 good letters from econ professors. One from a senior professor among the top 20 authors in my country (I know a research assistant of his got admitted to a top 10 school), who knows me well due to the small class size. Two from assistant profs (top 15 PhDs) I RA-ed for two years. One of them taught a core econ class and can compare the academic standards here to the US.

Research experience: Empirical senior thesis on development/political economy topic, 1 year part-time RA (data cleaning, regressions) on empirical labor/development project, 1.5 years full-time RA (procuring data, data cleaning, regressions) on different empirical labor/development econ project.

Teaching experience: None at the time of application, but my CV indicated future TAing in Spring 2017

Research interests: applied micro (development, labor), trade, innovation/productivity

SOP: In terms of academics, I briefly attributed some poor grades to the worsening of an ongoing health issue, which improved after I got help before my senior year. I referred to a guide on the comparability of international degrees to imply that my B+ level GPA was closer to an A level GPA in the US. I mentioned taking econ classes that used more advanced math without elaborating on my mediocre grades, and also mentioned my good performance in econometrics classes. For research experience, I tried to signal my ability to learn independently with a group project for which I had to learn Stata and do all the empirical analysis. I talked passingly about my senior thesis--because the idea and most of the data originated from the supervising prof--and explained that my initial idea didn't work out. I elaborated more on the range of tasks I did for my full-time RA job to show that I know my stuff. In terms of research interests and fit, I only mentioned applied micro and some fields in applied micro without specifying who I wanted to work with unless required. In addition, I took advice from some reddit comment to basically present something like a short research proposal to give a stronger signal of my interest in research. I had a pool of three research ideas, and usually included two that somewhat fit the research of faculty members I considered working with. The SOP reached 2 full pages in length for schools that did not set a strict limit.

Other: Where possible, I submitted my senior thesis as a writing sample.

RESULTS:

Acceptances: MSU (assistantship with stipend each year), UC Irvine (assistantship with stipend each year + extra $15k total from their counteroffer to MSU's offer), Pitt (waitlisted for $), Maryland Ag Econ (funding unconfirmed), UC Davis Ag Econ MSc (rejected from PhD but offered quarter of TAship for MSc)

Waitlists: UIUC, BC

Rejections: Columbia, Michigan, UCLA, UCSD, Wisconsin-Madison, Berkeley Ag Econ, Cornell, Brown, Maryland, Duke Econ AND Business (Strategy), Boston U, UC Davis Econ and Ag Econ, UNC Chapel Hill, UVA, Purdue, Notre Dame, Texas A&M

Attending: MSU, because its overall reputation is better than UC Irvine's.

Comments: Going in, I knew I had to rely on the research experience angle and apply to many schools to get a reasonable chance of a funded offer. I filtered out schools with little to offer in fields I had an edge in, and missed the deadlines for some. I'm not sure whether the explanation of my academic record helped or not. One school mentioned the reason for rejection as having an academic record that was not as competitive as other candidates, which was very much expected. I half-expected an acceptance from UC Irvine because I scoured past threads and found two similar posters who were also accepted there (THANK YOU RECENT GENERATIONS OF TM POSTERS). I also don't know if it's a coincidence, but both my funded offers came from schools that still required hardcopies of transcripts to be sent directly to them. Some applicants may think that it's not worth the effort to apply to those places, so the competition there might be less stiff or maybe the adcomms have the luxury to properly evaluate--not immediately throw out on the basis of GPA--candidates like myself, with the caveat that the hassle probably screens out some types of candidates as well.

 

What would you have done differently?

I didn't apply to a masters program because I didn't want to spend so much money (no funding without excellent grades!) and now I feel relieved with that decision. A reply to my profile evaluation thread for a masters program mentioned that the good ones "almost always place their top few students in top 30," which is no better than MSU, and who's to guarantee my place as a top student in a masters program? Based on the results, I probably would have been satisfied applying to only UC Irvine, which was the place I believed I had the best chance of getting accepted. Choosing between MSU and UC Irvine was tough given my research interests. Despite the lower rank, UC Irvine has David Neumark and I heard from a graduate of the program that his students place relatively well. Moreover, quality of life and ease of travelling back to Asia is indubitably superior at UC Irvine.

 

On the other hand, given the uncertainties of admissions for an international student without a graduate degree, I would say that applying to many schools definitely pays off; most of the schools below the top 30 rejected me anyway! I should also have been more careful through the application process. I didn't start applying early enough, which prevented the submission of some applications when I got some deadlines and procedures wrong; I was spacing out my applications and submitting them (far too) close to the deadline. I wasted too much time worrying about tailoring my SOP to schools even though I ended up mostly putting down my research ideas and letting the adcomms decide on the fit. I was also fortunate to have gotten good enough scores in the GRE in the first mid November attempt (except for the botched Analytical Writing section) to not need to retake it. I don't know if my subpar GRE Writing score harmed me and if my great TOEFL and verbal GRE scores helped.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

I didn't ask TM posters but the senior prof thought top 30 was expected. Another asst professor who I considered as an alternative letter writer thought I could go as high as top 20 but he didn't see my transcript, so he didn't know the full extent of my academic record. Personally, I was hoping for top 20 but expected top 30, meaning MSU is sort of within my predictions despite being the ONLY top 30 program to give me a funded offer. About half a year ago, my reading of past threads made me fearful to hope for even top 50-75 but one of my other letter writers assured me that I would be compared to candidates in the top 20 range in the LOR, so getting into a top 30 or 40 program could be possible even with the weakness in academics. That was good enough for me because I heard that one undergraduate from my university with much better grades (at least A- on average) only made it into another top 30 program (UVA), though I do not know where else he applied or the rest of his profile. At the same time, I want to emphasise how fortunate I am to have gotten two funded offers with my profile; that might not have been possible had I not applied to many schools and I still believe it was a close enough shave that I should have applied to more. I remember feeling frustrated that some schools were being dinosaurs about having to submit transcripts by post before confirming admittance, but now I'm grateful and honoured that two of those programs thought highly enough of me to give me funded offers.

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Reading these profiles was really helpful for me to get an idea of what I needed to do to succeed. I hope mine can help someone too! Good luck everyone.

 

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Econ, BS Math Large State School

Undergrad GPA: 3.9

Type of Grad: n/a

Grad GPA: n/a

GRE: 168v /170q/ 5.0a

Math Courses: Calc III, Dif Eq, Lin Eq, Stats, Intro to Proofs, Real Analysis I, Topology, Theory of Probability, Theory of Stats

All A's

Econ Courses: Inter Micro, Inter Macro, International Trade, Econometrics, Experimental Econ, Game Theory, IO, Grad Micro

All A's

Other Courses: CS Minor

Letters of Recommendation: Honors Thesis Mentor, Professor I TA'd for, Professor I worked for over the summer

Research Experience: Summer research position, Honors Thesis

Teaching Experience: Two semesters Econometrics TA, One semester intro to proofs TA, One semester intro to Stats TA, Two years Math Tutor

Research Interests: Applied Micro

SOP: Rushed, could have used some more work. I didn't mention professors by name.

Other: I have no publications.

 

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances:Harvard, Yale, Columbia, U Michigan, UCLA, UCSD, UC Davis, U Washington, Brown, Boston U

Waitlists: University of Chicago (asked to be taken off before I heard back)

Rejections: MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Johns Hopkins U (off WL)

Pending:

Attending: Harvard

Comments:

 

 

What would you have done differently?

I decided I wanted to do Econ in my junior year. I would have liked to have decided earlier and gotten more time to do research. I also wish I had worked more on my SOP.

 

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions? I had no idea I would do so well. I applied to a ton of places all over the rankings because I really didn't know what to predict and neither did my mentors.

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Type of Undergrad: Bachelors in Commerce (International)

Undergrad GPA: Top 1% in my batch

Type of Grad: MA Economics (International - Not much known in US)

Grad GPA: Top 5% in my batch

GRE: 164Q/157V/4.0AW

Math Courses: Calc I(A+), Linear Algebra (A+), Diff Eq (A+), Dynamic Programming, Intro Stats (A), Advanced Stats (B+)

Econ Courses: Intro Micro/Macro, Intermediate Micro/Macro, Advanced Micro/Macro, International Econ, Time Series, Development (Time Series B+ rest all A's)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: (1) Grad Professor, UK PhD, thesis advisor- I am confident that the letter was very strong. (2) Grad Professor, US PhD - The letter must have been strong. (3) A young PhD I was working under, Top US PhD in Finance - Strong letter.

Research Experience: Worked as a RA at a well known research organisation in home country.

Teaching Experience: None

SOP: Fairly standard highlighting my past work and research interests. Emphasised significantly on why I am sure of a career in academics and how I am prepared for it.RESULTS:

Acceptances: UC Irvine($$$), Iowa State($$$), UW Seattle($), UC Santa Cruz.

Waitlists: Indiana University (Asked to be removed off waitlist)

Rejections: Michigan State, Brown, UW Madison, UNC Chapel Hill, WUSTL, Ohio State, Georgetown.

Attending: UC Irvine

Comments: I knew that my GRE score was bad enough to get my application thrown out in first round. My profile strengths were- good academic record throughout and strong letters from professors who regularly write for students to US schools. I think someone with a similar profile as mine but better GRE could have managed a Top 35 school.

 

What would you have done differently?

I am quite happy about attending UCI! I think the school is a great fit to my interests and I really wanted to be in Cali! However if at all I would have taken GRE earlier and improved my Quant score. In fact GRE should be taken at least 8 - 10 months in advance of starting applications.

 

How accurate were others' predictions?

Fairly accurate.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looks like I'm late to the party. Better late than never, right?

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Finance major at non-ranked state university

Undergrad GPA: 3.8

Type of Grad: MA economics, same as undergraduate institution

Grad GPA: 3.8

GRE: 168/159/4 -- Q/V/AW

Math Courses: (All A's) Calculus 1-3, Linear Algebra 1-2, Mathematical Statistics 1-2, Intro to Real Analysis, Combinatorics, and Intro Differential Eqns

Undergrad Econ Courses: Principles of Macro (B), Principles of Micro (A-), Intermediate Micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A), International Trade (A), Math Econ (A), and Intro Econometrics (A)

Grad Econ Courses: Labor (A-), Urban (A), Micro (A-), Macro (A), Time Series (B), Applied Econometrics (A-), Advanced Topics in Econometrics (A-), Topics in Business and Economic Forecasting (A), and Monetary Theory (A)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: Probably one of the weaker aspects of my application. One was from a professor with whom I've taken most of my econometrics courses with. Outside of a niche topic, I don't think that he is very well known. Another is from my graduate micro prof. whom I've also done a direct readings with. He's very active in his work and has many books published. Last one is from a Transportation professor who is also my research director at a transportation research center at my university. I am confident that they all spoke highly of me but the intensity of their kind words is uncertain, though I've gotten A's or A-'s in all of their courses and my research director thinks I'm awesome.

Research Experience: 2 years experience as a graduate research assistant at a transportation research center. One paper is pseudo-published and I've won an award from the U.S. D.O.T. for my work done there.

Teaching Experience: None.

Research Interests: Environmental and Natural Resource Economcis; this is probably a bit of a curve ball to adcoms since I've had zero formal experience and exposure on this topic outside of a directed readings course.

SOP: Had multiple professors look at this and they all spoke highly of it. Covered the usual, brief background, interests, motivation for PhD, preparation for PhD, and motivation for choosing that particular school. I also made an effort to briefly mention the work done by professors of interest for each school.

Other:

 

RESULTS: $ = partial funding, $$ = standard full funding, $$$ = higher than average

Acceptances: U of Oregon $$ , UMD College Park AREC $$, Georgia State $$, NCSU (requested to be removed), University of Arizona $, U of Colorado Boulder $$, UC Santa Barbara $$, U of Wyoming $$, Arizona State $$$

Waitlists: I was briefly on the waitlist at ASUand I was apparently on Georgetown's waitlist unbeknownst to me.

Rejections: U of British Columbia, Queen's University, University of Washington, UC San Diego, UC Davis, Columbia, Duke, and Georgetown

Pending:

Attending: UC Santa Barbara

Comments:It took me a long time to decide on a major and to decide whether or not to pursue a PhD. This played into my unorthodox profile as well as any weaknesses in my application since it is hard to be proactive about one's application profile without a serious commitment.

 

What would you have done differently?

I should have interacted with my professors a lot more. Instead, I was the quiet kid in the class and at departmental gatherings. Not that I completely avoided my professors, I just did not utilize them as much as I could have. Also, if I had prepared for my current trajectory at a much earlier time in life I believe that my profile would have benefited enormously.

 

How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions?

I think that the results panned out as expected except for a few surprising rejections which are likely due to the "match" element.

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