Profiles and Results 2008

[jeeves0923]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, B.A. Econ from large state University top 50ish in general, top 25 in math, decent econ dept
Undergrad GPA: 3.90/4.0, Summa Cum Laude, In Honors
Type of Grad: M.S. Math (to finish Dec. 08)
Grad GPA: 3.8/4
GRE: 800Q, 610V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: All required courses for math degree + Real Analysis I and II, Math for Economists(graduate), Abstract Algebra (graduate), Measure Theory (graduate)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): PhD Micro, PhD Labor
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): IO, Public, Econ of China, Environmental and Natural Resource Econ, Game Theory, Micro and Macro Theory
Other Courses: History minor, about half of an engineering degree
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (1 Chicago PhD, 1 UMN PhD, 1 UCSD PhD), 1 math prof (Princeton PhD, NSF winner), all extremely solid, though they are all quite old.
Research Experience: RA for Econ prof, Theoretical math thesis on Bond Percolation, Economics thesis, one paper submitted to journal
Teaching Experience: GTA for University Writing Coaching Center, GTA for Vector Geometry, Intermediate Micro, and an Honors Colloquium on Game Theory
Research Interests: Public Finance, Law & Econ, Education, Labor, Theory
SOP: It was ok, but it will be better for the next round
Other: Spending next spring in New Zealand hopefully to study education policy

RESULTS:
Acceptances: none
Waitlists:
Rejections: Princeton, Harvard, MIT
What would you have done differently? Nothing too big. I would have probably asked for advice from more profs on my NSF proposal. I feel like I was so close. MIT gave me the whole, wait a little while longer note and rejected me about an hour after I got only Honorable Mention on NSF. I'll be happy to spend another year at VT and pick up a master's in math, some grad stats, more PhD econ and write a thesis. Next year, I will definitely increase the number of schools I apply to(probably around 15). I think Berkeley could be a better fit for me than Princeton which I didn't figure out this year until too late. I also think that my NSF evals will give me some good guidance to hopefully improve for next year! Also, will take LSAT and apply to J.D. and Ph.D. next year.

To Apply next year:
J.D. and ECON Ph.D.: Harvard, Berkeley, Yale, Chicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Stanford, Columbia, NYU, maybe Duke
Only ECON Ph.D.: MIT, UCSD

[manho]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Civil Engineering major, economics minor. One of the top engineering school in Canada
Undergrad GPA: 80% Overall, 75% in Econ, 83% final year
GRE: 790Q, 320V, 3.5 AWA... me no good wif words...
Math Courses: Typical engineering package. Calc I, II, III, "Advanced Math for Engineers", Linear Algebra, Differential Eq'n, Prob & Stat, Operation Research
Econ Courses: None worth mentioning, really. All undergrads.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from a finance prof, 2 from engineering. Nothing stellar, but pretty sure it was solid and above average.
Research Experience: Two research/term project as part of the engineering deal
SOP: Basically story telling that why I want to do economics, although I did a civil eng undergrad

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Toronto MA (no $)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Queens (MS Finance), UBC (MS Finance)
Pending: Toronto MFE
What would you have done differently?
I had a job lined up if I didn't get in, so that was my reason of applying to the few number of schools.

If time and money wasn't a factor, perhaps doing my GRE again and bump the verbal part up.. (320 was just ridiculous...)

[friendlyskies]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small, mid-ranked LAC
Undergrad GPA: 3.99 Business admin major, Econ minor
Grad GPA: 4.0 as non-degree math grad student
GRE: 780q, 620v, 5.0w
Math Courses: multivariable calculus, linear algebra, diff eq, real analysis (2 sem.), math stats (2 sem. w/ Casella&Berger)
Econ Courses: intro micro/macro, intermediate micro/macro, IO, statistical analysis for econ
Letters of Recommendation: 2 fed economists, 1 undergrad finance prof.
Research Experience: 3 yrs as a Fed RA, a couple undergrad publications in weak journals
Teaching Experience: TA for a couple semesters in UG
Research Interests: macro, int'l trade and finance
SOP: pretty standard...try to explain away the weaknesses and accentuate the positive. emphasized my fed research experience, recent math classes, programming abilities, teaching experience.

RESULTS:
Attending: Arizona State University
Acceptances: UVA ($$), Boston College ($$), Boston University ($$$), UNC ($$), Arizona State ($$$), Vanderbilt ($$$), Tufts MA ($)
Waitlists: UT Austin
Rejections: Maryland, Duke, Brown, Georgetown
Pending: Never heard from WUSTL
What would you have done differently? I don't think I would have done much, if anything, differently. I think I targeted the range of schools pretty well given the outcome, and I'm happy with the results. ASU is a small but growing program, and I'm stoked about the opportunity to work closely with guys like Prescott and Rogerson. I am really glad that I took a few years after undergrad to build up my resume before applying though...getting good research experience, working with well-known economists, and taking higher math classes made all the difference in the quality of programs for which I was a competitive applicant.

[tm0]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: 3yrs, unfinished first degree in Europe, Business/Econ, at shit school.
Undergrad GPA: good
Type of Grad: Top 5 UK Master in Econ
Grad GPA: high
GRE: 800q, 670v, 4.5w (two years before that: 780q, 630,v, 4.5w)
Math Courses: one term of math for soc science in 1st year undergrad, one term of math for econ during masters.
Econ Courses: Enough though not too extensive either.
Letters of Recommendation: grad prof, thesis supervisor, undergrad prof.
Research Experience: 1 year part-time RA during UG, 6 month RA in research institution in Washington DC, one working paper (=master thesis)
Teaching Experience: TA micro & econometrics one semester each in UG
Research Interests: dev econ, applied micro, microeconometrics
SOP: Ok

RESULTS:
Attending: UMich
Acceptances: Duke ($ but no 1st year stipend), Brown ($$), Cornell (no $), UMich ($$), LSE (no $), UCL ($$), Oxford ($?)
Rejections: Yale, MIT, Stanford, UCLA
Other: Never heard from Boston U
What would you have done differently?
Dunno. Work harder. Make connections to get good recomm from more well-known people.
More math before surely wouldn't have hurt. But when? Given the little I had, the marginal benefit should have been high.
Think about location harder before applying.
Spend more time (>> 3 days of reading plus 1 night of writing) on Res Proposal at LSE to get funding.
Alternatively: Relax. Not try to get into good schools. Be happy with less.

[mamama]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Engineering-best university in my country
Undergrad GPA: 3.31/4.00
Grad GPA: 3.7/4.00 same university economics department
GRE: 800q, 400v, 3.5w
Math Courses: Calculus I,II linear algebra, differential eq. real analysis
Econ Courses: master courses and many micro courses
Letters of Recommendation: from economics department/ applied to some without master thesis advisors LOR
Research Experience: 2 years, a published article in native language and 2 ongoing
Teaching Experience: TA for a couple semesters in UG and G
Research Interests: micro,io
SOP: standard

RESULTS:
Attending: Austin
Acceptances: Austin ($$), Boston College ($$), Duke ($$), Rochester ($$), Rutgers ($$), UIUC ($$),Pompeu Fabra($$), Tinbergen ($$), Tilburg($$), Wisconsin Madison
Rejects: Upenn,Nyu,Columbia,NW
What would you have done differently? have chose another university for master

[Chess is life]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Public University BA
Undergrad GPA: 3.94/ 4.0 Math/ Economics
Type of Grad: Public University MA
Grad GPA: 4.0/ 4.0 Economics
GRE: 670 V 800 M 5.0 Writing (I took it when I was 19 to get a job at Kaplan and it worked!)
Math Courses: Topology, Real Analysis, Linear Algebra, Calculus 1-3, Differential Equations, Probability and Statistics, Numerical Analysis, Econ Courses: International Economics I and II (MA), Math for Economists (MA and PhD), Microeconomics (MA and PhD), Urban Economics (MA), Econometrics (MA and PhD), Health Economics (MA), Macroeconomics (MA), Intro. to Econometrics, Statistical Methods, Intermediate Micro and Macro, Industrial Organization (Best Class ever), Seminar in economics, Money and Banking, several independent studies,
Other Courses: Physics 1 and 2 (I seriously considered majoring in it). Computer science 1.Letters of Recommendation: Math and Economics professors. I did research with the economics professors.
Research Experience: A lot. Washington, DC think tank work for almost a year now, mainly immigration and trade issues. However, I am currently doing research on state policies that effect economic growth and presented at the CATO Institute on microcredit. I also have done research on child abuse, social capital, fed policy and housing prices, a senior thesis on NAFTA's effects on Mexico, municipal government efficiency (Global Perspective), and the fed challenge (Rutgers won our district).
Teaching Experience: Tutor for my University 2 years and tutor/teacher for Kaplan test and prep.
Research Interests: Probably Microeconomics, most likely something very game theoretical. This is subject to change given that I have yet to take a PhD level economics course in Macroeconomics.
SOP: General but adapted to each university I applied to.
Other: I think being affiliated with the CATO Institute (libertarian think tank) hurt me. Also, Rutgers has a tendency of sending students to programs and watching them promptly fail the qualifier. This couldn’t have helped me.[/font]

RESULTS:
Acceptances: Rochester (24k Fellowship), Duke (17k fellowship), Washington University, St. Louis (TA/ RA 20k), Rutgers (30k Presidential Fellowship), Michigan (Nada), UCLA (Nada), Wisconsin (Nada), Georgetown (Wait-list for funding), UCSD (TA and after a complicated formula 7k), Cornell (Nada)
Waitlists: Minnesota, NYU (High whatever that means), MIT (later rejected)
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Chicago, Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Stanford, Berkeley, Northwestern,
Pending: Nothing
Concerns: My letter writers are not very well-known

What would you have done differently?
Maybe take more math? I really don’t know what else I could have done. I think I will regret not taking more computer science courses.

[jazzcon]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Econ major at a US state university with top 200 Econ grad program (ie not very strong).
Undergrad GPA: overall GPA: 3.6; econ: 3.9 ; math:3.7.
GRE: 800Q, 520V,AWA 5.5
Math Courses: Calc sequence (A), Differential equations (B+), Linear Algebra (B+), Probability Theory (B), MathEcon w/ S&B (A)
Econ Courses: The basic sequence of things.
Grad classes: MathStats w/ Casella (A), Econometrics sequence (A)
Letters of Recommendation: thesis advisor, econ prof I graded for, 2 Economists from work.
Research Experience: Undergraduate thesis, 2 years RA at the Fed.
Teaching Experience: Grader
Research Interests: IO, public, applied micro.
SOP: didn’t really spend much time on it.
Concerns: Not stellar pedigree. Not great grades. No Analysis.


RESULTS:
Attending: Virginia($$)
Acceptances: Virginia($$), Boston U.(no $$)
Rejects: Berkeley, Yale, Chicago, NWU, UMD, UMich, Brown, Duke
What would you have done differently? Went to a better undergrad? Taken more math. Better grades in Math. I am very happy with my Virginia($$) admit though.

[zwicker]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Econ Major, Private not well known University (US)
Undergrad GPA: overall GPA: 3.9; econ: 4.0 ; math:4.0.
GRE: 800Q, 510V,AWA 5.0
Math Courses: Calc sequence (A), Differential equations (A), Linear Algebra (A), Probability & Stats (A), Adv. Stats (A), Discrete Math (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ, 1 math; all were strong (but not MIT, Harvard, etc.)
Research Experience: Very little.
Teaching Experience: Graded and have taught occasional undergrad classes.
Research Interests: IO, micro.
SOP: I thought it was good.
Concerns: No grad level classes. No analysis. No research. Not from well known school.


RESULTS:
Attending: Arizona ($$$)
Acceptances: Wisconsin (none 1st year), Virginia($$), UNC ($$), Kentucky ($$), Arizona ($$), Texas A&M ($$), Clemson ($$),
Rejects: Yale, Brown, BC, Caltech
Pending: WUSTL (waitlist), Vanderbilt (waitlist)
What would you have done differently? Nothing really. I am happy with arizona. I will be a good fit there. If I was shooting for a top 10 school then I should have done a masters program in stats first and/or finished my math major. I shouldn't have applied to so many lower ranked schools. I wish I would have applied to UIUC.

[semischolastic]

Type of Undergrad: Small-Medium state school, no econ grad program.
Undergrad GPA: 3.7 (Economics, Information Systems double major)
Type of Grad: Currently enrolled in a MA Econ. program, top 15 school.
Grad GPA: 3.5-ish with a semester to go.
GRE: 770Q, 760V, 6.0 AW
Math Courses: Undergrad: Calculus, Linear Alg., Set Theory. Grad:Taking Real Analysis at the time of admissions. Did not have perfect grades in these. Taking math econ probably helped make up for it.
Econ Courses: Undergrad: Micro/Macro/Metrics/Electives Grad: Stats, Game Theory, Adv. Micro, PhD Micro (this was probably crucial), Macro, Research Seminar, Econometrics, Math Econ.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from grad instructors, one of whom I did research for. The other has a reputation for writing strong letters. 3rd is from the dept chair in undergrad.
Research Experience: RA at the Fed for a year, two papers (one completed, one working). The working paper is relatively sophisticated.
Teaching Experience: Tutoring while an undergrad, TA for graduate Urban Econ.
Research Interests: Applied Micro, Public, Urban
SOP: Specialized for each school, naturally. Talked about my past experience, explained my transcript, talked about dissertation topics, faculty I wanted to work with.

Admits: Chicago($$), Berkeley($$), Duke($$), Davis($)
Rejections: Brown
Ambiguous: UI Chicago (I withdrew my application), Syracuse (never heard back)
Attending: Berkeley

Done differently: It's hard to say. Some things are obvious in retrospect (I should have gone ahead and applied to Harvard and MIT, just for peace of mind; shouldn't have wasted money on Syracuse and UIC; more math). Others aren't so clear (I probably would have done physics and philosophy as an undergrad and just taken a couple of more advanced econ classes, but maybe that would have hurt my chances? And would I still have gotten the Econ MA?)

Most of that is useless navel-gazing, I think. I was fortunate to have been admitted into the schools which accepted me, and I couldn't be happier with the way things have gone. Onwards and upwards!

[econphp06]

Type of Undergrad: Business Major, Economics Minor
Undergrad GPA: overall GPA: 3.33 (bad freshman year, excluding freshman it is 3.55)
GRE: 800Q, 330V,AWA 4.0
Math Courses: Math for Econ I-II (AA)Calculus I-II (CB), Differential equations (CB), Linear Algebra (BB), Operations Research (AA), Decision Support Systems( AA)
Econ Courses: Int. Micro-Macro, Econometric, Financial Markets Institutions etc..
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ prof and 1 math prof
Research Experience: RA for 3 months.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Financial Economics, Financial Econometrics, Econometrics.
SOP: ok.
Concerns: Not having great grades and math courses

RESULTS:
Attending: CEMFI Master in Economics and Finance ($$)
Acceptances: CEMFI Master in Economics and Finance ($$), University of Houston Economics Phd, North Carolina State University Econ Phd, Washington State University Econ Phd($$), UPF Msc Finance, Vanderbilt GPED, Central Michigan MA Economics
Rejects: University of Virginia Econ Phd, Boston College Econ Phd, Purdue Econ Phd, Carlos III MA
What would you have done differently? Studied in freshman year, applied only masters programs...