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Profiles and Results Part 2 (Non Top 50 Programs)


YoungEconomist

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I realized that most people who posted their profile and results got into good programs. I even talked to a few people on this forum who said they didn't post because their profile wasn't that great and they weren't going to a top program. Therefore, I wanted to start a thread for people who are going to a school outside of the top 50. Please post your profile, where you got accepted and rejected, and where you are going next year.
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BSBA majoring in Economics from a large southern school.

Undergrad GPA: 3.7

Type of Grad:--

Grad GPA:--

GRE: 760Q+550V and 5W

Math Courses: Calc I,II,;Matrix Alg Lin Alg, 3 Stats

Econ Courses: Micro, macro, IO, Public Finance, Econometrics, development, Monetary, IO II, Public Expentiture analysis, International, Math for economists.

Other Courses: Finance,

Letters of Recommendation: 2 very solid from highly published phd's. one macro, and one math econ. other department head with connections.

Research Experience: Slim to none

Teaching Experience: Private tutor for econ, and select math courses, very highly rated.

Research Interests: IO and Micro, also Macroeconomic time series analysis.

SOP: was told by one adcomm, best he had see in a couple of years, wasn't mentioned by others

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Univ of Kentucky, Univ of Tennessee, Clemson Univ,Univ of Georgia, Univ of South Carolina.

Waitlists: George Mason--turned rejection

Rejections: Univ of Maryland, Univ of Colorado, Boulder, Wisconsin.

 

 

My lack of math killed me on the reach schools, but overall I cannot complain. I was unable to take many math courses due to my schools business curriculum. All acceptances had funding. I will be attending the University of Tennessee in the fall on a full assistantship+tuition waiver+health insurance.

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I posted in the other thread, but here it goes again.....

Gre: 700 Q, 500 V

Type of Undergrad: Small California State Univ...( We only had 3 full time profs)

GPA: Overall: 3.1, Econ: 3.8, Math: 3.2

Classes:

Math: (Weakest area)Calc I,II,Stats I,II

Econ: Intro Micro,Intro Macro, Inter Macro,Inter Micro, Eco. of Sustainable Society, Money & Banking, Econ. History

Research Experience: Researched Carbon Markets and the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 for an Environmental Research Center

Teaching Experience: Tutored Intermediate Macro & Micro and TA´d for Intro Economics & Intermediate Micro

LORs: One from Full time prof ( Texas A&M), One from a lecturer that is the executive director of environmental research center ( Oregon) and the last one from a Business Prof ( Wisconsin) who is the director of our MBA program

SoP & Interests: Talked about my interest in research, and my particular interest in labor and environmental economics.

Other: American citizen

 

Admissions Decisions

New Mexico-Accepted PhD w/ fellowship 24k/yr plus health insurance

CUNY-Never heard back ???

UNLV- Accepted MA

SDSU- Accepted MA

CSUFullerton-Accepted MA

NMSU-Accepted MA

 

What i learned

I would take more math or wait a year and apply to more Phd programs and skip the MA programs. My lack of math prevented me from applying to more doctoral programs. In the end im happy, i know unm is not highly ranked but ive visited the school, as well as some of the people there and im really happy.

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Thanks for starting this thread. I am eager to know their profiles too.

Everyone in this forum seems to be going to/are already in the top 20 schools.

And the rest die in shame. :p

 

 

it's true, and I hope this does not translate into a graduate from a low-ranked university shutting up and dying in shame forever, and not producing good papers that express different opinions from those of the top school grads.

 

but then again the top schools decide how to think and the rest follow. No offense.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: medium (roughly 30,000 students) public university

Undergrad GPA: 3.55 overall, 3.83 economics GPA

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 800Q / 580V/ 6.0AW

Math Courses: Calc I (A), Calc II (B+), Calc III (C+), Applied Linear Algebra (C+), Numbers and Polynomials (D+), Elementary Differential Equations ©, proof-based Linear Algebra (B)

Econ Courses: Honors Principles of Microeconomics (A), Honors Principles of Macroeconomics (A), Banking Financial Markets and Monetary Theory (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (B), Games and Decisions (B), International Trade (A), Economics of State and Local Govt (A-), Intro to Econometrics (A)

Other Courses: audited PhD Macro I

Letters of Recommendation: undergraduate advisor and professor in two classes (PhD from UNC-CH), econ prof for intermediate micro and macro (PhD from Carnegie Mellon), econ prof for econometrics (PhD from Carnegie Mellon), math prof for proof-based LA (PhD from NYU)

Research Experience: started a senior thesis, but not completed.

Teaching Experience: tutored all four years of undergrad

Research Interests: micro theory, applied micro, labor, environmental, bioeconomics

SOP: started with a template, and tailored each SOP to each schools interests and strengths (as long as there was some intersection in interests). THEY DO READ YOUR SOP.

Other: out of school for 2 years

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: FSU, UGA, Colorado at Boulder, UC Irvine

Waitlists: UNC (rejected later), Illinois (rejected later),Boston College, Pitt

Rejections: UWashington, UTexas

What would you have done differently?

Let me preface by saying that my original plan was to go to law school. I didn't seriously start thinking about economics PhD until late junior year. Take as much math as possible, with good grades.

 

ATTENDING UGA

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Keep in mind students who aren't well prepared don't come to this forum. Some students just major in economics, get straight A's, and think that will get them into graduate school. They only take the math required to graduate: calc I & II, stat I & II, at least at my school. Consequently, they don't have calc III, no linear algebra, no analysis, and don't get any top 50 offers.

 

People in this forum are well prepared simply because they get advice well in advance. There's nothing wrong with going to a school 100 ranked school. The only reason this lower ranked schools have programs is because their graduates can find work, at least somewhere.

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This is also in the other profile page, but since I'm going to florida state i'll post it here.

 

Profile:

Gre: 770 Q, 560 V, 5.0 A

LSAT: 156

GPA: Overall: 3.51, Econ: 3.85, Math: 3.61, Majors: Economics and Mathematics

Classes: (all undergrad- highest grade is A)

Math: Calc II(B+) Calc III (B-), Calc IV (B+), Dif EQ's (B), Foundations of Math (A), Mathematical Statistics I (A-), Math Stats II (A), Math Stats III (A-), Math Modeling and Optimzation (A-), Statistical Computing (A), Matrix Theory (A), Linear Algebra (B), Advanced Calc I (A), Advanced Calc II (A), Elementary Point Set Topology (A-)

Econ: Intro Macro (A), Intro Micro (A), Intermed Macro (A), Intermed Micro (A), Advanced Micro (A-), Advanced Macro (A-), Econ Stats (A-), Econometrics (A-), Public Finance (A-), Game Theory (A), Economics of Heath Care (A), Environmental Economics (A).

Type of Undergrad: Medium Sized Mid-West State University

Research Experience: One year Research Assistanship for Econ Faculty memeber, 1 year+ Research Assistanship for small think tank with ties to econ department (ongoing)

Teaching Experience: University hired tutor in Math (2 years), Supplemental Instruction for Principles of Micro and Macro (3 yrs)

LORs: Econ professor (PhD Florida State) who taught me Public Finance and Econometrics. Econ Prof (PhD Rochester), who taught me Econ Stats, Game Theory, and Health Care Economics. Math Prof (PhD Bowling Green) who taught me Math Stats I, II, III and Statistical Computing.

SoP: Mentioned my research interests and how each school was a good match.

Interests: Econometrics, Law and Economics, Applied Micro, I/O.

 

Admissions Decisions

Admitted: UVA (no funding), UW-Seattle (No Funding), George Mason (No Funding), Florida State (Generous Funding)

Waitlisted: Boston College

Rejected: MIT, NYU, Duke, Vanderbilt (Law & Econ), UCSD, UC-Berkeley, UI-UC, Brown.

Never Heard Back From: WUSTL

 

Heading to: Florida State.

 

What would I have done differently? I would have gone to a more prestigious undergrad institution if I had realized what a handicap not going to one would be. Also I would have started caring about my grades a lot earlier, and studied more for the GRE and LSAT. Also I would have applied to more mid-level schools. I knowingly applied to alot of reaches, just on a lark.

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Notacolour,

 

Initially, my top two were UWashington-Seattle and UNC-CH. I was rejected outright by UW, and was pretty bummed out. In the meanwhile, I was accepted by UC-Irvine, FSU, UGA, and Colorado. Colorado was out initially because they didn't offer financial aid. I visited UCI, who gave me a good financial aid package. I was turned off by three things about UCI: 1) it's so far away from family and I have no friends on the West Coast, 2) the cost of living is ridiculous, and 3) Orange County reminded me a lot of South Florida (where I lived the first half of my life). Nonetheless, I still was considering UCI, mainly because I think it's up-and-coming. I visited FSU, who gave a very generous aid package, and was happy to be back (I did my undergrad there). But, I decided that I should go somewhere else; it wouldn't be good to stay at the same university for undergrad and grad. So FSU was ruled out. I visited UGA and it reminded me of FSU. The profs were great, and I really liked the grad students I met. They offered me a generous financial aid package. I left Athens with a good feeling about UGA. At this point though, I was hoping for a UNC admit and was considering attending even if they didn't fund me. Close to April 16, I was officially rejected by UNC (after being waitlisted), so it was down to UCI and UGA. At this point I was leaning 85/15 UGA/UCI. UCI offered me some more aid, but it just wasn't enough. So I chose UGA.

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Notacolour,

 

Initially, my top two were UWashington-Seattle and UNC-CH. I was rejected outright by UW, and was pretty bummed out. In the meanwhile, I was accepted by UC-Irvine, FSU, UGA, and Colorado. Colorado was out initially because they didn't offer financial aid. I visited UCI, who gave me a good financial aid package. I was turned off by three things about UCI: 1) it's so far away from family and I have no friends on the West Coast, 2) the cost of living is ridiculous, and 3) Orange County reminded me a lot of South Florida (where I lived the first half of my life). Nonetheless, I still was considering UCI, mainly because I think it's up-and-coming. I visited FSU, who gave a very generous aid package, and was happy to be back (I did my undergrad there). But, I decided that I should go somewhere else; it wouldn't be good to stay at the same university for undergrad and grad. So FSU was ruled out. I visited UGA and it reminded me of FSU. The profs were great, and I really liked the grad students I met. They offered me a generous financial aid package. I left Athens with a good feeling about UGA. At this point though, I was hoping for a UNC admit and was considering attending even if they didn't fund me. Close to April 16, I was officially rejected by UNC (after being waitlisted), so it was down to UCI and UGA. At this point I was leaning 85/15 UGA/UCI. UCI offered me some more aid, but it just wasn't enough. So I chose UGA.

 

Sounds like you went and visited a lot of programs. Do have to pay for the plane ticket or do they cover that?

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  • 5 months later...

School: Florida State (UG) University of South Florida (Grad)

Major: Economics and Geography (UG) Economics (Grad)

GPA: 3.67 (UG) 4.00 (Grad)

GRE: 760q 520v 5.5AWA

Courses: At Fl State

Int. Micro A

Int. Macro A

Econometrics B+

Game Theory A

Math Econ A-

Economics of State Govt B+

Urban Economics A

Environmental Economics A

Principles Micro Honors B+

Principles of Macro A

 

Calc I Tested out of

Calc II Honors A

Calc III (F...attendence problem.....retook the class and got an A)

Linear Algebra F......missed second midterm

Probability Theory A-

 

At USF

 

Regulation/Antitrust A+ (Fl State did not give A+....at USF its optional if a prof wants to use it)

Math Economics A

Law and Economics A

Bridge to Abstract Mathematics A+

 

This semesters grades (not included in my applications)

 

Econometrics I A-

Development A-

Economics of Health A

Differential Eqn A

 

Spring Classes

 

Micro I

Aggregate Economics (Uses the Swedish guy's book)

Econometrics II

Essentials of Statistics (Basically Undergrad Math Stat at USF)

 

Summer Classes

 

Linear Algebra

History of Economic Thought

 

Research: None.....I do serve as a ta for principles of micro

LOR: 1 letter is excellent.....the others should be good but not great

Interests: Industrial Organization, Public Economics, Applied Micro

Schools:

Michigan State

Oregon

Connecticut

Florida State

Colorado

My Concerns:

Two undergraduate F's and lack of analysis classes.......I may be willing to spend an extra yr at USF to rectify this if Im not pleased with my offers. (Would take analysis, a grad stat class, Econometrics III, and Micro II in the fall if this is the case)......I may also retake my GRE next yr to raise quant...although Im happy with my AWA score and have heard people say that anything 760 and above is okay......but then again that may be outdated information.

 

Anyhoo, Im hoping to buy into the theory that if I go to a mediocre program and excel Ill be in good shape.

 

Goals: Professor at a research institution would be nice....but I wouldnt mind a position at a Liberal Arts college or a Bachelors/Masters university. I enjoy the teaching aspect so that wouldnt bog me down.

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