Roll Call Fall 2009

[dodora]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Physics (HK)
Undergrad GPA: 3.95/4
Type of Grad: Physics (TOP 20 US)
Grad GPA: 3.97/4
GRE: 800Q, 640V, 4W
Math Courses (undergrad): math required for physics major undergrad
Math (grad): advanced mathematics for physics (A+)
Econ Courses (grad): Macro I (A+), Econometrics (A+), Computational Macro (didn't take for grade)
Econ Courses (undergrad): None
Other Courses: a lot physics courses and a few biology courses...they're irrelevant, i guess
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors and one physics professor and one math professor
Research Experience: RA for a condense matter physics lab; doing research in biophysics/computational bio labs...again, irrelevant
Teaching Experience: TA for two years
Research Interests: Macroeconometrics
Concerns: obvisously, tooooo few econ courses. And I should apply to more places...
Applied to: Stanford, UPenn, Cornell, UCSD, UMD, JHU, Georgetown, UBC, UToronto

[xbar]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Economics: Management Science (Top 10 US Institution by IDEAS)
Undergrad GPA: Econ: 3.5/4, Highest Distinction; Cumulative: 3.14
GRE: 800Q, 550V, 4.5W
Math Courses (undergrad): Calc II (B-), Calc III (C+), Linear Alg (B-), Mathematical Reasoning (B)
Econ Courses (grad): Econometrics I (B), Micro I (B-)
Econ Courses (undergrad): Everything besides macro (A's and B's)
Other Courses: Bob Marley and History of Jamaican Culture
Letters of Recommendation: 2 well published professors, 1 assistant professor
Research Experience: Senior Thesis
Teaching Experience: TA for one year
Research Interests: Econometrics
statement of purpose: 1 page

Applying to: Berkeley, Brown, BU, JHU, Penn State, Rochester

[thursday]

Here we go. At least, one more data point for this.

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A. in business administration. Top uni in the country, though not (well) known internationally.
Undergrad GPA: 5/5. (Highest distinction, unofficially. I wish it were in econ/math at a better undergrad university.)
Type of Grad: M.A. in economics (two-year program) at a solid economics school with a reputation of placing good students in good American/European PhD programs.
Grad GPA: 3.44/4. (After the 1st year.)
GRE: 790Q, 520V, 3.5AW. (Me knows writing good.)
TOEFL: first time: 106 (20S); second time (because of 20S): 107 (23S). (Basically, I wasted $. And, yeah, me does speaking good too.)
Math and Econ Courses, all in all: one-year sequence of grad micro, macro, metrics, and math for economics. Almost no (at least, not that relevant) econ/math as an undergrad. Plus on-going electives in misc economics (e.g. IO, and the like).
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors: 1 quite well known prof. (Cornell PhD), 1 well published associate prof. (UPF PhD), 1 assistant prof./my thesis adviser (UMD PhD). Not sure about the strength of the letters.
Research Experience: on-going thesis, nothing else.
Teaching Experience: nil.
Research Interests: macro, growth, political economy of development.
statement of purpose: nothing special, I think.
Concerns: I wish I had done some econ/math instead of business staff as an undergrad. Plus, too low grades (PhD-application-wise) in relevant grad courses.
Other: ~
Applying to: UMD, JHU, Penn State (reaches for me, I think), BC, IUB (targets?), UH (a real target, I guess?).

[This is hard]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Ivy League. Math/English double major, Actuarial Science minor with distinction in English.
Undergrad GPA: 3.77/4
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q, 710V, 5.5AW.
Math and Stats: The whole gambit-- Calc I-III, PDE, Complex analysis, algebra, real analysis, probability statistics, multivariate regressions, time series, other stat courses. Mostly As, but a few B+s in the statistics courses.
Econ: Intro Micro (A+), Intro Macro (B)
Research Experience: 2 summers of applied statistics programming for the Pathology department at a high ranking medical school. I should mention my senior thesis in English as well even though it obviously isn't directly applicable here. It is however a superb piece of scholarship and I happen to be immensely proud of it.
Letters of Recommendation: Didn't really know anyone in the econ dept and I spent 3 years out of school before deciding I wanted to go back. So I had to go with the 3 people who knew me best: my English thesis advisor, my manager from the actuarial consulting firm I worked for, and the project leader for the Pathology research I worked on. I would expect that all their letters were very strong recommendations, but I realize there's only so much non-economists can do to help your cause when applying to top programs. I did try to ask for a rec from my old math advisor but he barely even remembered me.
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: trade, growth.
statement of purpose: passionate, articulate, and thoughtful.
Concerns: Well maybe if I spent some more time on this forum beforehand I would have known that my reaches were foregone conclusions.
Other: I intentionally limited myself to schools within commuter distance of Philadelphia because that's where my family and my gf are. Considering that limitation I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The funny thing is I could have been a top 10 admit out of school for PhD programs in English. I have to wonder if the adcoms who actually looked closely at my file didn't stop to check if it had been sent to the wrong department.
Applying to: Penn, Princeton, Drexel, University of Delaware

[untitled]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, BA International Studies (mid ranked Midwest Flagship State School)
Undergrad GPA: 3.65
Type of Grad: M.S. Math (mid ranked but slightly better Midwest Flagship State School)
Grad GPA: 3.6
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 5.5AW (scored 800, 590, 6 before MS degree)
Math Courses (undergrad): Lots, some Bs, B+/A- average
Math (grad): Lots, still a couple Bs, A- average
Econ Courses (grad): Few
Econ Courses (undergrad): None
Other Courses: Physics Minor, once, lots of Poli Sci before I realized math + poli sci =~ econ
Letters of Recommendation: Two Math, One Poli Sci, One Econ. Econ was extremely strong
Research Experience: Math Thesis, RA at academic leaning econ consulting firm
Teaching Experience: Taught micro, macro, math econ, and econ stats principles courses during two year stint at local university while working as a consultant
Research Interests: Econometrics, Resource Economics, Decision Theory, Development
statement of purpose: Umm, I had some explaining to do, given I've been out of school
Concerns: yes
Applied to: 6 top 15 schools plus Pitt, Boston U, UCSD, Davis, Duke, Washington U

[TomRod]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS Math, BA Economics, Large Western Mountainous University with excellent graduate school placement
Undergrad GPA: 3.35 overall, lower in math & econ
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q, 640V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I - III, Linear Algebra, Matrix Theory, MATLAB coding, Real Analysis I & II, Graduate Topology, Financial Mathematics, Optimization Theory (more OR than Math), Abstract Algebra, Complex Analysis, Logic Theory
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro (A-), Macro(A), Mathematical economics/Game Theory (A-), Econometrics (B+)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): I/O, Econometrics, Micro I & II, Macro, economic stats

Other Courses: Took me awhile to find my major, so all over the map.

Letters of Recommendation: 3 excellent mathematics professors (topology, shockwaves, matrix analysis), 2 well-known economics professors, current boss
Research Experience: Research Scientist in on-campus CS/Stats/Math research lab, with focus on Computational Economics and Financial Systems, unofficial tutor for Econ RA's in STATA
Teaching Experience: Math Lab TA (for all lower & upper level undergraduate courses), MATLAB class TA, Financial Mathematics TA
Research Interests: Computational Economics, Game Theory, Macroeconomics, Development, I/O, general interest in monetary theory and freshwater economics, find most aspects & applications of economics interesting and researchable
statement of purpose: I wasn't concerned about this--I have some pretty specific goals that I would llike to see accomplished
Concerns: I worked for a year between graduation in December 2007 to the application period, so some subjects are a little rusty (but I kept my textbooks so I have time to rectify the situation).
Other: If you ever get a chance, you ought to look at the energy industry for some interesting research questions. Lots of excellent items of interest! Also feel free to send me a message if you want to know more.
Applying to: Michigan, Rochester, UT, UT (management), NCSU (statistics)

[ibanez]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics/Mathematical Studies (small no name liberal arts institution)
Undergrad GPA: 4.0 Summa Cum Laude, in Honors
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 760Q, 550V, 5.0 AWA
Math Courses: Calc I,II,III, Differential Equations, Intro Linear Algebra, Linear Algebra, Discrete Math, Mathematical Modeling in Biology, Probability Theory/Stat App, Real Analysis, Topology (1 credit), Applied Math (Honors Audit)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Macro, Micro, Int Macro, Int Micro, Development Economics, Econometrics, Economic History, Public Finance, Money and Banking, International Economics
Other Courses: Interesting honors courses, some religion, and Political Science
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ Professors - 1 got PhD from BU, the other teaches at Texas State University, none of them are famous, 1 from Math professor (chair of Math department)
Research Experience: RA for Econ professor 1 year (my 2nd year), REU in Applied Math (Biomathematics) - paper to be published soon, RA for Math professor (sr year) paper to be submitted soon
Teaching Experience: Tutoring for 2 years and helping teach a GRE course (lol you wouldn't know that from my score)
Research Interests: Economic Development in Latin American countries
statement of purpose: Good I guess...who knows
Concerns: No name undergrad, bad GRE score, no name recommenders, competitive year
Other: My girlfriend is in at GWU for Speech Pathology
Applying to: PhD Econ - Maryland, BU, BC, Georgetown, GWU, Carnegie Mellon, Chicago (just to shoot for the stars), Johns Hopkins University,

MS Statistics - American U, GWU
MA Math - American U

[EnviroEcon]

delete, moved to Profiles/Results 2009. Oops.

[Bayern]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 40 LAC
Undergrad GPA: 3.77; Econ: 3.87; Math: 3.6 (but strong upward trend)
Type of Grad: None
GRE: 780Q, 540V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: The regualar courses including game theory, optimization, etc. Applied with Real Analysis and Math Modelling being completed this fall, and had A's in both these courses while applying, and mentioned in one of the letters.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Principles (A), Intedmed Micro (A), Int Macro (B+), Econ Dev (A), Intl Econ (A), Adv Intl Econ (A), Adv Micro (A), Econometrics (A), Ind Study (B+)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: A combination of 3 econ profs and 2 math profs. One of them was a Berkeley PhD, and later moved to Cambridge from my college, so that definitely helped. 2 of the letters should be exceptionally good, while the other 3 should be very good.
Research Experience: This is what seperated me in some places. Co-authored a paper with my adviser, and was at revise & resubmit stage in one of the top 4 development econ journal in econphd rankings. Another work-in-progress paper. Also did some research under another Prof.
Teaching Experience: Tutored Intro to Econ, Intermed Micro and Macro
Research Interests: Development, App. Micro
statement of purpose: Pretty decent, honed in on my research experience
Concerns: Doesn't matter any more. Happy with my achievement
Other: I guess this prety much sums it up.

[MJackson1989]

Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, B.A. Econ, Minor in Stats from large public university in Midwest US
Undergrad GPA: 3.53/4.00
Type of Grad: N/A
GRE: (Taking in a few weeks)
Math Courses: Calc III (A-), Intro to Probability (A-), Matrix Algebra I (A-), Advanced Calc I (taking), Differential Equations (Taking), Intro to Modern Algebra (taking)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Strategy (A), Econ of Gender (B), Econ Stat (B), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A-), Econometrics (A-), Development (taking), Labor (taking)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Math, 2 Econ
Research Experience: Taking a research course in the fall
Teaching Experience: Tutor
Research Interests: Economics of Education, Applied Micro and Applied Econometrics
Concerns: (coming soon)
Applying to (in fall 2009): Harvard Graduate School of Education (Ed.D), Stanford School of Education (PhD in Economics of Education), Econ PhD: Yale, Michigan, Michigan State, UCSB.
Other: Male, 19

Any other recommendations for where else to apply?