Roll Call Fall 2009

[\/0><]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A, M.A econ in europe
GPA: more or less 90/100
Major: Economics
GRE: 800Q, 490V, 3.5 writing
TOEFL: 112
Math Courses: Real analysis, measure theory, linear algebra, dynamic optimization
Econ Courses (undergrad): Micro, macro, metrics, labor, growth.. but a very basic level
Econ Courses (grad): Micro(MWG), Game theory, Asset Pricing (Duffie), Decision Theory, Growth, Econometrics
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors. They are well known in economic theory.
Research Experience: no
Teaching Experience: no
Research Interests: decision theory, game theory
statement of purpose: the most boring week in my life
Applying to: Basically the top 15

[SF_Haole]

I've been pretty nervous about my chances, and rightly so thus far: 1 admit, 1 waitlist, 3 official rejections and 4 schools that haven't rejected me but appear to have admitted everyone already.

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Stanford
GPA: 3.7
Major: Physics (BS), International Relations (BA)
Type of Grad: Stanford
GPA: 3.9
Major: International Policy Studies (MA)
GRE: 800Q, 690V, 6.0 writing
Math Courses: Multivariate Calculus: Differential (A) & Integral (A), Linear Algebra: Basic (A) & Advanced (A), Honors Diff Eqns w/proofs (B). Also a ****-ton of physics classes.
Econ Courses (undergrad): Basic micro/macro (A) intermediate micro (B+,A-) intermediate macro(B+), economic history (A), env. econ(A), public policy analysis(A+), stats for econ(A-), metrics(B+).
Econ Courses (grad): None, but I took grad-level courses in international macro (A-), and development (A) through my masters program and the political science dept's Ph.D-level game theory class (A).
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from fairly famous econ professors. I do research for one of them and took a class from the other (and worked for his colleague). 1 from a very famous political scientist (has his own wikipedia article) who taught my game theory class. Kinda nervous about the polisci rec but my options were limited.
Research Experience: lots of physics research; worked as an RA for the RBI (Indian Central Bank) for 1 summer; currently work in applied econ & policy analysis for one of my recommenders (past 2 years).
Teaching Experience: 1 year as a TA for intro to economics.
Research Interests: econometrics, development
statement of purpose: Decent, I might have explained my research more but I built off my NSF essay, which had a separate previous research essay.
Applying to: 21 schools, including the top 10 overall, top 10 econometrics, and top 10 in development. Also UW-Seattle

[Joecon]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA in Econ at an East Asian Uni
Undergrad GPA: 3.6/4.3
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 630/800/3.5
Math Courses: Math for Econ(Econ Dept), Stat for Econ(Econ Dept), Statistics(Stat Dept), Foundations of Economic Analysis(Econ Dept)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): None
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Pretty much every main course, from introductory micro and macro to game theory and econometrics
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from Econ Profs of my Dept(PhD UCLA and Northwestern respectively), 1 from my supervisor at work
Research Experience: Have been working for the central bank of my country for 2 1/2 yrs specializing in reserve management
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: (Positive)Political Economy, Labor, Public, Experimental, (possibly)Financial/Corporate History
Concerns: Lack of math courses, lack of teaching/research experience
Other: None
Applying to: Vanderbilt(PhD), Texas A&M(PhD), Rutgers(PhD), U of Florida(PhD), SUNY at Albany(PhD), Toulouse School of Economics(M2), U of Toronto(MA, doctoral stream), Queen's(MA), UBC(MA)
Admitted: Rutgers(w/o funding), Texas A&M(with funding), Toulouse School of Economics(not decided)
Pending: the rests
---
Hi guys! I finally post my results so far. I decided to do a PhD in Econ last year, so I'm not that well prepared.
Among the admissions I've received, I am thinking about Texas A&M and TSE. Considering my interests, which institution do you guys think would be better to go? I initially thought TSE as my priority, but my friends doing their PhDs in the States say that Texas A&M is absolutely and definitely better. They say most European PhDs are not welcomed outside the continent and TSE is only good at IO and TAMU is not that bad.(but I heard that the Econ Dept at TAMU is sinking?)
My dream is doing research and teaching at a research school. I know the reality, so I said dream not goal. But anyway, which one would be better?

Thanks for your time. May god bless you all!

[talal86]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BSc Economics and Finance - South Asian University - 2nd best in the country
Undergrad GPA: 3.72/4.0
Type of Grad: MSc Economics and Finance - Same School
Grad GPA: 3.65 so far
GRE: 800 (Q), 480 (V), 4.5 (AWA)
Math Courses: Mathematics for Economics (Grad level), Mathematics I & II(A's), Mathematics for Economics (A-), Advanced Calculus (A), Statistics I (B), Statistics II (A).
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Advanced Econometrics, Advanced Microeconomics I & II, Advanced Macroeconomics I & II, Financial Derivatives, Portfolio Theory and some other finance courses. Also a seminar/workshop in Applied Economics (Every week).
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Pretty much every main course: Micro, Macro (Intro, I and II), Econometrics I & II, some applied courses like International Economics, Environmental Economics, Economics Analysis, Public Finance, Development Economics, and a few more. (All A's except for a couple of B's or A-).
Letters of Recommendation: Brown, Maryland, Arizona State, and Paris I - Dauphin.
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: Mathematics I, Microeconomics I, answer Statistics I.
Research Interests: Development Finance, Applied Micro, and others.
Other: None
Applyied to: Chicago, Columbia, UPenn, Toulouse School of Economics(M2), U of Toronto(MA, doctoral stream), LSE (MSc Fin. & Econ), Cambridge (Mphil in Finance and MPhil in Economics))

[Visible Hand]

PROFILE:

Type of Applicant: International, big continental european country.

Type of Undergrad: Good public university but with a very bad school of Economics. Student of the university honor college (more selective than Ivy) which offers courses on its own, including in heterodox Economics.
Undergrad GPA: Overall: ~3.9/4.0; Economics: 4.0(+)/4.0; Math/Stat: 4.0(++)/4.0.
(+), (++) and ~ are due to different conversion methods that can be applied.

Type of Grad: Two-years Master in Economics (attending 2nd year), best public university of the country, 2nd department of Economics in the country, best in my fields. Student of the university honor college (less selective and prestigious than undergraduate's).
Grad GPA: 4.0-ε/4.0 or 4.0(+)/4.0 according to different conversion methods.

GRE: 790Q 530V 5.0AWA - TOEFL: 110

Math Courses: Several courses in Math and Stat covering all the basic Calculus/Analysis/Linear Algebra/ODE/Optimization/Measure stuff up to Simon-Blume (Vol. 2) and De La Fuente level, as well as Probability/Inference/Multivariate Stats up to Casella-Berger.
All full grades with mention.

Econ Courses: All the basic undergraduate Micro/Macro/Metrics stuff plus some applied/heterodox/history/quantitative courses. At Master Level, Micro I/Macro I/Metrics I (taking II for each in the fall) plus: Topics in Economic Theory, Economics of Innovation, Competition Policy.
All full grades, often with mention, apart from graduate Macro I (~A–).

Other Courses: Undergraduate courses in Accounting, Management and Law; graduate Corporate Finance. I have lower grades on these on average.

Letters of Recommendation: 1 MIT, 1 Toulouse, 1 Louvain, 1 Sussex (the latter from my undergraduate Honor College advisor).

Research Experience: Started to work on Master Thesis in I.O.; some short dissertations and empirical projects in the past (none of them valuable).

Teaching Experience: Illegal in my country before Master graduation.

Research Interests: Industrial Organization, Behavioral Economics, Microeconometrics.

Statement of Purpose: A synthetic overview of my academic life and interests.

Other: I obtained full scholarships from both honor colleges I have been student of. Moreover, I have been awarded 2-years full funding (tuition+stipend) to attend a top PhD in Economics, by a board of economists from a prestigious private foundation in my country. This 'should' help me to get somewhere, hopefully, also because such scholarships typically work as signals.


Concerns: In general, information asymmetries: some of my reference writers don't know me well, little research experience, my Master Program is very good in my country, maybe the best - attracts international people; but I enrolled in the starting year of running (so it has no reputation). I think I applied to too many places where my recommenders are not known (basically autorejects). 790Q?


--------------------------------------


Applying to: MIT, Chicago, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Northwestern, Yale, UCSD, UWM, NYU, Stern, CMU, HBS, Wharton (Mgmt), Caltech, LSE, Toulouse, EUI.

[futg6]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA top 3 Econphd.net
Undergrad GPA: 3.6/4
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 570/790/4.5
Math Courses: Calc 1-3, Multivariable, Linear Algebra, Stats, Probability, Real Analysis (all a's except a B in Analysis)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro/Macro, Metrics, Metrics B, and a bunch of other upper level electives
Letters of Recommendation: 1 PhD MIT, 1 PhD Chicago, 1 PhD at a less known university
Research Experience: 2 years as a research assistant for one of my letter writers doing field work in development. Two summers working as a research assistant at the population studies dept. of an econphd.net top 15 school
Teaching Experience: A whole lot of coaching soccer/swimming (not that this is relevant at all)
Research Interests: Economics of Education, Development, Labor
Concerns: C+ in one econ class as an undergraduate
Other: None
Applying to: MIT, Berkeley, Yale, NYU, Columbia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Brown, Duke, Maryland
Admitted: None
Rejected: Yale, Duke
Pending: The rest
---
Never fun getting two rejects to start the season. Hopefully one of the other 8 will take a chance on me. Good luck to everybody! Also, Scrobles is my hero. He/she is awesome.

[Snarlynoon]

PROFILE:
Undergrad: BA Economic & Political Science, Ireland (top university in Ireland... I think you can work it out!)
Undergrad GPA: 1st class honours (GPA system not used)
Graduate: 2-year M.Litt. (research based) and 1-year M.Sc. (taught, plus dissertation), as part of Scholarship at undergrad institution; 1st class honours in M.Sc.
GRE: 740Q, 700V, 5.5 AWA
Math Courses: Econometrics I and II (M.Sc.), Mathematical Economics (M.Litt.)
Econ Courses: Undergrad - 9 including Monetary Policy, Economic Theory, Competition Policy; Postgrad - Micro, Macro
Other Courses: Undergrad - 11 including 7 Politics; exchange in German university
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors, all three should be between very solid and enthusiastic
Research Experience: Well-received MSc dissertation and MLitt thesis on economic history and deglobalization; 3 years Research Assistance to supervisor; 2 years public policy; 4 years private consultancy
Teaching Experience: 3 years Teaching Assistant for elementary undergrad course
Research Interests: Economic growth/development, environmental economics, role of ICT in economic development, economic history
statement of purpose: Varied experience since undergrad has reaffirmed my interest in research, desire for career in economic research
Concerns: Older than typical applicant, research history strong but mathematical background weak; all eggs in one basket!
Other: Hoping to progress from MPhil to DPhil and then on to academia
Applying to: Oxford MPhil

---
Here's hoping my eggs-in-single-basket policy works!

[naturaldisplay]

PROFILE:
MA completing from New Economic School (Russia), gpa 5.11/5.3, GRE 800/490/3.5, TOEFL 113.

[random4some]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ (in Asia)
Undergrad GPA: 3.6/4 (strong upward trend)
Type of Grad: second year in MA program
Grad GPA: 3.8/4
GRE: 800Q, 660V, 4W
Math Courses (undergrad): Calculus 1&2, Advanced Calculus 1, Linear Algebra, Statistics, Set Theory, Differential Equations
Math (grad): Real Analysis, Probability
Econ Courses (grad): Micro (as an undergrad), Econometrics
Econ Courses (undergrad): Intermediate Micro/Macro, Advanced Micro/Macro, Game Theory, Mathematical Econ, Econometrics, Int'l Trade, Int'l Finance, I.O.,
Other Courses: Physics 1
Letters of Recommendation: all econ professors except one math professor
Research Experience: RA for central bank and econ prof, no papers yet
Teaching Experience: TA for one year
Research Interests: Macroeconometrics
statement of purpose: full of passion?
Concerns: I got a B in one of my math courses, also overall gpa is not impressive due to my first year grades (which is quite below 3).
Applied to: Mostly top 20, but also Georgetown and WUSTL

[corolla09]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math and Econ top LAC
Undergrad GPA: 3.28 (strong senior yr)
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 720Q, 470V, 5W
Math Courses (undergrad): Calculus I, II, III, Vector Calc, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Ring Theory, Probability, Math Stats, Applied Statistics, Stochastic Proc.
Econ Courses (undergrad): Intermediate Micro/Macro, Labor Econ, Environmental Econ, Behavior Econ, Experimental Econ, Econometrics, I/O
Other Courses: Physics 1
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ, 1 math
Research Experience: Math thesis
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Labor/IO/Behavior/Education
statement of purpose: standard
Concerns: low GPA (mostly in non-econ & math classes), low GRE
Applied to: Kentucky, Oregon, Binghamton, NC State, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Va Tech, Syracuse, Florida State, LSU