Profiles and Results 2008

[asianecon]

I'll just be following my friend econphilomath...

Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics from a top institution in Southeast Asia.
Type of Grad: M.A. in Economic Theory and Metrics from France
GPA: Graduated 1st in my class for undergrad and 2nd for masters
GRE: 800Q, 610V, 4.5AWA
TOFEL: 114/120
Courses: Tons of econ, some math, no formal real analysis (only audited)
TA: None
Teaching: None
Research: 1 published in IJIO; Honours and MA thesis
RA: RA during undergrad; RA right now for profs in a top 5 program
LORS: 1 really senior (Econometric Society Fellow), 2 junior but quite famous, 1 from undergrad (co-author)

Interests: Microeconometrics + (Statistical) Decision Theory + (a little bit of) Mechanism Design/Game Theory --> IO applications

SOP: Not so good I guess. Not focused enough and all over the place. Kinda sounded like I didn't know what I wanted to do.

Schools: Shooting for the top 10 schools.

Other: Male, 25

RESULTS:
Attending: Northwestern ($$$$)
Acceptances: Yale ($$$$$$$....), Chicago GSB ($$$), Stanford ($$), UChicago ($)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: Harvard, HBS (interviewed) MIT, Princeton, UCSD
Never heard anything: Berkeley
What would you have done differently?
Made my SOP tighter. Maybe tried to impress my current RA bosses more, but I'm not really an applied/Stata guy so that won't be fun. An adcom head told me that they would've accepted me even without the current RA job so I don't know if it really helped (a friend of mine even speculates that it might have hurt me since it's not aligned w/ my interests).

Contrary to econphilomath, don't put too much weight on the flyout. Try to visit the school on an ordinary day and see what goes on. I didn't go to a real flyout at NWU (not even the special TM day) but I decided to go there nonetheless, after visiting thrice and attending classes and seminars.

[hawk30]

An update for me. Please delete my previous post.

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Midwestern Private Liberal Arts
Undergrad GPA: 3.65 (3.9 - Econ, 3.7 - Political Science)
GRE: 720Q/630V/5.5A
LSAT: 161
Math Courses: Calculus I, II and Probability and Statistics
Econ Courses: The basics, Econometrics, Industrial Organization, International, Money and Banking, Public, etc.
Other Courses: POLS major, PHIL minor
Letters of Recommendation: Wish I knew. Two, one from MIT grad, I suspect were good. The two others I've since wondered about.
Research Experience: Researching senior thesis
Teaching Experience: Department tutor and teaching assistant
Research Interests: history of economic thought, law and economics, public choice, natural resource economics
SOP: Nothing I'm proud of
Other: Also applied to law schools. Only looked in Colorado area.

RESULTS:
Attending: University of Colorado Denver MA
Acceptances: Colorado School of Mines PhD Mineral Econ (TA+$), Colorado State University PhD (TA+$), Denver University MA (TA+$), University of New Mexico PhD, Denver University law JD, University of Colorado Denver MA
Waitlists: University of Colorado JD, University of New Mexico JD
Rejections: University of Colorado PhD
Pending:

What would you have done differently? Lots. I wish I would've decided to apply to grad schools earlier than January so I could've retaken the GRE. Wish I would've decided if I wanted to be an economist - still haven't decided that - a few years ago so I could've taken some more math classes. Also, would've liked to have found this website and forums before, not after, I submitted my applications. Overall, though, I'm pleased. Looks like I'll have the opportunity to do it better, with more math classes and an MA, in a couple years.

[mysherona]

My turn!

Type of Undergrad: Economics from Philippine university
Type of Grad: Mathematics from the same university (will not complete degree)
GPA: I can't convert it so it's useless
GRE: 800Q, 760V, 6.0AWA
TOEFL: 118/120
Courses: Typical in the programs I took; nothing special
Teaching: A year of intro calculus
Research: First prize for undergrad paper
RA: Small jobs here and there
LORS: Former econ profs
Interests: International, Monetary
SOP: Used the same thing for all the schools
Others: Male, 22

RESULTS:
Attending: Columbia ($)
Other acceptances: Northwestern ($), Duke ($), Georgetown ($), master's programs at Oxbridge, LSE and Toulouse ($)
Waitlists: Berkeley, Penn, Brown---all rejected me in the end
Rejections: the rest of the top 10 econ programs, UCLA, UCSD
Comments: I was very lucky so I'm happy with the way it turned out. If I could start over again I'd probably do my BA abroad.

[CC_Blood]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland (quite prestigious for Business in Germany/Switzerland, less so for Economics), I´m German so St. Gallen might even count as experience abroad
Undergrad GPA: 5.16/6, including a bachelor´s thesis (5.5/6)
TOEFL: 118/120
GRE: Not required for Warwick, but did it anyway for fun (without any preparation ). Q:780, V:580, Writing: 5.0
Math Courses: Maths 1 and 2 during the assessment year covering what a German student with a focus on maths would do in his final 2 highschool years, then econometrics, basic statistics, applied statistics, 2 courses featuring statistic/econometric papers (Health economics and population economics), linear models and variance analysis
Econ Courses: The usual stuff (Macro 1-3, Micro 1-3), international macroeconomics, economic history of the 19th and 20th century (2 courses), Public Finance I, Economic policy.
Other Courses: That´s where St. Gallen "excels"... basics of International Affairs, basics of Political science, several courses in Law, several courses in management theory, several courses in "critical thinking", "cultural awareness" and "leadership skills" (like PHP programming, rhetoric and philosophy of money).
Letters of Recommendation: 2, one from a visiting professor and one from a lecturer. Both barely knew me (had the the professor in 2 courses, and he supervised my bachelor´s thesis, but hardly spoke more than 10 words with him in 1 year, lecturer taught only one course with a written exam for 2 credits...), I don´t even know what they wrote in their letters.
Research Experience: Several papers and a bachelor´s thesis about the profitability of Imperial Germany`s colonies (if that counts =) )



RESULTS:
Acceptances: Warwick, MSc in Economics-->going to attend this fall. University of St. Gallen, MA in Economics (they had to take me in since I did a sufficiently good BA at St. Gallen)


What would you have done differently?
Maybe attending Mannheim or Bonn in Germany as their Economics reputation is better in Germany, but I doubt I could have started a BA there back in 2004, so i would have done a Diplom (~Master), probably with no foreign experience at all and tougher chances for going abroad for the PhD.

Currently I´m doing a gap year with several internships (UBS IB, PwC, Deutsche Bank Research) before Warwick starts this fall, I tried to go to Warwick immediately after graduating from St. Gallen, but the final transcripts weren't available till late October which was too late for 2007 admission to Warwick.

[Andronicus]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Regional state university in North Carolina
Undergrad GPA: 4.0/4.0
Type of Grad: Same as undergrad
Grad GPA: 4.0/4.0
GRE: 760Q / 720V / 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calculus I-IV, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Introduction to Topology, Probability and Statistics I, Advanced Calculus I. Taking Probability and Statistics II and Advanced Calculus II this spring.
Econ Courses: All the basic micro, macro, and econometrics for BS and MS, plus electives in mostly applied micro fields.
Other Courses: Logic
Letters of Recommendation: Three from econ professors (Ohio State, Iowa, South Carolina), 2 of whom I have done research with. One more from the math professor (Michigan State) who taught my topology and advanced calculus courses.
Research Experience: I did a master's research project on dividend taxes. A further paper on this topic, coauthored with several professors (including one of my letter writers), is currently under review. I worked with another letter writer on a project examining the impact of brownfield cleanup and redevelopment on surrounding residential housing values. I've also worked with a professor in the geography department on a study of public transportation cost-effectiveness in North Carolina and another study of traffic congestion relief.
Teaching Experience: During my MS program I was the economics department tutor for managerial economics. I've also tutored and/or TA'd for many other courses at the undergrad, MBA, and PhD Public Policy levels. Last semester, I taught micro principles at the local community college. I'm teaching macro principles this semester.
Research Interests: Public, Urban/Regional, Experimental
SOP: Mostly talked about my coursework and research experience, with the last paragraph customized to the school.
Other: American male, 26, married (no kids)

RESULTS:
Acceptances: UT-Austin ($?), Ohio State ($?), Pittsburgh ($), Vanderbilt ($$$)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: Northwestern
Pending: UIUC, Indiana, Houston, Georgia State

What would you have done differently?: Worked extra hard to improve my GRE Q-score. Applied to a couple more top-20 programs instead of Houston and Georgia State. Applied to Wharton Applied Economics instead of Northwestern.

UPDATED RESULTS:
Acceptances: Ohio State (Fellowship, Attending), UT-Austin (TAship), Pittsburgh (Fellowship), Vanderbilt (Huge Fellowship), UIUC (TAship), Houston (Fellowship Nomination), Indiana (Unfunded, Didn't hear anything until mid-July!)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: Northwestern
Application Withdrawn: Georgia State

[Keyser-Soze]

Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, B.S. Econ from small whipping-boy of a state school
Undergrad GPA: 3.97/4.0, 4.0/4.0 in Econ, 4.0/4.0 in Math, Honors degree in Econ
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 790Q, 690V, 4.5AW
Math Courses: Calc I, II, multivariable calculus, diff eq, linear algebra, math modelling, proofs. Next semester I'll be taking real analysis, advanced probability and stats, advanced modelling
Econ Courses (PhD-level): n/a
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All the standards, plus econometrics, public finance, international econ, econ of natural resources
Letters of Recommendation: I'll have excellent letters from two professors here, plus a good one from a very well known economist
Research Experience: n/a
Teaching Experience: tutor, supplemental instructor
Research Interests: Development
SOP: Fairly boiler plate
Other: I had an internship working at an org that had 10 nobel laureates on its board, including 9 econ nobel winners. (Oscar Arias was on the board, but he won the peace prize.)


RESULTS:
Acceptances:
Waitlists:
Rejections:
Pending: LSE, NYU, University of Michigan, New School, UT Austin

What would you have done differently?: I would have gotten my undergrad somewhere else

[wajihc]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 20 nat'l univ; ECON & PSCI dbl major.
Undergrad GPA: 3.0
Type of Grad: One semester at private university in Boston.
Grad GPA: 3.3
GRE: 770 Q, 520 V, 4.0 W
Undergrad Math Courses: Calc I & II (B+), Econ Stats (A), and Social Sci Stats (A-).
Grad Math Courses: Math and Stats for Econ (A-).
Undergrad Econ Courses: Intermed micro (B) and macro (C+), Int'l Trade (C+), Open Economy Macroecon (B-), US Econ History (B), Financial Instrmts and Mkts (B-), and Money and Banking (C).
Grad Econ Courses: Micro (B).
Other courses: Financial Acctg (A), Int'l Political Econ (B), and Capitalism and Democracy (A-).
Letters of Recommendation: One from visiting professor who is well known in economic history and is professor emeritus at an institution in Ohio, and another from new political science professor.
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Economic development and int'l trade.
SOP: Spoke about first-generation background, and briefly about interests.
Other: Male, 22.

RESULTS:
Acceptances (MA): UDelaware, FL Int'l, N Texas ($4000), and Miami OH.
Rejections (MA): American.

What would you have done differently?
Taken more math classes, and been more serious.

[canadamike]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics (Honours) from a top Canadian School (though not top in Economics)
Undergrad GPA: With 2 terms left, almost a 3.3 but if you look beyond first year it goes up to over 3.8
GRE: 790Q, 600V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calculus 1, Algebra 1, and I failed Linear Algebra in first year
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All the core courses plus advanced Econometrics and international economics courses (trade, finance, institutions). 83% Average overall
Other Courses: Philosophy minor
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ (1 Assistant Prof, 1 Lecturer) and for Oxford I got a 2nd Assistant Prof
Research Interests: Trade theory, sports economics
SOP: Done and Done
Concerns: Poor first year (poor is an understatement); only a 78% overall; worried my bad first year performance will outshine my grades since
Applying to: LSE, Oxford, UCL, Warwick, Nottingham, Bristol, York

RESULTS:
Acceptances: York (UK), Nottingham, Warwick
Rejections: LSE
Waiting: Bristol, UCL, Oxford

[CollegePunter]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 100 Liberal Arts College
Undergrad GPA: 3.62 (overall); 3.75 (Econ); 3.9 (Math)
Type of Grad: Currently getting my M.A.
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 770Q, 570V, 5.0A
Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A), Calculus II (A)
Econ Courses: All Undergrad, Grad Macro (A), Grad Behavioral (A), Grad Mathematical Econ (A)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Several (mix of undergrad and grad)
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Applied Micro, Resource, Game Theory, Behavioral

Will be applying to Ph.D. in 2009

[CollegePunter]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 100 Liberal Arts College
Undergrad GPA: 3.62 (overall); 3.75 (Econ); 3.9 (Math)
Type of Grad: Currently getting my M.A.
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 770Q, 570V, 5.0A
Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A), Calculus II (A)
Econ Courses: All Undergrad, Grad Macro (A), Grad Behavioral (A), Grad Mathematical Econ (A)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Several (mix of undergrad and grad)
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Applied Micro, Resource, Game Theory, Behavioral

Will be applying to Ph.D. in 2009